Human Landing System

SpaceX has moved out its 31st Starship upper stage to the launch site ahead of Flight 6, expected on November 18. This ship has seen a few changes compared to what came before it but is only the tip of the iceberg for what is to come next.

SpaceX is under pressure to keep its part of the bargain as close to the schedule as possible with providing its Starship rocket as NASA’s Artemis Human Landing System. A major component of both that mission and Starship’s Mars mission will be orbital refueling.

Just a couple of weeks ago, SpaceX launched its fifth Starship rocket on its most successful and daring mission yet. It now has a regulatory open lane for a sixth mission, and if recent activity has anything to show for it, it could be sooner rather than later.

Sunday, SpaceX successfully launched and caught its Starship booster down in Starbase, Texas. A feat that many didn’t think would come true when watching the renders. However, SpaceX once again defied the odds and made fiction a reality and can now move on with its much more ambitious Starship plans.

Defying all belief in the previous timelines, SpaceX and what sounds like both local and federal agencies have begun preparations for Starship Flight 5 for no earlier than October 13. The mission will be full of high stakes both for SpaceX and NASA, which is hoping to keep the program on the right course ahead to meet Artemis Program deadlines.

SpaceX is back in the Starship launch testing zone with its Starship rocket down in Starbase, Texas. The company just did its first fully stacked fueling test with the hardware intended for Flight 5. However, SpaceX is still over two months away from getting FAA approval to launch.

It’s been over three months since Starship last flew a rather successful mission from South Texas. In what was a big breakthrough in the red tape, SpaceX was granted a multi-launch contract, so where are the launches?

An internal NASA analysis has surfaced with concerning estimates as the agency advances toward a crewed lunar landing during the Artemis 3 mission, currently set for no earlier than September 2026. The analysis indicated a nearly one-in-three chance the lander, being developed by SpaceX, may be delayed by at least a year and a half.

SpaceX successfully launched its fourth Starship flight from its launch site in Starbase, Texas. Unlike Flight 3, Flight 4 made two successful splashdowns in both the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean. Although, the jury is still out on what exactly we did and didn’t see during today’s flight.

Yes I know we just had a big mission yesterday but this week is not for the weary. This morning SpaceX is attempting Starship Flight 4 from its launch facility down in Starbase, Texas.

The FAA has approved Starship to launch once again, but this time it seems to have been written to give SpaceX the ability to launch again without another FAA investigation (if there’s a failure somewhere). The company is now making final preparations for launch on Thursday, June 6.

Over the last few weeks NASA has announced a plethora of partnerships and contracts for lunar rovers that astronauts will eventually use on future Artemis missions. Those rovers will of course need a ride to the Moon, which will come in the like of cargo variants of NASA’s HLS landers, Starship and Blue Moon.

SpaceX completed its third Starship test flight early Thursday morning which ended as an almost 100% successful missions, meeting almost all of its goals. While the booster was lost prior to ocean splashdown, the more important part, the second stage, reached space and conducted several in-space tests.

Thursday morning SpaceX will be attempting its third Starship test launch. This has the biggest hope of being a 100% successful flight but how do you watch it? Here are the details below.

Starship testing is back this week with both the first stage Super Heavy booster and second stage Starship on their respective test/launch stands. Both vehicles either attempted or completed static fires this week.

According to NASA, Starship‘s third flight test will feature a major demonstration needed for the overall success of landing humans on the Moon with the Artemis program. In a meeting, slides showed Starship Flight 3 being the first mission to demonstrate in-orbit propellent transfer. However, the schedule is still up in the air.

In two posts on his social media platform, X, Elon Musk shared that a version 2 of Starship is around the corner and will bring various improvements to the rocket. However, it sounds like there will still be a few “V1” Starships left to be tested before moving to V2.

SpaceX launched its second flight test of its Starship rocket Saturday morning, only a few minutes into its 20 minute window. On all accounts, the flight was a resounding success, even if both stages got a little… explosive.

Thursday, SpaceX CEO and chief engineer Elon Musk, shared that the Starship rocket would not be flying on Friday but will be getting a fresh actuator in its Super Heavy booster. The need to replace this part will slide the launch back one day to Saturday and drop the two hour window to only 20 minutes.

After months of investigation and an environmental review, the FAA has given SpaceX the go ahead for its second launch of Starship. Now it’s up to SpaceX to get the vehicle ready to fly.

SpaceX stacked its Starship rocket late this week ahead of rumors the FAA will be granting SpaceX another launch soon. While the launch might be another week or so out, the latest step SpaceX has made is attaching flight termination charges on the rocket.