What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about SpaceX, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

SpaceX

SpaceX71 posts

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is an American spacecraft manufacturer, space launch provider, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.

Latest News view > Click for Biography view
26 Aug, 2023

Crew-7 launches to ISS

Manned Launch2 Comments

Crew-7 successfully launches to the International Space Station, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on SpaceX’s Endurance Dragon spacecraft, powered by a Falcon 9 rocket. The crew includes: NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov of Russia’s space agency. Over 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations will take place during Crew-7’s mission of approximately six months in space. Experiments will include the collection of microbial samples from the exterior of the space station, the first study of human response to different spaceflight durations, and an investigation of the physiological aspects of astronauts’ sleep. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson:

Crew-7 is a shining example of the power of both American ingenuity and what we can accomplish when we work together. Aboard station, the crew will conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations to prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, all while benefitting humanity on Earth. By partnering with countries around the world, NASA is engaging the best scientific minds to enable our bold missions, and it’s clear that we can do more – and we can learn more – when we work together.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 Launch (Official NASA Broadcast in 4K)

10 Jul, 2023

SpaceX breaks reusable rocket launch record

Makes StatementUnmanned launch1 Comments

SpaceX breaks its own record, after successfully completing a 16th mission with a reusable rocket. The company launches 22 Starlink satellites aboard the Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is the 16th launch and landing for the B1058 Falcon 9 rocket booster. SpaceX says it hopes the booster can be used a further four times before finally being scrapped. There are now more than 4,000 active Starlink satellites in orbit around Earth, delivering high-speed internet to users. After the satellites are deployed, Musk writes on Twitter:

Looks like we can increase Raptor thrust by ~20 per cent to reach 9,000 tons (20 million lbs) of force at sea level… And deliver over 200 tons of payload to a useful orbit with full and rapid reusability. Fifty rockets flying every three days on average enables over a megaton of payload to orbit per year – enough to build a self-sustaining city on Mars.

1 Jul, 2023

SpaceX launches Euclid Space Telescope

Unmanned launch0 Comments

SpaceX launches the Euclid Space Telescope for the European Space Agency. Launching at 11:12 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the rocket’s nine Merlin 1D engines ignited and sent Falcon 9 and Euclid to space. It landed back on Earth just over eight and a half minutes later. This was the second launch for the Falcon 9 Booster 1080. Its first-stage engines burned for just over two-and-a-half minutes before stage separation and eventual ignition of the single Merlin 1D MVac second-stage engine, which performed a burn for just over five minutes. Then followed a nine-minute coast phase, and the second stage reignited for a 90-second engine burn to set up momentum for Euclid to be sent on its way to the Lagrange point 2 transfer orbit. After the 2nd stage coasted for approximately 20 minutes, spacecraft separation took place. SpaceX used brand new fairings for the launch.

12 Jun, 2023

200th Falcon 9 booster landing

Unmanned launch0 Comments

In a rideshare mission called Transporter-8, SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket containing 72 small satellites from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base to orbit and lands the returning booster, eight minutes later, back on Earth, marking the 200th booster landing in SpaceX’s history. This is the ninth launch and landing for this particular booster. The rocket’s upper stage continued hauling aloft the 72 payloads, which included “cubesats, microsats, a re-entry capsule and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.” The satellites deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage, separate over a 24-minute span, beginning an hour after liftoff. Transporter-8 was SpaceX’s second mission in about 14 hours, the eighth small-satellite “rideshare” mission launched by SpaceX, and its third such flight of 2023.

21 May, 2023

Axiom Mission 2 launches successfully

Manned Launch0 Comments

Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) to the International Space Station launches successfully from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Dragon spacecraft used previously flew Crew-4 to and from the space station. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage lands on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the first time a booster has been reused on a human spaceflight mission.

During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 20 science and technology experiments in areas such as human physiology, physical sciences, and STEAM to ‘help expand knowledge to benefit life on Earth in areas such as healthcare, materials, technology development, and enable industrial advances’.

Ax-2 Mission | Launch

13 May, 2023

SpaceX launches 81st Starlink mission, lands booster at sea

Unmanned launch0 Comments

SpaceX successfully launches a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 56 Starlink spacecraft, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, returning it to Earth less than nine minutes later, landing on the SpaceX drone ship, Just Read the Instructions, in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 11th launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, while Starlink Group 5-9 marks the 81st operation Starlink mission, boosting the total number of Starlink satellites launched to more than 4,400.

24 Apr, 2023

FAA grounds Starship pending crash investigation

Investigation0 Comments

SpaceX’s Starship rockets are grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration, after the rocket exploded on Thursday morning, to investigate the failed launch. FAA statement:

An anomaly occurred during the ascent and prior to stage separation resulting in a loss of the vehicle.  No injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA will oversee the mishap investigation of the Starship / Super Heavy test mission. A return to flight of the Starship / Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety. This is standard practice for all mishap investigations. The FAA is responsible for protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations.

20 Apr, 2023

Starship launch debris covers Texas coast

Anomaly0 Comments

SpaceX’s Starship rocket launch causes a massive debris field around the launch pad. The force of the rocket engines creates a crater under the concrete launch pad, sending debris away from the pad at thousands of miles an hour, causing damage to the nearby tank farm, a car parked miles away and forming a dust cloud that blocks out the sun over the Texas coast until strong winds blows it away. Video shows chunks of debris landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Starship explodes four minutes into second test attempt

AnomalyUnmanned launch0 Comments

After being delayed from April 18, SpaceX makes a second attempt at launching Starship. After a short countdown hold at 40 seconds the spacecraft launches and clears the tower. Four minutes into the flight, at a height of 34km, the vehicle explodes, after the second stage fails to separate. Musk congratulates the team:

Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.

Starship Flight Test

17 Apr, 2023

Starship launch scrubbed

ScrubbedUnmanned launch0 Comments

The first Starship launch is scrubbed, ten minutes before launch, due to a pressurant valve being frozen. The countdown continues as a ‘wet dress rehearsal’, to T minus 40 seconds. Another launch attempt may happen in the next 48 hours.

Starship launch rescheduled to Apr 20

Launch announcement0 Comments

SpaceX says it is targeting Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas. The 62 minute launch window opens at 8:28 a.m. CT and closes at 9:30 a.m. CT.

7 Mar, 2023

Musk ‘not saying’ Starship will get to orbit

InterviewMakes StatementUnmanned launch0 Comments

SpaceX will debut its Starship vehicle in a month or so, but the chances of its first-ever orbital mission being a success are apparently only about 50%.

I’m not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement. So, won’t be boring!…So I think we’ve got, hopefully, about an 80% chance of reaching orbit this year. It’ll probably take us a couple more years to achieve full and rapid reusability.

According to Musk, Starship will be the most powerful rocket to ever fly, featuring about 2.5 times more thrust at liftoff than NASA’s Saturn V. SpaceX hopes that, among other things, Starship will get people and cargo to the moon and Mars. It is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, which Musk considers the most important breakthrough for making Mars colonization and other ambitious exploration feats feasible.

New Elon Musk Interview with Timestamps. Morgan Stanley Interview 2023. Twitter, Tesla & SpaceX.

 

24 Jan, 2023

Starship completes first full ‘wet’ dress rehearsal

Launchpad activity0 Comments

Starship completes its first full wet dress rehearsal, where it is loaded with more than 10m pounds of propellant. SpaceX says the test will help verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for flight-like operations.

1 Nov, 2022

Falcon Heavy double booster landing

Booster recovery0 Comments

The two side boosters from Falcon Heavy USSF-44 mission return to Earth safely, marking the 150th and 151st succesful orbital-class booster recovery. The middle booster was expended. The mission is to deploy two payloads for the US Space Force into geosynchronous orbit, one of which is the TETRA 1 microsatellite.

14 Oct, 2022

Crew-4 returns to Earth on Dragon Freedom

Splashdown0 Comments

After 170 days in space, Crew-4 astronauts return to Earth, in a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieve the spacecraft and astronauts. After returning to shore, all astronauts will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Cristoforetti then will board a plane to Europe.

The mission launched at 3:52 a.m. EDT April 27 on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Throughout their mission, the Crew-4 astronauts contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Cristoforetti completed two spacewalks with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev to perform station maintenance and upgrades.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson:

Welcome home Crew-4! This international crew has spent nearly six months on the International Space Station conducting science for the benefit of all. Their work aboard the orbiting laboratory will help prepare future explorers for future space missions. Working and living on the space station is the opportunity of a lifetime, but it also requires these explorers to make sacrifices, especially time away from loved ones. Kjell, Bob, Jessica and Samantha, thank you for your contributions over the past six months to science, innovation, and discovery!

12 Oct, 2022

Dennis & Akiko Tito join second SpaceX Moon mission

Crew announcement0 Comments

Dennis and Akiko Tito are the first two crewmembers announced on Starship’s second commercial spaceflight around the Moon. The flight will be Dennis’ second mission to space after becoming the first commercial astronaut to visit the International Space Station, for 7 days at a cost of $20 million, in 2001, and Akiko will be among the first women to fly around the Moon on a Starship. Over the course of a week, Starship and the crew will travel to the Moon, fly within 200 km of the Moon’s surface, and complete a full journey around the Moon, before returning to Earth. This mission is expected to launch after the Polaris Program’s first flight of Starship and dearMoon. Dennis:

I think another first that’s very important is that we’ll be the first married couple to fly around the moon. And hopefully that’ll be inspiring to other couples to do the same. And I think I probably will end up being the oldest person to go beyond Earth orbit, so that will be nice.

11 Oct, 2022

SpaceX fully stacks Starship rocket

Launchpad activityVehicle assembly0 Comments

For the first time in more than six months, SpaceX stacks both stages of Starship, creating the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever fully assembled. SpaceX has conducted three other full-stack Starship demonstrations: in August 2021 and February and March 2022. This stack includes Super Heavy Booster 7 (B7) and Starship 24 (S24). The stacking is taking place at Starship’s orbital launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas.

After an aborted predawn attempt on October 11th, the Starship was lifted at sunset about 80 meters (250 ft) off the ground, translated over to Booster 7, and lowered on top of the 69-meter-tall (225 ft) first stage. After about two more hours of robotically tweaking their positions, the two Starship stages were secured together.

According to Musk, Booster 7 and Ship 24 will attempt Starship’s first full-stack wet dress rehearsal (WDR) once all is in order, which is a fully loaded countdown up to the point of launch.

Elon Musk

7 Oct, 2022

SpaceX Dragon Capsule docks with ISS

Docking0 Comments

Elon Musk shares a video of the SpaceX Dragon capsule docking with the International Space Station. The docking took place 29 hours after the Falcon 9 spacecraft took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX Crew-5 is the fifth crewed NASA flight, carrying two NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 200 science experiments.

25 Sep, 2022

Falcon 9 launches 52 Starlink satellites to orbit

Unmanned launch0 Comments

SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites to orbit, on a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch was SpaceX’s 43rd orbital mission this year. Viewers close by the launchpad witnessed Falcon 9’s first stage falling back to Earth for a soft landing atop the SpaceX droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The company has already sent nearly 3,400 Starlinks into space and has a plan to bring thousands more aloft.