Starship – Page 8 – Spaceflight Now

Blue Origin wins lion’s share of NASA funding for human-rated lunar lander

April 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX to move forward with development of human-rated lunar landers, committing nearly $1 billion in funding for a range of moonship concepts that include a variant of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle, officials announced Thursday.

SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on Starlink launch next month

April 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday.

Starship prototype clears cryogenic pressure test

April 27, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said a prototype for the company’s planned Starship launch vehicle passed a cryogenic proof test Sunday night in South Texas, clearing the way for teams to install a Raptor engine this week for a test-firing.

SpaceX loses third Starship prototype in cryogenic ground test

April 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship space vehicle collapsed during pressure testing early Friday at the company’s facility in South Texas — the program’s third failure during such testing since November — but assembly of a new version is already underway.

Second Starship test article implodes during pressure test

March 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship vehicle imploded during a pressurization test at the company’s facility in South Texas Friday night, an event captured on video by local residents.

SpaceX drawing up plans for mobile gantry at launch pad 39A

January 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

With construction already underway at Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A on facilities for SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle, another new fixture could soon rise at the seaside launch complex to satisfy U.S. military requirements to vertically integrate sensitive top secret spy satellites with Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

SpaceX pausing some Starship work in Florida

December 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says it is temporarily halting some activity on the company’s next-generation Starship program in Florida, allowing teams to focus on building a new Starship test vehicle in Texas.

SpaceX’s first Starship prototype ruptures during cryogenic test

November 20, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first partially-assembled Starship vehicle, originally built for atmospheric test flights, ruptured in dramatic fashion Wednesday during a cryogenic loading test at the company’s launch facility in South Texas.

SpaceX offering Starship to NASA for lunar landing missions

November 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is eligible to propose using its next-generation Starship vehicle to carry NASA robotic science payloads to the lunar surface, the U.S. space agency announced Monday, on missions that could precede future Starship flights with people on-board. SpaceX is one of five companies NASA selected Monday to join a roster of commercial transportation providers to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstration packages to the moon as soon as 2022.

SpaceX’s next launch to mark another incremental step in rocket reusability

October 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX next launch, slated to carry the company’s second set of Starlink broadband satellites into orbit, will be the first to fly with a reused Falcon 9 booster making its fourth flight when it takes off in the coming weeks.