NROL-149: SpaceX Launches 6th Batch Of Next-gen US Spy Satellites

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December 17, 2024

SpaceX launched the NROL-149 mission Tuesday, for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff occurred at 1319 UTC.

The Falcon 9 first stage returned 8.5 minutes after liftoff, for a landing on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific Ocean. This was the booster's 22nd mission overall. The upper stage, meanwhile continued spaceward with the NROL-149 payloads which were deployed to orbit about 90 minutes later.

NROL-149 "is the sixth launch of NRO's proliferated architecture, eighth launch of 2024 and last launch of the year!" the agency said in an X post on Sunday (Dec. 15).

The NRO’s proliferated architecture is a strategy to launch multiple small satellites, known as “smaller, smarter, and more numerous” payloads, to provide enhanced reconnaissance capabilities. This approach enables the agency to rapidly deploy and update its constellation of satellites, improving its ability to support national security and defense requirements.

The proliferated architecture payloads are believed to be "Starshield" spacecraft based on SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites, but with some high-tech reconnaissance gear attached.

Tuesday's launch and landing of Falcon 9 first stage marks SpaceX's 384th overall recovery of an orbital-class rocket, including both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters. The flight was also SpaceX's 127th mission of 2024.

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January 17, 2025

SpaceX Launches Starship 7th Test Flight

SpaceX successfully executed its second-ever “chopsticks” catch of a Super Heavy booster (or Booster 14) using the “Mechazilla” launch tower on Thursday(Jan. 16), during the seventh uncrewed test flight of the company's 123-meter Starship rocket. However, the megarocket's upper stage(or Ship 33) was lost approximately 8.5 minutes into the flight in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly(RUD)” or explosion

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January 13, 2025

Blue Origin Previews New Glenn Rocket First Flight

Blue Origin's 98-meter tall New Glenn rocket is expected to launch for the first time from Launch Complex 36(LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Florida

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January 10, 2025

Andrew Tate On His Intention To Become The Next UK Prime Minister:

"The United Kingdom has been hijacked by satanist who have absolutely no concern for the people they are supposed to work for"

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June 04, 2023

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September 17, 2024

Charges Against Sean 'Diddy' Combs In Grand Jury Indictment

The rapper was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution in the indictment unsealed Tuesday(Sept. 17)

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July 18, 2024

"Dear husband"

A Dubai princess took to social media to announce she's divorcing her husband who's worth $40B.

She claims the billionaire is busy with his "other [female] companions"

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February 24, 2025

SpaceX: The Explosion, Loss Of Starship Upper Stage During Test Flight 7

SpaceX gave an update on what caused the loss of the Starship upper stage during test flight 7 last month.

"Two minutes into its burn, a flash was observed in the aft section of the vehicle near one of the Raptor vacuum engines; Sensors in the attic detected a pressure rise indicative of a leak after the flash was seen.

"Roughly two minutes later, another flash was observed followed by sustained fires in the attic. These eventually caused all but one of Starship’s engines to execute controlled shut down sequences and ultimately led to a loss of communication with the ship

"Telemetry from the vehicle was last received just over eight minutes and 20 seconds into flight.

"Contact with Starship was lost prior to triggering any destruct rules for its Autonomous Flight Safety System, which was fully healthy when communication was lost. The vehicle was observed to break apart approximately three minutes after loss of contact during descent. Post-flight analysis indicates that the safety system did trigger autonomously, and breakup occurred within Flight Termination System expectations.

"The most probable root cause for the loss of ship was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system. The subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship’s attic area and resulted in sustained fires.

"All debris came down within the pre-planned Debris Response Area, and there were no hazardous materials present in the debris and no significant impacts expected to occur to marine species or water quality.

"SpaceX reached out immediately to the government of Turks and Caicos and the United Kingdom to coordinate recovery and cleanup efforts. While an early end to the flight test is never a desired outcome, the measures put in place ahead of launch demonstrated their ability to keep the public safe."

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February 22, 2025

Ashley St Clair Files Paternity Lawsuit Against Elon Musk, Seeks Sole Custody Of Their 5-month-old Baby

Social media influencer Ashley St Clair has filed a paternity suit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk, seeking sole custody of their five-month-old son and a court-ordered paternity test. St Clair claims Musk has only met the child three times and has not been involved in his care or upbringing.

St. Clair filed the petitions in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday, seeking to establish Musk as the father of her son, referred to as R.S.C. in court documents. She also requests sole custody of the child.

According to the filings, Musk met the child three times: twice in Manhattan for a total of three hours and once in Texas for 30 minutes. The last visit was on November.

The court documents include screenshots of text messages between St Clair and Musk. In one exchange, Musk allegedly wrote, "I want to knock you up again," and in another, he said, "Well, we do have a legion of kids to make." Musk also acknowledged the child's birth and expressed concerns about security threats, stating, "If I make a mistake on security, R.S.C. will never know his father."

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The 31-year-old publicly revealed Musk as the father of her child on Valentine's Day, on social media. Musk has not publicly acknowledged the child or the lawsuit

St Clair left Musk's name off the birth certificate due to security concerns, citing Musk's claim of receiving credible death threats every day. The social media influencer and Musk began their romantic relationship in May 2023.

Musk has 12 children with three different women, and this child would be his 13th.

Grimes, Musk's ex-partner and mother of three of his children, publicly pleaded with Musk to respond to messages concerning their child's medical crisis. This occurred shortly before news of St. Clair's court filings.

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February 21, 2025

Apple Pulls Cloud Encryption Feature Over UK Demand For Backdoor Access

Apple has removed its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for iCloud data in the United Kingdom following a government order demanding backdoor access to encrypted user data.

The UK government issued a technical capability notice under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requiring Apple to provide access to encrypted iCloud data, which would have compromised the end-to-end encryption for users worldwide.

Apple has disabled ADP for new users in the UK and will eventually require existing users to disable it manually.

This move affects iCloud data such as photos, notes, messages, and device backups, but does not impact iMessage, FaceTime, password management, and health data, which remain end-to-end encrypted.

Apple has stated that it is "gravely disappointed" and remains committed to offering the highest level of security for users' personal data.

In a statement by Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said the company’s Advanced Data Protection feature will no longer be available to new users and current U.K. users “will eventually need to disable this security feature.”

“We are gravely disappointed that the protections provided by ADP will not be available to our customers in the U.K. given the continuing rise of data breaches and other threats to customer privacy,” the company said. “Enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before."

The UK government's demand is controversial, as it would have provided access to data from users worldwide without their knowledge or consent

Privacy advocates and tech experts have criticized the UK government's actions, noting that the move undermines user privacy and security

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