SpaceX Plans Pacific Splashdown For First Starship Orbital Test
Just over a week after conducting the first successful high-altitude flight and landing of a full-scale Starship prototype, SpaceX has revealed details of how it intends to perform the first orbital test flight of the complete two-stage vehicle and Super Heavy booster.
guy.ferneyhoug… Fri, 05/14/2021 - 09:13
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SpaceX Sticks Starship Landing

By Guy Norris May 06, 2021
SpaceX successfully landed a full-scale Starship prototype after a high-altitude flight test on May 5, marking a key milestone towards the development of the company’s next generation launch system.
Space

Crew-1 Astronauts Splash Down Safely, a Milestone

By Mark Carreau May 02, 2021
Four NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronauts made a weather-delayed return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on May 2.
Defense and Space

SpaceX Resumes Starlink Deployment Campaign

By Irene Klotz Apr 29, 2021
After a brief pause to send the SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA last week, SpaceX on April 28 resumed launching its Starlink broadband constellation into low Earth orbit.
Space

Planned SpaceX Crew-1 Return Moves to May 1

By Mark Carreau Apr 27, 2021
NASA and Space X have announced that the planned splashdown of four Crew-1 Dragon astronauts returning from the International Space Station will now take place on May 1 rather than April 28.
Space

Blue Origin, Dynetics Protest NASA HLS Award To SpaceX

By Irene Klotz Apr 26, 2021
Blue Origin and Dynetics filed separate protests on April 26 with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) over NASA’s $2.9 billion award to rival SpaceX for a human lunar landing system demonstration mission.
Space

SpaceX Falcon Rocket Lifts Off With Next ISS Crew

By Irene Klotz Apr 23, 2021
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center an hour before dawn on April 23, sending a Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts on a one-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS.) 
Space

NASA Awards Lunar Human Landing System To SpaceX

By Irene Klotz Apr 16, 2021
SpaceX proposed an HLS based on its Starship, a fully reusable, two-stage, human-class, deep-space transportation system currently in development.
Space

USAF IDs F-35 For Starlink Internet Experiment

By Steve Trimble Mar 30, 2021
Lockheed Martin received a $12.8 million contract award from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on March 25 for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

Space Force, NRO Order Launches From SpaceX, ULA

By Jen DiMascio Mar 10, 2021
The U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office on March 9 awarded task orders worth a total of $385 million to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) for four upcoming launches, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) said in a statement.
Space

Starship Flies, Soft Lands, Then Explodes

By Irene Klotz Mar 04, 2021
SpaceX’s March 3 high-altitude test of a full-scale Starship prototype managed a soft landing—unlike two previous test vehicles—but then exploded 3 min. after touching down at the company’s facility in Boca Chica Beach, Texas.
Space

SpaceX Expands Starlink Network, Booster Landing Fails

By Irene Klotz Feb 16, 2021
SpaceX delivered 60 more of its Starlink broadband satellites into orbit on Feb. 16 though it lost the first stage booster during a failed landing attempt, breaking its string of 24 successful touchdowns.
Space

NASA Buys Falcon Heavy To Launch First Gateway Modules

By Irene Klotz Feb 10, 2021
NASA on Feb. 9 awarded SpaceX a $331 million contract for Falcon Heavy launch and support services to send the first two modules of its planned Gateway outpost toward lunar orbit.
Space

FAA Launches Probe Into SpaceX Starship Landing Mishap

By Irene Klotz Feb 03, 2021
An investigation has been launched into the mid-afternoon crash landing of a SpaceX Starship prototype in Boca Chica Beach, Texas.
Space

SpaceX Sets New Record With 143-Satellite Launch

By Irene Klotz Jan 24, 2021
The Transporter-1 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 10 a.m. on Jan. 24 following a one-day delay due to weather. 
Space

SpaceX Opens ’21 With Launch of Turksat Satellite

By Irene Klotz Jan 08, 2021
Following its record-setting 26 launches in 2020, SpaceX kicked off the new year with delivery of the Turksat 5A broadband satellite into orbit on Jan. 7.
Space

SpaceX Caps 2020 With NRO Mission

By Irene Klotz Dec 19, 2020
SpaceX’s second mission for the NRO lifted off at 9 a.m. EST Dec. 19 from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A.
Space

Commercial Airlock Heads To ISS

By Irene Klotz Dec 06, 2020
An upgraded SpaceX cargo Dragon 2 capsule reached orbit on Dec. 6 with 3.2 tons of equipment and supplies for the International Space Station (ISS), including a new commercially owned and operated airlock module.
Space

SpaceX Hits New Milestone For Booster Reuse

By Irene Klotz Nov 25, 2020
SpaceX has marked its 100th Falcon 9 launch with a record seventh reflight of a first-stage booster, a mission that increased the company’s burgeoning Starlink broadband network to more than 950 satellites.
Space

SpaceX Falcon 9 Lifts Off On First ISS Crew Ferry Flight

By Irene Klotz Nov 16, 2020
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 15, sending a Crew Dragon spacecraft with four astronauts on its way to the International Space Station, the first U.S. government-certified flight of a commercially developed crewed orbital transportation system.
Space

L3Harris, SpaceX Win SDA Satellite Contracts

By Lee Hudson Oct 06, 2020
The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) awarded L3Harris and SpaceX contracts to each build four satellites for detecting and tracking ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
Space

SpaceX Adds 60 Satellites To Starlink Constellation

By Irene Klotz Sep 03, 2020
SpaceX sent a batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit on Sept. 3 as the company looks toward public beta rollout of high-speed internet service this year.
Commercial Space

SpaceX Still Pursuing Lawsuit Against U.S. Air Force

By Jen DiMascio Aug 20, 2020
SpaceX is sticking by its lawsuit against the U.S. military for its decision not to award it one of three design and development contracts awarded two years ago, saying the decision has inflicted “substantial harm” on the company.
Space

Space Force, NRO Stick With ULA, SpaceX For Launch Services

By Lee Hudson Aug 07, 2020
The U.S. national security space agencies will remain with incumbents United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for medium and heavy-lift launch services over the next five years
Space

SpaceX Prototype Starship Survives Low-Altitude Hop

By Irene Klotz Aug 05, 2020
A prototype Mars-class reusable spaceship developed by SpaceX took a nearly 500-ft (150 m) hop off a launch stand near Brownsville, Texas, on Aug. 4, marking the company’s first successful Starship test flight in a year. 
Space