Tag: FAA
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Commercial space companies say cut red tape or U.S. will lose its lead in spaceflight
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifts off from West Texas on Thursday. Credit: Blue Origin The three companies who have flown people to space and back, Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, joined two experts at a Congressional hearing to press for regulatory improvements, warning the U.S. risks losing its lead in spaceflight. The 1.5-hour-long…
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Commercial space companies say cut red tape or U.S. will lose its lead in spaceflight
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifts off from West Texas on Thursday. Credit: Blue Origin The three companies who have flown people to space and back, Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, joined two experts at a Congressional hearing to press for regulatory improvements, warning the U.S. risks losing its lead in spaceflight. The 1.5-hour-long…
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Industry united in push to extend ban on human spaceflight regulations
There are three US companies now capable of flying people into space—SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic—and representatives from those three companies told lawmakers on Wednesday that the industry is not yet mature enough for a new set of federal safety regulations for their customers. A nearly 20-year moratorium on federal regulations regarding the safety…
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SpaceX battles regulatory process that could hold up Starship test flight for months
SpaceX’s Starship rocket after Ship 25 was restacked on top of Booster 9 on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The rocket was unstacked the following day. Image: SpaceX Update Oct. 19: Added comment from the Federal Aviation Administration. Update Oct. 18: Added date that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received the final biological assessment from the Federal…
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SpaceX battles regulatory process that could hold up Starship test flight for months
SpaceX’s Starship rocket after Ship 25 was restacked on top of Booster 9 on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The rocket was unstacked the following day. Image: SpaceX Update Oct. 19: Added comment from the Federal Aviation Administration. Update Oct. 18: Added date that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received the final biological assessment from the Federal…
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Citing slow Starship reviews, SpaceX urges FAA to double licensing staff
In a remarkably frank discussion this week, several senior SpaceX officials spoke with Ars Technica on background about how working with the Federal Aviation Administration has slowed down the company’s progress not just on development of the Starship program, but on innovations with the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs as well. The SpaceX officials said…
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FAA closes investigation into Blue Origin’s launch mishap; flights could resume ‘soon’
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship sits on its pad in advance of its launch in September 2022. (Blue Origin via YouTube) The Federal Aviation Administration says that it’s closed its investigation of last year’s mishap involving Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket ship, but that Jeff Bezos’ space venture isn’t yet cleared to resume…
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SpaceX waiting for FAA to approve launch licence for Starship’s second flight
With the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) having closed the mishap investigation into the anomaly during the first Integrated Flight Test of Starship, SpaceX is waiting for its launch license for the second test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket. However, that FAA process is clearly going to take the test launch into next month…
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FAA says SpaceX has more to do before Starship can fly again
Sunday update: Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, posted Sunday on his social media platform X that the company has completed 57 corrective actions required before the second integrated test flight of the Starship rocket. Six more corrective actions will be implemented before future missions. This story has been updated to add Musk’s statement. The Federal…
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Starbase orbital duo preps for Static Fire campaign – KSC Starship Progress
SpaceX’s Starbase is heading into its latest phase of milestones for Starship, with the high likelihood the FAA is close to approving a critical checkpoint for its rapidly reusable launch vehicle, paving the way for the orbital launch attempt of Booster 7 with Ship 24. Both the Booster and the Ship are progressing towards Static…