Florida Legislature Considering Bill To Allow Homeowners To Shoot Down Drones

Florida Legislature Considering Bill To Allow Homeowners To Shoot Down Drones

Florida lawmakers are weighing a new bill that would give homeowners the right to use “reasonable force” against drones flying over their property—a move likely triggered by a spike in unexplained drone sightings last year centered around New Jersey. That “reasonable force” might involve shooting the drone out of the air under some circumstances.

File photo of a typical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, commonly known as “drones”
Wikimedia Commons
Rockets

SpaceX Nails Doubleheader with Flawless Falcon 9 Launches

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — On April 21, 2025, SpaceX executed a remarkable feat of aerospace engineering, successfully launching two Falcon 9 rockets from separate launch pads in Florida within a span of 16 hours. The early morning mission delivered critical supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), while the evening launch deployed a diverse array of satellites into orbit. Both rockets achieved their objectives with precision, and their reusable first-stage boosters landed safely, underscoring SpaceX’s dominance in reusable rocket technology and its ability to maintain an ambitious launch cadence.

Close up of booster b 1067

SpaceX Sets Reusability Record with Falcon 9 B1067’s 27th Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX has once again pushed the boundaries of rocket reusability with the 27th successful launch and landing of its Falcon 9 first-stage booster B1067. The booster, a veteran of SpaceX’s fleet, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 14, 2025, at 12:00 a.m. EDT, delivering 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to low Earth orbit. Just over eight minutes later, B1067 touched down flawlessly on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean, marking its 27th landing and setting a new record for rocket reusability.

From Glamour to Gravity: The Controversy Surrounding NS-31 And The Future of Blue Origin

From Glamour to Gravity: The Controversy Surrounding NS-31 And The Future of Blue Origin

Crew of Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission, clockwise from left: Lauren Sánchez, Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe and Kerrianne Flynn.

I wasn’t going to even write an article on this because, like many others, I didn’t view the NS-31 flight as newsworthy, at least from a scientific or technological standpoint. But there is a deeper story here – why does Blue Origin seem to be squandering time, money, and resources on this particular program? The real money is in launch contracts, and SpaceX appears to be leaving Blue Origin (aka Blue) behind on the proverbial pad.

ULA Atlas rocket

ULA Prepares for Atlas V Launch as SpaceX Takes Over GPS Satellite Mission

A ULA Atlas rocket with four sold rocket boosters at LC-41 on 8-28-23 carrying NROL-107. Image by Richard P. Gallagher | FMN

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the first batch of production satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation. Another ULA rocket, the Vulcan, will not be launching a previously assigned military GPS satellite. It has been reassigned to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, marking the second such change in recent months. Here’s what you need to know about these developments in the world of spaceflight.

τ Coronae Borealis

Astronomers Say Star Will Go Nova Soon

τ Coronae Borealis going nova.
Visualization courtesy NASA

Astronomers worldwide are eagerly anticipating a rare celestial event: a star exploding. Even better, the explosion and its remnants will be visible to the naked eye, and it will be visible from Florida.

The event centers around T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), a binary star system located approximately 3,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Corona Borealis. This system, comprising a white dwarf and a red giant, is expected to undergo a nova outburst in the very near future.

Atlas V to Launch Heaviest Payload Yet with Amazon’s Project Kuiper Satellites on April 9

Atlas V to Launch Heaviest Payload Yet with Amazon’s Project Kuiper Satellites on April 9

Amazon is set to launch its first 27 production satellites for Project Kuiper aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on April 9, 2025. The launch is scheduled for noon EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with a three-hour launch window.

Atlas V lifts off. Credit: United Launch Alliance/Ben Cooper
Credit: United Launch Alliance / Ben Cooper

NROL-69 Launch … Who Is The NRO Anyway?

Certain aspects of today’s launch of NROL-69 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station were well understood … the name of the payload (NROL-69 aka Hummingbird), the launch time, the Falcon 9 booster, the launch site – Launch Complex 40. But many other aspects that the geekier side of us wants to know … the eventual positioning of the spacecraft, spacecraft dimensions and mass, the purpose of the spacecraft, orbit, design life, etc. aren’t available. Here’s why –

The classified NROL-69 mission launched from KSC this afternoon on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
The classified NROL-69 mission launched from KSC this afternoon on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
SpaceX's Gigafactory

Mini-Starship or Bust? Experts Clash Over SpaceX’s Future

March 19, 2025 – SpaceX’s Starship program, critical to NASA’s lunar goals and Elon Musk’s Martian dreams, is at a crossroads, with experts offering starkly contrasting visions. While one leading engineer champions a smaller “Mini-Starship” to expedite human landings on the Moon and Mars, critics slam Starship for its repeated failures as evidence of a doomed design.