Tag: SpaceX
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Blue Origin has a new employee stock plan, but not everyone is happy
Blue Origin released details about a new stock option plan in an internal communication on Tuesday. Ars was able to review the materials and connect with some employees to gather their thoughts. Some of the early reviews are not positive, with one employee going so far as to describe the plan as “pure f—king trash.”…
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SpaceX Version 3 Starship Static Fire Targets May Orbital Test
What’s New in SpaceX’s Version 3 Starship That Just Completed Static Fire Testing? SpaceX successfully completed a static fire test of its Version 3 Starship prototype on April 15, marking a critical milestone before the vehicle’s planned May orbital test flight. The test fired all six Raptor engines for approximately 8 seconds at the company’s…
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SpaceX launches 1,000th Starlink satellite of 2026 on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
A streak shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it tears away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-24 mission on April 14, 2026. Image: John Pisani/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched its 1,000th Starlink satellite so far in 2026 with an early morning Falcon 9 rocket launch Tuesday…
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Former NASA Executive Bets on Narrow-Beam LEO Broadband Against Starlink
Can narrow-beam technology challenge Starlink’s LEO dominance? A 63-year-old former NASA Branch Chief and Google executive is launching a narrow-beam satellite constellation strategy to compete against established mega-constellations like Starlink in an increasingly contested Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband market. The approach focuses on higher-frequency, precision-targeted beams rather than the wide-coverage architecture deployed by SpaceX’s…
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to launch Starlink satellites, New Glenn to launch with flown booster
Six launches are scheduled worldwide this week, with the third launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn, featuring a previously-flown booster, highlighting the week. SpaceX is expected to launch three Starlink missions this week: two from California and one from Florida. Internationally, two Chinese rockets, a Lilian-1 and Chang Zheng 2D, are scheduled to launch unknown…
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New Glenn Third Flight Tests Booster Reuse Strategy
Will New Glenn’s booster reuse strategy match SpaceX’s economics? Blue Origin’s New Glenn is preparing for its third orbital mission this week using a previously flown first-stage booster, marking a critical test of the company’s reusability strategy against SpaceX’s proven Falcon 9 economics. The mission represents Blue Origin’s first attempt at operational booster reuse, coming…
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Falcon 9 launches CRS NG-24 cargo ship to ISS
Weeks after Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus S.S. William McCool ended its CRS NG-23 mission with a destructive reentry, another Cygnus is now flying. A Falcon 9 successfully launched the Cygnus XL S.S. Steven R. Nagel to the International Space Station, the fourth time SpaceX has launched a Cygnus spacecraft. The launch took place on Saturday, April…
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The Artemis II mission has ended. Where does NASA go from here?
The Artemis era well and truly began Friday evening when a shiny spacecraft that had traveled 700,000 miles around the Moon, carrying four astronauts, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. For NASA, for its international partners, and for all of humanity the successful conclusion of the Artemis II mission marked…
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SpaceX launches 11,000 lbs of ISS cargo on Cygnus NG-24 mission
How much cargo is SpaceX delivering to the ISS this weekend? SpaceX launched 11,000 pounds of critical supplies to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-24 spacecraft on Saturday, marking another successful cargo resupply mission that keeps the orbiting laboratory operational. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, delivering the automated…
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to loft Cygnus to ISS, Minotaur IV to launch from California
As NASA’s Artemis II mission reaches its halfway point, the launch manifest on Earth continues to stay busy, with eight launches scheduled for the week of April 6th. SpaceX is expected to launch four Falcon 9s this week, including three Starlink missions and the NG-24 mission to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Minotaur…