SpaceX Archives

January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 by Matt Williams

Starships Will be Launching From These Oil Drilling Platforms Bought by SpaceX

Over the years, Elon Musk has been rather open about how he (and the company he founded) plan to make space more accessible and allow humanity to become an “interplanetary species.” A key element to this plan is the Starship and Super-Heavy launch system, which will allow for regular trips to the Moon as well as the eventual creation of the first human colony on Mars.

Another key part of Musk’s plan is the creation of spaceports at sea that will allow for greater flexibility with launches and landings. To that end, SpaceX recently acquired two former oil drilling rigs off the coast of Texas. These spaceports have been dubbed Phobos and Deimos (after Mars’ two satellites) and are currently undergoing modifications to conduct Starship launches in the near future.

January 13, 2021January 13, 2021 by Alan Boyle

With Funding From Jeff Bezos, MethaneSAT Picks Elon Musk’s SpaceX for 2022 Launch

Illustration: MethaneSAT in orbit — An artist's conception shows MethaneSAT in orbit. (MethaneSAT Illustration)

Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are usually rivals on the final frontier, but they both have a role to play in MethaneSAT, a privately backed satellite mission aimed at monitoring methane emissions.

Last November, the Bezos Earth Fund made a $100 million grant to the Environmental Defense Fund to support the satellite’s completion and launch. That grant was part of a $791 million round that Bezos said was “just the beginning of my $10 billion commitment” to address challenges brought on by climate change.

Now MethaneSAT LLC — a subsidiary of Environmental Defense Fund — is announcing that it’s signed a contract with Musk’s SpaceX to send the satellite into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket by as early as October 2022.

January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Matt Williams

SpaceX’s Next Idea: to Catch Super Heavy Boosters With the Launch Tower

Animation of the SpaceX Super Heavy being caught by its launch tower. Credit: Mini3D

SpaceX is getting closer and closer to realizing the design for its Starship and Super Heavy launch system. Once complete, it will be the world’s first fully-reusable launch system and will facilitate trips to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars. Construction began on the system’s booster element (Super Heavy) this past summer and, according to a recent tweet by Musk, will be “caught” by its launch tower.

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021 by Matt Williams

SpaceX Releases a Recap Video of their SN8 Making its Hop Test!

To commemorate their greatest accomplishment to date with the Starship, SpaceX has released a recap video of the SN8 high-altitude flight. This was the 12.5 km hop test that took place on December 9th, 2020, which saw the SN8 prototype ascend to an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi), conduct a “belly-flop” maneuver, and return to the launch pad. While it didn’t quite stick the landing, the test was a major milestone in the development of the Starship.

January 6, 2021January 9, 2021 by Matt Williams

Big News for SpaceX: Static Fire Today, Hop Test This Weekend?

For years, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has talked about what he will do once his company’s super heavy-lift launch system is finally ready to go! While tidbits of information were shared between 2011 and 2015, it was not until September of 2017 that Musk began to share detailed plans for this system. By 2018, Musk announced that work on the Starship and Super-Heavy (formerly known as the BFR) was underway.

In the past year, progress on the Starship has advanced by leaps and bounds (despite a few explosions). This reached a high point on Dec. 9th, 2020, when the SN8 prototype conducted a hop test where it reached an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi) and did a “belly-flop” on the way down. According to recent indications, the SN9 may be making a hop test by the end of this week!

December 9, 2020December 10, 2020 by Matt Williams

SpaceX’s SN8 Starship Soars and Belly-Flops, but Fails to Stick the Landing. Oh Well, Bring on the SN9!

At long last, SpaceX has conducted the first high-altitude test flight with its prototype Starship vehicle! During the launch, the eighth iteration of their spacecraft (SN8) flew to an altitude of 12.5 km (~7.8 mi; 41,000 ft) and conducted some fancy maneuvers before returning to its landing pad. Unfortunately, the landing was a bit hot and the SN8 exploded as soon as it touched down.

Despite failing to make it home in one piece (technically it did, but then exploded), the SN8 validated the Starship design for high-altitude flight, a major stepping stone towards spaceflight. What’s more, the data they gathered from this test and the failed landing is already being used to prepare for the next flight. So really, this test was a very important milestone on the road to conducting regular flights to the Moon and Mars.

December 1, 2020December 4, 2020 by Matt Williams

Will the Starship Make a 15 km Hop Test on Wednesday?

SpaceX's first detailed render of the Starship reentering Earth's atmosphere. Credit: SpaceX

Update: According to FAA flight restrictions that were redacted yesterday (Dec. 3rd), the date for the hop test has since been moved to Monday, Dec. 7th, at the earliest. The altitude of the test has also been dropped from 15 km to 12.5 km (41,000 ft).

SpaceX has really hit its stride lately! Throughout the Summer of 2020 and well into the Fall, the company has experienced a string of successes with the construction and testing of its Starship prototypes. This has included multiple cryogenic load tests, static fire tests, test tank pressure tests, and even two 150 m (~500 ft) hop tests. And now, it looks like SpaceX could be making its first high-altitude flight test as early as tomorrow!

This test will see the first Starship prototype with three Raptor engines (SN8) fly to an altitude of 15 km (9.3 mi) before returning home safely. The engineering teams will be using this test to validate the Starship maneuvering fins as well, conducting a “belly-flop” maneuver that will see how the spacecraft’s aerodynamic surfaces allow it to make controlled landings on bodies that have an atmosphere.

November 15, 2020November 20, 2020 by Matt Williams

SpaceX’s Resilience Spacecraft has Lifted Off and is Headed for the ISS!

The crew of the NASA/SpaceX Crew-1 flight. Credit: SpaceX

Earlier this evening (Sunday, November 15th, 2020), NASA and SpaceX achieved another historical milestone. Six months after successfully sending astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS with the Demo-2 mission, the US demonstrated the restoration of domestic launch capability by sending the fully-crewed Crew Dragon spacecraft (Resilience) on an operational mission to the ISS.

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 by Matt Williams

One of the Terms of Service For Starlink is that You “Recognize Mars as a Free Planet”

Artist's illustration of a SpaceX Starship lands on Mars. Credit: SpaceX

In May of 2019, SpaceX began launching its Starlink constellation with the launch of its first 60 satellites. To date, the company has launched over 800 satellites and (as of this summer) is producing them at a rate of about 120 a month. By late 2021 or 2022, Elon Musk hopes to have a constellation of 1,440 satellites providing near-global service and perhaps as many as 42,000 providing internet to the entire planet before the decade is out.

As of November 2020, SpaceX has invited participants to take part in a public beta test called “Better Than Nothing.” The service, aptly named, is providing users with a modest rate of between 50 to 150 megabits per second, a far cry from the gigabit download speeds at low latency they hope to offer. But perhaps more interesting is the small item in the terms of service, where participants must acknowledge that Mars is a “free planet.”

October 25, 2020October 25, 2020 by Matt Williams

SpaceX Starship Passes Static Fire Test With Three Raptor Engines, Finally Gets Nose Cone!

It’s beginning to look like SpaceX will attempt to make the 15 km (9.3 mi) hop test before Christmas! After two successful 150 m (~500 ft) hops with the SN5 and SN6 prototypes, engineers at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch facility in South Texas rolled out the SN8 – the first Starship prototype to have three Raptor engines. But before the SN8 can conduct a high-altitude test flight, the engineers needed to run a static fire test.

This test is crucial to ensuring that the Starship‘s interior plumbing can handle its cryogenic propellants, and is the last milestone before the Starship can conduct a high-altitude flight. On the evening of Tuesday, October 20^th, that’s exactly what they did! At 3:13 AM local time (01:13 AM PDT; 04:13 AM EDT), the SN8 fired up its three Raptor engines and kept firing them for several seconds straight.