SpaceX Archives

November 19, 2024November 20, 2024 by Alan Boyle

Starship’s Booster (and Donald Trump) Make a Splash With Sixth Flight Test

SpaceX's Starship lifts off from its Texas pad for the launch system's sixth flight test. (Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX’s Starship launch system went through its sixth flight test today, and although the Super Heavy booster missed out on being caught back at its launch pad, the mission checked off a key test objective with President-elect Donald Trump in the audience.

Trump attended the launch at SpaceX’s Starbase complex in the company of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has been serving as a close adviser to the once and future president over the past few months. In a pre-launch posting to his Truth Social media platform, Trump wished good luck to “Elon Musk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project.”

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024 by Nancy Atkinson

The New Mars Landing Approach: How We’ll Land Large Payloads on the Red Planet

Back in 2007, I talked with Rob Manning, engineer extraordinaire at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he told me something shocking. Even though he had successfully led the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) teams for three Mars rover missions, he said the prospect of landing a human mission on the Red Planet might be impossible.

But now, after nearly 20 years of work and research — as well as more successful Mars rover landings — Manning says the outlook has vastly improved.

“We’ve made huge progress since 2007,” Manning told me when we chatted a few weeks ago in 2024. “It’s interesting how its evolved, but the fundamental challenges we had in 2007 haven’t gone away, they’ve just morphed.”

October 24, 2024October 24, 2024 by Matt Williams

Chinese Company is Taking Space Tourism Orders for 2027 Flights

Infographic publicizing Deep Blue Space's first commercial flight, scheduled for 2027. Credit: Deep Blue Space (via Weixin)

China has some bold plans for space research and exploration that will be taking place in the coming decades. This includes doubling the size of their Tiangong space station, sending additional robotic missions to the Moon, and building the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) around the lunar south pole. They also hope to begin sending crewed missions to Mars by 2033, becoming the first national space agency to do so. Not to be left behind in the commercial space sector, China is also looking to create a space tourism industry that offers suborbital flights for customers.

One of the companies offering these services is Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Technology, a private launch company founded in November 2016 by Chinese entrepreneur Huo Liang. On October 24th, at 6:00 pm local time (03:00 am PDT; 06:00 am EDT), during a “Make Friends” Taobao live broadcast, Huo shared the companies’ latest progress on their commercial spacecraft. He also announced the pre-sale of tickets for the first suborbital launch in 2027. The company also posted an infographic with the details of the flight on the Chinese social media platform Weixin (WeChat).

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 by Alan Boyle

Europa Clipper Begins Odyssey to Assess Jovian Moon’s Habitability

Europa Clipper liftoff on Falcon Heavy rocket — SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket sends NASA's Europa Clipper into space from its Florida launch pad. (NASA Photo / Kim Shiflett)

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft today began its six-year cruise to the Jupiter system, with the goal of determining whether one of the giant planet’s moons has the right stuff in the right setting for life.

The van-sized probe was sent into space from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 12:06 p.m. ET (16:06 UTC). A little more than an hour after launch, the spacecraft separated from its launch vehicle to begin a roundabout journey of 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) from Earth orbit to Europa.

For decades, scientists have been collecting evidence that Europa harbors a hidden ocean of salty water beneath its icy shell. Or are they hidden lakes? Europa Clipper is built to characterize the moon’s surface, and what’s beneath that surface, to an unprecedented degree.

October 13, 2024October 13, 2024 by Alan Boyle

SpaceX’s Mechazilla Catches a Starship Booster on First Try

Starship Super Heavy catch in Mechazilla cradle — SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster settles back into the arms of its launch-pad cradle in Texas. (Credit: SpaceX)

For the first time ever, SpaceX has followed through on a Starship test launch by bringing back the Super Heavy booster for an on-target catch in the arms of its “Mechazilla” launch-tower cradle in Texas.

“This is a day for the engineering history books,” SpaceX launch commentator Kate Tice said.

Today’s successful catch marks a giant step toward using — and reusing — Starship for missions ranging from satellite deployments to NASA’s moon missions to migrations to Mars.

October 7, 2024October 7, 2024 by Alan Boyle

Hera Probe Heads Off to See Aftermath of DART’s Asteroid Impact

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with Hera probe — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft into space from its Florida launch pad. (Credit: SpaceX)

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft is on its way to do follow-up observations of Dimorphos, two years after an earlier probe knocked the mini-asteroid into a different orbital path around a bigger space rock.

Scientists say the close-up observations that Hera is due to make millions of miles from Earth, starting in 2026, will help them defend our planet from future threats posed by killer asteroids.

September 24, 2024September 24, 2024 by Matt Williams

SpaceX Recovers the Super Heavy Booster from Flight 4

The remains of the SpaceX Booster BN11 being retrieved from the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: SpaceX

On June 6th, 2024, the fourth orbital test flight of the Starship successfully lifted off at 07:50 a.m. CT (08:50 a.m. EDT; 06:50 PDT) from SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas. This test was the first time the Starship (SN29) and Super Heavy (BN11) prototypes reentered Earth’s atmosphere and landed successfully. While the SN29 conducted a powered vertical landing before splashing down in the Indian Ocean, the BN11 executed a similar powered landing before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. In a recent tweet, Elon Musk shared a photo of the BN11 booster being pulled out of the sea.

September 20, 2024September 20, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Second Generation Starlinks are 32 Times Brighter in Radio Wavelengths

Illustration Starlink satellites over LOFAR. Credit: Daniëlle Futselaar

Global internet access does seem like a worthy enterprise yet the rise of satellite megaconstellations there is a danger of the night sky becoming ruined. Astronomers the world over are keeping an eye on the impact these satellites are having on the night sky. Until recently the concerns have been relating to the reflection of visible light against the sky hindering night time observations. A recent study shows that the second-generation Starlink satellites leak 32 times the radio signal than the previous models. Are their presence putting at risk the radio sky now too?

September 19, 2024September 19, 2024 by Matt Williams

The Polaris Dawn Crew is Back on Earth

The Polaris Dawn crew (left to right): Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman, and Sarah Gillis. Credit: Polaris Program/John Kraus

On September 15th, 2024, the Polaris Dawn crew returned to Earth after spending five days in orbit. The mission was the first of three planned for the Polaris program, a private space project to advance human spaceflight capabilities and raise funds and awareness for charitable causes. The mission’s Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:36:54 a.m. EDT (12:36:54 p.m. PDT). Once their spacecraft was retrieved, the crew was flown to the Kennedy Space Center to see their families and undergo medical examinations before traveling to Houston to complete more of the mission’s studies.

September 12, 2024September 12, 2024 by Matt Williams

See a First-Person View of the First Private Spacewalk

Spacecraft footage of Jared Isaacman conducting the first commercial EVA in spaceflight history. Credit: SpaceX

On Tuesday, September 10th, at 5:23 a.m. EST (03:23 p.m. PST), the Polaris Dawn mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a crew of four to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This mission is the first of three that comprise the Polaris Program, a private spaceflight program organized by entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman and financed by SpaceX. Since launching, the Resilience Crew Dragon spacecraft has flown higher than any crewed mission since the Apollo Era and passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt.

Earlier today, the crew carried out the first private spacewalk in the history of spaceflight!