'Starship'

Liftoff of SN9 sure looked fine on Tuesday afternoon. Three Raptor engines burning, taking the vehicle toward 10km. Trevor Mahlmann The problem came during the engine relighting sequence. Trevor Mahlmann SN9 met an unhappy ending on Tuesday afternoon. SN10 stands nearby, perhaps a bit nervous. Once again, on Tuesday afternoon, a Starship prototype soared into…

Enlarge / Space shuttle Endeavour, seen here in protective wrapping, was mounted on an external tank and inert solid rocket boosters at the California Science Center. Welcome to Edition 6.29 of the Rocket Report! Right now, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is the only US launch vehicle offering crew or cargo service to the International Space…

In September of 2016, Musk treated the world to an early sneak-peak at his proposed super-heavy launch vehicle. Previously known as the Mars Colonial Transporter, the renamed Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) was the centerpiece to Musk’s long-term vision of conducting commercial trips to orbit, to the Moon, and even to Mars. Since that time, the…

Enlarge / SpaceX's second Starship rocket is seen on the launch pad at its Starbase facility in South Texas.SpaceX As SpaceX nears its first Starship launch of 2024—possibly as soon as within three weeks—from its Starbase facility in South Texas, the company is pressing regulators to increase its cadence of flights. During a press availability…

Enlarge / Getting the Artemis I mission off the ground marked the end of an important development era for NASA.Trevor Mahlmann This past year was a momentous one in spaceflight, bringing to a close many of the most significant storylines that have dominated this industry in the last 10 to 15 years. Consider the state…

Enlarge / SpaceX's Starship rocket is stacked for the final time on Saturday before a launch attempt.SpaceX 9:15am ET Update: SpaceX ended Monday's launch attempt of the Starship vehicle about 10 minutes before liftoff. The problem was caused by a stuck pressurization valve. Instead, the company has turned the launch attempt into a wet dress…

Enlarge / Artist's illustration of a Starship vehicle in low-Earth orbit. You've probably heard about SpaceX's plans to use its giant new Starship vehicle to land people on the Moon and Mars, send numerous Starlink satellites or large telescopes into space, or perhaps even serve as a high-speed point-to-point terrestrial transport for equipment or people.…

SpaceX is continuing with the development of their Starship Hopper, a miniature, stainless steel version of its proposed super-heavy lift vehicle known as the Starship. Most recently, test were conducted on the revolutionary heat shield that will protect the Hopper once it reenters Earth’s atmosphere, and a new rendering was released that showed the final…

Enlarge / SpaceX's Booster 7 undergoes a static fire test with 11 engines on Tuesday in South Texas.SpaceX On Tuesday, SpaceX test-fired its Super Heavy rocket for about 12 seconds, making it the longest duration firing of the massive booster so far. The test, which ignited 11 of the 33 Raptor rocket engines, came as…

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.…