Tag: Texas
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FAA approves Starship test after saying SpaceX violated safety rules on last flight
Update: Starship completed a successful climb to approximately 10 kilometers altitude and descended horizontally toward the landing site. It appeared to lose control as it was in the process of flipping back to a vertical position and exploded as it bellyflopped onto the landing pad. We’ll have a full report later. SpaceX defied public safety…
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Another Starship super-rocket prototype blows up on SpaceX’s test pad in Texas
Starship SN4, the latest in a series of prototypes for SpaceX’s super-rocket, exploded in a huge fireball today just after a static-fire test at the company’s South Texas facility. Four other prototypes have been built and tested at the Boca Chica site over the course of the past six months. Starship Mk1 blew its top…
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Starship prototype clears cryogenic pressure test
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a prototype for the company’s planned Starship launch vehicle passed a cryogenic proof test Sunday night in South Texas, clearing the way for teams to install a Raptor engine this week for a test-firing. The Starship test vehicle, designated SN4, was loaded with super-cold liquid nitrogen Sunday night in a…
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SpaceX loses third Starship prototype in cryogenic ground test
A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship space vehicle collapsed during pressure testing early Friday at the company’s facility in South Texas — the program’s third failure during such testing since November — but assembly of a new version is already underway. The stainless steel cylinder appeared to rupture near its top after filling with super-cold…
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Second Starship test article implodes during pressure test
A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship vehicle imploded during a pressurization test at the company’s facility in South Texas Friday night, an event captured on video by local residents. The stainless steel structure ruptured after being loaded with cryogenic fluid at SpaceX’s seaside launch complex at Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX was testing the test article’s…
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SpaceX’s Starship SN1 prototype blows up during pressure test on its Texas pad
A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship super-rocket was destroyed tonight during a pressure test on its pad at the company’s South Texas facility. Streaming video from Boca Chica showed the silo-shaped tank assembly for the prototype known as Starship SN1 wreathed in light and vapor during the test, which was conducted with inert liquid nitrogen. At…
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Firefly confirms fire during first stage test
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated with additional details and video from Firefly. Firefly Aerospace tweeted this picture Wednesday evening, writing that teams were loading liquid oxygen into a test version of the company’s Alpha booster in preparation for the first hotfire qualification test of the rocket’s first stage. Credit: Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace confirmed a “test anomaly” resulted…
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SpaceX’s first Starship prototype ruptures during cryogenic test
Video credit: @LabPadre / LabPadre on YouTube SpaceX’s first partially-assembled Starship vehicle, originally built for atmospheric test flights, ruptured in dramatic fashion Wednesday during a cryogenic loading test at the company’s launch facility in South Texas. The winged rocket appeared to blow its upper bulkhead while undergoing testing at SpaceX’s Boca Facility facility on the…
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Elon Musk to provide update on SpaceX’s Starship this weekend
EDITOR’S NOTE: Check back Sunday for a full report on Elon Musk’s Starship update. In the last few months, teams of SpaceX engineers working on the flat coastal plains of South Texas and in a nondescript industrial yard on Florida’s Space Coast have been building two futuristic-looking stainless steel rockets — or Starships — prototypes…
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SpaceX’s Starhopper takes its first rocket hop, marking another step toward Mars
After weeks of preparation, the prototype test vehicle for SpaceX’s monster spaceship, known as Starhopper, fired up its methane-powered Raptor rocket engine for the first time today and lifted ever so slightly off its Texas launch pad. “Starhopper completed tethered hop,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reported in a tweet. “All systems green.” The round-topped rocket…