Ari Goldschmidt:

Gigabit Starlink Incoming? FAA Clears SpaceX for More Starship Launches

SpaceX has received approval to increase the number of launches for its Starship vehicle, which will carry next-generation Starlink satellites into orbit and usher in gigabit speeds for Starlink.

The FAA previously limited the launches to five per year from SpaceX’s site in Starbase, Texas. But on Tuesday, the federal agency effectively raised the limit to 25 per year in an official report that weighed the environmental impacts of such an increase. 

“The FAA has determined that modifying SpaceX’s vehicle operator license supporting the increased launch and landing cadence of the Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment within the meaning of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act),” the agency said in its Final Environmental Assessment.

FAA’s clearance also means SpaceX can land up to 25 first-stage boosters in the area and up to 25 second stages for Starship.

The decision gives SpaceX ample room to ramp up Starship launches, although the vehicle remains in testing. In March, the company conducted its eighth Starship flight, but the upper stage tumbled out of control and exploded in the atmosphere.

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Chris Campbell:

Rare Earths, Disgusting Secrets

Rare earths are neither rare, nor all that magical. They’re just dirty. Dirty to mine, dirty to refine, and dirtier to depend on when the world's biggest supplier is your biggest rival.

And, though they’re about as common in Earth’s crust as copper or tin, they're spread out, tangled up with junk, and to extract it cheaply requires filthy chemical processes. Think: rivers of acid and fields of toxic sludge.

China didn’t corner the rare earth market because it had the biggest stash. It won because it was willing to poison entire provinces to refine the stuff on the cheap. They chose the pollution path, not the cleaner, but far more energy-intensive one.

Enter the hypocrisy: In our race for “clean energy,” we outsourced the filthy parts to China and Myanmar. Point is, we love the shiny toys. We just don’t want to dig for the guts.

But now that China’s slamming the door on rare earth exports to America, the timeline and checklist to build rare earth mines in America are getting fast-tracked. Trump’s team is already signaling deregulation to meet the coming demand.

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Davis Wilson:

Heads Up on AMZN

After I published my Perfect Portfolio, a sharp-eyed reader emailed me with a fair question: “Why no Amazon?”

I’m a fan of Amazon. I use it. And I’m extremely bullish on its cloud division, AWS, which is arguably one of the most important business units in the entire global economy. But there’s a reason Amazon didn’t make the cut…

It comes down to a blend of macro risk, valuation, and what I believe is one of the most misunderstood and undervalued assets in the world: Alphabet’s Waymo. I believe Waymo is one of the most undervalued assets in the world. I’ve ridden in a few now. It’s not a demo. It’s not a gimmick. It works. 

If Waymo reaches scale and profitability, it could unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in value. It’s like Alphabet is hiding a future transportation company inside its balance sheet – and the market hasn’t priced it in.

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