Tag: raptor
Max Q: Starship’s good landing (and less good post-landing)
Max Q is a weekly newsletter from TechCrunch all about space. Sign up here to receive it weekly on Mondays in your inbox. Sometimes even the biggest successes look like failures on video. That’s the theme of this week, because the biggest news by far was SpaceX’s test launch of…
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SpaceX prepares Starship SN8 prototype for high-altitude test flight
In September 2019 Elon Musk said he hoped SpaceX would be able to perform an orbital test of its Starship vehicle within six months, and while that didn’t happen the company is apparently ready to perform a high-altitude flight test. In a tweet, the… Source
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Elon Musk says Starship is now SpaceX’s top priority
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk says that after accomplishing its first human launch, the company’s primary focus going forward will be developing Starship, its next-generation spacecraft. According to an internal email seen by CNBC, Musk said that Starship is job one for the company, with the exception of ensuring…
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SpaceX’s Starship SN4 launch vehicle prototype explodes after static engine fire test
SpaceX had just conducted yet another static fire test of the Raptor engine in its Starship SN4 prototype launch vehicle on Friday when the test vehicle exploded on the test stand. This was the fourth static fire test of this engine on this prototype, so it’s unclear what went wrong…
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SpaceX gets FAA permission to fly its Starship spacecraft prototype
SpaceX has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly suborbital missions with its Starship prototype spacecraft, paving the way for test flights at its Boca Chica, Texas site. SpaceX has been hard at work readying its latest Starship prototype for low-altitude, short duration controlled flight tests, and…
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SpaceX’s Starship prototype successfully completes key engine static fire test
SpaceX’s Starship prototype is on a streak of successes, at a key moment for the spacecraft’s development. The Starship SN4 (so-named because it’s the fourth full-size prototype) tester managed to pass a test of its Raptor engine firing while installed on the test stand. SN4 previously passed a crucial low…
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