Musk post Starship night photo: ‘This is real’
Musk posts a night image of the newly-stacked Starship, on its launchpad at Boca Chica, Texas, with the caption:
This is real
This is real
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2022
Starlink debuts in Japan
SpaceX announces Starlink’s debut in Japan, the first Asian country to get the satellite internet service. Starlink’s service map shows the satellite internet service is available in parts of Japan’s main island including the Tōhoku and Kantō regions, and parts of the Chūbu region. The monthly service fee is 12,300 yen ($84) on top of hardware costs of 73,000 yen. The company signed an agreement with Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI to act as Starlink integrator for rural and remote areas. KDDI:
Starlink’s unmatched performance is a great fit for our persistent endeavor to bring the urban mobile experience to rural customers, With Japan having more than 16,000 mountains and 6,000 islands, Starlink’s industry-leading satellite constellation is uniquely suited to provide Japanese enterprises with reliable, sustainable internet connectivity, even in times of natural disaster
Starlink が日本でのサービスを開始しました - アジアでは初めてのサービス国です → https://t.co/slZbTmHdml
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 10, 2022
Musk: SpaceX cannot fund Starlink in Ukraine ‘indefinitely’
Following a report that SpaceX told the US government that Ukraine’s use of Starlink has already cost $80 million and could cost close to $400 million over the next 12 months, Musk says SpaceX cannot fund the existing system “indefinitely and send several thousand more terminals” that have high data usage. SpaceX’s donated Starlink internet terminals have been crucial in keeping Ukraine’s military online during the war against Russia.
SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
Musk also said he was following the recommendation of Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, who told Musk to ‘F off’ after he posted his Twitter peace plan.
We’re just following his recommendation 🤷♂️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
Crew-4 returns to Earth on Dragon Freedom
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!
Welcome home @SpaceX #Crew4 astronauts after a 170-day @ISS_Research mission that began on April 27! Splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean occurred at 4:55pm ET today. More… https://t.co/Kfzv8VmUdP pic.twitter.com/5OjWFKsBmL
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 14, 2022
Musk will continue to cover Ukraine Starlink costs
Despite earlier tweeting that SpaceX could not fund Starlink ‘indefinitely’, Musk says he will continue to pay for Starlink to cover Ukraine. SpaceX has told the US government that Ukraine’s use of Starlink has already cost $80 million and could cost close to $400 million over the next 12 months.
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022
When a Twitter user told Musk “No good deed goes unpunished”, he replied:
Even so, we should still do good deeds.
Even so, we should still do good deeds
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022
Falcon Heavy double booster landing
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.
Falcon Heavy’s side boosters have landed – marking the 150th and 151st recovery of orbital class rockets pic.twitter.com/vK4ZdfDQtX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 1, 2022
SpaceX buys Twitter Starlink ad campaign
Musk confirms SpaceX purchased a $250,000 ad campaign on Twitter to promote Starlink services in Australia and Spain, which will place SpaceX’s ad on top of the main Twitter timeline for a full day. Users will see the ad the first three times they open Twitter when the ad campaign is scheduled. The ad buy is the first for any of Musk’s companies, including Tesla, which does not engage in traditional advertising.
SpaceX Starlink bought a tiny – not large – ad package to test effectiveness of Twitter advertising in Australia & Spain. Did same for FB/Insta/Google.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2022
Fired SpaceX employees file charges
Eight former SpaceX employees file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging they were let go for being part of a group that had drafted and circulated a letter to SpaceX executives in June. The letter asked SpaceX executives for three things: to curb “Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior,” to define and enforce the company’s sexual harassment policies, and ensure that all leadership is held accountable for violating such policies.
SpaceX’s current systems and culture do not live up to its stated values, as many employees continue to experience unequal enforcement of our oft-repeated ‘No Asshole’ and ‘Zero Tolerance’ policies.
US labor law prohibits employers from firing workers who band together to advocate for better working conditions. At the time, Musk called the letter a “distraction and embarrassment” to the company.
Starship completes first full ‘wet’ dress rehearsal
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.
Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today. This was the first time an integrated Ship and Booster were fully loaded with more than 10 million pounds of propellant pic.twitter.com/btprGNGZ1G
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 24, 2023
Musk: Expendable Starship is ‘an option’
Musk says SpaceX could eventually develop an expendable version of its next-generation Starship rocket.
Expendable upper stage may or may not fly, but it is an option
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 31, 2023
Starship is designed to launch up to 150 tons (330,000 lbs) to low Earth orbit while still recovering the orbital ship and suborbital booster for reuse (by comaprison, the Saturn V rocket could lift 118 tons). Musk says the reusable ship may be turned aoround in hours, enabling multiple flights a day, lowering the price of each launch. However, in early 2023, SpaceX updated the Starship section of its website, revealing that an expendable version of the rocket will be able to launch up to 250 metric tons (~550,000 lbs) to low Earth orbit in a single launch.
StarshipSpaceX’s Starbase factory is already building multiple intentionally-expendable Starships. Ship 26 and Ship 27 feature no thermal protection, have no heat shield tiles, and will not be fitted with flaps, making them impossible to recover or reuse. They will be used to test other crucial Starship technologies like orbital refilling and cryogenic fluid management. The first few Starship Moon landers may also be functionally expendable.
Musk ‘not saying’ Starship will get to orbit
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.
Saudi, Abu Dhabi companies to invest in SpaceX
An Abu Dhabi-based company and a unit of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund plan to invest in a multi-billion dollar funding round for SpaceX. The round is reportedly expected to value Musk’s company at about $140 billion.
Musk: Saudi, UAE investments in SpaceX ‘not true’
Musk denies the report that investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates plan to invest in an upcoming multi-billion dollar funding round for SpaceX.
Not true
Not true
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2023
Chinese military wants 13,000 satellites to rival Starlink
Following the success of Musk’s SpaceX Starlink in the Ukraine War, Chinese military researchers want to deploy a national mega-constellation of almost 13,000 low-orbit satellites to emulate Starlink, while military scientists are pursuing research on how to “suppress” or even damage Starlink satellites in wartime scenarios.
Chinese reaserchers in an opaque state-backed project — referred to in China’s satellite industry as “GW” or “Guowang,” translated as “State Network” — have shared concerns in public research and privately with military officials that the project is lagging too far behind SpaceX’s Starlink and should be fast-tracked after the technology withstood practical tests in Ukraine.
The Starlink constellation has finally shown its military colors in the Russia-Ukraine conflict…The focus now is to accelerate the development of China’s own constellation … and explore defensive measures against Starlink-type foreign satellites
Musk: Starship launch ‘may not be successful’
Musk says expectations should remain low for the Starship system, and that his team is mainly looking to gather data about how the vehicle ascends to space and returns back to Earth.
I guess I would just like to set expectations… low…Success is not what should be expected. It’s just a very fundamentally difficult thing. Probably, tomorrow will not be successful… If we get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, I would consider that to be a success. Just don’t blow up the launchpad.
Starship is due to launch at 8am CST (2pm BST).
Launch attempt tomorrow pic.twitter.com/czFsQ53Xsa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2023
Starship launch rescheduled to Apr 20
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.
Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket → https://t.co/bG5tsCUanp pic.twitter.com/umcqhJCGai
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2023
Starship launch scrubbed
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.
A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
Musk announces Starship blowtorch
Following Musk’s tweet about a “Mini Starship with flame,” SpaceX announces the pre-sale of a collectable, Starship-themed blowtorch. The $175 burner has a safety lock as well as a windproof, adjustable flame and is being marketed for things like melting cheese and lighting candles. As one advert puts it:
It’s collectible. It’s functional. And it burns, burns, burns. The Starship Torch.
Mini Starship with flame!https://t.co/VGKHyaikTd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
Starship explodes four minutes into second test attempt
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.
Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!
Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months. pic.twitter.com/gswdFut1dK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2023
Starship launch debris covers Texas coast
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.
Close up on the vast debris field created by the starship/superheavy launch. It's a crop from the video shot from starbase #SpaceX #StarshipLaunch pic.twitter.com/KYaloIFE7n
— MechDesign.xyz (@MechDesignxyz) April 20, 2023