Tag: Starbase
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SpaceX Pairs Booster 22 and Ship 42 for Flight 15 Cryogenic Testing
SpaceX has moved Super Heavy Booster 22 from Mega Bay 1 to the Massey’s test site at Starbase, where Ship 42 has joined it for cryogenic proof testing ahead of their planned pairing on Starship Flight 15. The mission could launch roughly one month after Flight 14 if the preceding flight meets its objectives and…
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SpaceX Expands Starbase as Flight 14 Vehicles Complete Testing
SpaceX is expanding assembly, testing and launch infrastructure across Starbase, Texas, as Ship 41 and Booster 21 move through final checkout for Starship Flight 14. Recent aerial imagery shows simultaneous work at Massey’s test site, the Gigabay assembly building and both orbital launch pads, while hardware for Flight 15 and later vehicles is already entering…
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Brownsville Police Investigate Gunfire Outside Commissioner’s Home After SpaceX Land Vote
Brownsville police are investigating gunfire reported outside a city commissioner’s home early Saturday, September 5, days after the Brownsville City Commission unanimously approved the disannexation of more than 444 acres sought by SpaceX as part of a $220 million water-infrastructure agreement. No injuries were reported, and police have not established any connection between the shooting…
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SpaceX Recovers First Intact Starship Upper Stage After Month-Long Indian Ocean Ordeal
SpaceX has achieved a major milestone in the development of its fully reusable Starship system, successfully loading the upper stage from Starship Flight 13 onto a semi-submersible transport vessel in the Indian Ocean more than a month after the spacecraft completed its mission and splashed down at sea. The recovery marks the first time a…
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SpaceX Commits $100 Billion to Build Starbase Louisiana, Expanding Starship Launch Capacity
SpaceX has announced plans to invest approximately $100 billion in the construction of Starbase Louisiana, a massive new Starship launch complex on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast that would become the company’s largest spaceflight operations center and one of the most ambitious commercial space infrastructure projects ever proposed. The development is intended to support thousands of Starship…
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SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight
SpaceX was more than lucky Friday, sending its 13th full-scale Starship test flight halfway around the world from South Texas to an on-target, intact splashdown in a remote section of the Indian Ocean. Starship has made precise splashdowns before. This time, however, the ship gently tipped over and came to rest floating in a remote…
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SpaceX Plans Natural Gas Pipeline to Support Starship Operations in Texas
SpaceX is planning to construct a natural gas pipeline in Texas to supply fuel for its Starship launch operations, according to regulatory filings reviewed by Reuters and the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. SpaceTechnology The proposed pipeline would extend approximately eight miles from the Port of Brownsville to the company’s Starbase launch and manufacturing facility.…
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Ship 40 completes single-engine static fire; Booster 20 and Pad 2 see new work
SpaceX rolled out Ship 40 for engine testing, but after completing only a single engine test and what appeared to be an abort, it was rolled back to Mega Bay 2. The full test of all of Ship 40’s engines has yet to be completed, though time remains as Booster 20 appears to still be…
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Booster 20 Completes Cryo, As Ship 40 Nears Static Fire
With the completion of Flight 12 about three weeks ago, all focus is now on Flight 13 and its vehicles, Booster 20 and Ship 40. To date, both have completed cryogenic proof testing and are now set up to complete static fire testing next. Booster 20 Booster 20 only recently completed cryo proof testing when…
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Booster 20 into Cryogenic Testing ahead of Starship Flight 13
Starship Flight 12 may have only recently concluded, but SpaceX’s Starbase teams are already deep into preparations for the next integrated flight test. The latest milestone involves the rollout of Booster 20 (B20), the Super Heavy booster assigned to Flight 13, as it moved from Megabay 1 to Massey’s test site and has begun cryogenic…