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6A I FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 1 TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS r
<br />SpaceX rocket launches 5 BlueBird satellites
<br />Rick Neale
<br />USA TODAY NETWORK - F
<br />Hoping for a liftoff amid dreary
<br />weather, dozens of AST SpaceMobile
<br />executives and shareholders gathered
<br />during the wee hours Thursday at the
<br />Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy
<br />Space Center Visitor Complex to watch
<br />a milestone event in their questto create
<br />a space -based broadband network for
<br />sm ntphones.
<br />Mission successful. A SpaceX Falcon
<br />9 rocket launched at 4:52 a.m. EDT from
<br />Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
<br />lifting the company's fust five BlueBird
<br />communications
<br />satellites into low -
<br />Earth orbit for future testing.
<br />"It's direct -to -cell, and that's the
<br />beauty of the solution. The eventual
<br />customers will be anybody who has a
<br />cellphone — which Is just about every
<br />American. And you go around the world,
<br />and the vast majority of people have
<br />cellphones, toq" said Chris Sambar,
<br />AT&Ts head of network.
<br />"It'll be a mass-market solution for
<br />both consumers and business custom-
<br />ers, and It'll enable them to get connec-
<br />tivity. And not just taxiing, like you can
<br />get now on some devices. Not just voice
<br />calling. But this will actually be full date
<br />service. And you'll be able to get it in all
<br />ofthose places today where the cell sites
<br />dont cover," Sambar said.
<br />AT&T and AST SpaceMobfle have
<br />worked together since 2018 to launch di-
<br />rect -to -cell service, and the companies
<br />entered a joint commercial agreement
<br />in May. Sambar joined the AST Space -
<br />Mobile board of directors the following
<br />month, and Verizon has signed on as a
<br />second major U.S. partner.
<br />The Space F. 'a 45th Weather
<br />Squadron had only predicted 30% odds
<br />oVilo for launch" weather during Thurs-
<br />day's four-hour BlueBird launch win-
<br />dow, citing a variety of meteorological
<br />concems including cumulus clouds,
<br />thick cloud layers, surface electric fields
<br />and low -to -moderate risk of solar
<br />activity.
<br />After soaring skyward along a north-
<br />easterly trajectory, the Falcon 9 first -
<br />stage booster triggered twin sonic
<br />booms by returning for lending at Cape
<br />Canaveral Space Force Start- 7K min-
<br />utes after liftoff.
<br />In September 2022, nearly two years
<br />ago to the day, AST SpaceMobile
<br />launched its initial BlueWalker 3 proto-
<br />type satellite from NASA's Kennedy
<br />Space Center.
<br />Deployed in orbit, each BlueBird sat-
<br />ellite will boast communications arrays
<br />measuring 693 square feet.
<br />"Completing the manufacturing, as-
<br />sembly, and environmental testing for
<br />these satellites represents a significant
<br />milestone in our mission to bridge the
<br />digital divide and deliver connectivity
<br />to those who need it most: AST Space -
<br />Mobile Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan
<br />said in a July press release.
<br />"We are eager to see these pioneering
<br />satellites take flight and begin laying the
<br />foundation for our global cellular broad-
<br />band network," Aveflan said.
<br />Sambar did not provide a customer
<br />service target launch date.
<br />"There'g be successive launches in
<br />the coming years. They're in the process
<br />of building the next 17 satellites right
<br />now. They construct these out in Mid-
<br />land, Texas, so those will be going up
<br />relatively quickly after this in the com-
<br />ing months," Sambw said.
<br />For the latest news and launch
<br />schedule from Cape Canaveral
<br />Space Force Station and KSC, visit
<br />flo ridatoday. mm/space.
<br />Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at
<br />FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at
<br />Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X:
<br />@RickNealel
<br />California wildfire covers
<br />more than 50,000 acres
<br />1"11,1 omez and
<br />Jeanine Santucci
<br />USA TODAY
<br />A raging wildfire In
<br />Los Angeles end San Ber-
<br />nardinocounties has
<br />grown to almost 50,000
<br />acres,forcing residents
<br />to fiee In a hurry and de-
<br />stroying dozens of
<br />homes.
<br />The Bridge Fire has set
<br />over 51,000 acres ablaze
<br />and is 0% contained, of-
<br />ficials said Thursday.
<br />Its rapid growth made
<br />It the largest active fire in
<br />the state, surpassing the
<br />Line Fire, which is also
<br />burning in San Bernardi-
<br />no and has scorched an-
<br />other 37,000 acres with
<br />18% containment
<br />The Bridge Fire start-
<br />ed on Sunday aftemoon,
<br />accordingW InciWeb. On
<br />Tuesday, the Esse grew by
<br />over 13,000 acres,
<br />spreading north and
<br />northeast towards the
<br />communities of Wright -
<br />wood and Pinon HIES.
<br />It threatened 1,068
<br />structures ae of Thurs-
<br />day morning, according
<br />to Cal Fire. Numerous
<br />buildings and structures
<br />were already hit, and
<br />damage to power infra-
<br />structure was reported.
<br />Nearly three dozen
<br />homes burned in the
<br />Mount Baldy and
<br />Wrightwood areas, Los
<br />Angeles County Fire De-
<br />partment Chief Anthony
<br />rr
<br />Maone said. Six cabins
<br />In the wilderness were
<br />also destroyed.
<br />California has secured
<br />grants from the Federal
<br />Emergency Management
<br />Agency to help fight the
<br />Line and Bridge fires, ac-
<br />cording to statements on
<br />Gov. Gavin Newsom.
<br />website.
<br />Andrew Corona and
<br />his fiancee were at the
<br />hospital on Monday af-
<br />temoon for their 3-day-
<br />old's fust pediatrician
<br />checkup when they got
<br />the alert that they need-
<br />ed to evacuate from their
<br />Mount Baldy Village
<br />A Cel Fire firefighter tackles the Bridge Fire
<br />threateningm untain communities to the
<br />northeast of Los Angeles, in Wrightwood, Calif.,
<br />Wednesday. RINGO CHKI/REUTERS
<br />home, where they'd lived
<br />for just over a year. In-
<br />stead of bringing their in-
<br />fant son home, the fam-
<br />ily, including their 5 -
<br />year -old, went to stay at
<br />Coronas mother's house
<br />down the mountain
<br />"We had just finally
<br />finished unpacking the
<br />lest couple of boxes, put-
<br />ting everything up and
<br />getting everything ready,
<br />building the cradle,
<br />building the crib. Finally
<br />excited to come home
<br />and Introduce our son to
<br />our home and have him
<br />comfortable," Corona
<br />said.
<br />They couldn't return
<br />home Monday to get any
<br />of thelrbelongings, or his
<br />fiancee's beloved cat,
<br />Midna, he told USA TO-
<br />DAY.
<br />"I told her, '1 promise
<br />you, I'm gonna get your
<br />cat; "Corona said.
<br />The next day, a, the
<br />fire rapidly grew, Corona,
<br />27, drove as close as he
<br />could until he reached
<br />firefighter barricades,
<br />and begged them to allow
<br />him to go rescue the cat.
<br />Eventually he was es-
<br />corted back to his house.
<br />"On our way up, I'm
<br />seeing something I've
<br />never seen before, just
<br />fires ablaze all along the
<br />mountain. I wasnt able
<br />to see because of the
<br />smoke. I couldn t breathe
<br />when 1 got out of the car
<br />to get into my house; he
<br />said.
<br />Corona only had
<br />enough time to grab Mid-
<br />na and a bag of things for
<br />the baby. He said that as
<br />far as he knew by
<br />Wednesday evening, his
<br />home was still standing,
<br />but it's tough to get up-
<br />dates because power is
<br />down and signal Is fl at -
<br />Ing up the mountain.
<br />A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket heads to the clouds after leaving Cape Canaveral Space
<br />Force Station early Thursday. C -G BAiLEY/aoRIDA TODAY
<br />NOTICE OF
<br />PROPOSED
<br />TAX INCREASE
<br />The Indian River County Board of County
<br />Commissioners has tentatively adopted a
<br />measure to increase its property tax levy.
<br />Last year's property tax levy:
<br />A. Initially proposed tax levy.... $ 162,600,962
<br />B. Less tax reductions due to Value
<br />Adjustment Board and other
<br />assessment changes........... $ (264,059)
<br />C. Actual property tax levy....... $ 162,865,021
<br />This year's proposed tax levy.. $ 179,315,826
<br />All concerned citizens are invited to attend a
<br />public hearing on the tax increase to be held on
<br />Wednesday, September 18, 2024
<br />at 5:01 p.m.
<br />at
<br />County Commission Chambers
<br />1801 27th Street
<br />Vero Beach, Florida 32960
<br />A FINAL DECISION on the proposed tax
<br />increase and the budget will be made at this
<br />hearing.
<br />
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