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Musk outlines plans to increase Starship launch rate and performance

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WASHINGTON — SpaceX could attempt to land a Starship booster as soon as the vehicle’s fifth flight as Elon Musk outlined plans to increase both the flight rate and the performance of the launch vehicle.

SpaceX posted on social media April 6 the video of an undated, but apparently recent, presentation the company’s founder and chief executive gave at its Starbase facility at Boca Chica, Texas. The presentation focused on the Starship vehicle built and launched there.

At Starbase, @ElonMusk provided an update on the company’s plans to send humanity to Mars, the best destination to begin making life multiplanetary pic.twitter.com/PiX8XOgQs5 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2024

Musk said that the fourth Starship/Super Heavy launch is planned “in about a month or so.” That is consistent with comments by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell at the Satellite 2024 conference March 19, where she said that flight was scheduled for early May , pending an updated Federal Aviation Administration launch license. If the company holds to that schedule, the launch would take place less than two months after the vehicle’s third flight .

The goal of the fourth flight is for the Starship upper stage to get through the “high heating regime” of reentry and make a “controlled splat” into the ocean, he said. On the third flight, Starship broke up during reentry.

Musk said SpaceX also wants to bring the Super Heavy booster back intact on the next flight, having it land “on essentially a virtual tower” in the Gulf of Mexico. That would allow the company to proceed with an attempt to bring the booster back to Starbase for a landing.

“If the landing on the virtual tower works, then we will actually try on Flight 5 to come back and land on the tower,” he said. “That is very much a success-oriented schedule, but it is in the realm of possibility.”

Musk said he was optimistic that SpaceX would be able this year to land a booster back on the tower, using a pair of giant arms dubbed “Mechazilla” to cradle the booster. “The odds of us actually being able to catch the booster with the Mechazilla arms this year,” he said, “is probably 80 to 90%.”

Recovering the Starship upper stage, or ship, will take longer. Musk said he wanted to have at least two consecutive successful controlled splashdowns of Starship in the ocean before attempting a landing at Starbase. “We do not want to rain debris over Mexico or the U.S.,” he said. “My guess is probably next year when we will be able to reuse Starship.”

SpaceX is working to accelerate production of Starship vehicles to support higher flight rates. Before the March launch, company officials said they had four pairs of ships and boosters at Starbase for upcoming launches. Musk said in the presentation the company would build “roughly six” more vehicles this year.

“That production rate will increase a lot next year. That’s why we’re building the giant factory” planned for Starbase, he said.

He noted that, along with the increased production of Starship vehicles, the company was building a second launch tower at Starbase and expected to have its first launch tower at Cape Canaveral, Florida, operational by the middle of next year. “What we should probably expect is that we do the development launches here, test anything new here, build the rockets,” he said at Starbase, “and then probably most of the operational launches would be from the Cape.”

With the increased production rate will come increased payload capacity. Musk outlined improvements to the Raptor engine that will increase its thrust from 230 to 280 metric tons-force, and “ultimately” to more than 330 metric tons-force of thrust.

The engine improvements would support a “Starship 2” that also features a slightly longer booster and ship. That will be able to place more than 100 metric tons into orbit in a fully reusable configuration, Musk said. A future “Starship 3,” about 25 meters taller than Starship 2, would be able to place more than 200 metric tons into orbit in a fully reusable mode. He did not disclose when either Starship version would enter service.

Musk claimed that the future Starship 3 would cost less to launch than SpaceX’s original rocket, the Falcon 1 small launch vehicle, which had a price of about $10 million, because of full reusability. He estimated the Starship cost per launch could fall to as low as $2 million to $3 million.

“These are sort of unthinkable numbers,” he said. “Nobody ever thought this was possible. But we’re not breaking any physics to achieve this.”

Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science... More by Jeff Foust

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How to watch Elon Musk’s Starship presentation live

The presentation is expected to start at 9pm et.

By Loren Grush

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This evening, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will give a presentation about his company’s next generation Starship system — a massive new rocket that SpaceX has been developing over the last few years to take humans to the Moon and eventually Mars. It’ll be Musk’s first presentation on the vehicle since 2019 and his fifth one overall since 2016.

Starship is by far SpaceX’s most ambitious project to date. The design calls for a giant spaceship and rocket combo that would be more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that took humans to the Moon. Starship, the passenger part of the vehicle, is meant to launch to space on top of a gargantuan booster rocket known as the Super Heavy. Starship is supposed to be capable of landing on the surface of the Moon and back on Earth, while Super Heavy is also meant to land itself back on Earth, making the entire system reusable.

HOW DO I WATCH ELON MUSK’S STARSHIP PRESENTATION?

SpaceX will be livestreaming Musk’s presentation on its YouTube channel here (and we’ve also embedded the livestream above).

WHAT TIME DOES THE SPACEX LIVESTREAM START?

Musk said the presentation would begin at 8PM Central time, but given his record on past performances, it’d be wise to give that start time some padding.

Scheduled start time:  New York: 9PM / San Francisco: 6PM / London: 2AM / Berlin: 3AM / Moscow: 5AM / New Delhi: 7:30AM / Beijing: 10AM / Tokyo: 11AM / Melbourne: 1PM

WHAT WILL ELON TALK ABOUT?

SpaceX and Musk have provided little detail about what exactly will be discussed during today’s update, but there are a few items that seem likely to come up. Perhaps the most pressing topic is the Federal Aviation Administration’s ongoing review of SpaceX’s proposed launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas — the site of Musk’s talk.

SpaceX is very eager to launch its Starship vehicle to orbit from the Texas location. It’s the primary place where SpaceX has been building prototypes of the rocket, and it’s the place where the company has conducted a few high-altitude test flights of the vehicle. But in order to go orbital from Texas, the company first needs the green light from the FAA. The agency is responsible for issuing licenses for rocket launches to orbit, to ensure they don’t damage uninvolved people or property.

The FAA is now considering whether to give Starship a license to launch out of Boca Chica

The FAA originally conducted a review of the Boca Chica site back in 2014, creating a full environmental impact statement, or EIS, that looked at how the facility might affect the surrounding area (which is notably part of a wildlife refuge). The assessment didn’t find any major problems, but that was back when SpaceX proposed launching its much smaller Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets out of Boca Chica. SpaceX has abandoned the idea of launching its Falcon vehicles from the facility now, and is only focused on launching Starship there. Meanwhile, the proposed launch site has significantly expanded in scope, and even includes major modifications like a natural gas plant for pretreating methane , one of the main propellants needed for Starship’s primary Raptor engines.

The FAA is now considering whether to give Starship a license to launch out of Boca Chica. As part of that decision-making process, SpaceX provided a draft assessment detailing what it plans to do with the site in the future. When that assessment was released, the FAA invited the public to give their opinions on the proposal and received a whopping 18,000 public comments. The opinions ranged from extreme enthusiasm for the project to harsh criticism, with some critics calling for the FAA to conduct another EIS based on SpaceX’s proposed updates. And it’s possible the FAA may do that. The agency can come up with one of three findings: that SpaceX’s updates will have no significant impact on the area, that SpaceX must take certain steps to mitigate its impact on the surrounding area, or that the FAA must conduct another EIS, a process that could take many months or even years as the agency interviews more people, collects more data, and does extensive research in cooperation with other federal agencies like NASA.

The FAA said it should make its decision by the end of February. The decision was initially supposed to be finalized by late December, but it’s taken both the FAA and SpaceX considerably more time than expected to respond to the sheer volume of public comments. With that February deadline coming up, the timing of Musk’s presentation this month doesn’t feel like a coincidence. Musk has a history of putting public pressure on the FAA when the regulator doesn’t make the decisions he likes with regards to his rocket launches. It’s possible the FAA might come up tonight, and if not, it will certainly be the elephant in the room.

Musk may also give updated timelines for Starship milestones, which he usually does during these presentations. Past timelines have always been incredibly aspirational and, in hindsight, unrealistic. During his last presentation in September of 2019, Musk said SpaceX was going to try to launch Starship to orbit within the next six months . Clearly, that didn’t happen. Musk’s latest prediction in November for Starhip’s orbital launch was January or February , but given the FAA’s decision timetable, March is the absolute earliest plausible timeframe — and that’s if the federal agency’s decision comes down in SpaceX’s favor. It also remains to be seen if SpaceX is actually ready for a March launch.

Timelines have always been incredibly aspirational

There’s also the topic of SpaceX’s ongoing partnership with NASA. Last year, the space agency awarded SpaceX $2.9 billion to develop Starship as a human lunar lander that can take NASA astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon in support of its Artemis program. As of now, NASA is aiming to conduct its first human landings with Starship as early as 2025, though that date is also considered fairly aspirational. Any updates on NASA and SpaceX’s working relationship would be useful.

One thing that would be nice for Musk to talk about is any updated plans for human survival on Starship . Most of the presentations in the past have revolved around the impressive specs and mechanics of the vehicle, while Musk usually brushes aside questions about life support systems, radiation shielding, and other technology related to human comfort. But Starship is primarily a passenger vehicle, and those sorts of technologies are going to become necessary as SpaceX makes its way through the development process.

However, Starship isn’t just intended for human use. SpaceX also has grand plans to use the spacecraft to launch its next generation satellites for its Starlink project, a massive mega-constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit designed to provide broadband internet services to the ground below. SpaceX filed an updated license with the Federal Communications Commission last year to launch its upgraded, larger Starlink satellites on Starship. And a recent email from Musk to the company indicated that Starship is pretty vital to Starlink’s overall success .

As for updates on the vehicles themselves, it’s hard to know what Musk could say that isn’t known already. SpaceX’s operations in Boca Chica have become fairly public, as teams of enthusiasts have started camping out around the facility, livestreaming views of daily operations there. Perhaps Musk has something new up his sleeve, but it’s pretty hard to keep secrets at the facility these days.

If nothing else, the presentation should have a fairly impressive display. SpaceX has fully stacked its latest Starship prototype on top of a Super Heavy booster for the talk’s backdrop. Though it might be hard to get the full vehicle in the shot.

Update February 10th, 7:39PM ET : Added link to the livestream.

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Musk See TV —

Spacex’s starship update comes at a critical time for the program, the biggest question: are these vehicles truly ready for flight.

Eric Berger - Feb 8, 2022 2:02 pm UTC

SpaceX founder Elon Musk will host a "Starship presentation" on Thursday evening in South Texas at the company's launch and production site.

The event will provide Musk's first comprehensive update on the vehicle's progress toward launch—and plans for when it is operational—since September 2019. SpaceX has made enormous progress on the Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage since that time, but some critical questions remain. The presentation will certainly be livestreamed by the company, and Ars will be on hand for the event.

Here are some of the biggest things we're looking for.

Is Starship ready for flight?

This week, engineers and technicians at the South Texas facility, which SpaceX calls Starbase, will stack a Starship vehicle on top of a Super Heavy booster. The Starship will be "Ship 20." There haven't been 19 previous Starship prototypes, but there have been a lot. And this ship will be stacked on "Booster 4." It will make for an impressive backdrop, but will either of these vehicles take flight?

The answer: probably not. While Booster 4 will have 29 Raptor engines, they appear to have been painted for the presentation, which does not seem like something you would do to a vehicle before a flight.

At the same time, at the nearby production site in South Texas, work is progressing on Ships 21, 22, and so on—and at least Boosters 7 and 8. So what is the plan for all of this hardware and its readiness for an orbital launch attempt?

Frankly, there have been rumors swirling that SpaceX may not even attempt an orbital launch this year due to technical issues with the Raptor engine. All of this information has been vague and unconfirmed. However, it's true that SpaceX has been testing the "Raptor 2" engine at its facilities in McGregor Texas with some urgency. Hopefully Musk will clarify all of this.

Will Starship fly from Texas?

Setting aside the rocket's readiness, there are also questions about the Federal Aviation Administration's review of the South Texas site for orbital Starship launches.

This past September, the FAA released its initial environmental report on South Texas, kicking off a public comment period. At the time, the FAA said it planned to release a final assessment at the end of 2021. Then it delayed that release until the end of February. Now, there is chatter that the FAA may delay the process beyond the end of February.

Whenever the process reaches a conclusion, the FAA is expected to issue one of three rulings: a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), a Mitigated FONSI, or a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. A "FONSI" would allow the formal launch licensing process to proceed. If a full Environmental Impact Statement is needed, launches from South Texas would likely be delayed by months, if not years, as more paperwork is completed.

In recent months, SpaceX has begun restarting operations at a Starship worksite near Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Is it doing so in case the company needs to pivot its Starship program from South Texas to Florida? Again, hopefully Musk will share SpaceX's view on launch site availability.

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SpaceX launches 23 satellites on 1st leg of Starlink doubleheader

Liftoff occurred at 5:12 a.m. ET today (April 5).

SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites this morning (April 5), on the first leg of a spaceflight doubleheader for the company.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of SpaceX's Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 5:12 a.m. EDT (0912 GMT). 

The Falcon 9's first stage then came back to Earth safely, making a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

It was the 14th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description . The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, hauled the 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit , deploying them there about 65 minutes after liftoff as planned.

—  SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ties 19 flight-record with launch from California (video)

—  8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight

—  SpaceX launches Crew-8 astronaut mission to International Space Station for NASA (video)

This morning's launch was the 33rd orbital mission of the year already for SpaceX, and the 22nd of 2024 devoted to building out the giant Starlink megaconstellation.

The liftoff was also the first leg of a planned Starlink doubleheader: SpaceX plans to launch 21 more of the internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California tonight during a four-hour window that opens at 10:31 p.m. EDT (0231 GMT on April 6). 

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with  Space.com  and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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Elon Musk Says SpaceX Starship Presentation with Super Heavy Will Broadcast Live Thursday

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has stated that he would provide an update on his company's next-generation Starship rocket on Thursday evening. Musk's latest update on the car was in 2019, which was more than two years ago.

For the past three years, SpaceX has been constructing Starship, a giant new deep-space rocket at the company's test facility in Boca Chica, Texas.  The Verge  said the fully reusable vehicle would launch on top of a massive booster known as Super Heavy. It carries people and cargo to far-flung locations such as the Moon and, eventually, Mars.

SpaceX has flown Starship to space on a few high-altitude test flights thus far but has yet to put it into orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration has given the corporation permission to launch Starship into orbit from Boca Chica.

Elon Musk Reveals SpaceX Presentation on Starbase, Texas

Musk announced that the Starship and its Full Stack companion, the Super Heavy Booster rocket, will be shown in a SpaceX presentation. The event will take place next Thursday, February 10, at 8 pm Texas time (9 pm ET).

It's unclear whether SpaceX and Musk will broadcast it live, especially because this display will focus solely on the Starship and not its flight.

Thursday next week at 8pm Texas time — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2022

After SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 9 to commemorate a milestone for the older rocket, Elon Musk talked too much about the details. During the meeting, the CEO and billionaire said in another tweet  that the Starship will outperform the Falcon 9. He added that the rocket would be the "holy grail of rocketry" once operational, citing its reusability as a key feature.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk Wants SpaceX to Conduct First Starship Orbital Launch Early 2022   

The Starship's unique characteristics and functions make it a vital spaceship for the Mars expedition since it is required to construct a "self-sustaining metropolis" on Mars. Furthermore, Musk emphasized multi-planetary life, which would only be conceivable with the Starship and its upcoming missions, emphasizing the ship's journey to Mars.

Starship aspires to be the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle, the holy grail of rocketry. This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2022

SpaceX Starship's Awaiting Test Flight

For its upcoming test flights on Starbase Texas, SpaceX's Starship awaited environmental license deliberation and approval from the  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) . Residents of Boca Chica and other concerned citizens were asked for their authorization before SpaceX could continue with its flights and missions for the Starship.

Elon Musk and SpaceX discussed an environmental review that the FAA will perform in the second half of 2022, which included public input. People had conflicting feelings about the review, which made it difficult for the FAA to provide SpaceX the necessary license and authority to test the Full Stack.

Instead of completing the examination by December 31, 2021, Science Times  said the FAA postponed the licensing until February. According to the firm, the launch will take place shortly, and SpaceX will display the Starship to the public.

RELATED ARTICLE: Elon Musk Shares Photo of SpaceX Starship Stacking on Super Heavy Booster, The Tallest Rocket Ever Built

Check out more news and information on SpaceX in Science Times.

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SpaceX launches latest Starlink missions, adding to low-orbit broadband satellite network

Two hours before sunrise, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminated the predawn darkness during a Friday morning liftoff from Florida's east coast, marking another expansion of the company's Starlink network.

The early-bird Starlink mission lifted off at 5:12 a.m. EDT, shipping another payload of 23 Starlink broadband satellites into the company's ever-growing constellation in low-Earth orbit.

In a post on X last week, SpaceX officials announced Argentina is now the 72nd country worldwide — and seventh in South America — that can access Starlink high-speed internet service.

Following Friday's rocket stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster landed atop SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean, wrapping up its 14th mission, Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The booster previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19 and nine Starlink missions, according to SpaceX.

PHOTOS: See the best pictures from SpaceX southern California launch

SpaceX had a second Friday launch scheduled in California: A Falcon 9 was scheduled to send up 21  Starlink  satellites — including six with direct-to-cell capabilities — at 10:31 p.m. EDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

In Brevard County, Air Force officials are preparing an environmental impact statement  examining SpaceX's proposal to convert Launch Complex 37 into a Starship-Super Heavy launch facility by 2026 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Public open houses were conducted last month in Cocoa, Titusville and Cape Canaveral to collect public comments about the massive rocket system.

Next on the launch calendar, SpaceX is targeting Sunday evening for its next mission from the Cape, Federal Aviation Administration and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigational warnings show. More information:

• Mission:  A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch a Bandwagon-1 "rideshare" payload of small satellites from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
• Launch window:  7:12 p.m. to 7:50 p.m.
• Location:  Pad 39A.
• Live coverage:  Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at  floridatoday.com/space .

Then on Tuesday, United Launch Alliance continues to target 12:53 p.m. for the historic last launch of a Delta IV Heavy triple-core rocket on the NROL-70 national security mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Science | SpaceX knocks out early morning Starlink launch…

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Science | spacex knocks out early morning starlink launch from cape canaveral.

The Space Coast saw its 23rd launch of the year early Friday with a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 more of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:12 a.m.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/xqlmWIs17E — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 5, 2024

The first-stage booster made its 14th flight and stuck another recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship called A Shortfall of Gravitas.

It was the 275th time SpaceX has recovered a Falcon 9 booster, part of the company’s efforts to reduce costs through reusability.

SpaceX has flown all but one of the launches from the Space Coast this year, with United Launch Alliance responsible for the other, a Vulcan Centaur launch in January.

ULA has its second flight lined up, though, with the last launch ever of a Delta IV Heavy set for Tuesday from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37 on a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. That comes after a delay because of issues with a gaseous nitrogen line to the launch pad that thwarted a launch attempt last week.

But before that, SpaceX has one more Falcon 9 launch lined up, a new rideshare mission for multiple customers called Bandwagon-1 flying from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A during window that runs from 7:12-7:22 p.m. Sunday.

The first-stage booster will make a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1, which means one or more sonic booms may be heard on the Space Coast and other parts of Central Florida.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch Bandwagon-1 mission Sunday night, producing sonic booms

Special delivery! SpaceX is rolling out a new series of "rideshare" launches carrying small satellites owned by a variety of companies, starting with the Bandwagon-1 mission scheduled for Sunday night.

The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off at 7:16 p.m. EDT Sunday from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9 will soar skyward on a northeasterly trajectory, a Space Launch Delta 45 nautical advisory indicates.

Following stage separation, the first-stage booster will target landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — generating sonic booms that may be audible across Central Florida, depending on atmospheric conditions.

What is a Bandwagon mission? Jarrod McLachlan, SpaceX director of rideshare sales, said it is the company's new class of rideshare flights that will deliver payloads from 550 kilometers to 605 kilometers above Earth, SpaceNews reported. McLachlan delivered those remarks during a presentation last August at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.

SpaceX announced Sunday's rocket will carry 11 spacecraft, including KOREA's 425Sat, HawkEye 360’s Clusters 8 & 9, Tyvak International’s CENTAURI-6, iQPS’s QPS-SAR-7 TSUKUYOMI-II, Capella Space’s Capella-14, and Tata Advanced Systems Limited’s TSAT-1A.

SpaceX already launches rideshare satellites on Transporter missions. Last month, Cape Canaveral-based Sidus Space sent its LizzieSat-1 satellite into orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-10 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California.

"On board this flight were 53 spacecraft, including CubeSats, MicroSats, and a hosted payload. To date, SpaceX has launched nearly 1,000 smallsats for more than 130 customers across our entire Rideshare program," SpaceX reported after that March 3 liftoff.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

Sunday's rocket launch will kick off a sequence of noteworthy space-themed events on the Space Coast:

• Monday: The solar eclipse should see the moon cover 62% of the sun in Brevard , beginning about 1:48 p.m. and maxing out at 3:04 p.m.
• Tuesday: United Launch Alliance officials expect 80% "go for launch" weather for the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket's final flight before retirement at 12:53 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Wednesday: Though SpaceX has yet to publicly confirm this mission's existence, a Federal Aviation Administration advisory shows a Starlink rocket launch window will open from midnight to 4:31 a.m. at Cape Canaveral Space Force station.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit  floridatoday.com/space .

Rick Neale  is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories,  click here .) Contact Neale at [email protected] . Twitter/X:  @RickNeale1

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

Elon Musk Gives Mega Starship Update – Flight 4 In May, Key NASA Test In 2025

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

In a major update for the Starship program given this month, SpaceX chief Elon Musk revealed the firm's plans for future rockets, the fourth test flight, Starship test objectives for 2024 and SpaceX's plan to establish a self sustaining society on Mars. SpaceX's third Starship test took to the skies last month, and after it successfully fired the fourth test flight's booster's engines in Texas earlier this week, Musk outlined in his presentation that key test objectives for 2024 will see SpaceX try to catch the first stage at the launch tower.

He added that missions to Mars should take six re fueling flights to load the second Starship rocket with enough fuel, and SpaceX will try to catch its rockets as soon as it is comfortable 'landing' or crashing them in virtual towers in the ocean.

Related Story SpaceX Readies For Fourth Starship Test & Ships Rocket To Launch Site!

Spacex likely to reuse second stage starship in 2025 says musk.

Musk's latest Starship talk marked a rare presentation where he dived into some details of what his company plans to do once it reaches Mars. Specifically, he outlined that landing sites on Mars must be as low as possible in elevation terms to provide Starship with sufficient atmosphere to slow itself down. They will also need to be located close to the Martian equator due to the need for ample sunlight to power up the Mars camp.

For now, SpaceX should test the full Starship stack for the fourth time next month. According to Musk, key test objectives will see teams try to 'land' Starship on the ocean as if there was a virtual launch tower present. If the rockets can successfully orient themselves, then the next step will be to bring them back to Boca Chica, Texas, to be caught by the launch tower.

The SpaceX executive revealed that for the Super Heavy booster, the subsequent test flight following a successful virtual catch will see a return to the tower. In contrast, SpaceX will test the second stage Starship twice before making a similar attempt.

He believes that there's an 80% to 90% chance that the booster will be recovered this year while recovering and re-using the ship will take longer since it will require " at least two consecutive successes of a given design that land them at a specific point in the ocean, or smash into a specific point in the ocean," before SpaceX tries to bring it back to the launch site to prevent excessive debris.

Since catching the rocket at the tower carries the risk of destroying the tower, SpaceX is building new towers. Two towers will be built in Florida and an additional one in Texas to ensure that testing cadence remains uninterrupted in case of accidents. Operational Starship launches should take place in Florida, and SpaceX plans to build six boosters this year, with all towers being built by next year.

Another key detail in the presentation was the number of flights for the Mars missions. To load Starship with fuel, the second stage ship will dock with a tanker in Earth orbit, and according to Musk, six re-fuelling launches should be sufficient for a Mars flight. As for the Starship ship for NASA's lunar missions, it will feature landing legs and eliminate its flaps and heat shield - making it unsuitable for a return journey to Earth.

For return missions from Mars, Musk believes that most people who sign up for a Martian journey will not return to Earth, but the long term design goal of the Starship program is to make such journeys possible. SpaceX will build a significantly greater number of ships than boosters, since most of the ships are likely to be reused on Mars for resources.

SpaceX will test the crucial ship to ship proepllant transfer for Starship next year, and key features of the presentation included details for the Raptor 3 engine and new Starship variants. The Raptor 3 will have integrated cooling channels, no heat shield and secondary plumbing integrated into the pump and the chamber jacket. This will provide it with higher thrust and a simplified design, also contributing to mass savings according to the executive.

As for Starship 3, it will be roughly 500 feet tall and feature thousands of design upgrades. " Starship 3 will cost less per flight than Falcon 1, " since it's fully reusable Musk added, with SpaceX potentially being able to bring the cost to orbit down to $2 million.

Further Reading

SpaceX Gears Up For Fourth Starship Test Flight – Might Fire Up Test Rocket Today!

SpaceX’s Fourth Starship Test Date Revealed By President Gwynne Shotwell!

Elon Musk’s Comments on Ketamine Come To Light Just as Tesla Shares Begin to Stage a Nascent Recovery

Spacex’s stunning starship test shows ship heat shield burning at hypersonic speeds, trending stories, apple’s first ipad officially released today on april 3, and even after 14 years, no other company has been able to create any meaningful competition, intel announces new wave of layoffs, implementing on its restructuring policy, snapdragon x elite can achieve just under 40fps when running control on ‘low’ settings, but in non-combat areas, if past precedents hold, tesla is likely to take over 2 years to manufacture the first 1,000 units of its robotaxi after the unveil event on the 08th of august, popular discussions, amd rdna 4 “radeon rx 8000” gpu rumors: navi 48 around navi 31 performance, navi 44 between navi 33 & 32, nvidia geforce rtx 4090d gaming & h20 ai gpus can be next on us’s chopping block for china as 70 tflops restriction goes in effect this week, amd am5+ platform mentioned with two granite ridge “ryzen zen 5” cpus in microcode extraction tool, amd navi 48 “rdna 4” gpu confirmed in rocm patches, coming to radeon rx 8000 gaming cards this year, nvidia continues to dominate steam gpu charts, rtx 3060 most popular followed by rtx 2060.

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Biden Takes Aim at SpaceX’s Tax-Free Ride in American Airspace

President Biden wants companies that use American airspace for rocket launches to start paying taxes into a federal fund that finances the work of air traffic controllers.

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By Minho Kim

Reporting from Washington

Every time a rocket soars into the sky carrying satellites or supplies for the International Space Station, air traffic controllers on the ground must take crucial steps to ensure that commercial and passenger aircraft remain safe.

The controllers, hired by the Federal Aviation Administration, close the airspace, provide real-time information on rockets and their debris and then reopen the airspace quickly after a launch is completed.

But unlike airlines, which pay federal taxes for air traffic controllers’ work for each time their planes take off, commercial space companies are not required to pay for their launches. That includes companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 300 rockets over the past 15 years that often carried satellites for its Starlink internet service.

The Biden administration is looking to change that. President Biden’s latest budget proposal, released last month , suggests that for-profit space companies start paying for their use of government resources.

Commercial space companies are exempt from aviation excise taxes that fill the coffers of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which pays for the F.A.A.’s work and will get roughly $18 billion in tax revenues for the current fiscal year. The taxes are paid primarily by commercial airlines, which are charged 7.5 percent of each ticket price and an additional fee of about $5 to $20 per passenger, depending on the destination of each flight.

Mr. Biden’s budget proposal vows to work with Congress to overhaul the tax structure and split the cost of operating the nation’s air traffic control system. His promise is based in part on an independent safety review report commissioned by the F.A.A., which advises that the federal government update the excise taxes to charge commercial space companies.

“Whenever SpaceX launches a flight, it requires massive air traffic control resources to clear the airspace for hours around the launch window,” said David Grizzle, an author of the safety report and the former chief operating officer of the Air Traffic Organization, an agency within the F.A.A. that hires the controllers. “And again, it pays zero.”

SpaceX did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Mr. Biden’s call for revising the decades-old excise tax structure is part of his push to make richer Americans and wealthy corporations “ pay their fair share .” In his State of the Union speech last month , Mr. Biden also called for raising taxes on private and corporate jet users , including increasing the tax that they pay on jet fuel to $1.06 per gallon from 21.8 cents per gallon over five years. That tax on fuel currently makes up around 3 percent of the annual revenue of the trust fund, which depends heavily on what commercial airlines and its passengers pay.

Yet commercial space companies do not contribute to that fund or share any of the cost that the public bears when rockets are launched, said William J. McGee, a former F.A.A.-licensed aircraft dispatcher and a senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, a consumer advocacy group.

“This is a question of fundamental fairness,” Mr. McGee said. “It would be the equivalent of having a toll system on a highway and waving through certain users and not others.”

Rocket launches are a time-intensive process for the F.A.A., former air traffic controllers say. The agency has to create a detailed plan outlining the exact airspace to close and reroute planes before a launch. Controllers must also respond quickly if anything goes awry.

“Consider a space launch to be similar to a hurricane making landfall,” said Michael McCormick, a former air traffic controller who worked for the F.A.A. for more than three decades and now teaches at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Hurricanes disrupt plans, shutting down airports and forcing planes to be rerouted. Rocket launches require equally intricate planning from controllers, Mr. McCormick said.

“In Florida — which is also one of the densest commercial aviation traffic corridors — you can start to see some very real impacts on the system,” said Michael P. Huerta, who was the F.A.A. administrator during both the Obama and Trump administrations and is the chairman of the safety review board that wrote the report. Commercial rockets now fly mostly out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral, Fla., near Orlando.

The number of space launches has increased sharply in recent years , led by SpaceX, which puts dozens of satellites into the Earth’s orbit every month . In recent years, parts of NASA’s missions have also been contracted out to commercial space companies that carry supplies to the International Space Station .

In 2023, the F.A.A. oversaw 117 launches, a significant jump from a decade earlier, when there were only 15 flights. More than 30 rockets have been launched so far this year, putting 2024 on a pace to surpass last year’s number. The launch count includes U.S. rockets that took off from New Zealand, whose space agency has been regulating launches on its soil with the F.A.A .

The increase in launches is also prompting the F.A.A. to devote more resources to the oversight and permitting of space activities, which is separate from the work of air traffic controllers. The administration is requesting $57 million for authorizing and licensing for the commercial space industry for the 2025 fiscal year, an increase from the roughly $37 million spent in 2023 . The F.A.A. added 33 new employees to its licensing and oversight office for the industry last year.

Commercial space companies reject the Biden administration’s suggestion that they pay aviation taxes. Members of the industry argue that it is still in a nascent stage, when most enterprises struggle to break even. They also point out that rockets need only about 15 seconds to fly through the airspace and that the volume of rocket launches is still negligible compared with around 16 million flights that the F.A.A. handles annually.

Taxing the industry is “not appropriate at this time,” said Karina Drees, the president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the industry group representing more than 80 companies and universities. “The commercial space industry, in close partnership with its F.A.A. regulator, continues to improve coordination of launch activity and avoid unnecessary impacts to” U.S. airspace.

But Mr. Huerta and Mr. Grizzle said that Congress should start looking for ways to tax the industry in anticipation of a boom in launches that is already beginning.

More rocket launches are adding pressure to the air traffic control system already marred by inadequate funding, staffing shortages and overworked personnel , the authors of the independent safety report said. Dozens of near collision events reported last year — in which commercial aircraft came dangerously close to each other — have demonstrated that the F.A.A.’s safety margins have already become thin.

The combination of staffing shortages and insufficient funding for new equipment “presents a perfect storm for more serious events occurring,” Mr. Grizzle said. The situation “will only get worse, as the proliferation of new entrants who pay no tax at all” continues.

The F.A.A. said in a statement that the agency is “committed to safely handling rapidly increasing space operations while minimizing disruption to the flying public.”

Home / Free Pitch Deck Templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides Themes / Free SpaceX PowerPoint Templates and Google Slides Themes

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What does SpaceX do? Officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Its an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company. SpaceX is popular for its mission to reduce the cost of space travel and its innovative mission to enable the colonization of humans on Mars.

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NLRB defends 'zealous advocacy' of SpaceX case transfer

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SpaceX knocks out early morning Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral

• Richard Tribou Orlando Sentinel (TNS)

The Space Coast saw its 23rd launch of the year early Friday with a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 more of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:12 a.m.

The first-stage booster made its 14th flight and stuck another recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

It was the 275th time SpaceX has recovered a Falcon 9 booster, part of the company’s efforts to reduce costs through reusability.

SpaceX has flown all but one of the launches from the Space Coast this year, with United Launch Alliance responsible for the other, a Vulcan Centaur launch in January.

ULA has its second flight lined up, though, with the last launch ever of a Delta IV Heavy set for next Tuesday from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37 on a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. That comes after a delay because of issues with a gaseous nitrogen line to the launch pad that thwarted a launch attempt last week.

But before that, SpaceX has one more Falcon 9 launch lined up, a new rideshare mission for multiple customers called Bandwagon-1 flying from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A during window that runs from 7:12-7:22 p.m. Sunday. The first-stage booster will make a recovery landing at Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1, which means one or more sonic booms may be heard on the Space Coast and other parts of Central Florida.

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