NASA has selected its deep space hardware—now comes the fun part
Enlarge / NASA's Kathy Lueders, left, and SpaceX's Hans Koenigsmann track the Demo-2 crew mission in 2020. SpaceX is helping to enable NASA to think less about transportation and more about exploration.NASA No NASA official would ever admit this in public, but the 2010s have been a frustrating decade for human spaceflight. After the space…
Watch SpaceX launch Starship, the tallest and most powerful rocket ever...
SpaceX plans to launch Starship, its flagship mega-rocket, to orbit for the first time as soon as Monday. If Starship succeeds, it'll be the tallest, most powerful, and only fully reusable rocket ever flown. Elon Musk estimates a 50% chance of success. Watch the launch attempt live in the broadcast below. Loading Something is loading.…
SpaceX Starship now has 3 beast Raptor engines set up
Three engines are better than one. Elon Musk Elon Musk's Mars rocket is really coming together. Construction of the interplanetary spaceship is taking place at SpaceX's Boca Chica facility in Texas and, after giving us a glimpse of the prototype's fins on Monday, the SpaceX CEO has pulled back the curtain on the Starship Mk.1 fitted…
SpaceX Starship SN4 prototype comes together quickly after SN3’s demise
While many businesses in Texas are shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SpaceX is busy working at its Boca Chica development facility to assemble another Starship prototype shortly after a previous version collapsed during a pressure test earlier this month. A webcam setup by a nearby resident captured the above time lapse video of the Starship…
Elon Musk: SpaceX Raptor rocket engine all set for Starship
FilmMagic/Getty Images We know what SpaceX's next-generation Starship looks like. Now Elon Musk has shared a series of new looks at the Raptor engine that'll one day rocket it off our planet -- including a sublime display from its first test firings. Musk first posted a pair of images to Twitter on Feb. 1 showing a…
Rocket Report: Falcon 9 flies for 300th time; an intriguing launch...
Enlarge / The upper stage for the first Ariane 6 flight vehicle is seen inside its factory in Bremen, Germany. The upper stage's hydrogen-fueled Vinci engine is visible in this image. Welcome to Edition 6.31 of the Rocket Report! Photographers at Cape Canaveral, Florida, noticed a change to the spaceport's skyline this week. Blue Origin…
SpaceX’s megarocket has a ‘decent chance’ of making orbit on its...
Elon Musk said he thinks Starship has a "decent chance" of reaching orbit on its second test flight. SpaceX's megarocket first tried taking off in April, but it exploded a few minutes after liftoff. This time, Musk said Starship's engines will be lit while it's essentially still connected to its booster. Loading Something is loading.…
Sorry, doubters: Starship actually had a remarkably successful flight
Enlarge / Starship launched on Saturday with all 33 Raptor engines burning nominally.SpaceX SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas—Starship launches are clarifying events. Pretty quickly after liftoff you find out who understands the rocket business, and who are the casual observers bereft of a clue. Before I had even left the launch viewing area in South Padre…
Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX for an ‘exciting’ launch of Starship after...
Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX on an "exciting" Starship launch after the prized rocket exploded. The mega-rocket cleared the launchpad but exploded nearly three minutes after liftoff. Musk had given the rocket launch a 50% chance of success, guaranteeing "excitement." Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed…
First Free Flight of SpaceX’s Starhopper Aborted After Engine Fire
Yesterday, on Wednesday, July 24th, the prototype test vehicle for the Starship (the Starhopper) commenced its first untethered “hop test” at the company’s test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. This test is an important milestone for SpaceX, intended to validate the Raptor engine in free flight and bring the company one step closer to creating…
