Technologies

SpaceX could attempt three Falcon 9 rocket launches in next two days

Elon Musk and company are lined up for a record-setting 48 hours thanks to a cruise ship that came too close to the launch pad over the weekend.

SpaceX is planning to start the week with a bang, or a few, as Elon Musk’s company aims to fly up to three Falcon 9 missions over the next two days, including possible back-to-back launches from Florida within 24 hours.

The first liftoff is set for Monday, when a rocket topped with an Italian surveillance satellite is currently scheduled to leave Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:11 p.m. PT (6:11 p.m. ET). Then, a Starlink launch is on tap Tuesday from adjacent Kennedy Space Center, followed by mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from California Wednesday.

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Things weren’t supposed to line up this way. Monday’s launch was originally planned for last week, but got pushed back a few days by poor weather. A Sunday evening attempt then got scrubbed at the literal last minute due to a cruise ship in the launch exclusion zone.

SpaceX’s launch director called it off with just over 30 seconds to go before engine ignition.

«Port Canaveral and Coast Guard confirm the cruise ship that violated yesterday’s SpaceX launch hazard area was Harmony of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship,» reports Emre Kelly of Florida Today.

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Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Starlink launch has also been pushed back a few times and was set to happen Monday, but Sunday’s scrub appears to have postponed it again to Tuesday. Of course, further delays are always possible, so this launch itinerary could get reshuffled yet again.

If the company does manage three launches in under 48 hours, it will set a new record for the shortest period of time for a single launch provider to do so.

Whenever the next mission does get off the ground it will be the fourth of 2022 for SpaceX. All three flights will be livestreamed starting about 10 minutes before launch. Check back for updates as the situation evolves.

Technologies

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Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.