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Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:

 

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Canada’s government approves Starlink service

Capitalism in space: Canada’s government yesterday announced that it has given final approval to SpaceX’s Starlink internet service to offer those services in that country.

More here.

This final approval came from the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) agency, which appears designed to protect Canadian businesses from foreign competition. It had appeared initially that they had been stalling giving their approval (maybe for political reasons). The delay however could simply have been the slowness of operation which is typical of such government bureaucracies. As noted at the first link above, however “Clearly, the government heard the demand from consumers to get this service approved.” And since there are no Canadian companies that can offer this service, it was absurd not to okay SpaceX’s operation.

This approval means that Starlink is now posed to begin commercial operations, actually selling its internet service to the public, and doing it ahead of its primary competitor, OneWeb. Considering that OneWeb had started development and satellite launching first, this achievement illustrates again SpaceX’s nimble and fast approach to business. The company does not waste time in anything it does. It might not meet all of its scheduling goals, but not for want of trying.

SpaceX has already been offering the service in its test market in the northern U.S. for the price of $99 per month plus an initial fee of $499 for equipment, with the initial user reports very positive.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

6 comments

  • jburn

    Very clever. SpaceX is creating an income stream from an under served customer base, by utilizing its excess launch capacity.

  • Phill O

    Another blow to western Canada companies (CCI of Calgary in particular) by the Trudeau government.

  • pzatchok

    jburn

    Very clever. SpaceX is creating an income stream from an under served customer base, by utilizing its excess launch capacity.

    And any profit from starlink will help fund that supply train to Mars.

    At this rate Musk might just be able to move to Mars and retire.

  • Jay

    Phill O.,
    I am surprised they would allow a threat like Starlink to go against Canadian private companies or the Crown Corporations that do communications.

  • Phill O

    Jay

    Trudeau hates Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. His campain was against Alberta in paticular. Starlink is no threat against the CBC (Canadian Broddcasting Corporation) the crown corp.

  • Jay

    Phill O.,
    I did a few projects north of Edmonton in which I had to deal with two communications providers. One was a utility that I thought was a Crown Corp., but I looked it up and it is private, and the other was a Telco., The border is still closed, so I cannot do any projects north of the border.
    I talked to my friend who lives outside of Calgary and he is not the biggest fan of Trudeau. He often talks about western Canada breaking away and leaving Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime Provinces, and Anne of Green Gables to fend for themselves.

    Sorry, I had to make the Anne of Green Gables joke. My friend has told me many times, jokingly of course, that the whole P.E.I. economy is based off of her.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

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