Tag: Starship
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Musk Says SpaceX Prioritizing Lunar City Over Mars Settlement Plans
Elon Musk said SpaceX is prioritizing plans to establish a self-sustaining city on the Moon over its long-standing ambition to send humans to Mars, marking a potential shift in the company’s space exploration strategy. In a post on the social media platform X, Musk said a lunar city could be built within the next decade.…
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FAA Approves Starship Launches From Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A
The Federal Aviation Administration has approved SpaceX’s plans to launch its Starship system from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, potentially enabling the first mission from the site before the end of the year. Until now, all Starship test flights have been conducted from SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas. The…
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SpaceX complete Booster 19 testing at upgraded Massey’s
In a welcome return to active flight vehicle testing after setbacks and facility upgrades, SpaceX made strong progress with Super Heavy Booster 19 (B19) at its Massey’s test site before returning it to Mega Bay 1 for engine installation. The Block 3 booster, earmarked for the upcoming integrated Flight 12 paired with Ship 39, has…
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39A CAA removed, ending crew launch from historic site, for now
SpaceX has begun dismantling key infrastructure at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, marking a significant shift in its Florida launch operations. The company’s Crew Access Arm (CAA), installed in the summer of 2018 and first used for crewed missions less than six years ago, was removed this week using a heavy…
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Starbase’s launch site lays groundwork to double in size
While pushing for Flight 12, SpaceX has received approval to nearly double the launch site’s size at Starbase. With this approval, SpaceX will be able to complete the redesign of Pad 1 and add additional capabilities to the Starbase launch site. Pad 1 Redesign Shortly after Flight 11, SpaceX began the long process of converting…
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SpaceX shifts away from Dragon launches at pad 39A as Starship looms
SpaceX works on the crew access arm at Launch Complex 39A on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now It’s the end of an era as SpaceX transitions all of its planned Dragon flights from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space…
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Booster 19 Rolls out to Masseys for Cryogenic Proof Testing
Following Booster 18’s failure during a pressure test, SpaceX went ahead and set a new record for stacking a booster in the Starship Program, to try and get Block 3 and the program at large back on track. And this weekend, crews rolled Booster 19 out to Masseys for cryogenic proof testing to hopefully kick…
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FAA advances approval for up to 44 Starship launches from 39A
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reached a critical milestone in its environmental review process for SpaceX’s Starship operations at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The summary overview, released on Friday, is ahead of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), anticipated for release imminently, following the Draft EIS issued in…
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SpaceX Targets Mid-March for Next Starship Test Flight, Musk Says
SpaceX is aiming to conduct its next Starship test flight in mid-March, Chief Executive Elon Musk said, as the company continues development of its heavy-lift launch system. Musk said in a post on social media platform X that a “Starship launch [is] in 6 weeks,” indicating a tentative timeline for the next test. The flight…
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Florida Starship progress with launch sites at KSC and Cape
Although there has been a pause in launch operations as SpaceX transitions Starship to the Block 3 variant, the company continues to lay the foundations for a rapid launch cadence of its monster rocket out of Starbase and on the East Coast. Florida will see Starship launch out of LC-39A and SLC-37, with the former…