Since SpaceX first acquired a Boston Dynamics Spot robot last year, they have served as vital tools for inspecting areas where it is not safe for humans to be located. During my recent trip to Boca Chica, I noticed that something had changed on SpaceX’s first robotic dog, Zeus.
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On Sunday we saw new images of what will become SpaceX’s third droneship. The eventually named “A Shortfall of Gravitas” seems to be trending well on the construction timeline.
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Discovery Channel just put out a casting call for a new TV show, “Who wants to be an Astronaut?” The prize? Well, a visit to the International Space Station of course!
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In 2009, Elon Musk wrote an article titled, “Risky Business” discussing his goals for the future and the challenges overcome thus far since SpaceX’s founding.
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Earlier this month we broke the news that SpaceX-related construction has started on the Marmac 302 barge in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. New images show more construction has been completed.
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We haven’t received a formal update on Starship’s development since the 2019 event in front of the Mk1 prototype. This week Elon Musk promised to give us one this year.
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The aging International Space Station has outlived its planned 15-year lifespan. As a result, the original solar panel arrays are show signs of degradation and will be supplemented by six new solar arrays.
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After an unsuccessful attempt to reach space last December, today, Virgin Galactic reached space from Spaceport America earlier today with Pilots CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay aboard VSS Unity.
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Marc Razze and Brian White from the Public Services Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory yesterday hosted a live online talk about the cameras in space.
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RGV Aerial Photography released panoramic images of the manufacturing and launch sites that SpaceX has been using down in Starbase, Texas.
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On Tuesday United Launch Alliance launch their first Atlas V rocket of the year. This mission carried with it a missile detection satellite called SBIRS GEO 5 for the United States Space Force.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is updating the new Roadster design, and it looks like it’s going to achieve a 0-60 mph acceleration in a mind-boggling 1.1 seconds with the SpaceX package.
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SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission was their first operational flight of the Commercial Crew Program. This mission returned to Earth beginning of this month.
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May 18th, 2:19 PM EDT: The SBIRS GEO 5 satellite has been deployed from the Centaur upper stage.
A few weeks ago, ULA conducted their first launch for 2021 with a launch of a Delta IV Heavy for the National Reconnaissance Office. Next week, ULA plans to launch the first Atlas V rocket of the year carrying a payload for the US Space Force.
Date: Monday, May 18th, 1:37 PM EDT
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Late last week, Rocket Lab launched its 20th Electron mission and their second Electron to be recovered. While the mission failed during the second stage burn, the first stage’s secondary mission seems successful.
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SpaceX is planning to launch their third operational mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program later this year and NASA has added the fourth and final seat to the flight.
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May 16th, 8:44 PM: The Black Brant XII sounding rocket carrying the KiNET-X mission launched from Wallops Island in Virginia, images below.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is set to launch a sounding rocket on May 8th late in the evening that could be easily seen across the east side of the US if weather conditions allow.
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May 15th, 7:35 PM EDT: SpaceX successfully launched and deployed all payloads on the Starlink V.10 L26 mission.
Earlier this week we saw the first 10th flown booster take off from Cape Canaveral, finally hitting the milestone Elon Musk set out. This week another high flight number booster will take off with more Starlink Satellites.
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 6:58 PM EDT
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Perseverance, Ingenuity, and all the other American bots on Mars now have company. China became the second-ever country to successfully land a rover on the red planet today. Zhurong, named for the god of fire in Chinese folk tales, is roughly the size of NASA’s 2004 Spirit and Opportunity robots.
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It’s a tough day for the folks at Rocket Lab. After a successful liftoff from New Zealand, the California rocket company experienced another failure of its Electron second stage. This sadly means that the payload, two BlackSky satellites, were lost during the mission.
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Five members of SpaceX’s software team will be participating in an AMA (ask me anything) Q&A session on Reddit on Saturday, May 15. Have a question for folks behind the software that powers Starship, Dragon, Starlink, and more?
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We’ve been deep diving through Perseverance and Ingenuity since before the Mars 2020 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral last year. Still, seeing NASA’s Mars rover and first-ever helicopter and their first month spent on the red planet still wows us.
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Last week, we saw SpaceX launch their 5th Starship prototype rocket. This time, instead of exploding on or above the pad, it stuck the landing.
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For each launch, SpaceX must obtain permission from the FCC to use certain radio frequencies. In those filings, we can find details about the launch. Then tend to be the same for each Falcon 9 launch, but for Starship, we get to have a peek into the plans for the orbital launch attempt.
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