Starbase

SpaceX tentatively targets March 14 for third Starship flight

SpaceX performs a tanking test, called a wet dress rehearsal, on its fully integrated Starship rocket on March 4, 2024. At the same time, it was preparing to launch the Crew-8 mission for NASA from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image: SpaceX SpaceX may be on the cusp of launching its massive Starship rocket …

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SpaceX launches largest rocket ever built, but test flight ends in explosion

SpaceX’s Starship rocket, nearly 40 stories tall, climbs off its launch pad at the Starbase launch site in South Texas. Credit: Trevor Mahlmann / Spaceflight Now After years of anticipation, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its full-scale Starship rocket Thursday from South Texas, but the mission ended four minutes later as the vehicle …

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FAA clears SpaceX to launch world’s largest rocket

SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy rocket on their launch pad in South Texas. Credit: SpaceX The Federal Aviation Administration approved a commercial license Friday for the first full-scale test flight of SpaceX’s nearly 400-foot-tall Super Heavy and Starship mega-rocket from South Texas, a launch SpaceX said could happen as soon as Monday morning. “After a comprehensive …

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SpaceX readying Starship rocket for around-the-world test flight as soon as next week

SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster and Starship rocket stand fully stacked at the company’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX said Tuesday it won’t perform a final countdown dress rehearsal this week for the giant new Starship launch vehicle, and could send the rocket — standing nearly 40 stories tall on its Texas …

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SpaceX outlines plans for Starship orbital test flight

Artist’s concept of a Super Heavy booster and Starship vehicle stacked together during launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX has revealed the flight plan for the first orbital test launch of the company’s huge stainless steel Starship rocket, a 90-minute, around-the-world mission that will originate from South Texas and culminate with a controlled re-entry and splashdown in …

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Musk says methane leak doomed latest Starship test flight

File photo of the Starship SN8 prototype, which flew last year, with three Raptor engines. Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Monday that a “relatively small” methane leak caused the explosion of the company’s latest Starship test rocket last week on an experimental flight over South Texas. The 164-foot-tall (50-meter) Starship test vehicle, …

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SpaceX’s latest high-altitude Starship test flight ends in another explosion

The Raptor engines at the base of SpaceX’s Starship test rocket ignite for a landing burn at the end of Tuesday’s flight. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight apparently ended with another explosion Tuesday in South Texas, but dense fog obscured clear views of the launch and failed landing. “At least the crater is …

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