All articles tagged with #rocket
Elon Musk claims his new rocket, Starship, is as significant as the origin of life in its potential impact on humanity's future, despite ongoing test failures and NASA's hesitations, positioning it as a revolutionary step towards multi-planetary civilization.
SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship Version 3 in 2026, an upgraded, larger, and more efficient rocket designed for orbital, lunar, and Martian missions. The new version features increased size, more propellant capacity, advanced engines, and docking adapters for in-space refueling, marking a significant step toward fully reusable space vehicles. Despite some teething pains, the company aims to demonstrate key capabilities like in-space propellant transfer, with plans for orbital flights and potential Mars missions.
The article describes how SpaceX built a rudimentary rocket prototype from bike parts, illustrating its innovative and resourceful approach in the competitive space industry, as detailed in Christian Davenport’s book 'Rocket Dreams.'
SpaceX's Starship Flight 10 successfully launched from Texas, meeting key objectives including engine restart, satellite deployment, and safe reentry, marking a significant step toward its goal of Mars colonization and supporting NASA's Artemis 3 lunar mission, with future versions planned to reach even greater heights.
Elon Musk announced that SpaceX's Starship will be three times as powerful as NASA's Saturn V rocket, aiming for full and rapid reusability with key milestones like heat shield development and ship recovery expected soon, which could significantly reduce launch costs and enable advanced space missions.
SpaceX's Starship exploded during a routine test at its Texas launch site, marking another setback in its development. The incident was caused by a major anomaly, but no injuries occurred, and investigations are ongoing. Despite these failures, SpaceX continues to pursue ambitious plans for the rocket, including lunar and Mars missions, supported by significant NASA contracts.
SpaceX's Starship megarocket completed its ninth test flight, providing stunning visuals and important data, but both stages ended in disassembly due to technical issues, as the company continues to refine the vehicle for future missions aimed at Mars colonization.
SpaceX is retrieving debris from its Starship rocket after a suborbital test flight ended with the upper stage splashing down off the coast of Australia. The recovery aims to analyze what went wrong during the flight. SpaceX-focused content creator Interstellar Gateway suggests that future missions might attempt to recover the entire spacecraft intact, which could provide valuable data beyond what is transmitted via StarLink. The next Starship launch is expected no earlier than January 11.
A team of students from the University of Southern California's Rocket Propulsion Laboratory set a new amateur record by launching their rocket, Aftershock II, to an altitude of 89 miles above Earth. The launch, which took place on October 20 in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, achieved a maximum speed of 3,602 mph and featured the most powerful solid-propellant motor ever fired by students. This achievement surpasses their previous record set in 2019 with the Traveler IV rocket.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released findings from studies on developing a European super heavy-lift rocket capable of delivering 100 tonnes to low Earth orbit by 2030. The studies, part of the PROTEIN initiative, were conducted by ArianeGroup and Rocket Factory Augsburg. While feasible, the project faces challenges and requires immediate action, particularly in developing a high-thrust staged-combustion engine. ESA is pursuing multiple engine development projects, and both companies have proposed reusable rocket designs with varying capabilities and costs.
ESA's reusable rocket demonstrator, Themis, is undergoing assembly at ArianeGroup's facility in Les Mureaux, France. The rocket, equipped with the Prometheus engine, aims to demonstrate technologies for rocket stage recovery and reuse. The assembly includes installing landing legs, power systems, avionics, and a pressurization system. Themis will be transported to Sweden for its first test flight, marking Europe's initial demonstration of a vertical take-off and landing rocket with cryogenic propulsion.
Chinese startup Cosmoleap has raised over $14 million to develop its Yueqian reusable rocket, which features a recovery system similar to SpaceX's 'chopstick' capture method. Despite criticism for its resemblance to SpaceX's technology, Cosmoleap plans to conduct its first flight test by 2026 and aims to build a larger rocket than SpaceX's Starship by 2030. The company is part of China's burgeoning private space sector, which includes other notable firms like Space Pioneer and Galactic Energy.
The European Space Agency has announced that the first launch of the Ariane 6 rocket is scheduled for July 9. This launch is crucial for re-establishing Europe's independent access to space, following delays and the retirement of the Ariane 5. The mission will carry multiple payloads, including cubesats and reentry capsules, and marks a significant milestone in European space travel.
Elon Musk has revealed the goals for the next Starship mission, which is expected to take place in early May, focusing on bringing the craft back to Earth safely from orbit for the first time. The recent successful static fire test of the Starship rocket at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas sets the stage for this upcoming mission, which aims to resolve issues that arose during the last mission. With plans for commercial missions and a multi-billion dollar contract with NASA, SpaceX is working towards making Starship a reliable and reusable rocket for future space exploration, including potential missions to Mars.
SpaceX's Starship rocket underwent a successful static fire test in preparation for its fourth test flight, which could occur in early May. The previous test flight saw the 400-foot-tall megarocket perform well during ascent burns, but encountered issues during landing, ultimately breaking apart. SpaceX aims to conduct six or more test flights this year, but regulatory hurdles, including securing launch licenses from the FAA, may impact the timing of these flights.