Elon Musk is holding a Twitter Spaces discussion on SpaceX's first Starship launch.

Thread: Musk: "The outcome was roughly in what I expected, and maybe slightly exceeding my expectations, but roughly what I expected, which is that we would get clear of the pad."

After the dramatic first Starship Super Heavy launch, a look at SpaceX's monster rocket program – with the good (prototypes in the wings), the bad (destruction and debris at and around the launchpad) and the unknown (regulator investigations underway):
cnbc.com/2023/04/29/spa… NASA chief @SenBillNelson: “I have asked, so I can report to you ... SpaceX is still saying that they think it will take at least two months to rebuild the launchpad and concurrently about two months to have their second vehicle ready to launch."
cnbc.com/2023/04/29/spa…

SpaceX is preparing to launch for the 29th time this year, and the second time this evening, with a Falcon Heavy rocket carrying satellites for Viasat and Astranis.

This rocket is expendable, so its boosters will not be recovered.

Watch live: Falcon Heavy is standing tall to launch in a little over 10 minutes

SpaceX is about to launch for the 28th time this year, carrying a pair of satellites for @steviecSES' O3b mPOWER constellation.

This Falcon 9 booster is launching its second mission to date.

Watch live: @steviecSES Liftoff for Falcon 9

SpaceX is about to go for its 22nd launch of the year, carrying 10 satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 mission.

Watch live: Abort called at T-3 seconds.

The annual #SATShow rocket roundtable, moderated today by @Sandra_I_Erwin, with:

ULA CEO Tory Bruno
SpaceX VP of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero
Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel
Rocket Lab $RKLB Senior Director Richard French
Blue Origin VP of Commercial Sales Ariane Cornell @Sandra_I_Erwin @SATELLITEDC @ulalaunch @torybruno @RocketLab @blueorigin @arianecornell @arianespaceceo @Arianespace @SpaceX French: $RKLB spacecraft components and integrated satellite systems business combines with launch, "working to bring the lowest total cost ... back to customers."

"Really exciting to see our diversifying revenue and being able to stabilize the lumpiness of launch."

#SATShow panel on global constellations, with:

Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke

SpaceX VP of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller

SES CTO Ruy Pinto

Mangata Networks CEO Brian Holz

Aalyria CTO Brian Barritt @SATELLITEDC @Eutelsat_SA @SpaceX @SES_Satellites @AalyriaTech Pinto: SES takes a "more nuanced view" than SpaceX's approach to low Earth orbit with Starlink, and "our view is that you need a multi-orbit" system. He questions the sustainability of the LEO-only networks like Starlink and OneWeb, which need to be refreshed.

Next panel up at #SATShow is about sat-to-cell, with:

ST Engineering iDirect CEO Don Claussen

Iridium CEO Matt Desch

SpaceX VP of Starlink enterprise sales Jonathan Hofeller

Lynk Global CEO Charles Miller @SATELLITEDC @IridiumComm @IridiumBoss @iDirect @SpaceX @LynkTheWorld @NexGenSpace Desch: "We are very squarely in this satellite-to-cellular conversion space with Qualcomm," with "a whole number of the Android ecosystem" adopting.

"Plan to evolve beyond just cell" to personal computers, autos, etc.

"Satellite should connect everything everywhere"

Relativity Space is back for another attempt at its first launch of 3D-printed rocket Terran 1,
with the clock currently counting down to liftoff at 1:45 p.m. ET

Watch live: cnbc.com/2023/03/11/wat… The company's webcast is hosted by Raichelle Aniceto, Chief of Staff for vehicle architecture & technology and Arwa Tizani Kelly, technical program manager for test & launch.

Rockets are launching at an unprecedented pace and air travel has returned to pre-pandemic heights.

So how is the FAA evolving to meet the competition for precious airspace, especially around Florida?

A dive into the data with @lesliejosephs:
cnbc.com/2023/02/09/air… @lesliejosephs The FAA managed U.S. airspace for a record-breaking 92 space missions (rocket launches and capsule reentries) in 2022, up 33% from the year prior.
cnbc.com/2023/02/09/air…

I’m at the annual Commercial Space Transportation conference, hosted by the FAA with CSF in DC.

SpaceX president & COO Gwynne Shotwell is speaking in the first fireside chat today.

Thread: #CST2023 @csf_spaceflight @FAANews Shotwell: "Tomorrow is a big day for us," as SpaceX will attempt the 33-engine static fire of Starship's Super Heavy booster.

Rocket Lab $RKLB Q3 results

Adj. EBITDA loss: $6.9m
Revenue: $53.1m
Cash: $333.3m
investors.rocketlabusa.com/news/news-deta… Notable: Rocket Lab $RKLB says its Q3 conference call (starting in 10 minutes) will feature "a public Q&A platform where verified retail and institutional shareholders will be able to submit and upvote questions."

The accounts for NASA and Admin. Bill Nelson get the new Twitter "Official" tags: I honestly don't understand this process, given that the Official tags are doing what Verification has been.

2 checks for some, 1 for others!

Virgin Orbit $VORB Q3 results

Adj. EBITDA: Loss of $42.9m (up 31% from 21Q3)
Revenue: $30.9m
Cash: $71.2m

Raised $25m via Virgin Group
investors.virginorbit.com/news-events/pr… More $VORB updates from the company's Q3 slides:

2022 launch forecast lowered to 3 (earlier this year was 4 to 6), including UK launch

Binding backlog fell 12% to $143m (from $163m in Q2) cnbc.com/2022/11/07/vir…

Virgin Galactic $SPCE Q3 results

Adj. EBITDA loss: $129 million (up 90% from Q2)
Cash: $1.1 billion

Commercial service launch "on track" for 2023 Q2, "multiple scheduled test flights in the coming months”
investors.virgingalactic.com/news/news-deta… $SPCE says ATM announced in August generated $100 million in gross proceeds (with 15.6m shares of common stock issued).

SpaceX is set to launch Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket in operation, in about an hour.

Falcon Heavy is launching the Space Force's classified USSF-44 mission, with its side boosters to land after.

Watch live: cnbc.com/2022/11/01/wat… SpaceX's webcast is live for today's Falcon Heavy launch, from a very foggy Kennedy Space Center: cnbc.com/2022/11/01/wat…

NASA is hosting a press conference, with:

-NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen
-NASA human spaceflight lead Kathy Lueders
-SpaceX VP Jessica Jensen
-Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman
-Hubble telescope manager Patrick Crouse

Thread:
NASA’s Zurbuchen: "Hubble is amazingly successful -- it's healthy, it's doing great science as we speak."

NASA is hosting a press conference on the Artemis I mission, after earlier today the SLS rocket rolled back into the VAB ahead of #HurricaneIan.

On the call:
KSC director Janet Petro
Associate admin. Jim Free Petro says an investigation is underway on the VAB fire, but the source is believed to have been a panel "on the south side" of the building. SLS & Orion were "never at risk."

NASA is just over 10 minutes away from smashing a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos, in a planetary defense demonstration.

Watch the #DARTMission impact live: The #DARTMission
launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last November – here's some background on the mission: cnbc.com/2021/11/23/spa…

European Space Agency director general @AschbacherJosef:

"We are having completely new sectors of technologies that are coming to the surface" in the space business, accelerated by everything from venture capital to public institutions like ESA. #WSBW @AschbacherJosef Aschbacher: ESA has to be "much faster" and "more dynamic" in the way it interacts with businesses, noting that investment and growth in the space industry "has really been driven forward by the U.S."

I received a number of inquiries about the status of the DOGE-1 lunar mission announced a year ago by Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC), and previously scheduled to fly in Q1 2022 as a SpaceX rideshare – so I checked in with CEO Sam Reid.

Thread:

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1391455175160868866

Reid confirmed that DOGE-1 remains manifested as rideshare with SpaceX’s Falcon 9, but Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lunar lander is the primary payload and dictates launch timing – hence the delay.