Current T0 is 19:23:41 ET (launched on time)
Everyday astronaut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMD-Wo8jz90
Nasaspaceflight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bcpnn_PO-A
The US is the only country to ever have a super heavy lift capability (Saturn V) and currently the Falcon Heavy is the most capable operating rocket.
The Starship is the first ever vehicle to be designed for full and rapid reusability, and on top of that, is super heavy lift class at about 1.5 times the tonnage to LEO as the Saturn V.
The USSR is the only other country to ever come close, first with the N1 with similar capability to the Saturn V; it however flew 4 times all ending in failure and was discontinued when USA succeeded in the moon landings. In the 1980s, the USSR again developed a heavy lift booster, the Energia, which flew once with the Buran spaceplane. The USSR collapsed weeks later.
The space shuttle had a capability that no other space launch system has had in the past - it could go and pluck an object from orbit and land it safely on earth. Theoretically, it could have done that on any of its 135 missions.
Starship will be the next vehicle capable of returning objects from orbit.
Great points and things I ponder as well.
If there is exotic technology known to Musk and Trump, then this has to be part of the reveal.
These space programs rake in a ton of money.
Well yes. Musk has this pyramid scheme going. Falcon 1 demo funded Falcon 9, which funded Falcon Heavy and Starlink, which funds Starship development. Starlink is the cash cow. Its netting something like 7 billion a year in revenue. SpaceX has basically become a sat Internet provider with a side hustle of launching Nasa and other commercial payloads. 75% of their launches are for Starlink.