One NZ makes bet on SpaceX's satellite-to-mobile service

A SpaceX Falcon 9 takes off. (Image: SpaceX)

Thu, 21 Nov 2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch is a spectacular and carefully choreographed event. The one I watched in California on Monday night, from a dark gravel road a few kilometres from Vandenberg Space Force Base north of Santa Barbara, started with a countdown live streamed via X, then a brilliant flame illuminating the sky. A low rumble from the rocket’s nine Merlin engines followed, a sound that grew into a stuttering boom as the rocket steadily ascended, went supersonic, then pitched over horizontally in a manoeuvre called a...

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