Daily Archives: January 15, 2021

SpaceX, the rocket company founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, was created with the mission of taking humans to Mars. Nearly two decades on, it's already taken NASA astronauts to orbit and accomplished plenty of other milestones along the way.

Elon Musk caught on film by National Geographic during the Falcon Heavy launch.

If you're having a hard time keeping up with SpaceX's plans toreplace international airline flights with orbital rocket trips, create a global broadband network and develop a Mars rocket, don't worry. We created this SpaceX primer so you can get up to speed fast.

In 2002, Musk and friends traveled to Russiato buy a refurbished intercontinental ballistic missile. The Silicon Valley prodigy who made millions off internet startups wasn't looking to start a business at the time. He wanted to spend a big chunk, or maybe all of his fortune, on a stunt he hoped would reinvigorate interest in funding NASA and space exploration.

Subscribe to CNET Now for the day's most interesting reviews, news stories and videos.

The idea was to buy a Russian rocket on the cheap and use it to send plants or mice to Mars -- and hopefully bring them back, too. Ideally, the spectacle would get the world excited about space again. But Musk's Moscow meeting didn't go well and he decided he could build rockets himself, calculating that he could undercut existing launch contractors in the process. SpaceX was founded just a few months later.

Musk initially hoped to make it to Mars by 2010, but just getting one rocket into orbit took six years. A SpaceX Falcon 1 orbited Earth for the first time on Sept. 28, 2008. This paved the way for a nine-engine version of the rocket, the Falcon 9, the company's workhorse since its first launch in 2010.

Now playing: Watch this: SpaceX launches Bangladesh's first communications satellite

6:19

Falcon 9 is a two-stage orbital rocket that's been used to launch satellites for companies and governments, resupply the International Space Station and even send the US Air Force's super-secret space plane on its mysterious long missions. Over the past nine years the company has flown more than 80 Falcon 9 missions.

What really sets Falcon 9 apart from the competition is its unprecedented ability to send a payload into orbit and then have its first stage return to Earth, landing either on solid ground or on a floating droneship landing pad at sea, another SpaceX innovation. After a few explosive failed attempts, a Falcon 9 finally landed safely on Dec. 22, 2015, and a few months later another touched down on a droneship for the first time. Several recovered Falcon 9 rockets have since flown and landed again.

On May 11, 2018, SpaceX launched its first Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket, the "final version" designed to be reused up to 100 times with periodic refurbishments. In 2020, we saw multiple Falcon 9 boosters launch and land up for the seventh time in their individual careers. Reusing the nose cone multiple times is also becoming routine practice.

SpaceX's Dragon craft has been used to carry cargo to the International Space Station and on May 31, 2020, its Crew Dragon made history as the first commercial spaceship to send astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS. Dragon was also the first commercial spacecraft to be recovered after a trip from orbit.

NASA selected Crew Dragon, along with Boeing's Starliner, to be the first spacecraft to carry astronauts to the ISS since the end of the shuttle program. The initiative suffered a setback in April 2019 when an unoccupied Crew Dragon exploded during a ground test because of a leak in the pressurization system.

But the first flight of Crew Dragon with humans aboard was a success. Hurley and Behnken then rode the Dragon back to Earth a few months later, and another group of four astronauts, including one from Japan's JAXA, took the second trip to orbit on a Crew Dragon in November 2020.

SpaceX grabbed heaps of attention in February of 2018 when it launched Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket launched from the US since the Saturn V that sent astronauts to the moon. Basically, three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together, the huge launch system sent a test payload consisting of Musk's personal red Tesla Roadster in the direction of Mars. Two of the three Falcon 9s that made up Falcon Heavy also landed nearly simultaneously at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

More than 15 years after his initial trip to Moscow, Musk finally pulled off the international spectacle he had conceived in 2001, and he's also built a viable business in the process.

The second launch of Falcon Heavy came April 11, 2019, and was followed by the first successful landing of all three first-stage rocket cores. A third Falcon Heavy launch was conducted June 25, 2019, and SpaceX took reusability a step further bycatching the payload fairing (the nose cone that shields the payload during launch) using a ship equipped with a gigantic net.

As for Starman, he finally made a close pass by Mars in October, 2020

Now playing: Watch this: Watch SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket make its first test...

13:31

You can watch every Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch via the company's website and YouTube channel. Quite a few of them are also carried on CNET Highlights. Each broadcast typically goes live about 15 minutes before the scheduled launch time.

To keep up with the constantly changing schedule of launches, the best source is the SpaceX Twitter feed. It's also a good idea to follow Musk's account, if you don't already. You can also check our own feed of SpaceX stories to quickly get up to speed with what the company is up to.

SpaceX plans to use Falcon Heavy to launch some large payloads in the coming months, but it's already at work on an even bigger rocket called Starship (previously referred to BFR, Big Falcon Rocket or Big F***ing Rocket). Musk hopes this even more massive rocket will be able to transport cargo and eventually human passengers around the world and the solar system. He envisions using Starship to ferry people on superfast international flights via space and eventually to bases yet to be built on the moon, Mars and beyond.

A single-engine Starship prototype called Starhopper left the ground for the first time on July 25, 2019, hovering about 20 meters (66 feet) off the ground before landing a short distance away at SpaceX's test facility in south Texas. This was followed by a few more hops in late 2019 and mid-2020.

The first high-altitude flight of a prototype that actually looks more like a rocket came on Dec. 10, 2020. The prototype SN8 successfully flew to a height similar to the cruising altitude of commercial jets and then performed a new flip maneuver to come in for a landing. It came in a bit fast, however, and the flight ended in a spectacular explosion. We expect to see a few more of these high-flying tests in 2021 with the goal of getting that landing down and also reaching orbit soon.

SpaceX SN8 flew high and landed hard.

Musk offered his plans for a large city on Mars at two International Aeronautical Congress meetings, but he has yet to give many details on what life on the Red Planet would be like. He's said SpaceX is primarily interested in providing the transportation, while allowing others to worry about the infrastructure. However, company President Gwynne Shotwell said it might make sense for SpaceX sister venture, the Boring Company, to bore tunnels on Mars that could be used for human habitation.

Paul Wooster, the company's lead engineer for its Mars plan, said at the 2018 Mars Society conference that the first people sent to the Red Planet would live on the landed Starship spacecraft indefinitely while building habitation, landing pads and other initial infrastructure.

SpaceX isn't just working on getting things into space. It has also started operating in space to bring the universe to us. In May 2019, the company launched a first batch of 60 small satellites designed to lead the way for a massive constellation of broadband satellites. The plan, dubbed Starlink, is to use up to 42,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit to blanket the globe with high-speed internet access. The company says the service could create a new stream of revenue to help fund its pricey Mars ambitions.

A second batch of 50 satellites launched six months later, with more to follow in relatively rapid succession. The scale of the project has some astronomers worried that a sky filled with thousands of satellites could interfere with their observations. The trains of newly launched satellites are easily viewable from the ground as they gain altitude. SpaceX says it plans to work with astronomers and take steps to mitigate Starlink's impacts on astronomy, including launching satellites with a sunshade dubbed "visorsat" to reduce their reflectivity.

As the company worked towards its first 1,000 Starlink satellites launched, it launched a beta of its broadband service in the final quarter of 2020 limited to northern latitudes. The rollout is expected to expand in 2021.

Since its inception, SpaceX has aimed to get to Mars, but the company is involved in non-space-related projects on Earth like the high-speed Hyperloop transit concept. Musk's Boring Company tunnel-digging and traffic-mitigating ventures are also largely operating out of SpaceX headquarters in Southern California.

Unlike the other big Musk company, Tesla Motors, SpaceX isn't publicly traded. Musk has said he doesn't plan to take SpaceX public until the company realizes its Mars ambitions. That means SpaceX might make sense as the home of any other future Muskian side projects like Hyperloop and the Boring Company in the meantime.

Originally published June 2, 2018, and updated as new SpaceX developments come in.

See the original post:

SpaceX simplified: Everything you need to know about Elon Musk's rocket empire - CNET

Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

LONDON SpaceX's satellite broadband service Starlink is now being tested in the U.K. after it was given a license by U.K. telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Starlink was issued with an "Earth station network licence" in November, an Ofcom spokesperson told CNBC on Tuesday. SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

The 200 ($272) a year license allows Starlink to sell satellite dishes and other communications equipment in the U.K. so that people can pick up signals emitted by Starlink's network of satellites.

Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX is an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company. It announced that it was creating the Starlink subdivision in 2015.

Musk, who is now the world's richest person, has said he wants to improve internet access in parts of the world that aren't currently served by broadband providers. He plans to do this by putting thousands of small telecoms satellites into low-Earth orbit that can beam high-speed, low-latency internet to the ground.

In an interview last March, Musk said SpaceX could make up to $30 billion a year by providing broadband. He said that Starlink will be "helpful to telcos because Starlink will serve the hardest to serve customers" adding that 5G isn't great for the countryside because "you need range."

Starlink, which will compete with the U.K.'s OneWeb, is aiming to have 1,440 of its 260 kg (570 lb) satellites in orbit by late 2021.

The company, which is primarily focused on connecting rural areas where internet is unreliable or not available, has been inviting people in the U.S. and Canada to try its service since October.

It is now inviting people in the U.K. via email, according to reports and social media users. Starlink is charging U.K. customers 439 for the satellite dish and other communications equipment, as well as an 89 monthly fee and a 54 shipping fee.

Those that test the service can expect data speeds of between 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and 150 Mbps, according to reports. The average broadband speed in the U.K. is 64 Mbps but those in rural areas often struggle to get anywhere near that. It's unclear how many homes and offices are currently using Starlink's service.

SpaceX set up a U.K. entity in London called Starlink Internet Services last August, according to a document filed on U.K. companies registry Companies House.

A photo of what appears to be one of the first Starlink deliveries in the U.K. was shared on Reddit by Philip Hall, who lives in rural Devon, southwest England.

"As an enthusiast with no prospect of fibre (broadband) in the near term, I enrolled on the beta quite early," Hall told CNBC via Reddit on Thursday.

Hall, who once deployed air defense networks for the U.K. military, said: "The tech capability in this, at consumer level, is astonishing."

In terms of performance, Hall said he can consistently get 80 Mbps download speeds at home.

He suspects he got a Starlink dish because the company wants data ahead of a commercial rollout and he's on the right latitude.

Describing the setup, Hall said it's just like many other appliances. He installed an app on his Android phone, checked to ensure the dish had a clear view of the sky (something that was easy in rural Devon) and plugged it in. "The app asks you to register a name and password and you're cooking," he said.

Greece, Germany and Australia have also reportedly approved Starlink's offering.

Link:

Elon Musk's SpaceX starts testing Starlink broadband service in the English countryside - CNBC

Fox Business Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com.

SpaceX's rapidly growing satellite Internet business, Starlink, is coming to the U.K. after it received approval from regulators, according to media reports.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that the U.K.'s communications regulator, Ofcom, approved the system for rural Britain in November. The Elon Musk-led company also has received approval from regulators inGreece, Germany, and Australia, according to local news outlets, including Ekathermini.

Germany's federal telecommunications agency, Bundesnetzagentur, gave Starlink approval in late December, according to the agency's website.

Photo credit: Getty Images / Space x

LIFE ON MARS? ELON MUSK SAYS STARSHIP ROCKETS 'DESIGNED TO MAKE LIFE MULTIPLANETARY'

Musk, who recently became the richest man in the world with a fortune surpassing $189 billion, has previously said that Starlink could eventually go public,but only when it has "predictable" and "smooth" revenue growth.

However, much of Musk's net worth is attributed to Tesla and not SpaceX, though SpaceX is valued at approximately $49 billion. The company is also looking to raisenew fundsas itgrowsits rocket business anditsInternet satellite segment.

As of April, Musk said there were 420 Starlink satellites in space, but that number hadgrown to more than 700 satellites byOctober. The company is also boosting the technology here on Earth, having recentlyteamedwith Microsoft to use its Azure cloud computing service to help connect and deploy new services for its Starlink unit.

The service, which is still in beta in the U.S., is targeting a rollout in the northern part of the U.S. and Canada in short order, but no exact time frame has been given yet.

In October 2019, Musk sent a tweet using the Starlink satellite system.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

In October, SpaceX said it wouldprovide free Internet access to 45 families in a Texas school district "early in 2021,"while an additional90 families will get access to the service as the network evolves.

In July 2020, Morgan Stanley said SpaceX could be worth as much as $175 billion if Musk's Starlink Internet service is successful.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE STORIES ON FOXBUSINESS

Go here to see the original:

Elon Musk is bringing SpaceX's Internet to the UK - Fox Business

SpaceX is getting closer and closer to realizing the design for its Starship and Super Heavy launch system. Once complete, it will be the worlds first fully-reusable launch system and will facilitate trips to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the Moon, and Mars. Construction began on the systems booster element (Super Heavy) this past summer and, according to a recent tweet by Musk, will be caught by its launch tower.

The tweet came (as they often do) in response to a question from one of Musks followers. In this case, it was a space designer who goes by the Twitter handle Erc X (@ErcXspace) who produced a video that illustrates what the Super Heavy might look like as it returns to its landing site. The video is captioned with a question: Accurate Super Heavy Descent profile?

Musk responded by tweeting:

Were going to try to catch the Super Heavy Booster with the launch tower arm, using the grid fins to take the load Saves mass & cost of legs & enables immediate repositioning of booster on to launch mountready to refly in under an hour.

The following day, a 3D designer (Youtube handle Mini3D) created an animation based on this description (shown below). It depicts the launch tower with a harness, which takes hold of the Super Heavy booster after it lowers itself into the arms. The harness then lowers the booster to a landing pad, thus eliminating the need for landing legs and increasing the odds of a safe recovery.

As Musk indicated, this catch system is also part of what he hopes will amount to regular trips to space. In the past, Musk has hinted that his long-term vision is to scale-up production of the Starship to the point where they can build 100 a year for ten years (creating a fleet of 1000). This fleet, he claimed, could transport 100 megatons of cargo or 100,000 people to Mars every 26 months (when Earth and Mars are closest in their orbits).

With that kind of capacity for hauling supplies, equipment, robots, and passengers, Musk would be able to realize his dream of constructing a colony on Mars by the late 2020s. Whether or not that highly ambitious goal will be achieved in this decade (or ever, for that matter) remains to be seen. But in the meantime, Musk could make good on a number of things hes mentioned in the past.

For starters, SpaceX could deploy batches of Starlink satellites much more rapidly and create the fabled megaconstellation that will bring broadband internet to every corner of the world. It could also fulfill Musks plan to provide intercontinental commercial flights here at home, giving travelers the ability to fly halfway around the world in less than an hour.

The ability to launch Starships with such rapid turnaround will also facilitate SpaceXs goal of making regular trips to the Moon. As per their contractual obligations with NASA through the Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (CATALYST) program SpaceX will be sending cargo and crews to the Moon in support of Project Artemis.

As with every radical new idea, fans and critics of Musk alike will be waiting for updates on this latest proposal!

Further Reading: Gizmodo

Like Loading...

Read the rest here:

SpaceXs Next Idea: to Catch Super Heavy Boosters With the Launch Tower - Universe Today

Left: SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks upward during a press briefing on March 2, 2019. Right: SpaceX's Starship serial No. 8 rocket-ship prototype launches from a pad in Boca Chica, Texas, on December 9, 2020. Dave Mosher/Insider; SpaceX

SpaceX is preparing to launch the latest prototype of its Starship spacecraft a system that could one day carry humans to Mars.

The new prototype, called serial No. 9 or SN9, is set to rocket tens of thousands of feet in the air, belly-flop toward the ground, and re-fire its engines to flip upright and land.

SpaceX's first attempt at such a flight with SN8 was successful save for the Starship slamming into and exploding on the landing pad.

SpaceX has permission to launch SN9 as soon as Monday, according to government notices.

Several live video feeds should broadcast the launch attempt, so bookmark this page; we'll embed them closer to launch.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SpaceX is preparing to rocket the latest prototype of its Starship spaceship thousands of feet into the air, then land it gently back on the ground.

If the company can pull off this tricky maneuver - cutting the rocket's engines back on as it plummets toward Earth, just in time to turn it upright, slow its fall, and steadily set down on a landing pad - it will be the first time a Starship vehicle has ventured so high and returned in one piece.

Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, wants the final Starship-Super Heavy launch system to be fully and rapidly reusable. If Musk's plan succeeds, Starship may slash the cost of reaching space 1,000-fold, power round-the-world hypersonic travel on Earth, and fly astronauts to the moon. Musk has said that his ultimate plan is to build 1,000 Starships that will carry enough people and cargo to Mars to build an independent, self-sustaining city there.

SpaceX first launched a Starship prototype of this kind on December 8. Called Starship serial No. 8, or SN8, it roared tens of thousands of feet above the company's expanding facilities at Boca Chica, Texas. SN8 then tipped its nosecone forward, cut off its engines, and began to plummet. As the vehicle neared the ground in a belly-flop-like freefall, it re-fired its engines to flip upright and slow its descent.

Story continues

However, low pressure in a propellant tank caused the spaceship to fall too fast, slam into its landing pad, and catastrophically explode.

SpaceX still considered the seven-minute test flight a success, though, because it was inherently an experiment - and one that flew higher than ever before and performed unprecedented maneuvers. For example, SN8's flight achieved sequential rocket-engine shutdowns, aerial flips, and a belly flop made stable via wing flaps. (Previous test flights had been "hops," with prototypes launching a few hundred feet into the air, then landing downrange.)

Now SpaceX is set for another major test flight, and this time it could stick the landing. Like its predecessor, the new prototype, called SN9, is 16 stories tall and powered by three Raptor engines. SN9 tipped over inside a vertical assembly building on December 11, but SpaceX appeared to make quick repairs and roll it out to a beachside launch pad.

In preparation for launch, SpaceX clamped down the SN9 and test-fired its engines three times on Wednesday - a record static-fire rate for the Starship program.

The company seemed prepared to launch this week, but two of the engines needed repairs, Musk tweeted on Thursday. Musk added that he's hoping SpaceX can speed up the engine-swapping process so that it takes "a few hours at most."

SpaceX appears to be targeting a Monday launch. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an airspace closure notice for a rocket launch from Boca Chica for that day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. The FAA issued similar notices for Tuesday and Wednesday - back-up dates in case weather or glitches cause SpaceX to delay the test flight.

Both airspace closure and local road closures are required for launch. The Cameron County judge has issued Boca Chica road-closure notices for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.

SpaceX may broadcast the launch attempt live on YouTube. Several online broadcasters, such as NASASpaceFlight.com and LabPadre, also plan to stream live video footage of the flight. We will embed these live feeds below once they're available.

A series of events typically precedes a Starship prototype launch. A couple of hours beforehand, SpaceX will clear the launch site of personnel. Roughly an hour ahead of flight, storage tanks at the launch site will begin venting gases as SpaceX prepares to fuel Starship with cryogenic fuels. Fueling later causes Starship to vent gases out of its top, signaling that launch could occur within minutes.

Poor weather, a technical glitch, or a boat entering the launch's danger zone - a new challenge for Starship - could lead to delays.

Read the original article on Business Insider

View post:

SpaceX may launch and land its newest Starship rocket prototype on Monday. With any luck, it won't explode. - Yahoo News

To commemorate their greatest accomplishment to date with the Starship, SpaceX has released a recap video of the SN8 high-altitude flight. This was the 12.5 km hop test that took place on December 9th, 2020, which saw the SN8 prototype ascend to an altitude of 12.5 km (7.8 mi), conduct a belly-flop maneuver, and return to the launch pad. While it didnt quite stick the landing, the test was a major milestone in the development of the Starship.

The flight test came after multiple static fire tests were conducted with previous prototypes (the SN1 through SN5), and a series of 150 meter (~500 ft) hop tests with the SN5 and SN6. On October 20th, 2020, another successful static fire test was conducted with the eighth prototype (SN8) using three Raptor engines. With the engines and design validated, the company prepared to conduct its first high-altitude test in December.

The two minute-twenty second video captures the highlights of the test by merging footage from the many different cameras that were recording that day. This included a series of external cams (including a drone cam that follows the SN8 all the way up) cams inside the engine compartment, one on the landing pad, and fuselage-mounted cams.

It begins by showing the engine ignition and the ascent, with all three Ratpor engines producing a trail of orange-blue flames which is the result of its liquid methane and liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel being burned. This is followed by the engine cutoff, where the three Raptor engines disengage (one at a time) as the SN8 nears its apogee of 12.5 km.

In slow motion, we then see the SN8 turn on its side and watch its fins adjusting for the belly-flop maneuver. This portion of the test was meant to validate the prototypes aerodynamic surfaces, which the Starship will rely on to manuever and shed speed while making an atmospheric reentry. The descent is captured from multiple angles using the drone cam and the fuselage cam.

Then comes the flip manuever, where two of the Raptors reignite and gimbal in order to bring the tail around for landing. This is shown from both the side (drone cam) and the ground. The engines them flame up for the landing burn, but fail to slow the SN8 down enough for it to make a soft landing. The touch down and Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) aka. explosion ensue.

This was due to a fuel line pressure issue, which the ground crews quickly identified after the test was complete. Shortly thereafter, Musk took to Twitter to share what they had learned:

Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!

Despite the fiery ending, all of the key systems and surfaces involved were validated. These included the ascent, the switchover from the tail to the header fuel tanks (once SN8 reached its apogee), and the precision flap manuever that allowed for a controlled descent. Meanwhile, the crews obtained all the data they needed about the issue that prevented a soft touchdown and will be using it to inform the next round of tests.

The video then ends with the caption that reiterates the successes of this first-ever high altitude flight test:

SN8 DEMONSTRATED A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CONTROLLED AERODYNAMIC DESCENT AND A LANDING FLIP MANEUVER. TOGETHER THESE WILL ENABLE LANDING WHERE NO RUNWAYS EXIST INCLUDING THE MOON, MARS AND BEYOND.

NEXT UP: SN9.

Speaking of which, all indications are that Musk plans to conduct a hop test with the SN9 and others in the coming weeks. These include Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the airspace around Brownsville, Texas, and road closure notices issued for Cameron Country around the Boca Chica test sight.

These have since been extended, with new NOTAMs issued for next Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 13th and 14th) from 08:00 AM to 06:00 PM local time (CST) or 06:00 AM to 04:00 PM PST; 09:00 AM to 07:00 PM EDT. Similary, new road closures have been announced for State Highway 4 and Boca Chica Beech in Cameron Country for Monday to Wednesday (Jan. 11th to Jan. 13th).

The SN9 has since been rolled out onto the landing pad and conducted its first static fire test earlier this week (Wed. Jan. 6th). Unfortunately, the test was aborted after a very brief firing and another is likely to happen this coming week before any hop tests are attempted. Meanwhile, the SN10 has been stacked and integrated inside the High Bay and will be ready to roll out as soon as the SN9 has been put through its paces.

The SN11 and SN12 are also being assembled inside the facilitys Mid Bay, with the SN11 almost finished and just in need of its nosecone. Musk has also hinted that he and his crews at the Boca Chica facility will be testing the SN9 and SN10 (and subsequent prototypes) simultaneously. This was in response to a tweet by RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos), which conducts weekly flyovers to take pictures of the Boca Chica facility.

The image in the tweet shows the SN9 on the landing pad, with an earlier picture of the SN8 added (using Photoshop) on the adjacent pad. The image is captioned with a question for Musk: With SN10 nearly complete and repairs being done at the landing pad, do you think this is something we will get to see in the next few weeks? To this, Musk tweeted a reply of, Yes.

2021 is going to be an exciting time for SpaceX, commercial space, and space exploration in general! While the year has seen its share of bad news already, it looks like there are some serious bright lights on the horizon!

Like Loading...

Continue reading here:

SpaceX Releases a Recap Video of their SN8 Making its Hop Test! - Universe Today