Tag: SpaceX
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With recent Falcon 9 milestones, SpaceX vindicates its “dumb” approach to reuse
As SpaceX’s Starship vehicle gathered all of the attention this week, the company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket continued to hit some impressive milestones. Both occurred during relatively anonymous launches of the company’s Starlink satellites but are nonetheless notable because they underscore the value of first-stage reuse, which SpaceX has pioneered over the last decade. The…
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SpaceX launches record-breaking 30th flight of a Falcon 9 booster
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flies from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the Starlink 10-11 mission. This launch featured the Falcon 9 booster, tail number B1067, making its 30th trip to space and back. Image: John Pisani/Spaceflight Now Update Aug. 28, 5:20 a.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 28 satellites.…
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SpaceX completes 400th Falcon booster landing on a drone ship
SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster completes a landing on the droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions,’ during the Starlink 10-56 mission on Aug. 27, 2025. The recovery was the 400th landing of an orbital class rocket. Image: SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket placed another 28 Starlink satellites into orbit shortly after sunrise on Wednesday and…
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The Starship Program rises from the ashes of Block 2 with Ship 37
Going into Flight 10, SpaceX was having a down year with the Starship program. Following the successes of Block 1, the hope was to have immediate success with Block 2 and possibly catch a Starship in 2025. However, with four straight ship failures, including one during ground testing, SpaceX needed a win. Flight 10 gave…
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SpaceX successfully launches Super Heavy-Starship on critical test flight
A SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy rocket thunders away from Starbase, Texas to begin the Starhip Flight 10 mission on Aug. 26, 2025. Image: SpaceX Running two days late, SpaceX launched its huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket Tuesday, chalking up what appeared to be a remarkably successful test flight in the wake of three back-to-back failures earlier this…
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Ship 37 Completes the Redemption Arc and Lands in the Indian Ocean
SpaceX had not experienced much success with the Block 2 version of Starship since its introduction earlier this year. What was intended to usher in a new era for the program, including a possible ship catch in 2025, has instead devolved into SpaceX repeatedly attempting to achieve the same objectives that were targeted across several…
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SpaceX launches Luxembourg’s NAOS, 7 other rideshare satellites from California
The Luxembourg NAOS (National Advanced Optical System) satellite sits at the top of a rideshare stack ahead of launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Aug. 26, 2025. Image: SpaceX Update Aug. 26, 4:05 p.m. EDT: SpaceX landed its booster and successfully deployed the payloads. SpaceX launched its 37th Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg…
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Launch Roundup: Starship and multiple Falcon 9 launches planned
Seven launches are scheduled this week by SpaceX and CSNA. CSNA will kick off the week with another Guowang launch, SpaceX launched the NAOS (LUXEOSys) & Others mission, as well as Starship on its tenth flight. Then, SpaceX wrapped up the week with four Starlink missions. Chang Zhang 8A | Guowang LEO Group 10 Starting…
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Launch preview: SpaceX tries for third time to launch Starship Flight 10 from Starbase, Texas
SpaceX’s Starship rocket is pictured at sunset at Starbase, Texas, following a mission scrub for Flight 10 on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is hoping that with two successive days of scrubs behind it, it will be able to launch its massive Starship rocket on its third launch attempt on Tuesday evening. It’s…
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Poor weather delays Starship Flight 10 to Tuesday
Several people wander the dunes surrounding Launch Pad A at Starbase, Texas, to marvel at the fully integrated Starship rocket designed to launch Starship Flight 10. Image: Stephen Clark / Ars Technica Update Aug. 25, 8:22 p.m. EDT: An anvil cloud forced a mission scrub. The launch is now scheduled for no earlier than Tuesday…