SpaceX chalks up 31st Falcon 9 flight this year, putting 53 more Starlinks in orbit
CBSN
Keeping up a record launch pace, SpaceX fired off 53 more Starlink internet satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday using a first stage making its 13th flight.
The rocket soared away from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:20 a.m. EDT, kicking off SpaceX's 165th Falcon 9 flight since 2010, the 31st so far this year and its fourth flight to orbit so far this month.
The first stage, SpaceX's third to make 13 flights, propelled the rocket out of the lower atmosphere, then fell away and flew itself to an on-target touchdown on an offshore droneship. It was SpaceX's 131st successful landing and its 102nd at sea.
President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.