Starship serial number 10 (SN10) has been approved for flight by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), cutting short any potential licensing drama awaiting SpaceX’s new high-altitude Starship launch efforts. After a boring week or so of opaque licensing “issues” only vaguely commented upon by the FAA, Starship serial number 9 (SN9) took off from…
Two days after a last-second failure caused Starship SN9 to smash into the ground and explode, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has returned to Twitter with some harsh preliminary reactions. Right off the bat, in response to a question about why Starships SN8 and SN9 both attempted their unsuccessful landings with only two of three available…
In a bizarre series of events, SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk spent the day visibly clashing with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over Starship launch licensing delays. Just six weeks ago, Starship serial number 8 (SN8) nearly aced the SpaceX’s first FAA-approved high-altitude launch debut out of South Texas, demonstrating the rocket’s ability to…
What is arguably the most complex and important part of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster prototype has made its first appearance at the company’s South Texas Starship factory. Following in the footsteps of Starship development, Super Heavy has been able to extensively borrow from the many lessons learned over the course of building, testing, flying, and…
A series of recent Starship and Starlink delays have pushed SpaceX’s Starship flight test and two Falcon 9 launches into the same ~25-hour period, potentially setting the stage for a frenetic Wednesday and Thursday. SpaceX announced a third delay for its Starlink-16 mission late on January 18th, pushing the launch to no earlier than 8:02…
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes SpaceX has completely scrapped the wreckage of the first high-altitude Starship prototype in spite of preliminary restoration plans, clearing the landing zone it affected for the imminent launch debut of its successor. Known as serial number 8 or SN8, during its stunning launch debut on December 9th, the Starship prototype…
Mirroring comments made a few weeks ago, CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX could be ready to test two Starships simultaneously within “the next few weeks.” On November 30th, in response to an unofficial aerial photo edited to show two Starships at SpaceX’s South Texas launch pad, Musk had noted that the depiction “will be…
SpaceX is developing its next-generation launch vehicle in South Texas at Boca Chica Beach in Cameron County, TX. The aerospace company plans to develop a reusable two-stage vehicle consisting of a Starship and Super Heavy rocket booster that will only be used to propel the spacecraft to orbit. The spacecraft would be able to take…
SpaceX conducted the first high-altitude Starship test flight on Wednesday, December 9th, with the SN8 prototype of a spacecraft under construction to transport astronauts back to the Moon and colonize Mars. Starship SN8 took off from the Launch Pad at the SpaceX South Texas Launch Facility in Boca Chica Beach. Starship SN8 conducted a “belly…
Update: SpaceX has published a video taken near the launch pad of Starship nailing an exotic ‘flip’ maneuver shortly before a hard landing destroyed the rocket. Both the company, test directors, and CEO Elon Musk have all made it abundantly clear that despite the explosive end, Starship SN8’s maiden flight was a spectacular success, proving that…