SpaceX’s third Starship megarocket made sure its epic demise would be remembered. Starship launched today (March 14) for the third time ever, soaring into space from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas. The giant vehicle notched a number of important milestones, including opening its payload door in space and conducting a propellant-transfer demonstration away from Earth. Starship‘s upper stage didn’t stick its planned water landing in the Indian Ocean, going dark partway through its fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere. But the ship kept its cameras on during reentry, showing us…
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Relive SpaceX Starship’s 3rd flight test in breathtaking photos
SpaceX’s Starship continued to wow onlookers during its third test flight today. On Thursday (March 14), SpaceX launched Starship for the third time from its Starbase manufacturing and launch facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. Hundreds of rocket chasers and spectators gathered along the beach to watch the test flight, which saw Starship, or “The Ship,” separate successfully from its Super Heavy booster and reach orbital velocity. Although neither vehicle survived the test flight, SpaceX hailed the flight as a success after several key milestones were met during…
Read MoreSpaceX stacks Starship ahead of 3rd test flight (photos)
SpaceX’s latest Starship megarocket is poised for its highly anticipated liftoff. SpaceX has stacked the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) vehicle on the pad at its Starbase site in South Texas, the company announced via X today (March 12). That post also included two photos of the newly stacked Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Stacking is a big step toward launch, which SpaceX has said could occur as soon as Thursday (March 14). Related: SpaceX fuels up massive Starship megarocket in test for 3rd launch (photos) Another shot…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites tonight during 3rd launch in under 24 hours
SpaceX is keeping its rapid launch cadence going. The company plans to launch yet another batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites at 6:56 p.m. ET (2356 GMT) on Monday (March 4) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Some eight minutes after liftoff, the flight’s booster will return to the planet, landing on SpaceX’s droneship dubbed “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” The ship will be waiting offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. If the mission lifts off on time, and if SpaceX launches the Transporter-10…
Read MoreBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket rises on launch pad ahead of debut liftoff (photo)
Blue Origin’s powerful new rocket has gone vertical on the launch pad for testing, ahead of a possible debut flight later this year. The New Glenn rocket from Blue Origin rolled out on to Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday (Feb. 21), the company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos announced. The heavy-lift rocket will be put through its paces in the coming weeks and months with “several demonstrations of cryogenic fluid loading, pressure control and the vehicle’s venting systems,” Blue Origin officials…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch Starship again ‘in about 3 weeks,’ Elon Musk says
The third test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket could be just around the corner, according to Elon Musk. “Starship were meant to fly and our next one launches in about 3 weeks, but I recommend waiting for a few more test flights before hopping on board,” Musk said Monday (Feb. 12) in a post on X . The billionaire entrepreneur was replying to a post from the rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), who had asked Musk, “Where my rocket ship?” The two moguls have known each other…
Read MorePrivate Peregrine moon lander is stacked on ULA Vulcan rocket ahead of Jan. 8 launch
The Peregrine lunar lander has completed all its launch milestones and has been stacked atop the Vulcan Centaur rocket that will carry it to space. The launch of the first United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is set for Jan. 8, 2024, with Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander expected to attempt a landing on the moon on Feb. 23, 2024. The landing will make history as not only is Peregrine Astrobotic’s first lander mission, but this is also (possibly) set to be the first time…
Read MoreSpaceX fires up giant Starship rocket ahead of 3rd test flight (video)
SpaceX’s latest Starship vehicle has begun flexing its considerable muscle. SpaceX conducted a “static fire” test today (Dec. 20) with the Starship upper-stage prototype known as Ship 28, briefly igniting the vehicle’s Raptor engines while it remained anchored to the pad at the company’s Starbase site in South Texas. Ship 28 is being prepped to conduct Starship’s third test flight, which SpaceX aims to launch in the coming weeks. And that timeline apparently remains in target, for today’s trial went well. “Flight 3 Starship completed a full-duration static fire with…
Read MoreWatch Blue Origin launch 1st mission in 15 months today
Blue Origin will launch its first mission in more than 15 months this morning (Dec. 18), and you can watch the action live. Blue Origin‘s New Shepard suborbital vehicle is scheduled to lift off from the company’s West Texas site today during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local Texas time). You can watch the action live via Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Space.com will carry the company’s feed if possible. Coverage will begin at 9:10 a.m. EST (1410…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 1st batch of ‘direct to cell’ Starlink satellites early Dec. 15
SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early Friday morning (Dec. 15), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 21 Starlink craft is scheduled to launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday during a roughly 3.5-hour window that opens at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 GMT; 9:04 p.m. on Dec. 14 local California time). And some of those satellites are trailblazers. “This launch will include the first six Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities that will enable mobile network operators…
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