Latest news with #StarshipFlight8
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
FAA says probe closed into SpaceX Starship Flight 8
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it closed an agency-required investigation into a SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a re-occurrence and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the Starship Flight 9 mission in late May.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FAA says SpaceX must wait to launch Starship on 9th flight test from Texas: Here's why
SpaceX has a few more regulatory hurdles to clear before its gigantic Starship spacecraft can soar halfway around the world once again. Billionaire Elon Musk had made it known he hoped his commercial spaceflight company could launch the 400-foot rocket much sooner than federal regulators are apparently willing to allow. In a recent announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, said approval for Starship's next flight test is pending the completion of an investigation into the vehicle's previous explosion. The Starship launch vehicle, which has been under development for years, has exploded twice in its first two demonstrations of 2025. While an investigation into the first fiery mishap in January has concluded, the FAA and SpaceX have yet to put the final touches on a similar inquiry into the most recent flight in March. The delay comes as Musk, a close adviser of President Donald Trump, looks for SpaceX to significantly ramp up the testing of a vehicle that is due to play a significant role in upcoming U.S. spaceflight missions. The FAA announced May 15 that it had approved license modifications officially granting SpaceX's request to increase the number of Starship launches from Starbase in South Texas to 25 per year. "However, SpaceX may not launch until the FAA either closes the Starship Flight 8 mishap investigation or makes a return to flight determination," the agency said in a May 15 statement. "The FAA is reviewing the mishap report SpaceX submitted on May 14." The two mishaps of 2025 prompted government officials in the United Kingdom to send a letter to the U.S. State Department, requesting that next flight's trajectory be changed to protect British territories in the Caribbean, ProPublica reported. The mishaps are part of the reason federal regulators also announced that the FAA is expanding the size of aircraft and maritime hazard areas in the U.S. and other countries for the next flight test. The decision is also because SpaceX intends to reuse for the first time a Super Heavy booster rocket that has launched before. Musk had hinted on Tuesday, May 13, that SpaceX could launch its Starship "next week" on its ninth flight test from the company's Starbase in Boca Chica near Brownsville, Texas. Maritime warnings over the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. government as the Gulf of America, even suggested the launch was being targeted for Wednesday, May 21. An updated advisory now indicates a launch is planned as early as Tuesday, May 27. SpaceX, though, hasn't officially announced a target launch date while it awaits a green light from the FAA. SpaceX is developing Starship to be a fully reusable transportation system, meaning both the rocket and vehicle can return to the ground for additional missions. In the years ahead, Starship is intended to carry both cargo and humans to Earth's orbit and deeper into the cosmos. NASA's lunar exploration plans, which appear to be in jeopardy under President Donald Trump's proposed budget, call for Artemis III astronauts aboard the Orion capsule to board the Starship while in orbit for a ride to the moon's surface. But Musk is more preoccupied with Starship reaching Mars – potentially, he has claimed, by the end of 2026. Under his vision, human expeditions aboard the Starship could then follow in the years after the first uncrewed spacecraft reaches the Red Planet. Starship is regarded as the world's largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. At more than 400 total feet in height, Starship towers over SpaceX's famous Falcon 9 rocket – one of the world's most active – which stands at nearly 230 feet. The launch vehicle is composed of both a 232-foot Super Heavy rocket and the 171-foot upper stage spacecraft, or capsule. Super Heavy alone is powered by 33 of SpaceX's Raptor engines. The upper section, also called Starship or Ship for short, is the upper stage powered by six Raptor engines that will ultimately travel in orbit. The first two flight tests of 2025 ended in dramatic explosions that sent cascades of fiery debris streaking across the sky. In both cases, the upper stage, the vehicle where astronauts and cargo would ride, came apart mere minutes into its flight instead of landing as planned in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX is working with the FAA to investigate both mishaps, the most recent of which occurred March 6. In a similar investigation into the first explosion of the year on Jan. 16, SpaceX concluded the mishap was due to a series of propellant leaks and fires in the aft section of the vehicle that caused 'all but one of Starship's engines to execute controlled shut down sequences." This led to the communication breakdown and the vehicle to trigger its own self destruction. "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will help us improve Starship's reliability,' the company said after the March 6 mishap. 'We will conduct a thorough investigation, in coordination with the FAA, and implement corrective actions to make improvements on future Starship flight tests.' While the Starship has reached space, it has yet to reach Earth's orbit in any of its eight flight tests – instead traveling at a lower-altitude on a suborbital trajectory. The vehicle has also not exploded on every iteration. In three tests between June and November 2024, Starship flew halfway around the world before reentering Earth's atmosphere and splashing down as planned in the Indian Ocean – critical proof that its basic design is functional. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: SpaceX will have to wait to launch Starship again from Texas: Here's why
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX wins federal approval to launch more rockets in South Texas
McALLEN — The Federal Aviation Administration will allow SpaceX to launch rockets in South Texas up to 25 times per year, a significant increase from the five launches the company was previously licensed to complete annually. The FAA approved some modifications for the Starship Flight 9, the company's next rocket, stopping short of full approval for a launch, it was announced Thursday. The news is the latest development for Elon Musk's space company, which has used the Rio Grande Valley beach to test its rockets since 2013. Earlier this month, residents near the SpaceX launch site — largely SpaceX employees — voted to incorporate their neighborhoods into a new city, Starbase. Cameron County is expected to sign the order to officially incorporate the city on Tuesday. Musk is also expected to be in South Texas next week. "I will give a company talk explaining the Mars game plan in Starbase, Texas, that will also be live-streamed on X," Musk wrote on his social media platform. SpaceX cannot move forward with its ninth test flight until the FAA allows it to resume test flights following the mishap of Starship Flight 8 on March 6. The launch test ended with the destruction of the starship vehicle about 10 minutes after launch. An investigation into the mishap is ongoing. Because of that mishap, the FAA is expanding the aircraft and maritime hazard areas in the U.S. and other countries. The safety measure is also because SpaceX will be reusing a previously launched Super Heavy booster rocket for the first time. Last week, the FAA paved the way for an increase in launches, finding in an environmental assessment that there would be no significant environmental impacts caused by allowing SpaceX to increase launches at their Boca Chica site from five to 25 times per year. The environmental assessment looked at potential impacts to air quality, climate, noise, land use, water, wildlife, natural resources and energy supply, among other factors. The FAA released drafts of their environmental assessment last year and held public meetings in Cameron County to allow the public to voice their concerns. Local environmental and indigenous groups attended those meetings and held demonstrations in opposition to the launches, citing seismic activity that shook people's homes, illegal dumping on Boca Chica beach, the destruction of wildlife habitat and the failure to consult with the Esto'k Gna Tribal Nation, who are native to the area. Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FAA approves license modifications for SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission
(Reuters) -The FAA on Thursday said it approved license modifications for the SpaceX Starship Flight 9 mission, including allowing it to increase the number of operations to up to 25 per year at Boca Chica in Texas. Space X will not be allowed to launch until the FAA either closes its Starship Flight 8 investigation or makes a return to flight determination, the FAA added in a statement. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch fiery SpaceX Starship Flight 8 debris rain down over The Bahamas (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Starship put on a show for skywatchers yet again — but not the way that SpaceX would have liked. SpaceX launched the eighth test flight of Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, from its Starbase site in South Texas on Thursday evening (March 6). Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, came back to Starbase for a launch-tower catch about seven minutes after liftoff as planned. But the vehicle's 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper stage — called Starship or just Ship — experienced a serious problem shortly thereafter and ended up exploding over the Atlantic Ocean. The detonation sent chunks of debris raining down over the area, creating a dazzling artificial meteor shower for people in The Bahamas and Florida's Space Coast, among other locales. Something very similar happened during Starship's Flight 7, which launched on Jan. 16. Many folks in the debris-fall zone posted video of the Flight 7 debris fall on X, the social media site owned by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk — and history repeated itself on Thursday. Related: Watch SpaceX Starship explode over Atlantic Ocean on Flight Test 7 (videos) One of the people with a front-row seat for the Flight 8 fireworks was Stefanie Waldek, a journalist who also happens to be a contributor. "I'm on vacation with my family in The Bahamas, specifically in the Exumas. I had followed online the failure of Starship Flight 8, and within a few minutes, I spotted the debris streaking across the sky," Waldek told via email. "I didn't even think about being beneath the trajectory of the rocket! Fortunately, I knew exactly what we were looking at following Flight 7's RUD [rapid unscheduled disassembly], and I quickly explained to those around me that we weren't under attack, nor was the rocket crewed," she added. "The light show was completely silent — we didn't hear anything. But the reflection on the water from the burning debris was quite pretty!" An X user with the handle GeneDoctorB also recorded the sky show from The Bahamas, posting several videos of the event on X. "How would you like to see this above your #catamaran?" one of them was captioned. Photographer Trevor Mahlmann, meanwhile, watched Flight 8 from Titusville, on Florida's Space Coast — the home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. He captured the moment that Ship exploded and shared it with us on X. "RIP Starship Flight 8, just caught it exploding after a few engines cut off and it losing attitude control, viewed from Titusville, FL," Mahlmann wrote. RELATED STORIES: — SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video) — Starship and Super Heavy explained — Will 2025 be the year of Starship? SpaceX's megarocket is growing up. SpaceX determined that they Flight 7 mishap was caused by propellant leaks, which led to sustained fires in the Ship upper stage. It's too soon to say what happened on Flight 8, but the company is already investigating. "During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost. Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses. We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability," SpaceX said via X this evening.
