Starship goes orbital on third test flight, with fiery ending
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
1w ago
After falling short in its first two attempts, SpaceX got its Starship super-rocket to an orbital altitude today during the launch system’s third integrated flight test. Now it just has to work on the landing. Today’s test marked a major milestone in SpaceX’s effort to develop Starship as the equivalent of a gigantic Swiss Army knife for spaceflight, with potential applications ranging from the deployment of hundreds of Starlink broadband satellites at a time to crewed odysseys to the moon, Mars and beyond. The 396-foot-tall (120-meter-tall) rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase facility i ..read more
Visit website
Intuitive Machines’ moon lander begins historic odyssey
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
1M ago
Now it’s Intuitive Machines’ turn to try making history with a robotic moon landing. Today’s launch of the Houston-based company’s Odysseus lander marks the first step in an eight-day journey that could lead to the first-ever soft landing of a commercial spacecraft on the moon. Odysseus would also be the first U.S.-built spacecraft to touch down safely on the lunar surface since Apollo 17’s mission in 1972. The lander — which is as big as an old-fashioned British phone booth, or the Tardis time portal from the “Doctor Who” TV series — was sent spaceward from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kenned ..read more
Visit website
SpaceX launches satellites that cellphones could use
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
3M ago
The first satellites capable of providing direct-to-cellular service via SpaceX’s Starlink network and T-Mobile’s cellular network have been sent into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Six of the cell-capable satellites were among a batch of 21 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:44 p.m. PT Jan. 2. The satellites were deployed successfully, and the rocket’s first-stage booster made a routine landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX plans to launch hundreds of the upgraded satellites in the months ahead, with the aim of beg ..read more
Visit website
Amazon makes a satellite launch deal with SpaceX
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
4M ago
Amazon’s Project Kuiper may be a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network, but business is business: Amazon says it has signed a contract for three launches of Project Kuiper satellites on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, supplementing scores of launches reserved on bigger rockets that haven’t yet made their debut. “The additional launches with SpaceX offer even more capacity to support our deployment schedule,” Amazon said today in a news release. Amazon did not provide information about the potential timing of the launches, or their cost. Like Starlink, Proje ..read more
Visit website
SpaceX’s Starship gets farther on its second test flight
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
4M ago
SpaceX’s Starship and its Super Heavy booster blew through the primary objective for their second test flight today, but both rocket stages blew up sooner than the company hoped. SpaceX took the day as a win — based not only on a successful liftoff from its South Texas launch pad a little after 7 a.m. CT (5 a.m. PT), but also on the successful execution of a hot-stage separation maneuver two and a half minutes after launch. The procedure was added to the routine after the fireworks of the Starship / Super Heavy launch system’s first test in April, which ended with the destruction of the ..read more
Visit website
Blue Origin will work with NASA on orbital crew transport
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
10M ago
NASA says it will collaborate with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture on the development of new space transportation capabilities that will provide high-frequency access to low Earth orbit for astronauts and cargo. The project is one of seven selected for the second round of NASA’s Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities initiative, or CCSC-2. The first round began in 2014. All of the companies involved in CCSC-2 will work with NASA under the terms of unfunded Space Act Agreements. That means no money will change hands, but NASA will make its expertise available ..read more
Visit website
Starfish Space’s docking spacecraft gets a big sendoff
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
10M ago
A well-traveled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket today launched dozens of satellites, including an experimental docking craft created by a Seattle-area startup called Starfish Space. Starfish Space’s Otter Pup spacecraft was one of 72 payloads that were deployed into low Earth orbit after the launch of SpaceX’s Transporter-8 satellite rideshare mission from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff came at 2:35 p.m. PT, just hours after SpaceX launched 52 Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Minutes after the California launch, the ..read more
Visit website
Axiom crew finishes space station science mission
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
10M ago
The second crew to be sent into space as a profit-making proposition for Texas-based Axiom Space came back to Earth tonight in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after spending nine days on the International Space Station. The Ax-2 trip came a year after Axiom’s first crewed space mission, and marked several firsts: Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson became the first woman to command a private-sector space mission as Axiom’s director of human spaceflight, and mission specialist Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Saudi woman in space. Tennessee business executive John Shoffner and Saud ..read more
Visit website
Chasing SpaceX: The new space race gets a reality check
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
11M ago
Can anyone keep up with SpaceX in the commercial space race? It might be one of the four companies profiled in “When the Heavens Went on Sale” — a new book written by Ashlee Vance, the tech journalist who chronicled SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s feats and foibles eight years ago. Or it might be one of the dozens of other space ventures that have risen up to seek their fortune on the final frontier. Or maybe no one. The space race’s ultimate prizes may still be up for grabs, but in Vance’s view, one thing is clear: There wouldn’t be a race if it weren’t for Musk and SpaceX. “Elon sort of set this ..read more
Visit website
Starship has a glorious liftoff — but then breaks up
Cosmic Log » SpaceX
by Alan Boyle
1y ago
SpaceX’s Starship launch system lifted off on its first full-scale test flight today, rising majestically from its Texas launch pad but falling short of stage separation. The uncrewed mission represented the most ambitious test yet for the world’s most powerful rocket — which eventually could send people to the moon and Mars, and even between spaceports on our own planet. Liftoff from SpaceX’s Starbase complex at Boca Chica on the South Texas coast came at 8:33 a.m. CDT (9:33 a.m. EDT). The Starship system’s Super Heavy booster, powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor rocket engines, ros ..read more
Visit website

Follow Cosmic Log » SpaceX on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR