December 11, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Images of the Chinese pseudo-company Landspace’s launchpad where it plans a rocket hop test soon
The rumors say the test flight will occur next week.
- Space Force head admits government intentionally works slower than private enterprise
He said this to explain what he saw as a positive aspect of government, but I think he instead underlined why it should be the last place we should ever go to get anything done.
- Today’s Falcon Heavy launch is still set for 8:14 pm (Eastern)
You can watch it at this live stream, beginning around 7:30 pm (Eastern).
- Ghana in Africa warns its citizens not to use Starlink illegally
Heavy fines are threatened. Ghana is the fourth African country to issue such a warning, after South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Senegal. Apparently the citizens of those countries are tired of bad phone and internet service, and have been bypassing their incompetent government to get it on the black market from private enterprise. In other words, they are exercising independence, and we can’t have that!
- ISRO confirms its manned mission to ISS in 2024 in partnership with NASA
The tweet adds that the mission will fly on a Falcon 9 using a Dragon capsule.
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 you can buy it directly from the author and get an autographed copy.
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
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Images of the Chinese pseudo-company Landspace’s launchpad where it plans a rocket hop test soon
The rumors say the test flight will occur next week.
- Space Force head admits government intentionally works slower than private enterprise
He said this to explain what he saw as a positive aspect of government, but I think he instead underlined why it should be the last place we should ever go to get anything done.
- Today’s Falcon Heavy launch is still set for 8:14 pm (Eastern)
You can watch it at this live stream, beginning around 7:30 pm (Eastern).
- Ghana in Africa warns its citizens not to use Starlink illegally
Heavy fines are threatened. Ghana is the fourth African country to issue such a warning, after South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Senegal. Apparently the citizens of those countries are tired of bad phone and internet service, and have been bypassing their incompetent government to get it on the black market from private enterprise. In other words, they are exercising independence, and we can’t have that!
- ISRO confirms its manned mission to ISS in 2024 in partnership with NASA
The tweet adds that the mission will fly on a Falcon 9 using a Dragon capsule.
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 you can buy it directly from the author and get an autographed copy.
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
Launch scrubbed due to ground issue. New scheduled launch tomorrow at 8:24 p.m. ET (01:24 UTC, 02:24 CET, December 12).
The article about Ghana and “illegal” Starlink use has me wondering. I thought Starlink service was supposed to be geofenced to countries & areas where the service was officially approved (with a few exceptions like Iran where Starlink is enabled but there is no hope of ever getting regulatory approval). Can anyone with a Starlink terminal just use it anywhere? I don’t see anything on their website explicitly answering what happens if you have “Global Mobile” service and you happen to venture into a country where Starlink is not officially allowed. Would it work as long as your account is domiciled in a country where Starlink *is* permitted? Or maybe the government of Ghana is just redundantly telling its people not do to something that is not possible to begin with.
In the “Martime” section of their web site, it does say that “if a vessel strays into the waters of a country which prohibits Starlink from operating within it, our satellites will be unable to communicate with it effectively.” What is “effectively” supposed to mean? It’s all as clear as mud.
P.S. In doing some searching on this topic, I saw a story stating that the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has demanded that Starlink cease operations in Iran. Imagine how surprised I am to learn that this UN body is doing the work of the mullahs in Tehran.
Jason,
I am sure some people have hacked the dish so it can be seen anywhere. Some people have been bringing their Starlink dishes out to the remote south Pacific islands with no problems at all. Also, there has been use of Starlink out of China.
Remember that the U.N. made Iran the chair of the Human Rights Council last month!