Key Points 🚀 SpaceX has moved Booster 9 back to the Orbital Launch Mount for additional testing before its test flight. 🛠️ A vented interstage was added to Booster 9, allowing for hot staging where Starship’s engines ignite before separating from the booster. 🚀 Booster 9 was moved to the launch site using ‘chopsticks’ and…
Key Points 🚀 SpaceX installs a new hot staging ring atop Booster 9 for Starship’s stage separation method. 🛰 Hot staging involves Starship igniting its engines while still connected to Booster 9, which then separates. 🌍 The concept of hot staging is not new and has been used by Russian and older American rockets. 🔥…
Key Points 🚀 SpaceX has made significant progress at Starbase. 🗓️ SpaceX requested a maritime exclusion zone for rocket launching activities on August 31, 2023. 🛠️ Despite progress, it’s unlikely Starship will launch by that date due to ongoing work and testing. 🚀 Tests have been conducted on Ship 25 and Booster 9, but challenges…
Environmental groups have taken legal action against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following SpaceX’s Starship test flight last month. The groups alleged that the FAA failed to adequately assess the environmental impact of Starship’s test flight, which took place at SpaceX’s Starbase, Texas site on April 20. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tempered expectations prior to…
SpaceX’s Starship completed its first successful flight test with an incredible liftoff at South Padre Island, Texas, after years of testing and regulatory barriers. After scrubbing the first attempt earlier this week due to a frozen pressurant valve, SpaceX rescheduled the test flight for today, April 20, and it was well worth the wait. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649052609590992901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1649052609590992901%7Ctwgr%5E40240c4418727f37cf0bd877144a25a614891c91%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.teslarati.com%2Fspacex-starship-completes-first-successful-test-flight%2F Starship’s…
For the second time this week, SpaceX is preparing for the maiden test flight of Starship, the company’s most ambitious rocket to date and the most powerful rocket ever built. If successful, Starship could become the vehicle of choice to take astronauts back to the moon or perhaps even take humanity on its first-ever journey…
A senior SpaceX director expects the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to grant a license for the first orbital launch of its next-generation Starship rocket in the “very near future.” Speaking at the 2023 Space Mobility Conference, SpaceX Senior Director of National Security Space Solutions Gary Henry also indicated that Starship remains on track…
President and COO Gwynne Shotwell says that SpaceX has temporarily abandoned plans for floating Starship launch platforms to ensure it’s fully focused on gaining flight experience with the next-generation rocket. On February 13th, a NASASpaceflight.com forum member reported that a pair of oil rigs were scheduled to leave a Mississippi port for an unknown destination. At one…
SpaceX has rolled a strange, naked Starship prototype from its Starbase, Texas factory to a nearby test site. Beginning with its cone-tipped nose section, SpaceX started stacking Starship S26 in October 2022. By early January 2023, the prototype had been stacked to its full 50-meter (~165 ft) height and welded together. After about six more weeks of…
SpaceX’s Starship rocket has survived the most powerful static fire test in the history of rocketry. According to CEO Elon Musk, Super Heavy Booster 7 (B7) ultimately ignited 31 of its 33 Raptor engines. One engine was manually disabled “just before” the static fire, while the other faulty engine automatically shut down while attempting to…