SpaceX has successfully completed its second astronaut launch in less than three weeks, sending a batch of professional NASA and ESA astronauts on the way to the International Space Station after ferrying the first all-private astronaut crew to and from the same orbital outpost in the weeks prior. Shrugging off a 12-day delay caused by…
SpaceX has rapidly turned around one of its two East Coast ‘autonomous spaceport drone ships’ and sent the vessel back to sea to support the sixth and final Falcon 9 launch planned this month. SpaceX began the month with the successful launch of Transporter-4 – its fourth dedicated smallsat rideshare mission – on April 1st.…
Hawaiian Airlines will offer SpaceX’s Starlink internet service onboard flights. In a press release published on Monday, April 25, Hawaiian Airlines announced that it would be offering complimentary high-speed, low-latency broadband internet access to passengers on flights between the United States, Asia, and Oceania. Starlink’s airline antennas will be installed in the airlines’ Airbuss A330 and A321…
After a few months of foundation work, SpaceX has begun assembling the first section of a vast new Starship manufacturing building that will eventually replace a series of tents also known as ‘sprung structures’. SpaceX and its contractors began erecting those tents in late 2019 after a mostly successful series of tests involving Starhopper –…
SpaceX’s Starlink service is coming to JSX private flights. JSX recently announced its plans to offer free internet connection to customers using Starlink. “JSX is proud to be the first air carrier to adopt [SpaceX] Starlink internet inflight, free for every customer onboard. We’d call it the best Wi-Fi in the sky, but it’s actually…
Delta Air Lines tested Starlink technology and are in talks with SpaceX’s broadband unit, the airlines’ Chief Executive Ed Bastian told the Wall Street Journal. Bastian declined to provide specifics on Delta’s Starlink tests. However, the Delta CEO previously criticized the internet service available on flights. He believed that in-flight internet should be fast and free.…
In a new Request For Information (RFI) quietly released by NASA on April Fools’ Day, the space agency appears to have indirectly asked SpaceX to determine the fate of its ‘Dragon XL’ lunar cargo spacecraft. In March 2020, NASA announced that it had selected SpaceX to deliver the bulk of pressurized and unpressurized cargo it…
Using the same Falcon 9 booster, SpaceX has successfully completed its second National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite launch in a little over two months. Falcon 9 booster B1071 debuted on February 2nd, 2022, carrying the NROL-87 payload and a Falcon second stage (S2) most of the way into space before landing just ~400 meters…
In a what is likely a prelude to engine installation, SpaceX has begun stress-testing an upgraded Super Heavy booster prototype. Known as Super Heavy Booster 7 or B7, the prototype is the first of its kind designed to support up to 33 new Raptor V2 engines – each potentially capable of producing up to 230…
After restarting work on the project a few months ago, SpaceX appears to have gotten back up to speed and begun to make rapid progress on the construction of Starship’s first Florida launch pad and tower. Located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39A facilities, SpaceX has intended to construct a Starship launch…