Latest news with #SuperHeavy
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FAA demanding investigation after SpaceX Starship breaks up in flight
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is asking SpaceX for an investigation into this week's Starship test flight that ended up spinning out of control and breaking apart. The FAA said the Starship's vehicle and booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas and there were no reports of injuries or damage to public property during Tuesday's flight. 'The mishap investigation is focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned. The FAA determined that the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX for certain flight events and system components,' the FAA wrote in a statement Friday. The Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, recorded its third test flight of this year this week and ninth since testing began in April 2023. It took off from Starbase, Texas, and the first few minutes appeared to go as planned. Around half an hour into the mission, the Starship began to spin out of control and SpaceX lost contact with the booster prior to it hitting the water. 'As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,' SpaceX said Tuesday. 'Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase,' SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote Tuesday night on X, the social platform he bought in 2022. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
7 hours ago
- Science
- The Hill
FAA demanding investigation after SpaceX Starship breaks up in flight
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is asking SpaceX for an investigation into this week's Starship test flight that ended up spinning out of control and breaking apart. The FAA said the Starship's vehicle and booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas and there were no reports of injuries or damage to public property during Tuesday's flight. 'The mishap investigation is focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned. The FAA determined that the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX for certain flight events and system components,' the FAA wrote in a statement on Friday. The Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket, recorded its third test flight of this year and ninth since testing began in April of 2023. It took off from Starbase, Texas and the first few minutes appear to go as planned. Around half-an-hour into the mission, the Starship began to spin out of control and SpaceX lost contact with the booster prior to it hitting the water. 'As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test,' SpaceX said Tuesday. 'Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase,' SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday night on X, the social media platform he bought in 2022.
New York Post
10 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
Elon Musk's Starbase town in Texas warns residents might ‘lose the right' to use their property
Elon Musk's SpaceX-controlled town in Texas warned local residents that they might 'lose the right to continue' using their property, according to a report. Starbase, formerly known as Boca Chica Village, is run by current and former SpaceX employees who will hold a hearing on June 23 to consider rezoning the 1.6 square-mile town located in the Rio Grande Valley, CNBC reported. 4 Elon Musk speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House and wears a 'Gulf of America' hat in April. AP Advertisement In a letter to homeowners, Starbase administrator Kent Myers said a new ordinance proposes creating a 'Mixed Use District' for 'residential, office, retail, and small-scale service uses.' 'The City is required by Texas law to notify you of the following: THE CITY OF STARBASE IS HOLDING A HEARING THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE USING YOUR PROPERTY FOR ITS CURRENT USE,' Myers wrote in the letter obtained by CNBC. SpaceX did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. Advertisement 4 A man wearing a Starbase t-shirt in the town formerly known as Boca Chica Village. AP Starbase was officially made a 'type-C municipal corporation' earlier this month after Musk's aerospace and defense contractor won a local election. The company town has a population of roughly 500 people, around 260 of whom are employed by SpaceX, according to the Texas Tribune. Most of the other residents are relatives of SpaceX employees. Starbase includes the launch facility where SpaceX's massive Starship rockets are tested. Advertisement 4 SpaceX's Starship spacecraft launches atop its Super Heavy booster earlier this week. REUTERS The town is actively trying to gain permission so it can close a main road and beaches for launches during the week. Musk's space firm earlier this week conducted its ninth test flight from the Texas facility of its huge Starship rocket, which exploded for the third time in a row after a major fuel leak. 4 A resident protests SpaceX's takeover of Boca Chica Village with a pinata of Elon Musk. AP Advertisement The Starship stands about 400 feet tall when stacked with the Super Heavy booster for a launch. SpaceX aims to use the Starship to transport people and equipment around Earth, to the Moon and to eventually colonize Mars, according to Musk. The FAA said there were no reports of injuries to people or damages to public property as a result of the failed launch. The billionaire's space firm is one of the largest government contractors, receiving more than $20 billion since 2008.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk to build enormous Texas ‘gigabay' to store 1,000 Starships
Credit: X/SpaceX SpaceX will build the 'biggest structure in the world' to house up to 1,000 of its 400ft-tall Starship rockets per year, Elon Musk has claimed. The Tesla billionaire and world's richest man laid out his vision for 'making life multiplanetary' in an update at SpaceX's Starbase in Texas. Speaking to staff last night, Mr Musk said the company planned to build a 'gigabay', which he said would be 'a truly enormous structure'. He said the building, designed for 1,000 Starships per year, would be 'by some measures the biggest structure in the world'. The first so-called gigabay would be built in Texas, with a further facility in Florida as SpaceX seeks to launch multiple rockets per day in order to reach and colonise Mars. Mr Musk has said humans must colonise the Red Planet to avoid potential extinction risks, such as nuclear war or an asteroid strike, and that the colony would need to become self-sustaining. He said: 'Having two strong, self-sustaining planets will be critical for the long-term survival of civilisation.' The billionaire further claimed the company's Super Heavy booster rockets would one day be able to fly missions 'every hour, maybe every two hours give a bit of extra time'. The Super Heavy boosters are the first stage of the Starship rocket. They are designed to be reusable, falling back to Earth after launching. He added SpaceX would ultimately need to launch 1,000 to 2,000 rockets to Mars in every two-year window to carry the cargo needed to set up a colony. Mr Musk is known for his bold claims and ambitious timelines, including his vision of sending humans to Mars by 2029. He said its first mission could include landing an Optimus robot on Mars. On Tuesday night, Mr Musk's company undertook a ninth test flight of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. The test saw the first re-use of its Super Heavy booster, recycling a rocket body that had previously returned to Earth and been caught by a pair of 'chopsticks' on its landing tower. However, the Starship second stage went into a spin as it returned to Earth, breaking up over the Indian Ocean. Mr Musk has promised to launch another Starship test mission within a few weeks. Nasa is planning to use SpaceX's megarocket for a manned mission to the Moon as soon as 2027, returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. On Thursday, Mr Musk revealed new designs for SpaceX's Starship, which he said would be 'taller' and have a redesigned separation mechanism. He said future generations of its Starship would be 465ft tall and have twice the payload capacity of the Saturn V rocket that conducted the original Moon missions. The billionaire added that his ambition was that 'anyone who wants to move to Mars can do so', which he said would be the 'best adventure that anyone could possibly do'. He added there was a '50/50' chance SpaceX would launch an uncrewed Starship mission at the end of 2026, when Mars is at the closest point in its orbit to Earth. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Elon Musk to build enormous Texas ‘gigabay' to store 1,000 Starships
SpaceX will build the 'biggest structure in the world' to house up to 1,000 of its 400ft-tall Starship rockets per year, Elon Musk has claimed. The Tesla billionaire and world's richest man laid out his vision for 'making life multiplanetary' in an update at SpaceX's Starbase in Texas. Speaking to staff last night, Mr Musk said the company planned to build a 'gigabay', which he said would be 'a truly enormous structure'. He said the building, designed for 1,000 Starships per year, would be 'by some measures the biggest structure in the world'. The first so-called gigabay would be built in Texas, with a further facility in Florida as SpaceX seeks to launch multiple rockets per day in order to reach and colonise Mars. Mr Musk has said humans must colonise the Red Planet to avoid potential extinction risks, such as nuclear war or an asteroid strike, and that the colony would need to become self-sustaining. He said: 'Having two strong, self-sustaining planets will be critical for the long-term survival of civilisation.' The billionaire further claimed the company's Super Heavy booster rockets would one day be able to fly missions 'every hour, maybe every two hours give a bit of extra time'. The Super Heavy boosters are the first stage of the Starship rocket. They are designed to be reusable, falling back to Earth after launching. He added SpaceX would ultimately need to launch 1,000 to 2,000 rockets to Mars in every two-year window to carry the cargo needed to set up a colony. Mr Musk is known for his bold claims and ambitious timelines, including his vision of sending humans to Mars by 2029. He said its first mission could include landing an Optimus robot on Mars. On Tuesday night, Mr Musk's company undertook a ninth test flight of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket. The test saw the first re-use of its Super Heavy booster, recycling a rocket body that had previously returned to Earth and been caught by a pair of 'chopsticks' on its landing tower. However, the Starship second stage went into a spin as it returned to Earth, breaking up over the Indian Ocean. Mr Musk has promised to launch another Starship test mission within a few weeks. Nasa is planning to use SpaceX's megarocket for a manned mission to the Moon as soon as 2027, returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. On Thursday, Mr Musk revealed new designs for SpaceX's Starship, which he said would be 'taller' and have a redesigned separation mechanism. He said future generations of its Starship would be 465ft tall and have twice the payload capacity of the Saturn V rocket that conducted the original Moon missions. The billionaire added that his ambition was that 'anyone who wants to move to Mars can do so', which he said would be the 'best adventure that anyone could possibly do'. He added there was a '50/50' chance SpaceX would launch an uncrewed Starship mission at the end of 2026, when Mars is at the closest point in its orbit to Earth.
