There’s no firm date for Starship #9 to launch as yet following the partly successful Flight #8 in March, but engineers and technicians are busy at the Boca Chica launch site in South Texas in preparation. But there’s a potential problem which could cause a delay to an expected late-May test flight. SpaceX shipped the […]

February 19th saw the New Zealand-based Rocket Lab, founded by Sir Peter Beck, launch its 60th Electron mission. The company specialises in launching smaller satellites, and its record to date is extraordinarily impressive. Electron is already the world’s most frequently launched small rocket annually. “Now we’re making it the world’s first reusable orbital small rocket […]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is not happy with last week’s problem with Elon Musk’s Starship rocket which exploded over the Turks & Caicos Islands. The FAA has grounded future flights pending a detailed explanation and examination of the flight’s data. There are numerous reports and images of pieces of the rocket, especially its heat-resistant […]

SpaceX lost a Starship on its seventh test flight in a fiery explosion over the Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. However, the rocket’s booster was successfully captured back at the launch site by the Texas pad’s ‘chopsticks’. Launch was at 5.37pm Texas time on January 16th. SpaceX said: “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled […]

The planned launch of the Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket on January 6th was delayed because of poor weather at the Cape. The rocket, named New Glenn, is now slated to launch from Florida on January 10th. The plan puts it head-to-head with Elon Musk’s important Starship and its seventh flight and attempted ‘chopstick’ landing. […]

Elon Musk, speaking ahead of the November 19th Starship launch, denied a Bloomberg report that his rocket company SpaceX was discussing an initial public offering (IPO) for its satellite internet business, Starlink – perhaps as soon as 2024. Musk, posting on his social media platform X, specifically described the Bloomberg report as “false”. The report […]

SpaceX’s unofficial broadband satellite service to Iran using Starlink must cease, the ITU along with US and Norwegian regulators have ruled. The ITU (and in particular its Radio Regulations Board, RRB) took a decision on October 27th to state that the US and Norway – as the official notifying administrations for Starlink’s frequencies – must […]

July 13th saw a secondary sale of shares from existing investors with stock priced at $81 per share, and a modest rise over the most recent cash-raising which saw shares sold at $77. A total of $750 million in new cash was raised in the offering exercise according to a CNBC report, meaning that the […]

Elon Musk has seemingly changed his mind about buying social media platform Twitter, and is now willing to proceed with his $44 billion (€44.7bn) takeover. In a letter to the firm, Musk indicated he has agreed to pay the price he offered earlier this year before trying to back out of the deal. The reversal […]

Northern Sky Research (NSR) has cast its eye over a new scheme which brought together mega-satellite operator SpaceX along with cellular giant T-Mobile to deliver two-way connectivity between SpaceX and mobile users around the world. NSR, in a note to clients, said “this will be an innovative additional feature for the network, but also asks […]