June 6
Starship IFT-4

Starship launched from South Texas with the primary goal of returning both the booster and ship in one piece. Despite an engine outage during launch and landing, the Superheavy booster successfully completed its ascent, hot-staging, boost back, and landing burn before splashdown. The precision landing was captured by buoy cams, showcasing SpaceX’s progress towards future launch tower catches.

While the booster impressed near the launch site, Starship performed a close-to-orbital burn, targeting a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Engineers had intentionally removed two heatshield tiles, replacing them with a thinner tile to test the stainless steel hull's resilience. The upper stage maintained control throughout its re-entry, providing consistent Starlink video. Despite a flap seal failure during re-entry heating, the structure and actuation system had enough margin to withstand the increased thermal loads and successfully execute the flip maneuver, leading to a relatively controlled splashdown.

The flight demonstrated robust flight control software, adapting to various dynamic challenges, including engine loss and heatshield damage. Looking ahead, Flight-5 is expected late-July, featuring an upgraded, 2x stronger heatshield, and the first ‘chop stick’ attempt to catch the first-stage as it lands by the tower.

+ Related: The FAA won’t investigate Flight 4, as all mission parameters occurred within the scope of planned and authorized activities. And, as we look ahead to Flight 5, here is a close-up of the ablative material and new tiles being installed on Ship 30.

June 8
Starfactory

SpaceX is significantly enhancing its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, with the addition of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing hub called Starfactory. The primary objective of this expansion is to achieve the ambitious goal of producing one Starship per day, a feat that will drastically accelerate SpaceX's mission to make space travel more accessible and routine, and to produce the next-generation Starship vehicles. To see a tour inside Starfactory, check out the June 22 Everyday Astronaut interview with Elon Musk:

+ Related: The Cameron County Judge’s Office released the latest SpaceX local economic statistics: SpaceX has invested $3B+ in Starbase, produced $6.5B+ in annual gross economic market value in RGV, and generated $800M+ in state/local government capital income & indirect business taxes. Other stats that caught our eye: 

• SpaceX spent $90M+ with more than 80 RGV suppliers since the start of last year. 

• Starbase tourism, in its own right, is quite the cottage industry, with a ~$100M estimated economic impact on the region projected for next year. 

• Over 11,000 people have trekked to South Texas for a single Starship launch, with 20,000+ tourists and 16,500+ official visitors to the region last year alone. 

• Finally…a key nugget: SpaceX is sinking $400M into 1M sqft of net-new manufacturing space, and 329K sqft of new office space at Starbase. 

June 11
Crossing the 100-market mark

Starlink officially went live June 11th in Sierra Leone, making the African nation the 100th country/territory to sign on. .This milestone comes a year after authorities in the country granted Starlink an operational license, and makes it the 10th African nation to gain access to the service. With a population of ~9.1M and GDP of $15B, Sierra Leone has struggled with low internet penetration rates (21.2% in early ‘23). Starlink should materially boost connectivity, with one estimate that Starlink will help raise penetration rates there to 40+% by EOY. Starlink also went live in Madagascar on June 27th.

June 11
Starshield’s Bespoke Future

The DOD currently buys custom Starlink capacity as a service (branded as Starshield) and says it’s “burning through [its commercial satellite comms] procurement contract ceiling really quickly.” By 2029, pending Congressional appropriations, the Pentagon aims to acquire 100+ bespoke, USG-owned-and-operated Starshield satellites, marking a clean break from piggybacking on Starlink (and seemingly confirming a dedicated Starshield product line, and that SpaceX will build more custom military comms sats).

• The $900M IDIQ agreement for PLEO services, with 20 vendors, is already ~50% depleted. 

• IDIQ = Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity. In layman's terms, this means the quantity of products or services that the vendor is delivering is not yet determined.

• PLEO, another handy acronym to remember, stands for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit. In short, PLEO signifies the DoD’s strategic shift from higher orbits to distributed, difficult-to-destroy/jam satellite networks closer to Earth.

June 12
Innovation or Imitation?

OneLinQ has launched a new civilian satellite internet terminal designed for high-speed connectivity. CNBC's Michael Sheetz comments on China’s aerospace developments mirroring SpaceX's technologies. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; this trend is a confirmation of the strategic and economic value of Starlink’s growing capabilities in the eyes of China.

June 17
Starlink Mini

Elon confirms leaks, announcing Starlink Mini: a compact, mobile variant of Starlink offering up to 100 Mbps at half the cost of the original (both hardware and subscription). This backpack-sized kit is designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet for customers on the move, starting with a limited production run of antennas priced at $599. Starlink Mini will cost $150/mo with a 50 GB monthly data cap. This is particularly promising for less developed countries lacking broadband infrastructure, as the reduced costs could significantly impact market penetration until Starlink’s direct-to-cell capabilities mature.

…Related: Here’s an impressive test of Starlink Mini with 25-35 mbps while driving 80 mph on the highway…”zero hiccups streaming 4K YouTube.”

June 25
Blue Origin Criticizes SpaceX

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has raised safety concerns with the FAA about SpaceX's Starship, describing it as "immensely complex and high risk." Blue Origin argues that the numerous new technologies and processes required for Starship, such as in-orbit refuelling, pose unprecedented risks​. Blue Origin is yet to reach orbit despite being founded 24 years ago.

June 25
NASA hires SpaceX for ISS Slow Scheduled Disassembly

NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract to develop the United States Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) to handle the final phases of deorbiting the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030. This vehicle is intended to ensure a controlled reentry, aiming to safely bring the ISS down over the South Pacific. The project is expected to cost ~$1B, with NASA requesting $180M in the FY24 budget to kickstart development​.

Peter Beck Discusses Neutron on Off-Nom Podcast

As Rocket Lab ($RKLB) looks ahead to its next-generation launcher, Neutron, founder & CEO Peter Beck highlights the engineering trade-offs in rocket design, particularly regarding material choices. While SpaceX shifted from carbon fiber to stainless steel for Starship, Rocket Lab committed to carbon fiber for Neutron. Beck explains that this is due to its lightweight and strength properties, which are crucial for reducing the mass of the rocket. This allows for less demanding engine performance requirements compared to stainless steel, which, although heavier, allows for rapid iteration and prototyping. Rocket Lab's decision is driven by the need for highly efficient, lightweight structures that enable easier engine requirements, making carbon fiber the optimal choice for their long-term goals.

Elon explains why stainless steel > carbon fiber

Elon Musk’s choice of stainless steel for Starship offers distinct advantages for SpaceX’s rapid iteration cycle. Stainless steel is significantly cheaper, easier to weld, and ideal for rapid prototyping during the development phase. It also becomes much stronger at cryogenic temperatures, crucial for cryogenic fuel and oxidizer tanks. Additionally, stainless steel maintains its strength and toughness at high temperatures (800-1000°C), reducing the need for heavy heat shielding compared to carbon fiber, whose resin degrades at much lower temperatures (200°C).

M33’s Take: Both Elon Musk and Peter Beck emphasize the distinct advantages of using stainless steel and carbon fiber composites for their rockets. Rocket Lab's Neutron aims to reduce weight and enhance efficiency with carbon fiber.

• Given its 13,000kg payload capacity to LEO, this makes sense as Neutron won't benefit as much from scale, resulting in a significantly higher cost/kg compared to Starship (~150,000kg capacity) or even Falcon 9 (22,800kg). The increased performance and efficiency of carbon fiber improve the cost/kg and Neutron’s competitiveness.

• On the other hand, Starship, still in development and pushing the boundaries of known engineering, benefits from the rapid prototyping and lower costs of stainless steel. Elon’s view on carbon fiber - namely that the resin in carbon fiber degrades at temperatures above 200°C, necessitating more heat shielding, which offsets most performance gains - implies that he wouldn’t be too optimistic about Neutron’s cost/kg improvements from today’s carbon fiber and may also be wary of its reusability.

It should be noted that Starship, being so much more massive, will sustain significantly stronger forces upon reentry so the comparison with Neutron in this context is not completely accurate. Also, we would not be surprised to see more carbon fiber composites integrated into Starship years down the line. Carbon composite technology is improving rapidly and, as costs go down and manufacturing improves, future finalized Starship designs may lean more on what many consider to be the ‘apex’ aerospace material.

NYT Starlink article

In early June, the NYT put out a piece on the Marubo, a remote tribe in the Amazon, connecting to the internet for the first time thanks to Starlink. The story deals a heavy dose of both-sides-ism, highlighting both the benefits (improved communication, education opportunities) and drawbacks (cultural erosion, exposure to potentially harmful content). M33’s 10¢ – the article feels slightly paternalistic and the supposed “drawbacks” are not attributable to Starlink, but to the realities of our modern-day internet. With Starlink’s leapfrogging ability to connect the unconnected, it feels like NYT is trying to shoot the messenger. And in this day in age, the internet should be a human right – why should anyone be denied access if they want it? 

Some interesting stats: Starlink was set up super quickly in the Marubo villages, requiring only satellite dishes, solar panels, and smartphones. The 20 Starlink antennas cost ~$15,000, giving an idea of the investment required to connect a small community. 

+ Related: an actual, real-world perspective on Starlink’s potential: