- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player defies odds to catch back-to-back rare shinies in most “tense” situation CharlieINTEL.com
- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet trainer has “tense” Shiny encounter on the edge of a cliff Dexerto
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet player discusses possible Paldean variant of Gen VI ‘mon Sportskeeda
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Launch Roundup: three back-to-back Starlink missions to cross 5,000 Starlink satellites launched – NASASpaceFlight.com – NASASpaceflight.com
- Launch Roundup: three back-to-back Starlink missions to cross 5,000 Starlink satellites launched – NASASpaceFlight.com NASASpaceflight.com
- SpaceX to launch 2 Starlink missions 5 hours apart tonight and you can watch live online Space.com
- It’s launch day! What you need to know about SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 mission from the Cape Florida Today
- SpaceX to launch Starlink missions from both coasts tonight – Spaceflight Now Spaceflight Now
- SpaceX gearing up on Wednesday to launch Falcon 9 rocket from Florida coast FOX 35 Orlando
- View Full Coverage on Google News
California staggered by deadly back-to-back mass shootings
MONTEREY PARK, Calif., Jan 24 (Reuters) – Just two days after a gunman killed 11 people at a Los Angeles-area dance studio, seven more victims were shot dead in an agricultural area near San Francisco, as California suffered one of its bloodiest spates of mass gun violence in decades.
Authorities said they had not identified the motive for either of the rampages. The attacks seemed especially baffling in part because the suspects in each were men of retirement age, much older than is typical for perpetrators of deadly mass shootings that have become numbingly routine in the United States.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was visiting wounded survivors from Saturday night’s massacre in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park when he was informed of Monday’s killings in northern California.
“Tragedy upon tragedy,” Newsom wrote on Twitter.
Otherwise, the back-to-back shootings appeared to have little in common.
The latest gun carnage struck the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, where a gunman opened fire on groups of farm workers at two locations about a mile apart, leaving a total of seven dead and one badly wounded, then fled.
The accused gunman, identified as Chunli Zhao, 67, was taken into custody a short time later after he was found sitting in his vehicle, parked outside a sheriff’s station, where authorities said they believe he had come to turn himself in.
A semi-automatic handgun was found in his car, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus told an evening news conference.
Corpus said the suspect, who was “fully cooperating” with investigators following his arrest, had worked at one of the two crime scenes. She described the sites as agricultural “nurseries,” where some of the workers also lived. Local media reported one site was a mushroom farm.
President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday that he was briefed by his homeland security team on the shooting in Half Moon Bay and has directed his administration to ensure local authorities have support from the federal government.
“Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action,” he said, calling on Congress to reintroduce a federal assault weapons ban.
In a separate Bay-area incident on Monday evening that drew far less attention, one person was killed and seven wounded in a “shooting between several individuals” in Oakland, police reported, in circumstances suggesting a case of gang violence. Police gave few details, but said the surviving victims had all gotten themselves to area hospitals.
News of the massacre in Half Moon Bay surfaced as police worked through a second full day of their investigation into the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, just east of downtown Los Angeles, where a gunman shot 11 people to death. Nine others were wounded.
[1/5] People gather for a candle light vigil after a mass shooting during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, California, U.S. January 23, 2023. REUTERS/David Swanson
Authorities said the suspect, Huu Can Tran, 72, drove next to an adjacent town and barged into a second dance hall but was confronted by the club’s operator, who wrestled the weapon away during a brief scuffle.
Tran, himself a longtime patron of the Star Ballroom, catering mainly to older dance enthusiasts, fled again and vanished overnight.
He shot himself to death in his parked getaway vehicle, a cargo van, on Sunday morning, about 12 hours after his rampage, as police surrounded him in the town of Torrance, south of Los Angeles, authorities said.
LETHAL RECORD
Saturday’s violence unfolded in the midst of a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, a hub of the Asian-American community in Southern California, giving rise initially to concerns the attack may have been racially motivated. The second day of the event was canceled.
It ranked as the deadliest mass shooting ever in Los Angeles County, according to Hilda Solis, a member of the county Board of Supervisors.
By comparison, the 1984 massacre of 21 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Diego stands as the greatest loss of life from a single shooting incident on record in California.
The two latest shootings were also notable for the age of the suspects, one in his late 60s, another in his early 70s.
A database of 185 mass shootings between 1966 and 2022 maintained by the nonprofit Violence Project includes just one carried out by someone 70 or older – a retired miner who killed five people in Kentucky in 1981.
Attesting to the firepower unleashed at the Monterey Park ballroom, investigators collected 42 bullet casings and a large-capacity ammunition magazine from the scene, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters on Monday.
He said a search of the suspect’s mobile home in a gated senior-living community in the town of Hemet, 80 miles east of Los Angeles, turned up a rifle, electronic devices and items “that lead us to believe the suspect was manufacturing homemade” weapons silencers. Police also seized hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the dwelling and a handgun from the suspect’s vehicle.
Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said investigators were looking into unconfirmed reports that the violence may have been sparked by jealousy or relationship issues.
Adam Hood, who rented a home from Tran in the Los Angeles area, told Reuters his landlord enjoyed ballroom dancing and was a regular at the Star Ballroom, though he complained that others there were talking behind his back.
“He was distrustful of the people at the studio, angry and distrustful. I think he just had enough,” Hood said.
Reporting by Tim Reid in Monterey Park and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif.; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Rich McKay, Gabriella Borter, Brendan O’Brien, Brad Brooks, Jonathan Allen, Joseph Ax, Dan Whitcomb and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Chizu Nomiyama
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Stock futures are little changed as Wall Street looks to build on back-to-back gains
Zions shares fall after earnings
Shares of Zions Bancorp fell more than 2% despite the regional bank beating earnings estimates for the fourth quarter. Zions reported $1.84 in earnings per share, above the $1.65 expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount. Net interest income also beat estimates.
Noninterest income was lower than expected, however, and deposits fell 13% year over year to $71.7 billion.
Shares of Zion gained 2.27% in regular trading on Monday before its earnings were released.
—Jesse Pound
Stocks need to notch this key level to potentially be considered rallying, Dawson says
Stocks rose on Monday, but aren’t quite high enough to be considered a true market rally, according to Cameron Dawson of NewEdge Wealth.
“We have to get through the most critical level of 4,100,” Dawson said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Monday. That’s because 4,100 is the S&P 500’s 65-day high.
The S&P 500 never hit the key moving level in 2022 because it was in a downtrend, Dawson said. If stocks break through this level, it may indicate that the rally has potential to move into a new bull market cycle.
Technicals and positioning can only get stocks so far, she added, before a fundamental shift is needed to really give stocks forward momentum.
“We’d need to see a change in fundamentals to really think this rally will continue,” she said.
She cautioned that stocks upside will likely stay capped until the Federal Reserve fully pivots and stimulates the U.S. economy again.
“It’s unlikely we can go back to pre-pandemic multiples without help from the Fed,” she said.
If stocks are able to rally and break the 65-day high, it would also likely lower the probability of the S&P 500 retesting its October lows, Dawson said.
—Carmen Reinicke
Stock futures open little changed
Futures opened little changed on Monday evening after solid gains for stocks during regular trading hours. There were no large cap earnings reports after the bell to spark major moves in the futures market.
— Jesse Pound
Nasdaq, chip stocks led the way on Monday
Stocks enjoyed a broad rally on Monday. Here’s a look at some of the key numbers from the trading session.
- The Dow gained 254 points, or 0.76%, to close at 33,629.56.
- The S&P 500 gained 47 points, or 1.19%, to close at 4,019.81.
- The Nasdaq Composite gained 224 points, or 2.01%, to close at 11,364.41.
- Nvidia had the largest impact on the Nasdaq, adding 36 points.
- The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 4.72% for its best day since Nov. 30.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
Timeline: Flooding threat remains high across Bay Area as back-to-back storms move through region
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — As recovery efforts continue after last week’s power atmospheric river, the Bay Area will once again get pummeled by back-to-back storms increasing the threat of flooding across the region.
LIVE: Track rain in San Francisco Bay Area with Live Doppler 7
ABC7 weather anchor Spencer Christian says our second of two storms will arrive overnight and will be a Level 2 on the exclusive ABC7 News Storm Impact Scale.
On Monday, the San Lorenzo River reached major flood stage in the Santa Cruz Mountains causing evacuations near Felton.
A Flood Warning is in effect for the Guadalupe River above the Almaden Expressway. It’s expected to have minor flooding Monday morning as the river crests at 11 a.m.
The Russian River near Guerneville is expected to have minor flooding early Tuesday morning cresting at 32 feet which is the flood stage.
A Flood Watch is in effect for the entire region until Tuesday afternoon for new areas of flooding.
Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
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SpaceX preparing for back-to-back Starlink launches from California and Florida
Update: Next Spaceflight reports that SpaceX has delayed Starlink 4-15 to 4:38 pm EDT, May 14th, ending the immediate possibility of a new SpaceX record for time between launches.
After a few days of delays pushed the missions closer together, SpaceX is now preparing to launch two batches of 53 Starlink satellites just eight hours apart – one from Florida and the other from California.
Originally scheduled to launch as early May 10th, which would have tied SpaceX’s Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) SLC-4E launch pad turnaround record, Starlink 4-13 slipped to May 12th within the last few days. 2400 miles (~3900 km) to the east, SpaceX’s Starlink 4-15 mission – preparing to launch from the company’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad – recently found itself in the opposite boat.
On April 22nd, Spaceflight Now reported that Starlink 4-15 was scheduled to launch no earlier than (NET) May 8th. At the time, Starlink 4-13 was also scheduled to launch on the 8th, placing the two Starlink missions just a few hours apart. On April 28th, Spaceflight Now updated its well-sourced launch calendar, revealing that Starlink 4-13 had slipped to May 10th and Starlink 4-15 to May 16th, ending their concurrence. Finally, on May 7th and May 8th, photographer Ben Cooper reported that Starlink 4-15 had moved up to 2:08 am EDT (06:08 UTC), May 13th and FAA documents revealed that Starlink 4-13 had slipped again to 3:29 pm PDT (22:29 UTC), May 12th.
In other words, the missions have again found themselves just a handful of hours apart after weeks of unrelated juggling and delays. Barring additional issues, Starlink 4-13 and Starlink 4-15 are scheduled to launch just 7 hours and 41 minutes apart. Set in late 2021, the shortest time between two Falcon launches is currently 15 hours and 17 minutes. But above all else, the constant back and forth – only to end up with both launches again just hours apart – demonstrates just how agonizing and unforgiving the planning behind every rocket launch schedule truly is.
Fittingly, Starlink 4-13’s drone ship headed to sea just ~60 hours before the scheduled launch and Starlink 4-15’s drone ship has yet to depart, keeping the launch dates of both missions about as uncertain as they can be without guaranteeing that delays are coming. Both drone ships must be towed about 400 miles downrange at speeds that almost never exceed 8-10 mph, translating to a minimum two-day journey even with zero stops, slowdowns, or detours.
Beyond the record-breaking potential, Starlink 4-13 is an otherwise ordinary mission that will launch another 53 Starlink V1.5 satellites to an ordinary 53.2-degree inclination, which simply means that they’ll end up in the same ‘shell’ as the other satellites in Starlink’s ‘Group 4’ shell. Despite launching from the opposite coast of the US, Starlink 4-15 will be almost identical and is expected to deploy another 53 Starlink V1.5 satellites to the same orbital shell. However, it appears that Starlink 4-15 will have a few highly unusual features.
Instead of performing a hockey stick-like ‘dogleg’ maneuver to avoid overflying any populated islands in the Bahamas, Falcon 9 will directly overfly the country’s largest western island and attempt to land right in the middle of the archipelago, potentially touching down on a drone ship just 5-15 miles away from Nassau and a couple other islands. The fact alone that SpaceX was able to convince both the Bahamas and the US’ FAA to allow it to fly the trajectory shown above is extremely impressive and belies a deep trust in SpaceX’s expertise and Falcon 9’s safety and reliability. At the same time, SpaceX may be taking some degree of risk, as the trajectory’s minuscule margins for error probably mean that Falcon 9’s automatic flight termination system will be programmed to destroy the rocket at the slightest hint of deviation from the planned trajectory.
Adding to the oddity, Starlink 4-15 will be the first in a long line of 45 dedicated Starlink launches to debut a new Falcon 9 booster. According to Next Spaceflight, Falcon 9 B1073 will claim that unusual first, almost entirely flipping the table on the precedent of conservative government customers – still timid about SpaceX reusability – scrambling to secure increasingly rare launch opportunities on new Falcon 9 boosters. Alternatively, it’s possible – but unlikely – that SpaceX implemented significant changes to Falcon 9 B1073 that it wants to verify independently before risking customer payloads.
With any luck, the new rocket will perform flawlessly and give some nearby Bahamians a truly one-of-a-kind experience: the ability to watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster land at sea… from the comfort of their own homes.
SpaceX double vision: These photos show two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads for back-to-back launches
If a recent SpaceX rocket photo has you seeing double, you’re not alone.
A Twitter post Monday (Jan. 31) shows two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, ahead of their respective launches.
One photo captures both rockets under a twilight sky of deep orange. In the foreground is a Falcon 9 atop Pad 39A at NASA’s KSC, which is expected to launch no earlier than Tuesday (Feb. 1). In the background is a separate Falcon 9 rocket carrying an Italian Earth observation satellite called Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite.
That rocket is set to launch tonight (Jan. 31) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) after four delays. It’s sitting atop the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral. You’ll be able to watch the launch here, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before launch time.
Related: The evolution of SpaceX’s rockets in pictures
A second SpaceX photo reverses the view, with the Falcon 9 at SLC-40 in the foreground and the Starlink-packed booster in the background at KSC. That photo, apparently taken at a different time over the weekend, shows the two rockets under a pristine blue Florida sky.
While both launches have been delayed, the Starlink flight is largely waiting for SpaceX to launch the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite. The Starlink Falcon 9 rocket is going to launch 49 more Starlinks to add on to SpaceX’s constellation of nearly 2,000 operational satellites. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than Tuesday at 2:17 p.m. EST (1917 GMT) from NASA’s Launch Complex 39A.
Both SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets have flown several missions before. Their first-stage boosters are also expected to return to Earth for landings on either a land-based pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or an offshore drone ship so they can be used again.
SpaceX operates its two Florida launch pads under agreements signed with the agency and Air Force earlier in the decade, as both entities sought to turn the Cape launch facility into a “multi-user spaceport for both federal and commercial customers,” according to a 2014 release.
SpaceX also launches human missions using Launch Pad 39A, including Crew Dragon missions for the International Space Station and the Inspiration4 all-civilian mission of 2021 that rocketed four people to Earth orbit. The next crewed launch from KSC is expected in April 2022, for the Crew-4 mission.
SpaceX also has a third Falcon 9 launch site in California at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. There is yet another Falcon 9 rocket there awaiting its own mission, SpaceX has said.
A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the classified NROL-87 payload from Vandenberg on Wednesday (Feb. 2). That mission is scheduled to lift off at 3:18 p.m. EST (2018 GMT).
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
SpaceX delays back-to-back Falcon 9 rocket launches due to bad weather
SpaceX delayed two back-to-back rocket launches from Florida on Saturday (Jan. 29) due to bad weather that has already pushed back the missions in recent days.
The private spaceflight company hoped to launch an Earth-observation satellite for Italy Saturday evening from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but unacceptable weather prevented the flight. It’s the third weather delay in as many days for the SpaceX mission, which will launch the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite for the Italian Space Agency and that country’s military.
“Due to weather in Florida affecting pre-launch operations, now targeting Sunday, January 30 at 6:11 p.m. EST for launch of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 from SLC-40,” SpaceX wrote in a Twitter update earlier Saturday, using the acronym for the mission’s Space Launch Complex 40 launch pad.
Related: The evolution of SpaceX’s rockets in pictures
SpaceX initially hoped to launch the CSG-2 mission on Thursday, but stood down due to weather. On Friday, the SpaceX fueled the Falcon 9 rocket carrying CSG-2, but called off the launch due to thick clouds and strong winds.
The delays have had a ripple effect for SpaceX’s missions. The Hawthorne, California-based company is also preparing to launch its next batch of Starlink internet satellites from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is near the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That mission was originally expected to launch on Saturday afternoon, but was delayed to no earlier than Sunday due to the CSG-2 launch delay on Friday.
Now, the Starlink mission will launch no earlier than Monday (Jan. 31), SpaceX officials said. The company is also preparing to launch a third rocket carrying the classified NROL-87 satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Feb. 2. That mission will lift off from SpaceX’s pad at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and has not been affected by Florida’s weather woes.
“Falcon 9 launch of Starlink from LC-39A shifting to Monday, January 31, and teams are also continuing to work toward launch of NROL-87 from California on Wednesday, February 2,” SpaceX wrote on Twitter Saturday.
The weather outlook does improve for SpaceX’s Florida missions on Sunday.
According to the latest forecast by the Delta 45 group of the U.S. Space Force in Florida, there is less than a 10% chance of bad weather affecting SpaceX’s CSG-2 satellite launch plans on Sunday. Similar conditions are expected on Monday of the mission has to delay another 24 hours.
A second forecast for the Starlink mission predicts a 90% chance of good weather on Monday, with a similar forecast for Tuesday (Feb. 1) in case of delay. In addition to launch weather, SpaceX also tracks weather at its land and drone ship landing sites in order to recover its Falcon 9 first-stage boosters, which are reusable.
SpaceX will provide a live webcast of all three of its upcoming launches. You can watch Sunday’s launch here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or view it directly from the company’s website. SpaceX webcasts generally start 15 to 20 minutes before liftoff.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
SpaceX to set new company records with back-to-back weekend launches – Spaceflight Now
SpaceX aims to set a new record for rocket reuse Saturday with the launch of a Falcon 9 booster from California on an 11th trip to space, carrying more Starlink internet satellites into orbit. If schedules hold, another Falcon 9 will blast off from Florida’s Space Coast about 18-and-a-half hours later with an all-electric Turkish data relay spacecraft.
The launch double-header will begin with a blastoff scheduled for 4:24 a.m. EST (1:24 a.m. PST; 0924 GMT) Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying 52 more satellites into orbit for SpaceX’s Starlink internet network.
SpaceX has a backup launch opportunity available at 7:41 a.m. EST (4:41 a.m. EST; 1241 GMT) for the mission, named Starlink 4-4 in the company’s launch schedule.
There is a 100% chance of good weather for a predawn launch Saturday at Vandenberg, with unrestricted visibility, north winds of 6 to 9 mph, and a temperature of 40 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Space Force forecast team at the California spaceport.
The Falcon 9 will arc downrange from Space Launch Complex 4-East, clearing the shoreline within a couple of minutes as it exceeds the speed of sound. Two-and-a-half minutes after blastoff, the Falcon 9’s 15-story booster will detach and begin a descent back to Earth, re-entering the atmosphere to target a drone ship parked in the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles (650 kilometers) from Vandenberg.
The upper stage, meanwhile, will accelerate the stack of 52 flat-panel Starlink internet satellites into orbit, positioning the payloads for deployment at T+plus 15 minutes, 36 seconds to complete the Starlink 4-4 launch sequence, according to a mission timeline released by SpaceX.
The mission will target an elliptical, or egg-shaped, transfer orbit stretching 212 miles (341 kilometers) above Earth at its apogee, or highest point.
The launch will be the 33rd dedicated flight for SpaceX’s Starlink internet network, and the second dedicated Starlink launch from Vandenberg.
The booster assigned to Saturday morning’s flight is designated B1051 in SpaceX’s inventory. It will make its 11th flight to space and back since debuting in March 2019 with the launch of the unpiloted test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Since then, the booster launched Canada’s Radarsat Constellation Mission, SiriusXM’s SXM 7 radio broadcasting satellite, and seven of SpaceX’s previous 32 dedicated Starlink missions. It most recently launched May 9 from Cape Canaveral, and its landing on a drone ship is posted below.
SpaceX’s most-flown rocket has done it again, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean after its record-breaking 10th trip to space.
This is the 83rd successful recovery of a Falcon booster since 2015.https://t.co/dndT94Ei7n pic.twitter.com/Njl2xOcG8i
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) May 9, 2021
The rocket is the most-flown booster in SpaceX’s fleet of reusable first stages. One other rocket has also achieved 10 flights, and two have amassed nine launches and landings.
When SpaceX launched the first of its newest generation of Falcon 9 rockets, called the Block 5, in 2018, officials said the upgraded boosters could fly 10 times before requiring major refurbishment. But that has changed with flight experience.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, said earlier this year that there doesn’t seem to be “any obvious limit” to reusing Falcon 9 boosters. “We do intend to fly the Falcon 9 booster until we see some kind of a failure with the Starlink missions, obviously, just to have that be a life leader,” he said in April.
SpaceX has stretched the lifetime of its boosters by launching the company’s own Starlink satellites, which SpaceX builds in a factory in Redmond, Washington.
Since launching the first reused Falcon 9 first stage on a mission in 2017, SpaceX has cinched agreements with all of its customers to fly payloads on recycled rockets. Seventy-six of SpaceX’s 134 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights have used previously-flown boosters.
While a launch crew at Vandenberg preps for blastoff Saturday morning, a separate SpaceX team at Cape Canaveral planned to roll a Falcon 9 rocket out to pad 40 Friday ahead of a launch set for Saturday night with Turkey’s Turksat 5B geostationary communications satellite.
Turksat 5B, built by Airbus, has a 90-minute launch window available opening at 10:58 p.m. EST Saturday (0358 GMT Sunday). That mission is expected to fly with another reused first stage, tail number B1067, making its third launch for SpaceX.
The official launch weather forecast at Cape Canaveral predicts an 80% chance of acceptable conditions for launch Saturday night, with cumulus clouds listed as the only slight concern. Partly cloudy skies are expected, with winds from the south at 10 to 15 mph, and a temperature of about 69 degrees Fahrenheit.
If both launches go on time Saturday, the two Falcon 9 rockets will take off 18 hours, 34 minutes apart. That will break SpaceX’s previous record for the fastest turnaround between two Falcon 9 missions, which currently stands at 44 hours.
Russia has launched two Soyuz rockets from different launch sites on numerous occasions over the venerable vehicle’s history. Most recently, Soyuz rockets launched from pads at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and from French Guiana just two hours apart in 2013 and 2015.
The Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Saturday morning will follow an unusual southeast trajectory from the military launch base, hugging the coastline of Baja California on the way into orbit.
The 52 satellites will use krypton-fueled ion thrusters to maneuver into their operating orbits at an altitude of 335 miles (540 kilometers), joining the rest of the Starlink fleet providing global internet service. With the next batch of satellites, SpaceX will have launched 1,944 Starlink spacecraft since May 2019.
A tabulation maintained by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and widely-respected tracker of spaceflight activity, shows that SpaceX currently has 1,729 functioning Starlink satellites in orbit. Of those, 1,467 satellites are operational, while the rest are still maneuvering into their slots in the constellation, or are otherwise working but not providing internet service.
SpaceX does not publish details about which of its Starlink satellites are operational, leaving outside experts like McDowell to gather and disseminate the information.
Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink and commercial sales, said Tuesday that the Starlink network is providing internet service to consumers in more than 20 countries.
“We have well over 100,000 subscribers, both on the consumer and enterprise sides,” he said in a panel discussion at Euroconsult’s annual World Satellite Business Week event in Paris. “And we’re not slowing down. We’re just getting warmed up.”
SpaceX has a long-term plan to launch as many as 42,000 Starlink satellites, according to a company filing with the International Telecommunication Union. The company’s initial focus is on deploying around 4,400 satellites into five orbital “shells” at different inclinations.
The five Starlink orbital shells are all located between 335 and 348 miles (540 and 560 kilometers), at inclinations of 53, 53.2, 70, and 97.6 degrees. SpaceX completed launches into the 53-degree orbital shell in May, and started launching satellites into a 70-degree orbital shell from Vandenberg in September.
The launch Saturday will be the third to target the 53.2-degree inclination shell, which flies nearly parallel with the 53-degree shell filled earlier this year. The previous two launches to 53.2 degrees took off from Cape Canaveral.
The next Starlink launch from Vandenberg was originally planned to go into a 70-degree orbital plane, but SpaceX grounded the mission in October without explanation. SpaceX launched a NASA asteroid probe from its pad at Vandenberg on Nov. 24. With the next opening in the company’s West Coast launch schedule available in mid-December, SpaceX switched the launch target to a 53.2-degree orbit.
Hofeller said SpaceX will begin launching more satellites into the polar orbital shell as soon as January. So far, SpaceX has launched a handful of Starlinks into polar orbit on rideshare missions, but hasn’t had any dedicated Starlink flights for the polar shell.
The Starlink satellites that started launching in the second half of this year all carry laser inter-satellite links, which also allow the network to pass internet traffic from spacecraft to spacecraft, without an intermediate step to relay the signals via a ground station.
“Our first-generation shell is in use and complete, and we’re launching our next-generation shell, which includes our inter-satellite links, as well as polar in a month or so,” Hofeller said Tuesday.
“Currently, as we speak, we’re on cell phone towers, we’re on airplanes, we’re in schools, hospitals,” Hofeller said. “We’re across the board. There’s no lack of need for connectivity.”
Email the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
Quarterback Bryce Young awarded Heisman Trophy, giving Alabama football back-to-back winners
Bryce Young saved his best for last, and in doing so ran away with this year’s Heisman Trophy, winning the award in a ceremony in New York City on Saturday night.
A sophomore and former five-star prospect from California, Young entered the season with sky-high expectations as the presumptive choice to replace former Crimson Tide quarterback and NFL first-round pick Mac Jones.
During a coaching convention in Texas this summer, Alabama coach Nick Saban drew even more attention when he let it be known that Young, before ever starting a game, would earn six figures in name, image and likeness deals, which became available to college athletes for the first time this year.
Young not only cashed in, he lived up to the hype, beginning with a four-touchdown performance in a season-opening win over then-No. 14 Miami before going on the road to beat then-No. 11 Florida two weeks later. Despite playing behind a shaky offensive line, he dazzled with his ability to keep calm under pressure, evade the pass rush and find his receivers downfield. An accurate passer, he completed 68.0% of his attempts and didn’t throw his first interception of the season until Week 4 against Southern Miss.
In the end, Young’s Heisman credentials included a sterling 43 passing touchdowns and only four interceptions. A gifted albeit reticent runner, he also rushed for three scores.
But it was down the stretch, in a dramatic come-from-behind win at Auburn to close out the regular season and then by dominating No. 3 Georgia and its top ranked defense in the SEC championship game a week later, that Young sealed his Heisman victory.
“Whenever you can win an award like this, it doesn’t go as an individual award but it’s a team award because I couldn’t do it without any of those guys,” Young said in his speech, referring to his Crimson Tide teammates. “I’d like to thank Coach Saban. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your guidance and putting me in situations to be successful and for us as a team to be successful.”
At Auburn, Young and Alabama trailed 10-3 with 1:35 remaining in the fourth quarter and star receiver Jameson Williams sidelined after he was ejected for targeting in the first half. Backed up against his own 3-yard line, Young led the team on a 12-play, 97-yard drive, which he capped off by throwing a score-tying, 28-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Ja’Corey Brooks, who had only two catches entering the game.
Four overtimes later, Young threw the game-winning two-point conversion to John Metchie III, keeping the Tide’s hope of reaching the College Football Playoff alive. On Dec. 31, No. 1 Alabama will play No. 4 Cincinnati in the CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Young also won the Maxwell Award, given to the best player in college football, and the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s top quarterback.
“It’s really about belief in yourself and it’s about belief in your preparation and your abilities and not allowing people to write your story and to dictate your life to you and to taking control of your destiny and just being the best person you can be,” Craig Young, Bryce’s father, said during ESPN’s telecast. “And I think he personifies that.”
In winning the Heisman, Alabama became the sixth school to win the award in back-to-back seasons. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith won it last year.
The Tide’s other Heisman winners include running backs Derrick Henry and Mark Ingram II.
Michigan defensive lineman and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Aidan Hutchinson finished second in this year’s voting, followed by Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Alabama narrowly missed out on having two Heisman finalists in back-to-back seasons as star linebacker Will Anderson Jr. finished fifth in the voting. A sophomore from Georgia, Anderson led the country in sacks (15.5) and tackles for loss (32.5).
Jones, now the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, finished third in the Heisman voting last year, behind Smith and former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.