SpaceX has begun staging and assembling parts of a giant crane it will soon need to stack Starship’s first East Coast launch tower and install other major launch pad components. The presence of the base of that crane at SpaceX’s NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 39A was visually confirmed by NASASpaceflight.com photographers during … Read more
The Starship landing tower differs significantly from previous structures of this type. In order to save a lot of weight on the spaceship itself, important components are relocated to the launch system. SpaceX has now extensively tested the tower, nicknamed “Mechazilla”. SpaceX’s Starship project is testing tentacles for orbital flight When SpaceX will make its … Read more
As is routine, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to offer a few details about the status of Starship, its Raptor engines, and a few upgrades planned for both. In mid-December, Musk revealed even more ambitious plans to upgrade Starship by stretching its propellant tanks and adding another three Raptor engines, potentially boosting … Read more
Enlarge / A rendering of SpaceX’s Starship traveling to the Saturn system. SpaceX Jennifer Heldmann stared at the computer screens on her desk, watching as a rocket’s upper stage slammed into a crater near the South Pole of the Moon. In the name of science, a 2.3-ton chunk of steel struck the Moon with the … Read more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has set December 31 for when it plans to conclude its environmental assessment into SpaceX‘s launch program. The update means the Elon Musk-led firm could soon prepare to send its first Starship rocket into orbit as early as the first-quarter 2022 – a mission that has been on pause since … Read more
SpaceX is still hiring engineers that will work on the Crew Starship, or also known as the Human Landing System, for its Life Support System even as the lawsuit of Blue Origin against NASA’s contact with Elon Musk’s company is still ongoing. (Photo : by Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images)CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – APRIL 23: … Read more
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that there is a “slight error” with the current design of Starship’s forward flaps, necessitating a few small but visible changes on future prototypes of the spacecraft. Measuring 9m (30 ft) wide and approximately 50m (~165 ft) from tip to tail, Starship is the combined upper stage, spacecraft, tanker, and … Read more
SpaceX wants to get a grip on its new Starship rocket in more ways than one. This month, CEO Elon Musk outlined how the firm plans to use a giant arm dubbed “Mechazilla” to move its new Starship rocket into position. In the future, the arm will also help SpaceX catch the ship after landing. … Read more
Highlighted by a Wednesday jam-packed with important milestones, SpaceX appears to be shifting its focus in South Texas to the completion of Starship’s first orbital launch pad. Boca Chica will be the first time in its history that SpaceX has faced the challenge of (or had the opportunity to) build an orbital launch complex from … Read more
Within the last week, SpaceX’s South Texas Starship factory appears to have kicked things into high gear and are now assembling the first orbital-class Super Heavy booster prototype at a breakneck pace. While the assembly of the Super Heavy known as Booster 4 (B4) wasn’t too dissimilar to what CEO Elon Musk described as a … Read more