Starship – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX readying Starship rocket for around-the-world test flight next week

April 11, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX said Tuesday it won’t perform a final countdown dress rehearsal this week for the giant new Starship launch vehicle, and could send the rocket — standing nearly 40 stories tall on its Texas launch pad — on an around-the-world test flight as soon as next week.

SpaceX test-fires 31 engines on Starship’s gigantic Super Heavy booster

February 9, 2023 Stephen Clark

In a significant milestone preparing for liftoff of the world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX test-fired 31 of the booster’s 33 methane-fueled engines Thursday in South Texas as the company eyes a launch attempt as soon as March.

SpaceX ready for 33-engine test of Starship’s Super Heavy booster

February 8, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is gearing up for the first full-up test-firing Thursday of all 33 engines on the booster for the company’s Starship mega-rocket in Texas, a critical milestone on the path to launching the giant vehicle on its first orbital test flight, which could happen as soon as March if this week’s test goes well.

Nelson cites China’s growing space prowess, calls for sustained NASA funding

May 19, 2021 William Harwood

Holding up a photo taken by China’s new Mars lander, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warned Congress Wednesday that his agency faces increasingly stiff competition on the high frontier and that sustained funding for a new moon lander, infrastructure upgrades and other critical programs is vital for America’s space program.

SpaceX outlines plans for Starship orbital test flight

May 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has revealed the flight plan for the first orbital test launch of the company’s huge stainless steel Starship rocket, a 90-minute, around-the-world mission that will originate from South Texas and culminate with a controlled re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

Upgraded Starship prototype makes first soft landing after test flight

May 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched and landed an upgraded prototype for the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle in South Texas on Wednesday, the company’s first Starship test flight since winning a $2.9 billion NASA contract to use the craft to land astronauts on the Moon.

Our interview with Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s acting administrator

April 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now’s editor, asked NASA’s acting administrator about the space agency’s commercial crew and Artemis programs during a one-on-one virtual interview Tuesday, April 20.

NASA chooses SpaceX to land next astronauts on the Moon

April 17, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected SpaceX to build a spacecraft to land the first astronauts on the moon since 1972, choosing Elon Musk’s space company over competing proposals from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and the aerospace firm Dynetics, officials announced Friday.

Musk says methane leak doomed latest Starship test flight

April 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday that a “relatively small” methane leak caused the explosion of the company’s latest Starship test rocket last week on an experimental flight over South Texas.

SpaceX’s latest high-altitude Starship test flight ends in another explosion

March 30, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight apparently ended with another explosion Tuesday in South Texas, but dense fog obscured clear views of the launch and failed landing. The Federal Aviation Administration said late Tuesday it is working with SpaceX to determine if light debris reported in a nearby town came from the Starship test rocket.