Launch

Last week, SpaceX launched its seventh Starship rocket on a test flight that didn’t go nearly as far as many had hoped. So what’s the progress on Starship Flight 8, and how will 7’s shortcomings affect its timeline?

The Australian airliner Qantas has reported that it has had to delay flights between Johannesburg and Sydney when SpaceX launches its rockets. This has caused hours of delays as SpaceX continues to ramp up its launch cadence.

Last week SpaceX launched its seventh flight test of its Starship rocket. The mission was supposed to be an iterative improvement in Starship capabilities, and while the booster saw success, the upper stage ship’s mission concluded early. Now debris is showing up on island shores.

For the first time in the Starship program, SpaceX ran into what looks more like a setback than a step forward. So what went wrong?

Oh AI, you love it or you hate it. It, alongside being the local weatherman, is the only thing that can be completely wrong and everyone gives it a break. Last year Apple rolled out its version of AI called “Apple Intelligence.” One of its features is to summarize notifications so you don’t have to. Unless it gets it wrong, which it does a lot.

In a bittersweet launch, SpaceX was able to successfully launch its seventh Starship rocket from Starbase, Texas. The flight ended with a little bit of déjà vu, with the ship’s upper stage running into an anomaly just before ascent was over.

SpaceX is planning to launch its seventh Starship mission from Starbase, Texas later this afternoon. Here’s how to watch and get live updates of the launch:

Update: Starship Flight 7: SpaceX makes second booster catch, Block 2 Starship loss during ascent

SpaceX is planning to attempt its seventh Starship launch this afternoon from Starbase, Texas. The mission will see many firsts and hopefully make a path forward for ship catches and reuse in the near future. Here is everything you need to know about Starship Flight 7.

Update: Starship Flight 7: SpaceX makes second booster catch, Block 2 Starship loss during ascent

Blue Origin will make its third attempt to launch its first New Glenn rocket no earlier than 1:00 A.M. ET Thursday. With weather once again a concern, we’ll have to see if we get into the countdown or if the company will pull the plug early this evening.

Update: Blue Origin sends first New Glenn rocket into orbit

SpaceX announced it will be delaying Starship Flight 7 due to poor weather in the area. They are not the only ones dealing with weather concerns this week either. Starship is now set to launch no earlier than January 16 at 4:00 p.m. CT.

Update: Starship Flight 7: SpaceX makes second booster catch, Block 2 Starship loss during ascent

Early Wednesday morning, SpaceX launched two commercial lunar landers on a single Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. Both landers will now coast their way to the Moon over the next month or more, with hopefully one taking the crown for the first soft landing on the Moon.

Later tonight, SpaceX plans to launch not one but two lunar landers to the Moon using only one rocket. The primary lander, Firefly’s Blue Ghost, is contracted under NASA. Meanwhile, the secondary payload is a lunar lander for Japan’s i-space called Hakuto-R.

Monday and Tuesday morning, Blue Origin made two attempts to launch its New Glenn rocket on its inaugural mission. However, neither ended with the rocket leaving the launch pad, so why did they scrub?

SpaceX hit another reusability milestone with a Falcon 9 booster launching and landing for a 25th time over the weekend. Launching 21 Starlink V2 mini satellites, the mission continues SpaceX’s goal to build out its Starlink constellation and its mission to push reusable rockets to their limits.

Last night Blue Origin scrubbed its attempt to launch its first New Glenn rocket. The company announced it will be reattempting to launch the rocket during tonight’s window of the same time. Weather, however, is currently at 70% chance of violation, potentially adding to another delay past Wednesday.

Update: Blue Origin announced a delay to January 16.

After roughly two hours of delays, Blue Origin scrubbed its first night of attempting to launch New Glenn. This was to be expected, as large rockets can be quite difficult to get launched for the first time. What wasn’t expected, or what should have been expected given past streams, was the lack of information throughout the night as to what was happening.

Later tonight, we’re expecting Blue Origin to launch its first New Glenn rocket, hopefully successfully. You might have a lot of questions as to what New Glenn is, why they’re launching this rocket, what it’s doing, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about New Glenn’s first launch.

Update: Blue Origin sends first New Glenn rocket into orbit

SpaceX has delayed the launch of its seventh Starship rocket to Monday, January 15. Little details were shared about the delay, but this is likely due to poor weather conditions.

Blue Origin announced it would be delaying its inaugural New Glenn launch to Monday morning due to recovery weather. The launch window will remain the same at 1:00 A.M. ET and last until 4:00 A.M. ET.

SpaceX completed a wet dress rehearsal of its fully stacked Starship rocket Friday, clearing the way for launch this Monday. This mission will set the new record for the largest rocket ever launched, thanks to the slightly taller Block 2 Ship 33 second stage.

So far, each Starship flight has been first and foremost a test flight. Starship Flight 7 will be no different. SpaceX has a list of new hardware and changes to the vehicle and launch mount that will need to be tested during next week’s launch. Here’s a list of ten changes SpaceX has made for Starship Flight 7.