Human Landing System

One of the big narratives that we’ve been glued to all 2023 has been SpaceX’s Starship being sidelined by regulators. This week we saw another wet dress rehearsal, as that’s all they can do, while a large number of Fish and Wildlife personnel comb land around Starbase for their review.

After completing the stacking of the company’s second Starship rocket, Elon Musk announced the rocket is ready to launch. However there are a few more hurdles to finish that could lead to some down time before it can really fly.

NASA’s Artemis program is slated to land astronauts on the Moon by the end of 2025, but SpaceX’s hurdles with its lunar lander technology could potentially push the much-anticipated mission into 2026, warns a Senior NASA manager.

In a departure from historical precedent, SpaceX and the FAA find themselves in agreement as both parties file motions to have the lawsuit against Starship dismissed. This development comes as SpaceX prepares for additional rounds of pre-launch testing in Boca Chica.

Here we are again looking at another crazy timeline from SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk on when Starship could fly again. However, a lot of work is going on down at Starbase, so maybe it’s not so far out this time?

In a predictable yet a rather change of events for the company, SpaceX is joining the FAA’s side as a co-defendant on the lawsuit against the license granting Starship’s launch from South Texas. If successful, the case could delay the development of Starship back years.

Friday morning, NASA announced that the Blue Origin-led team won NASA’s contract to be the agency’s second Human Landing System for Artemis crewed missions to the Moon. Right now, its first Crewed mission is set to be Artemis 5 in 2029.

In a moment of shock and awe, SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle lifted off from what was just a few years ago a small beach village at the southernmost point of Texas, now referred to as Starbase. While it didn’t make it to Hawaii, it did bring us closer to a new era of spaceflight – one whose launch market will most likely remain dominated by SpaceX’s innovation.

According to two sources, SpaceX could be getting its FAA launch license for its Starship launch vehicle. If true, this could lead to Elon Musk’s state of launching in late April actually being accurate (I SAID STOP LAUGHING).

Have these last two weeks flown by for anyone else or just me? I don’t think we have ever been closer to seeing SpaceX’s first Starship orbital launch than we are now. But, according to two SpaceXers, we are just waiting on the FAA’s approval.

Back in March, NASA announced it would seek to award a contract to purchase a second lunar lander for the Artemis Program. We’re seeing many similar faces return with bids for NASA’s money, including Blue Origin with a revised National Team of other notable aerospace contractors.

As part of its Artemis program, NASA announced plans to fund a second lunar lander alongside SpaceX’s Starship HLS.

Starship HLS work is underway, booster stacking continued, and a potential payload dispenser was installed as another busy week at Starbase comes to a close.

On February 10, SpaceX‘s Chief Engineer Elon Musk gave us an update on the company’s Starship launch vehicle. While it was light on brand new details, we still got some news. Below are our key takeaways from the event.

Tonight Elon Musk will update us on the current progress of SpaceX’s Starship development. The last time this happened was in 2019, just after the first Starhopper flight.

This Thursday, Elon Musk will finally update the world on what SpaceX has been doing down there in South Texas. Below is what we expect Elon Musk to talk about when he takes the stage.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment has been delayed until February 28, 2022. This places the orbital launch attempt in March 2022 at the earliest.

While the report is focused on the management of NASA’s Artemis program missions, the report revealed a lot about SpaceX’s Starship timeline, Including the long-awaited Starship Orbital Flight Test to take place in Q2 of Fiscal Year 2022.

Updated to reflect the date is for the fiscal year of 2022, not the calendar year 2022. Fiscal years are one quarter ahead of the calendar year.

Tuesday, NASA held a press conference to give an update on the agency’s Artemis program. During the conference, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced delays to the launches of Artemis II and III.

Today the federal judge overseeing the Blue Origin lawsuit against NASA and SpaceX made his decision. Blue Origin, of course, lost the lawsuit, but will this be the end?

Updated with statements from Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos.

It has been a long time since we’ve seen engines test-fired in Starbase, but Thursday afternoon, SpaceX did not just one but two. These tests mark a significant milestone for Vacuum Raptor development.