According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, one or both of the company’s two orbital Starship prototypes could be “ready to fly” – or nearly so – by the end of August. Even if Musk is off by one or several months, it would still make for a spectacular achievement. The focus of the conversation that […]
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First reported by NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX has delayed Falcon 9 B1047.2’s third and final launch due to issues with the booster’s Merlin 1D engines. Fascinatingly, the company has decided to perform an unprecedented second static fire test before going ahead with the launch of Spacecom’s AMOS-17 communications satellite. As a result, AMOS-17’s nominal August 3rd launch […]
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Eric Ralph · August 1st, 2019 Welcome to the latest edition of DeepSpace! Each week, Teslarati space reporter Eric Ralph hand-crafts this newsletter to give you a breakdown of what’s happening in the space industry and what you need to know. Although the accomplishments aren’t quite as flashy as a launch to the Moon, the last […]
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SpaceX has fired up twice-flown Falcon 9 booster B1047 ahead of Block 5’s second expendable launch ever, but the company avoided its usual confirmation that a ‘quick look’ data analysis shows the vehicle as ready for launch. Aside from the unusual phrasing of SpaceX’s static fire confirmation, stating instead that the company “is assessing data”, […]
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On July 28th, SpaceX wrapped up modifications to a rented robotic lift vehicle and carefully moved Starhopper back to its launch facilities three days after its inaugural flight. Another two days after that, SpaceX filed road closure requests confirming the date for the Starship prototype’s next launch. According to those road closures, SpaceX is preparing […]
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NASA has announced 19 technology partnerships between the agency’s many spaceflight centers and 13 companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, and more. This round of Space Act Agreements (SAAs) shows a heavy focus on technologies and concepts that could benefit exploration of the Moon and deep space more generally, including lunar landers, food production, reusable rockets, […]
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Photos published on July 28th by customer Spacecom show a sooty SpaceX Falcon 9 booster and fresh upper stage on their way to LC-40 for the launch of the AMOS-17 communications satellite, scheduled to lift off no earlier than 6:51 pm EDT (22:51 UTC), August 3rd. Sadly, the booster will reportedly be expended during the […]
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Following the Falcon 9 booster’s second successful NASA launch in less than three months, SpaceX recovery technicians have once again rapidly retracted B1056’s four landing legs, also reused from the booster’s May 2019 launch debut. On the heels of Falcon 9 B1056’s first speedy, leg-retracting recovery, a repeat of the booster’s impressive landing leg retraction […]
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has posted a unique, uninterrupted view of Falcon 9’s latest landing, completed by booster B1056 on July 25th after successfully launching Cargo Dragon on its 18th mission (CRS-18) to the International Space Station (ISS). Combining four separate views, the video also happens to feature an extremely rare instance of audio clearly […]
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Some two hours after Starhopper’s inaugural untethered flight, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to post an uncut video showing the ungainly rocket’s launch and landing from the perspective of both a drone and Starhopper’s lone Raptor engine. As noted by commenters, Starhopper’s first flight also marks perhaps an even more fascinating milestone: it’s […]
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