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175 articles
SpaceX’s Starship achieves most objectives in mesmerizing test flight
A full-size prototype of SpaceX’s heavy-lift Starship launch vehicle soared high into the atmosphere Wednesday in a spectacular test flight over South Texas, and successfully guided itself to a beachside landing site before exploding at touchdown. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, hailed the nearly seven-minute test flight as a success.
Photos: SpaceX’s stainless-steel Starship SN8 test vehicle
SpaceX's latest Starship prototype, on its launch pad in South Texas, is ready for the rocket's most daring test flight yet.
Gleaming prototype of SpaceX’s Starship ready for experimental flight
SpaceX is gearing up for the next big leap in the development of the next-generation Starship heavy-lift launch vehicle with a test flight to more than 40,000 feet over the Texas Gulf Coast as soon as Tuesday.
ULA scrubs Atlas 5 launch as SpaceX readies repaired rocket for GPS mission
United Launch Alliance called off the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket Wednesday at Cape Canaveral to resolve a problem with valves at the launch pad, while a SpaceX team a mile-and-a-half to the south readied a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening with a GPS navigation satellite for the U.S. military.
SpaceX executive pitches Starship for space debris cleanup
SpaceX could use its Starship vehicles to clear out space debris in Earth orbit, alongside the program's more publicized purpose of ferrying people and cargo to the moon and Mars, a company executive said.
SpaceX test-fires Starship prototype with three engines
SpaceX fired three Raptor engines on a prototype of the company’s Starship vehicle Tuesday, accomplishing another milestone on the road toward testing of the methane-fueled rocket at higher altitudes.
NASA selects proposals to demonstrate in-space refueling and propellant depot tech
NASA has selected 14 companies for contracts of more than $370 million to advance technology for human missions to the moon and Mars. Most of the money will support flight demonstrations by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and other companies that could lead to in-space refueling and propellant depots for reusable lunar landers and deep space transportation vehicles.
SpaceX rockets await launch opportunities later this week
Two SpaceX rockets are standing on launch pads several miles apart on Florida's Space Coast awaiting launch opportunities Thursday and Friday, once an oft-delayed Delta 4-Heavy rocket from rival United Launch Alliance is able to blast off from Cape Canaveral with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite.
After weather scrub, Starlink launch to wait for pair of national security missions
Continuing a dizzying series of rescheduled launches from Florida's Space Coast, poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced SpaceX to keep a Falcon 9 rocket and 60 Starlink broadband satellites on the ground Monday. The Starlink launch is expected to be delayed until Thursday, after a pair of national security missions are set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday.
Delta 4-Heavy launch delayed by ground system issue
United Launch Alliance’s next launch attempt for its Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite will be delayed to no earlier than early Tuesday.