Month: January 2019

Enlarge / Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley will fly in the first crewed Dragon spacecraft mission. (credit: SpaceX)

The year 2018 saw some great moments in spaceflight, such as the dazzling launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February and the flight of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spacecraft to 82km above the Earth's surface. But in many ways, 2018 was a developmental year for what could be some amazing spaceflight achievements in 2019.

So with the dawn of a new year, we're looking ahead to what may come in 2019 for those eagerly waiting as the government and private spaceflight push back against the final frontier.

Small-sat launch race

Rocket Lab took huge strides in 2018 by launching its Electron booster three times, including twice in the last two months. The company has targeted a dozen launches in 2019 with its rocket, optimized for boosting small satellites and CubeSats into low-Earth orbit. Given its progression last year, it is difficult to bet against Rocket Lab at least coming close to that target.

Enlarge / Tesla's Fremont factory in July 2018. (credit: Mason Trinca for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Tesla produced a record number of cars in the final quarter of 2018, the company reported on Wednesday. Tesla produced 61,394 Model 3s, a 15 percent gain from the previous quarter. Production of the Model S and Model X totaled 25,161 units—slightly below last quarter's figure of 26,903.

This represented a new overall production record, but Wall Street wasn't impressed. As I write this, Tesla's shares are down about 8 percent for the day to $305.

Tesla produced about 4,700 Model 3 vehicles per week in the fourth quarter. Notably, that's still below the 5,000-car weekly production rate Tesla achieved—however briefly—in the final week of June. It's also well below targets previously articulated by CEO Elon Musk.

(credit: Casey Johnston)

Roku's latest update to The Roku Channel makes it easier for users to now find and subscribe to streaming services. The new feature (dubbed "Premium Subscriptions") adds a carousel of subscription partners to The Roku Channel, all of which allow users to sign up for their services directly through Roku's on-screen interface.

It works like this: let's say you want to start watching Starz's Outlander, but you don't subscribe to Starz's streaming service. If you have a Roku device or a Roku TV, you can head into The Roku Channel and find Starz in the new Premium Subscriptions carousel. Select Outlander as the show you want to watch, and information about Starz's streaming service will pop up. With the credit card you have on file with Roku, you can click to subscribe to Starz and start digging into Outlander immediately after.

Premium Subscriptions will have 25 partners when it debuts, including Starz, Showtime, Epix, and others. If you subscribe to many of them through The Roku Channel, you'll get one bill from Roku each month for the total amount you owe for all services to which you subscribe. Roku will offer at least a seven-day free trial for all partner programs, so you can try out these streaming services before you actually pay for them.