Starship

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SpaceX 'Chopsticks' Fail May Have Been to Protect Trump

Booster wasn't caught by launch tower's mechanical arms out of an 'abundance of caution'

(Newser) - There was no so-called booster catch during SpaceX's sixth Starship test flight on Tuesday, and some more details are now trickling out on that. A SpaceX spokesman didn't initially explain what went wrong with the plan, in which the Super Heavy booster was meant to be caught by...

With Trump Looking on, Starship Takes Off
Starship Completes
6th Test Flight
UPDATED
Nov 19, 2024 5:40 PM CST

Starship Completes 6th Test Flight

'Chopsticks' weren't used to catch booster this time

(Newser) - With President-elect Trump and Elon Musk looking on, the sixth Starship test flight took off Tuesday from SpaceX's launch site in southern Texas. The Super Heavy booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico minutes after the 5pm Eastern launch, the BBC reports. SpaceX had initially planned to catch...

Musk: SpaceX Is Prepping for 2026 Mars Landings

And if those go well, manned launches in 2028, he says of planned Starship missions

(Newser) - Elon Musk's long-held dream for his SpaceX spacecraft to make it to Mars appears to be ever closer to coming to fruition, at least according to Musk. In a weekend post on X , the social media platform he owns, Musk noted that "the first Starships to Mars will...

Musk: 4th Starship Test Was an 'Epic Achievement'

This time, there were no explosions

(Newser) - SpaceX says the fourth test flight of the most powerful rocket ever built was a big success. Starship completed a test flight without explosions for the first time, with both the spacecraft and the booster completing controlled landings, the AP reports.
  • The 400-foot-tall Starship was launched at 8:50am Eastern
...

Starship Breaks Up Over Indian Ocean During Reentry

But test flight outperformed 2 previous efforts

(Newser) - This story has been updated with new developments. SpaceX's mega rocket blasted off on another test flight Thursday, this time with the spacecraft reaching enough speed to coast toward its finish line halfway around the world. It outperformed the previous two test flights, which both ended in explosions over...

SpaceX Cleared for 3rd Starship Test
FAA Clears 3rd Starship Test
Mar 14, 2024 5:53 AM CDT

FAA Clears 3rd Starship Test

Launch could happen Thursday morning

(Newser) - SpaceX's third test flight of its Starship rocket could happen Thursday morning, weather allowing. The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared a launch from the Starbase test site in Texas in a 110-minute window starting at 8am Eastern, Ars Technica reports. The latest estimate is 9:02am Eastern. "The...

SpaceX Mission 'Presumed Failed' Minutes After Launch

Starship reached space this time, but contact was then lost

(Newser) - SpaceX's Starship, the world's most powerful rocket, saw liftoff from Texas on Saturday around 8am ET, and the New York Times notes that its upper stage did successfully separate from its Super Heavy booster—further than it got during its initial launch in April, which ended in an...

FAA Clears Second SpaceX Starship Test

Company is targeting Friday launch

(Newser) - The Federal Aviation Administration has given the green light to SpaceX for a second test flight of its Starship rocket, more than six months after the most powerful rocket ever built exploded soon after liftoff . "The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,"...

Elon Musk: Starship Is Ready for Launch. FAA: Not So Fast

Agency says investigation into disastrous first launch is still open

(Newser) - More than four months after the most powerful rocket ever created exploded soon after liftoff , SpaceX is ready to try again. The company has stacked its Starship rocket on top of a Super Heavy booster at its launch pad in Boca Chica in southern Texas. "Starship is ready to...

More Fallout for SpaceX's Rocket Launch

Environmental groups aren't happy and are suing the FAA over Starship's launch

(Newser) - Wildlife and environmental groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday over SpaceX’s launch last month of its giant rocket from Texas. SpaceX’s Starship soared 24 miles high before exploding over the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The rocket's self-destruct system caused the nearly 400-foot rocket...

Starship Was Launched Without Normal Protections

Launch obliterated launchpad, spread debris much further than expected

(Newser) - Before last Thursday's launch, SpaceX warned that its Starship rocket was likely to explode—but the company did not predict that the launch would obliterate the launchpad, causing particulate matter to spread over a much wider area than expected. As is standard practice, the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded...

It's Take Two for Starship
Starship's Launch
Ends in Flames
UPDATED
Apr 20, 2023 9:00 AM CDT

Starship's Launch Ends in Flames

World's most powerful rocket doesn't quite make it into the atmosphere

(Newser) - SpaceX's massive rocket did indeed get off the ground on Thursday morning, but it quickly returned there in flames and never made it into orbit, reports the New York Times . Starship exploded over the Gulf of Mexico minutes after liftoff from the SpaceX facility in Boca Chica, Texas; it...

He Was a Space Tourist in 2001. He's Going Back

Dennis and Akito Tito to board SpaceX's second commercial flight around the moon

(Newser) - Dennis Tito hopes to become a space tourist once again. The 82-year-old aerospace engineer-turned-financial analyst who paid $20 million to Russia for a trip to the International Space Station in 2001 says he and his 57-year-old wife Akito have signed up for a SpaceX flight around the moon. Though it'...

Starship Prototype Lands, Doesn't Explode

It was fifth time's the charm for SpaceX

(Newser) - SpaceX's policy of testing prototypes until they fail appears to have paid off: A Starship prototype took off from SpaceX's Texas test site Thursday, and unlike its four predecessors, it aced the landing as well as the flight, Space.com reports. Other recent unmanned test flights exploded on...

'At Least the Crater Is in the Right Place' After Starship Test

Another prototype bites the dust

(Newser) - SpaceX chalked up another failed landing Tuesday for its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship, as the prototype Mars rocket broke apart right before touchdown. A camera on the rocket froze not quite six minutes into the test flight, and dense fog in South Texas obscured views of the ruptured rocket. Other video...

Want to Go on SpaceX Flight to the Moon? He's Paying

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa launches contest for 8 to ride with him to lunar orbit in 2023

(Newser) - It's a Frank Sinatra song come to life, courtesy of a billionaire. In 2018, tycoon and art collector Yusaku Maezawa, founder of Japanese online fashion mall Zozotown, was announced as the first signed passenger aboard SpaceX's Starship rocket, set to fly to the moon sometime in 2023. At...

Disney Considers a Star Wars Hotel
Disney Considers
a Star Wars Hotel
Apr 19, 2017 5:49 PM CDT

Disney Considers a Star Wars Hotel

There may be a full-on resort within Star Wars Land

(Newser) - It looks like Disney World in Florida is aiming to be the destination of choice for Star Wars fans. It's toying with the idea of adding a hotel/resort that would fully immerse guests in the Star Wars universe, reports Business Insider . In fact, the idea is that they'd...

Starship Guitarist Dies After Gig

Mark Abrahamian was 46

(Newser) - The lead guitarist for classic rock stalwart Starship collapsed and died from a heart attack after a concert in Nebraska Sunday night. Mark Abrahamian was just 46—youthful by the standards of Starship, whose forerunner, Jefferson Airplane, formed the year before Abrahamian was born. The guitarist, who had also played...

The Worst Songs of All Time
The Worst Songs of All Time
Oct 22, 2007 7:09 PM CDT

The Worst Songs of All Time

(Newser) - Cheesy lyrics. Bad melodies that get inside your head and won't leave. Ever. These are the hallmarks of truly bad songs, and the folks at Blender offer their list of the worst ever:
  1. Starship, “We Built This City,” 1985
  2. Billy Ray Cyrus, “Achy Breaky Heart,” 1992
...

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