Tag: SpaceX
-
With Falcon 9 grounded, SpaceX test-fires booster for next Starship flight
It’s unclear yet how long SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket will remain grounded as engineers investigate a rare launch failure last week, but the next test flight of the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle appears to be on track for liftoff next month. On Monday, SpaceX test-fired the 33 Raptor engines on the Starship rocket’s Super…
-
Booster 12 static fires at Pad A and Pad B tower stacking underway
After Hurricane Beryl passed the Brownsville area without seriously damaging Starbase, preparations for Starship Flight 5 have been advanced to a new level with the rollout of Booster 12 to the Orbital Launch Site and subsequent static fire on Monday, July 15. While Booster 12 is being tested, stacking is also now underway for Starbase’s…
-
SpaceX’s unmatched streak of perfection with the Falcon 9 rocket is over
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket suffered an upper stage engine failure and deployed a batch of Starlink Internet satellites into a perilously low orbit after launch from California Thursday night, the first blemish on the workhorse launcher’s record in more than 300 missions since 2016. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, posted on X that…
-
SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage fails leaving Starlink satellites in wrong orbit
An unusual build up of ice on the second stage of the Falcon 9 that launched the Starlink 8-3 mission. Image: SpaceX. SpaceX suffered its first in-flight failure of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2015, leaving 20 Starlink satellites in a perilously low orbit. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said it was unclear if the spacecraft…
-
Launch Roundup: SpaceX flies more customer payloads and Ariane 6 debuts
As many as four SpaceX Falcon 9 missions and the long-delayed inaugural flight of Ariane 6 make up the roster for this week’s launch schedule. The four SpaceX missions will be split evenly between Starlink and two payloads for other customers. At least one of the SpaceX missions is likely to be affected by the…
-
SpaceX launches Türksat 6A satellite, Turkey’s first domestically-built satellite
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It carried the TÜRKSAT 6A satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 8:10 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirms deployment of the Türksat 6A satellite. Turkey launched its first home-grown communications satellite aboard a SpaceX…
-
SpaceX’s Starship Set for Fifth Test Flight in Four Weeks
SpaceX is gearing up for the fifth test flight of its ambitious Starship rocket, set to take place in the coming weeks, according to CEO Elon Musk’s recent announcement on Friday via his social media platform, X. “Flight 5 in 4 weeks,” Musk stated, underscoring the imminent schedule for the 400-foot-tall Starship, comprising the Super…
-
SpaceX video teases potential Starship booster “catch” on next flight
In a short video released Thursday, possibly to celebrate the US Fourth of July holiday with the biggest rocket’s red glare of them all, SpaceX provided new footage of the most recent test of its Starship launch vehicle. This test, the fourth of the experimental rocket that NASA is counting on to land its astronauts…
-
Rocket Report: Firefly delivers for NASA; Polaris Dawn launching this month
Welcome to Edition 7.01 of the Rocket Report! We’re compiling this week’s report a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Ars is beginning its seventh year publishing this weekly roundup of rocket news, and there’s a lot of it this week despite the holiday here in the United States. Worldwide, there…
-
Here’s why SpaceX’s competitors are crying foul over Starship launch plans
United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin are worried about SpaceX’s plans to launch its enormous Starship rocket from Florida. In documents submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration last month, ULA and Blue Origin raised concerns about the impact of Starship launch operations on their own activities on Florida’s Space Coast. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space…