SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says Crew Dragon spaceship 6 months from astronaut launch debut

Speaking in a mid-July interview with a CNBC correspondent, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that he believed the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft was likely 6-8 months away from an inaugural launch with astronauts aboard. Elaborating a bit, he noted that SpaceX was aiming to realize that milestone in four months, while he expected – per […]

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SpaceX to build massive, new Hyperloop tunnel for 2020 competition, says Elon Musk

SpaceX has just completed its fourth hosted Hyperloop competition since its 2017 debut and Hyperloop inventor and CEO Elon Musk has capped the successful event with a big claim: in 2020, SpaceX will host Competition 5 at a brand-new track (“tunnel”) offering new freedom and challenges to the student teams. According to Musk, that new […]

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SpaceX’s Elon Musk says Starship, Super Heavy will have more than 40 Raptor engines

According to tweets published by CEO Elon Musk on July 21st, SpaceX’s combined Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicle (BFR) could have as many as 41 Raptor engines at liftoff. As with all other aspects of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket, this is a sign that things remain in flux as the company nears the point at […]

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Elon Musk is a one stop, pop culture to STEM recruiting shop, and that’s a good thing

WARNING This column will be unabashedly full of pop culture references in honor of its topic. Check out the end of the piece for a Where’s Waldo-style treasure hunt to identify where they are. And by that I mean like the list at the back of the book. Or the companion list on the main […]

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SpaceX Falcon 9 nears NASA’s first flight-proven Block 5 launch after static fire delays

After multiple days of delays, many a finger is crossed that SpaceX will be able to perform a critical static fire test of Falcon 9 booster B1056.1 on Friday morning (July 19th). Falcon 9 B1056 and a fresh upper stage are scheduled to launch Cargo Dragon mission CRS-18 no earlier than 7:35 pm EDT (23:35 […]

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SpaceX’s Elon Musk says landing Starship on the Moon could be easier than convincing NASA

Speaking in an interview with TIME Magazine’s Jeffrey Kluger, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk telegraphed some clear, latent frustration with US space agency NASA, indicating that quite literally building Starship and landing it on the Moon could be easier than convincing NASA that the company is serious. Although minor progress has been made in the last […]

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Starhopper update: SpaceX’s ungainly Starship testbed survives night of fireballs, Raptor testing

SpaceX’s Starhopper appears to have come out the other end of an eventful night of fires, fireballs, and Raptor testing completely unscathed, although – as with all things rocketry – there is vastly more than meets the eye. However, signs point towards Starhopper being almost entirely unharmed by its brief voyage inside a fireball – […]

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SpaceX’s Starhopper engulfed in fireball after critical Raptor static fire test

SpaceX’s Starhopper was engulfed in a fireball shortly after a static fire ignition of its Raptor engine, almost certainly delaying the low-fidelity Starship prototype and testbed’s first untethered flight. With any luck, Raptor, Starhopper, and SpaceX’s spartan Boca Chica facilities have escaped relatively unharmed. Regardless, even if Raptor’s static fire was technically successful, some repairs […]

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LIVESTREAM: SpaceX Starhopper static fire from Boca Chica Beach, TX

Fire crews are on standby at Boca Chica Beach in South Padre Island, Texas where SpaceX’s Starhopper is expected to be moments away from performing a full ignition and static fire test. This comes a day before the prototype spacecraft with newly-installed Raptor engine is set to perform an untethered test flight and lift approximately […]

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SpaceX delays Starhopper’s first flight a few days despite Raptor preburner test success

SpaceX has (partially) ignited Starhopper’s freshly-installed Raptor engine, successfully verifying that the engine is ready for its next major test: a full ignition and static firing. Although successful, SpaceX still has some work to do before the vehicle is ready for its first untethered flight(s). July 15th’s progress is just the latest in a several […]

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