Page 13 - Spacex

India to use SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket to launch communications satellite

The high-capacity satellite aims to boost India's broadband communication, especially in remote and unconnected regions of the country, state-run NewSpace India Ltd, said

SpaceX's Starlink clears military tests in Arctic, paving way for contracts

The previously undisclosed testing found that StarLink to be a "reliable and high-performance communications system in the Arctic

SpaceX launches giant new rocket, fails 2nd test flight due to explosions

SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship on Saturday, but lost the booster and then the spacecraft minutes into the test flight. The booster had sent the rocketship toward space, but communication was lost eight minutes after liftoff from South Texas and SpaceX declared that the vehicle had failed. The trouble cropped up as the ship's engines were almost done firing to put it on an around-the-world path. Minutes earlier, the booster exploded, but not until its job was done, putting the ship on a course toward space. At 400 feet, Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. The first test flight in April ended in an explosion soon after liftoff. SpaceX's giant new rocket blasted off from South Texas on a test flight Saturday, seven months after the first try ended in an explosion. The 397-foot (121-metre) Starship rocket thundered into the sky and arced out over the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to separate the spaceship from its booster and send it into space. Spa

SpaceX prepares for its mega rocket for second test flight from South Texas

SpaceX aimed for a second test flight of its mega rocket Starship on Saturday, counting down to a morning liftoff from South Texas. The first test flight in April ended in an explosion shortly after liftoff. The goal is to send the rocketship around the world before ditching it in the ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX spent the past several months making improvements to both the rocket and launch pad, located at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the all-clear to fly earlier this week. The nearly 400-foot (121-metre) Starship is the world's biggest and most powerful rocket. SpaceX's Elon Musk intends to use a fleet of them to get people to the moon and Mars. If all goes well, the booster will drop into the Gulf of Mexico and the bullet-shaped spacecraft will continue out over the Atlantic and Pacific, before falling into the ocean near Hawaii. SpaceX is targeting an altitude of 150 miles (240 kilometers).

SpaceX to launch its mega rocket again months after first attempt fails

SpaceX is aiming for another test flight of its mega rocket on Friday after getting final approval from federal regulators. The first launch of Starship ended in an explosion minutes after lifting off from South Texas in April. The Federal Aviation Administration issued its license Wednesday, noting that SpaceX has met safety, environmental and other requirements to launch again. Elon Musk's rocket company said it was targeting Friday morning. After the self-destruct system blew up the rocket over the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX made dozens of improvements to the nearly 400-foot (121-meter) rocket and to the launch pad, which ended up with a large crater beneath it. SpaceX has a $3 billion NASA contract to land astronauts on the lunar surface as early as 2025, using the spacecraft. A month ago, the FAA completed its safety review of the upcoming Starship launch. It needed more time to wrap up its environmental review. No one was injured in the first attempt, but the pad was heavily dam

India unlikely to have hyperloop trains in future: NITI Aayog's Saraswat

India is unlikely to go in for hyperloop technology for ultra high-speed trains in the near future as the technology is at a 'very low level' of maturity and may not be economically viable at the current juncture, NITI Aayog Member V K Saraswat said on Sunday. Saraswat, who is heading a committee to explore the technological and commercial viability of the Virgin Hyperloop technology, further said some foreign companies have shown interest to bring the technology in India. "Hyperloop technology as far as we are concerned, we found that the offer which came from foreign countries are not very viable options. They are at a very low level of maturity of technology," he told PTI in an interview. Hyperloop is a high-speed train, running in vacuum in a tube. The technology is proposed Elon Musk, who is behind electric car company Tesla and commercial space transport company SpaceX. "So we have not given much importance to that and as on today, it is only a study programme. I don't expect

NASA spacecraft launched to rare metal asteroid in 1st mission of its kind

NASA's Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet's core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centres of Earth and other rocky planets. SpaceX launched the spacecraft into a midmorning sky from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Named for the asteroid it's chasing, Psyche should reach the huge, potato-shaped object in 2029. After decades of visiting faraway worlds of rock, ice and gas, NASA is psyched to pursue one coated in metal. Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the biggest, orbiting the sun in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter alongside millions of other space rocks. It was discovered in 1852 and named after Greek mythology's captivating goddess of the soul. It's long been humans' dream to go to the

Amazon launches test satellites for internet service to compete with SpaceX

Amazon launched the first test satellites for its planned internet service on Friday as a rival to SpaceX's broadband network. United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket blasted off with the pair of test satellites, kicking off a programme that aims to improve global internet coverage with an eventual 3,236 satellites around Earth. Amazon plans to begin offering service by the end of next year. Elon Musk's SpaceX has a huge head start over Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, who has his own rocket company, Blue Origin. SpaceX flew its first test Starlink satellites in 2018 and the first operational satellites in 2019. It has since launched more than 5,000 Starlinks from Florida and California, using its own Falcon rockets. Europe's Eutelsat OneWeb also is launching internet satellites, with around 600 in orbit. Amazon originally agreed to put the satellites on the debut launch of ULA's Vulcan rocket. But with the Vulcan grounded by problems until at least the end of this year, Amazon

Amazon poised to launch long delayed satellites in race with SpaceX

It'll be the first in-flight test of Amazon's ambitious Project Kuiper initiative, on which it's pledged to spend more than $10 billion

Starlink to get licence to offer satellite internet by next month

After getting the license, Starlink will become eligible for spectrum allocation, after which it can start providing satellite broadband services

OpenAI plans sale of existing shares at $80-$90 billion valuation

It would make OpenAI one of the world's most valuable private companies

Govt asks SpaceX-owned Starlink to share info on data storage and transfer

The Home Ministry is also evaluating the application for security-related checks, and a meeting has been scheduled this week, which is expected to see the participation of Starlink executives

Elon Musk's denial of Ukraine's Starlink request prompts senate probe

Chairman Jack Reed said in a statement Thursday the reports on the use of Starlink exposed "serious national-security liability issues and the committee is engaged on this issue"

DoT to take call on Starlink's India license next week: Officials

Officials say application is in order; two other players have received license

Musk's refusal to have Starlink support Ukraine's attack raises questions

SpaceX founder Elon Musk's refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions as to whether the US military needs to be more explicit in future contracts that services or products it purchases could be used in war, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said on Monday. Excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and claims it as its territory. Musk was not on a military contract when he refused the Crimea request; he'd been providing terminals to Ukraine for free in response to Russia's February 2022 invasion. However, in the months since, the US military has funded and ...

Elon Musk's Starship launch halted after FAA cites 63 regulatory fixes

The test flight of Starship in April ended in a mid-flight explosion within four minutes of its take off

SpaceX can't launch its giant rocket again until fixes are made: FAA

SpaceX must take a series of steps before it can launch its mega rocket again after its debut ended in an explosion, federal regulators said Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration said it closed its investigation into SpaceX's failed debut of Starship, the world's biggest rocket. The agency is requiring SpaceX to take 63 corrective actions and to apply for a modified FAA license before launching again. FAA official said multiple problems led to the April launch explosion, which sent pieces of concrete and metal hurtling for thousands of feet (meters) and created a plume of pulverized concrete that spread for miles (kilometers) around. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in the accident's aftermath that he improved the 394-foot (120-meter) rocket and strengthened the launch pad. A new Starship is on the redesigned pad, awaiting liftoff. It will fly empty, as before. During the initial test flight, the rocketship had to be destroyed after it tumbled out of control shortly after liftof

4 astronauts return to Earth in SpaceX capsule to wrap up 6-month mission

Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Returning were NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Woody Hoburg, Russia's Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates' Sultan al-Neyadi, t he first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit. Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations. SpaceX launched their replacements over a week ago. Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up there an entire year. Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched. Between crew swaps, the space station is home to se

Nasa sends SpaceX Crew-7 to International Space Station for exploration

The crew will conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations preparing for missions to the moon, mars and beyond, says Nasa administrator

SpaceX Crew-7 with Nasa astronauts launches to International Space Station

The agency's SpaceX Crew-7 mission is the seventh commercial crew rotation mission for Nasa