Tag: Texas
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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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SpaceX Unveils AI1 Orbital Computing Satellite Ahead of Planned IPO
SpaceX has revealed plans for a new satellite designed to function as a data center in orbit, marking a significant expansion beyond the company’s traditional focus on communications and launch services. The spacecraft, called AI1, is intended to serve as the first generation of a future constellation of computing satellites capable of processing artificial intelligence…
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SpaceX’s Starship V3—still a work in progress—mostly successful on first flight
SpaceX launched the first test flight of its upgraded Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster Friday, with mostly positive results. The powerful rocket, propelled by 33 methane-fueled main engines, climbed away from SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas at 5:30 pm CDT (6:30 pm EDT; 22:30 UTC) Friday. Within a few seconds, the 408-foot-tall…
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SpaceX Launches Starship V3 in Major Test Flight Ahead of Planned IPO
SpaceX has launched its new Starship V3 rocket in a high-profile test flight from Texas after an earlier launch attempt was postponed because of a launch-tower malfunction. The uncrewed rocket lifted off shortly after 17:30 local time on Friday, marking the first flight of the latest Starship configuration, which stands approximately 124 meters tall. According…
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SpaceX’s Newest Starship Booster Suffers Major Damage During Early Test in South Texas
SpaceX’s latest Starship first-stage booster sustained significant damage during pre-launch testing early Friday in South Texas, marking a setback for the company’s next-generation rocket program. The vehicle, known as Booster 18 and representing the first “Version 3” Starship design, was rolled out only a day earlier as SpaceX announced the start of its test campaign.…
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Launch Roundup: Falcon 9 to launch three times, Blue Origin to launch crew
SpaceX leads the launch manifest for the first whole week of October with two Falcon 9 missions. Both of these missions will launch satellites into SpaceX’s internet constellation, Starlink. Meanwhile, Blue Origin joined the launch schedule by launching six people to suborbital space on its New Shepard vehicle, and Orienspace launched for the second time using…
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Houston, you’ve got a space shuttle… only NASA won’t say which one
The head of NASA has decided to move one of the agency’s retired space shuttles to Houston, but which one seems to still be up in the air. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who earlier this year introduced and championed an effort to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston, issued…
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Texas politicians make headway in effort to wrench space shuttle from Smithsonian
A political effort to relocate the space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston has been merged with the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a major economic and policy package now nearing a vote in the US Senate. The “Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act,” first introduced by Texas Senators Ted Cruz and…
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SpaceX’s next Starship just blew up on its test stand in South Texas
SpaceX’s next Starship rocket exploded during a ground test in South Texas late Wednesday, dealing another blow to a program already struggling to overcome three consecutive failures in recent months. The late-night explosion at SpaceX’s rocket development complex in Starbase, Texas, destroyed the bullet-shaped upper stage that was slated to launch on the next Starship…