Tag: Starship
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Live coverage: SpaceX to attempt first booster catch during the Starship Flight 5 mission
SpaceX’s fully stacked Starship rocket stands atop the Orbital Launch Mount at Starbase in southern Texas. The Starship Flight 5 mission is poised to feature the first booster catch using the arms of the launch tower. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now Update 4:00 a.m. EDT: Because of poor weather off the coast of Florida, Crew Dragon…
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Starship is about to launch on its fifth flight, and this time there’s a catch
Early Sunday morning, SpaceX will try something no one has ever done before. If all goes according to plan, around seven minutes after lifting off from South Texas, the huge stainless steel booster from SpaceX’s Starship rocket will come back to the launch pad and slow to a hover, allowing powerful mechanical arms to capture…
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SpaceX navigates Q3 anomalies, starting ambitious Q4 goals
SpaceX’s record-breaking streak of successful launches and landings ended during the third quarter of 2024, having suffered a failure during launch with Falcon 9’s second stage and a Falcon 9 first stage landing failure. More recently, a third issue arose during the disposal of a Falcon 9 second stage after it had successfully completed its…
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SpaceX Catches a Super Heavy Booster During a Milestone Flight 5
Flight 5 Ship 30 and Booster 12 lifted off at 7:25 am Central Time on Oct 13. The liftoff and ascent was flawless with all 33 engine running on Booster 12 all the way to hot-staging. Ship 30 then ignited its six engines and went on its way to the Indian Ocean. Booster 12 then…
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SpaceX’s next Starship launch—and first catch—could happen this weekend
We may not have to wait as long as we thought for the next test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. The world’s most powerful launcher could fly again as soon as Sunday, SpaceX says, assuming the Federal Aviation Administration grants approval. The last public statement released from the FAA suggested the agency didn’t expect to…
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Starship readying for Flight 5 amid future preparations
SpaceX is setting the stage for acquiring final approval to launch the fifth flight of Starship, a mission that includes another major milestone toward its rapid reusability aspirations. With a preliminary Oct. 13 launch date, SpaceX is taking all the required steps to prepare for the final approval from the FAA. Meanwhile, Starbase continues to…
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Launch Roundup: Starship flies, booster caught
SpaceX flew the Starship-Super Heavy on Sunday, Oct. 13. This was the fifth test flight of the full Starship-Super Heavy stack and the first attempt at catching the booster. On Friday, Oct. 11, SpaceX Falcon 9 missions were released from the hold imposed on them while an investigation into the anomaly with the second stage…
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The war of words between SpaceX and the FAA keeps escalating
The clash between SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration escalated this week, with Elon Musk calling for the head of the federal regulator to resign after he defended the FAA’s oversight and fines levied against the commercial launch company. The FAA has said it doesn’t expect to determine whether to approve a launch license for…
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Starship Flight Five conducts Full-Stack Testing ahead of Launch
SpaceX has completed initial pre-launch testing of the Flight 5 Starship. However, the launch date currently remains over two months away due to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noting they do not expect to issue the launch license until late November to early December comes around for launch. Since the beginning of this year, Ship…
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Launch Pad work continues at Starbase as Flight 5 delayed by FAA
SpaceX is still preparing for Flight 5 of Starship but may have to wait at least six more weeks for regulatory approval from the FAA. With Booster 12 and Ship 30 patiently waiting for rollout and integrated testing, workers are busy continuing to prepare the launch site for the catch of the former, which would…