Tag: Starbase

SpaceX Performs Most Successful Starship Test Flight to Date

Ars Technica reports, “SpaceX closed a troubled but instructive chapter in its Starship rocket program Monday with a near-perfect test flight that carried the stainless steel spacecraft halfway around the world from South Texas to the Indian Ocean. The rocket’s 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines roared to life at 6:23 pm CDT (7:23 pm EDT; 23:23 UTC), throttling up to generate some 16.7 million pounds of thrust, by large measure more powerful than any rocket before Starship. Moments later, the 404-foot-tall (123.1-meter) rocket began a vertical climb away from SpaceX’s test site in Starbase, Texas, near the US-Mexico border.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Video

SpaceX Starship 11th Flight Test (Launch occurs at 0:10 mark)
TheLaunchPad; YouTube

SpaceX Tests Raptor Engines That Will Power Next Starship Rocket

Ars Technica reports, “SpaceX fired six Raptor engines on the company’s next Starship rocket Monday, clearing a major hurdle on the path to launch later this month on a high-stakes test flight to get the private rocket program back on track. Starship ignited its Raptor engines Monday morning on a test stand near SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

AIAA Statement on Fourth SpaceX Starship Test Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 6, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on today’s test flight of Starship from Starbase, Texas. The live images from onboard the vehicle give everyone a breathtaking view of these test flights.

We are excited to witness this new launch vehicle continuing its development toward commercial operation. The art and science of engineering requires testing. From today’s flight, we know the team is gaining valuable data they will learn from as they keep improving Starship’s design.

It is important to see commercial space launch companies advancing technology to extend the human neighborhood from low Earth orbit to the moon, and on to Mars. Expanding these boundaries takes innovation and hard work.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

 

Video

SpaceX Starship launches on 4th test flight
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube; Launch occurs at 33:22)

SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Receives FAA Go-Ahead for Launch

Reuters reports the FAA “on Tuesday said it issued a license for SpaceX’s fourth flight of its Starship rocket system, another test mission along the company’s path to building a reusable satellite launcher and moon lander. SpaceX is aiming to launch its nearly 400-foot-tall (122-meter), two-stage Starship as early as Thursday at 7 a.m. CDT (1200 GMT) from its rocket facilities in south Texas, from which past flights in the company’s test-to-failure development campaign have launched.”
Full Story (Reuters)

SpaceX Starship Fueled Up Ahead of 4th Test Flight

SPACE reports, “SpaceX just fueled up its giant Starship rocket, checking another box ahead of the vehicle’s fourth test flight. The company performed a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ with Starship at its Starbase site in South Texas today (May 20), filling both of the vehicle’s stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid methane in a key prelaunch test.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Hoping Steel Plates Prevent Launchpad Explosion

Bloomberg reports that before SpaceX “can try again to send its massive Starship rocket into orbit, the company needs to repair and renovate its badly damaged launch site in southern Texas.” It is unknown if the design choices will be enough to prevent future damage to the launch site after the April 20 liftoff damaged the launchpad’s structure and sent “chunks of sand, concrete and steel thousands of feet into the sky and setting fire to a nearby park.”
Full Story (Bloomberg – subscription publication)

SpaceX is Recruiting People to Live and Work at its Starbase in Texas

Forbes reports, “Sun, sand and Starships. That’s the pitch SpaceX is offering to anyone looking to start a new career in the commercial space industry and maybe just hungering for proximity to the world’s richest man and his obsession with orbit, Mars and beyond. … Just this week it was announced that Starship is NASA’s favored transport for its Artemis IV mission, the program’s second crewed lunar landing set for 2027.”
Full Story (Forbes)