SpaceX plans to launch 23 more Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida tonight (Nov. 21), continuing a busy stretch for the company. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a nearly four-hour window that opens at 11:01 p.m. EDT (0401 GMT on Nov. 22). You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter), beginning about five minutes before the launch window opens. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in…
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SpaceX’s epic Starship liftoff didn’t damage launch pad, Elon Musk says
SpaceX’s Starship launch pad appears to have passed its second trial by fire. The pad, at SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas, took a beating on April 20, during the first-ever test flight of a fully stacked Starship vehicle. The huge rocket’s 33 first-stage Raptor engines blasted out a big crater beneath the pad that day, sending chunks of concrete and other debris high into the Texas sky. SpaceX installed a water-spewing steel plate beneath the pad in the aftermath of the debut flight, to prevent such damage from happening…
Read MoreFAA to oversee investigation of SpaceX’s explosive 2nd Starship flight
The second-ever test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket has spurred an investigation, just as the first one did. Starship lifted off from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas on Saturday (Nov. 18), kicking off a test mission that aimed to send the vehicle’s upper stage most of the way around Earth. The target was a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii about 90 minutes after launch. But Saturday’s flight ended just eight minutes in, with the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” of Starship’s upper stage. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration…
Read MoreSpaceX poised to launch 22 Starlink satellites early Nov. 19
SpaceX plans to launch 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California early on Sunday morning (Nov. 19). A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday during a four-hour window that opens at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT; 10:55 p.m. on Nov. 18 local California time). You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Coverage will begin about five minutes before launch. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the…
Read MoreSpaceX’s 2nd Starship launch test looks amazing in these stunning photos and videos
SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket, the most powerful rocket on Earth, on its second test flight this weekend, and while the vehicle may have met an explosive end, its flight absolutely amazing to behold. Stunning photos and video by SpaceX, Space.com, news wires and the public show the sheer spectacle of the Starship second test launch, which SpaceX launched early Saturday (Nov. 18) from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. In a big milestone for SpaceX, the rocket’s two stages separated successfully. The Super Heavy booster…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites tonight on 1st of back-to-back missions
SpaceX is set to launch 22 Starlink internet satellites from Florida tonight (Nov. 17), on the first of two planned missions in a three-hour span. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight during a four-hour window that opens at 11:00 p.m. EDT (0400 GMT on Nov. 18). You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Coverage is expected to begin about five minutes before launch. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see…
Read MoreSpaceX delays second Starship test launch to Nov. 18 to replace rocket part
We’ll have to wait at least one more day to see Starship’s second-ever flight. SpaceX had been targeting Friday morning (Nov. 17) for the second test launch of its huge Starship rocket. But that’s no longer the plan. “We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so launch is postponed to Saturday,” company founder and CEO Elon Musk announced today (Nov. 16) via X (formerly known as Twitter). (Grid fins are the waffle-iron-like structures on Starship’s Super Heavy first stage, which help the booster steer its way back to Earth.)…
Read MoreWatch SpaceX’s Starship launch for 2nd time ever on Nov. 17
SpaceX plans to launch its Starship vehicle for the second time ever on Friday (Nov. 17), and you can watch the historic liftoff live. SpaceX aims to launch Starship, a next-generation system designed to take people and payloads to deep space, on Friday during a two-hour window that opens at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT). Liftoff will occur from Starbase, the company’s site in coastal South Texas. You can watch the action here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company. Coverage will begin at 7:30 a.m. EST…
Read MoreSpaceX gets license for 2nd launch of giant Starship rocket
Starship has been cleared for its second-ever liftoff. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today (Nov. 15) that it has granted a license for the second launch of Starship, SpaceX’s next-generation space transportation system. “The FAA has given license authorization for the second launch of the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle,” agency officials wrote in an emailed statement this afternoon. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.” The liftoff is set to occur Friday (Nov. 17) from Starbase, a SpaceX facility in South…
Read MoreSpaceX launches O3b mPOWER communication satellites on its 84th mission of 2023
SpaceX launched the SES O3b mPOWER mission on Sunday (Nov. 12), a flight that placed two communication satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO). The Falcon 9 rocket ferrying these satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:08 p.m. EST (2108 GMT). Related: SpaceX launches its 29th cargo mission to the International Space Station A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage lands on the droneship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX (via X)) The Falcon 9’s first stage came back…
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