Tag: BFR
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Starship point-to-point: a potential future application or a capability flex?
Officially announced by SpaceX as a future goal of Starship, Point-to-Point proposes utilizing its rapidly reusable Starship launch vehicle as an Earth-focused fast transportation system, allowing people to travel anywhere in the world in under one hour. While the capability is undeniably exciting and futuristic, its viability remains questionable due to the numerous technical and…
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Preparing for “Earth to Earth” space travel and a competition with supersonic airliners
Commercial spaceflight companies are preparing to enter a new market: suborbital flights from one place to another on Earth. Aiming for fast transportation for passengers and cargo, these systems are being developed by a combination of established companies, such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, and new ones like Astra. Technical and business challenges lie ahead…
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SpaceX Starship: The Continued Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket
Since 2012, SpaceX has been working on a reusable rocket family, now called Starship, that will eventually replace its workhorse Falcon 9 family. Its design has evolved into a rocket possibly unprecedented in its ambition, being even larger than the venerable Saturn V rocket, but with far more uses. At launch, it will be the…
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SpaceX Starship: The Continued Evolution of the Big Falcon Rocket
Since 2012, SpaceX has been working on a reusable rocket family, now called Starship, that will eventually replace its workhorse Falcon 9 family. Its design has evolved into a rocket possibly unprecedented in its ambition, being even larger than the venerable Saturn V rocket, but with far more uses. At launch, it will be the…
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Elon Musk tweets a sneak peek at his vision for SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket
Members of SpaceX’s team in Texas use cranes to add rear moving fins to the Starship Mk1 prototype. (Elon Musk via Twitter) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is talking up his Starship Mk1 prototype super-rocket in Texas, less than a week in advance of an eagerly awaited update on his plans for Starship trips to the…
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Starhopper successfully conducts debut Boca Chica Hop
SpaceX’s Starhopper has successfully undertaken its first real hop into the Texas air on Thursday. The Hop saw the vehicle rise under the power of its Raptor (SN6) engine, around 20 meters in altitude, before translating several meters from where it launched. Elon Musk said the hop was successful and next will be a hop…
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SpaceX readying Starhopper for hops in Texas as Pad 39A plans materialize in Florida
With the arrival of a new Raptor engine at their Boca Chica launch facility, SpaceX is gearing up for a second round of testing with the Starhopper vehicle in South Texas. The latest test campaign is slated to begin in mid-June and is expected to include the first untethered hop of Starhopper. Meanwhile, on the…
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SpaceX considering Starship test launches from Pad 39A
As SpaceX continues to make steady progress on multiple Starship test vehicles at their Boca Chica launch facility, the company’s CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that they are also constructing a Starship vehicle in Florida. The Florida-based Starship is expected to launch from one of SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral based facilities, as opposed to the company’s…
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Starhopper conducts Raptor Static Fire tests
Testing of SpaceX’s Starhopper suborbital vehicle in Boca Chica, Texas, achieved a new milestone on Wednesday evening with a Static Fire test of its Raptor engine. The test comes after over a week of Wet Dress Rehearsals (WDR) and pre-burner tests. Thursday would have technically resulted in its first hop, albeit by just inches due…
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SpaceX gearing up for Starship tests at Boca Chica
At the southern tip of Texas, SpaceX is preparing to begin testing their interplanetary spacecraft. The first Starship test vehicle, dubbed Starhopper, is in advanced stages of construction, and SpaceX facilities at Boca Chica and McGregor are preparing to support a flight test program beginning this year. The new South Texas Launch Site was originally…