Musk Reads: Crew Dragon set to return
Starship misses a test and SpaceX could be worth $44 billion. Why won’t Starlink’s website accept some addresses? It’s Musk Reads: SpaceX Edition #189.
A version of this article appeared in the “Musk Reads” newsletter. Sign up for free here.
Musk quote of the week
“Yeah, we’re hunkering down here until the hurricane passes.”
Read more about SpaceX’s missed attempt to host a static test fire for its “SN5” Starship prototype. The ship in development is designed to send humans to the Moon and Mars.
SpaceX
The Crew Dragon, SpaceX’s human-carrying capsule, is set to bring humans back to Earth for the first time. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley flew on the “Demo–2” mission in May 2020, becoming the first humans sent into space by SpaceX, kickstarting a new era for NASA flights. The pair have been stationed at the International Space Station since, and they’re now expected to return on August 2. SpaceX and NASA will give the final decision on the date 48 hours before the scheduled splashdown.
The team is considering one of seven locations for the final splashdown. The total length of the return will vary, but the likeliest candidate at the moment will take around six and a half hours. One of two recovery ships will be used in the collection process, hosting 40 personnel to support the mission. The crew’s safe return will start the countdown to the first non-test mission, “Crew–1,” currently targeting late September.
Liftoff! SpaceX launched the South Korean military satellite Anasis-II on July 21 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This mission used the same booster that sent Hurley and Behnken to the International Space Station in May. After the launch, SpaceX shared a video where it successfully caught both halves of the fairing that protects the satellite during launch. The booster successfully landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship.
What’s next for SpaceX: SpaceX is set to launch the 10th batch of 60 Starlink satellites on July 31 at 3:45 a.m. Eastern time. The launch will take place from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission will also launch two satellites for Seattle-based BlackSky as part of a ridesharing agreement.
In other Musk news…
SpaceX is aiming to raise funds at a $44 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported last week. The firm aims to raise $1 billion at $270 per share. Its previous fundraising effort valued the company at $36 billion. A Morgan Stanley report last week claimed the firm could end up worth as much as $175 billion.
Musk has shared an image of The Boring Company’s planned station for its Las Vegas project. The tunnels are designed to ferry attendees across the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company is set to hold a tunnel-digging competition, similar to the SpaceX hyperloop competitions, in spring 2021. Read more.
Musk Reads mailroom
Sam Joseph writes:
I have been trying unsuccessfully to register my address to go with my zip code. When I go to starlink.com and put in my info a circle with a line thru it appears and will not let me Submit my info. Same thing happens when I tried to sign up for the Beta test. What am I doing wrong?
It’s hard to say for sure in this situation, but one good tip for signing up is to make sure you choose one of SpaceX’s suggested addresses. As you enter the address in the second field, Google-provided suggestions will appear below the field. Inverse testing found that if you don’t choose one of these options, you won’t be able to submit even if you wrote in your address correctly. An irritating quirk, but one that ensures your address has been found by Google’s system!
Paul Daoust writes:
I live outside of Parrysound Ontario, but because I live on a property without road access I had trouble registering on the Starlink website. I needed to use a road nearby as it won’t accept an address it can’t find on Google. Hopefully they will fix that.
That seems like a big oversight, especially as SpaceX aims to bring Starlink to remote and underserved areas. Hopefully the company can find a way to reach people located in places that are harder to find through standard addresses. How else will the company reach its goal of three to five percent of total internet access market share?
Got any comments or queries? Don’t forget to send them over to muskreads@inverse.com.
Photo of the week
Crew Dragon’s first non-test mission, Crew–1, gets an official poster.
Got any photos or videos you’d like to share? Feel free to send them over to muskreads@inverse.com.
The ultra-fine print
This has been Musk Reads: SpaceX Edition #189, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Mike Brown, an innovation journalist for Inverse.
Email me directly at mike.brown@inverse.com and follow Inverse on Twitter @inversedotcom. Follow me on Twitter @mikearildbrown.
Got any comments or queries? Don’t forget to send them over to muskreads@inverse.com.
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A version of this article appeared in the “Musk Reads” newsletter. Sign up for free here.