Daily Archives: September 15, 2022

The first orbital test flight of SpaceX's Starship vehicle won't get off the ground in August.

SpaceX is targeting a six-month window that opens on Sept. 1 for the highly anticipated mission, according to a radio-spectrum license application (opens in new tab) that the company filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

That license was granted on Wednesday (Aug. 10), according to the Twitter account FCC Space Licenses (opens in new tab), which keeps tabs on such things. But this approval is not the final regulatory hurdle that Starship must clear on the way to the launch pad.

Photos: SpaceX lifts huge Super Heavy rocket onto launch stand

"Reminder, this is not the same as a launch license. It is a specific radio license for the test vehicles and does not indicate a change in status. Please do not make a YouTube video or write a 20,000 [word article] about this," FCC Space Licenses, which is not a U.S. government account, wrote in another Wednesday tweet (opens in new tab). (This article is only about 400 words long, so hopefully it's still in bounds.)

SpaceX apparently still hasn't received a launch license for the Starship orbital test flight, which will lift off from the company's Starbase facility in South Texas. Launch licenses are the purview of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which recently wrapped up a lengthy environmental assessment of Starship activities at the site.

Starship consists of a giant first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship. Both elements are designed to be fully reusable, and both will be powered by SpaceX's next-generation Raptor engines 33 for Super Heavy and six for Starship.

The duo that will fly the coming orbital mission are Booster 7 and Ship 24. SpaceX has begun prepping both prototypes for the task; for example, the company conducted "static fire" engine tests with both vehicles on Tuesday (Aug. 9) at Starbase.

Booster 7 lit just one of its 33 engines on Tuesday, and Ship 24 fired up two of its six Raptors. So a lot of work remains before SpaceX clears the duo for an orbital flight meaning it was never likely that the mission would lift off in August, even if all the paperwork were already in order.

There is a high-profile launch scheduled for this month, however: NASA is currently targeting Aug. 29 for the liftoff of Artemis 1, the first mission in its Artemis program of moon exploration. Artemis 1 will use a Space Launch System rocket to send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a roughly six-week mission to lunar orbit and back.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There (opens in new tab)" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).

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SpaceX's Starship won't make 1st orbital launch this month | Space

SpaceX plans to launch another big batch of its Starlink satellites to orbit Friday night (Sept. 16), and you can watch the action live.

SpaceX plans to loft 54 more Starlink broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida Friday at 9:05 p.m. EDT (0105 GMT on Sept. 17). You can watch here at Space.com, or directly via SpaceX (opens in new tab).

The flight plan calls for a Falcon 9 rocket to carry the Starlink Group 4-34 satellites into space, and for the first stage of the rocket to land on the Just Read the Instructionsdroneship in the Atlantic Ocean about nine minutes later. It will be the sixth launch and landing for this particular booster, SpaceX wrote in a mission description (opens in new tab).

Related: SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation launches in photos

Starlink is SpaceX's broadband constellation of satellites. The company has lofted more than 3,200 of the satellites into orbit so far. SpaceX is rapidly expanding the constellation, with launches happening pretty much every week and sometimes more often than that.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently said he hopes to launch up to 100 SpaceX missions in 2023. The goal is, in part, to ramp up Starlink service as fast as possible for the remote customers that the company wants to serve.

SpaceX already has regulatory approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites. The company has also applied to an international regulator to send another 30,000 of the satellites into orbit.

The company is also expanding the types of customers that are accessing Starlink services.

SpaceX recently announced a collaboration with T-Mobile to beam broadband service directly to cell phones. Additionally, SpaceX signed with Royal Caribbean to offer Starlink on cruise ships, to improve Internet service at sea.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:45 p.m. ET on Sept. 13 with the new launch date of Sept. 14. SpaceX had planned to launch the mission on Sept. 13 but scrubbed the attempt due to weather. It was updated again at 8:50 p.m. ET on Sept. 14 with the new launch date of Sept. 15. Bad weather scrubbed the planned Sept. 14 attempt as well. It was updated again on Sept. 15, after bad weather forced another scrub.

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Watch SpaceX launch 54 Starlink satellites from Florida Friday after delays - Space.com

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources.Please support it with a subscription here.

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SpaceXs third attempt to launch its next Starlink mission this week was scrubbed again on Thursday because of poor weather around Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Forecasters with the U.S. Space Forces Space Launch Delta 45 gave Thursdays opportunity only a 40% chance of acceptable liftoff weather conditions expecting more of the same rainy conditions that deluged areas around the spaceport Wednesday night.

The launch attempt slated for liftoff at 9:27 p.m. was called off about thirty seconds before liftoff setting SpaceX up for a 24-hour recycle. A fourth launch attempt is expected at 9:05 p.m. EDTon Friday, Sept. 16, although the weather outlook then doesnt look any more promising.

Space Force weather forecasters project only a 50% chance of go conditions at liftoff, the weather for a late evening launch attempt Friday evening looks similar to Thursday, with the primary weather concerns leftover anvil clouds and associated electric fields.

When it does launch, the Falcon 9 will loft another batch of dozens of Starlink internet-beaming satellites to join the more than 3,200 already in orbit.

The Falcon 9 is expected to land on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It will mark SpaceXs 61st dedicated mission for the Starlink service and the 40th launch to fly from Florida this year.

Another SpaceX Falcon 9 mission can likely be expected before the end of the month, as well as NASAs next attempt to get its Space Launch System rocket and Artemis I mission off the ground.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Friday, Sept. 16: SpaceX Starlink

Live coverage: Starts 60 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space

About: SpaceX will launch the company's 61st batch of satellites for the Starlink internet constellation.

For the latest, visitfloridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her onTwitter at @AlteredJamie.

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Weather forces SpaceX to stand down a third time; will try again Friday - Florida Today

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has commended SpaceX on its rise within the space industry after years of being "poo-pooed" by critics. "I think the private space industry is extremely beneficial," he told Newsweek. "Just look at what SpaceX has already accomplished."

In 2011, NASA ended its space shuttle program, with high costs, slow turnaround, and safety problems that led to the fatal Challenger and Columbia disasters among the factors for its demise. Since then NASA has resorted to purchasing rocket trips to and from the International Space Station (ISS) from Russia.

Keen to restore spaceflight from U.S. soil, in 2014 NASA awarded two huge contracts, worth a total of $6.8 billion, to Boeing and SpaceX, with the aim of getting crew to the ISS independently once again.

"When there was the beginning of the space cargo and crew [programs], the two serious bidders were SpaceX and Boeing, and everybody poo-pooed SpaceX and said, 'Oh, Boeing is a legacy company,'" Nelson said. "Well, guess who is about to make its sixth flight after its first test flight with astronauts, and guess who's still on the ground?"

SpaceX has since launched multiple NASA-funded crewed missions to the ISS, while Boeingalso a private companyhas yet to carry humans in its Starliner capsule.

SpaceX, which was founded in March 2002 by Elon Musk, almost never happened. Between 2006 and 2008, its first three rocket launch attempts all failed, putting it on the edge of bankruptcy. The fourth launch succeeded, but only after Musk scraped together just enough money to finance it.

"So many of [Musk's] friends advised him not to do SpaceX," Luke Nosek, who helped build Paypal, one of Musk's former ventures, told news outlet Quartz in 2014.

In an article for Forbes in 2011, aerospace and defense writer Loren Thompson voiced concerns about NASA becoming overly dependent on the still-young SpaceX and also wrote that "Musk's enthusiasm is infectious and inspiring, but SpaceX's performance to date doesn't measure up to the rhetoric."

There was also doubt within NASA. Former NASA astronaut-turned-SpaceX engineer Garrett Reisman told CNN in 2020 there was a perception of SpaceX along the lines of "they're cowboys; they're dangerous; they're going to kill somebody."

Musk had made a name for himself by voicing lofty ambitions for the company. He espoused self-landing, reusable, cheap rockets and a wider goal of enabling humanity to become a multiplanetary species by colonizing Mars.

In 2012 SpaceX launched its first cargo delivery to the ISS, and in 2014 it was co-awarded the aforementioned NASA contract, with NASA's commercial crew program manager Kathy Lueders telling reporters: "[Boeing and SpaceX] proposed the value within which they were able to do the work and the government accepted that."

In May 2022, SpaceX was valued at $127 billion. Its Starlink network of thousands of internet satellites is well underway with over 3,000 in orbit. On August 30 it launched its 39th Falcon 9 rocket of 2022the company's workhorse reusable launch vehicleon a mission to deliver a batch of 46 Starlink satellites into space.

In April 2021, NASA tasked SpaceX with developing one of the most crucial aspects of the Artemis III mission to return American astronauts to the moon for the first time in over half a centurythe Human Landing System (HLS). This is the spacecraft that will lower humans to the lunar surface, while NASA's Orion capsule remains in orbit around the moon.

Orion, developed at a cost of $20.4 billion, is NASA's next-generation human spaceflight capsule.

The plan for Artemis III is for SpaceX's huge upcoming Starship rocket and Orion to rendezvous in orbit around the moon. Two astronauts from the four-person crew will then transfer to Starship and descend to the lunar surface.

Once they are finished, Starship will launch the two astronauts back into orbit where they will transfer back into Orion and travel home.

SpaceX must keep in step with NASA and develop Starship from a rocket that has not yet flown into one that must be capable of supporting human crew and carrying out a lunar landing.

Nelson said SpaceX is "on track" to achieve it.

NASA was hoping to launch its huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocketthe backbone of the Artemis programon a test flight called Artemis I on September 3, but technical faults delayed that attempt as well as the previous one. It's unclear when the space agency will attempt another launch.

If successful, the launch will mark the start of the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon by 2025 with the help of private companies like SpaceX.

NASA has spent 12 years and $23 billion developing SLS aloneand that's not taking into account the Orion capsule.

In contrast, SpaceX developed Starship so fast that it went from blowing up steel prototypes in 2020, to being just weeks away from an orbital flightpotentially before 2023.

In addition, SpaceX says that when Starship does fly, it will be significantly more powerful than SLS, producing a claimed 17 million lbs of thrust to SLS's 9.5 million.

Nelson says he does not see this as a threat. "The fact is, we've got a rocket that is human-rated," he said. "I'm a huge fan of what these commercial companies not only have done but will do. SpaceX has been very successful in getting Starship ready. But Starship goes [to the moon] and it's got to rendezvous in lunar polar orbit with Orion and the crew transfer and go down and come back up.

"But Starship is not capable, at that point, of getting back to Earth. Only Orion is capable of getting back to Earth."

Looking ahead, NASA's budget suggests it is committed to building up private spaceflight even more. According to the agency's 2021 fiscal report, it tends to spend around 80 percent on its budget on contracting.

It's unclear if that is set to increase or decrease, but with the agency's goal of getting to Mars by the 2040s, significant investment is likely. "So I want Blue Origin, I want SpaceX, I want all of the other companies to be successful because I want as many opportunities for us to explore the cosmos as possible," Nelson said.

"And because of that, I think it is a very exciting time for venturing out into the universe."

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Bill Nelson: Everybody Poo-Pooed SpaceX. Look at Them Now - Newsweek

A rocket is headed our way, but dont panic: It will be on the ground, not through the air.

It is a 185-foot-longSpaceX first-stage rocket component, about the height of an 18-story building. The component is 14 feet, 6 inches wide, and has 16-foot overhead clearance, with a gross weight of 165,000 pounds.

This is the second of its kind to make its way through the city in the last three months.

RELATED: SpaceX rocket cruises through town (Video) InMaricopa

The oversize load is scheduled to stop on Friday, just outside the city on State Route 238, and just west of State Route 347. The load will then make a trip through the main roads of Maricopa in the early hours of Saturday.

The rocket is planned to continue east down SR 238, until it reaches North John Wayne Parkway, where it will turn south and continue to Mercado Street, and under the John Wayne Parkway overpass. The load will continue east on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway toward Casa Grande.

EZE Trucking will do the work, from its origin in Hawthorne, Calif., to its destination in McGregor, Texas.

The rocket is set to leave the state on Saturday, via Interstate 10 toward New Mexico.

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Second SpaceX rocket to cruise through town this weekend - InMaricopa.com

Elon Musk-ownedSpaceX has received strong interest from the public, whopledged over $8 million in funding within hours of floating apetition.

What Happened: Spaced Ventures, a crowdfunding platform for space startups, said it has received about $8.05 million in financing pledges from the public for SpaceX. The company set out with a target of $10 million, with $100 being the minimum amount.

How It Works: Spaced Ventures initially asks the public to make pledges to invest in SpaceX. When enough interest builds, it notifies SpaceX and turns those pledges into investments if the company raises it on the platform.

The petition to raise feature is a tool that allows Spaced Ventures to aggregate large pools of investor interest into a specific company, very often large, private companies, which dont really think they need the publics money, the company said.

This is a way to show there is so much interest and a great way for them to democratize access to space and open up an investment opportunity, it added.

The platform doesnt charge carried interest or fees to investors and it is on a first-come-first-serve basis. The first petitioners will be notified first if and when the deal goes live.

See also:Elon Musk Applauds His SpaceX and Starlink Ventures Accomplishing These Feats

Why Its Important: SpaceX is a spacecraft manufacturer, space launch provider, and satellite communications company founded by Musk in 2002. Reduction in the cost of space travel and colonization of Mars were the main premises on which the company was established.

The company recently raised $250 million by selling equity, a new filing by the company in early August showed. This reportedly took the total funding raised by the company in 2022 to $2 billion.

Following a funding round in May that raised about $1.5 billion, SpaceXs valuation bumped up past $125 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Elon Musk reportedly told SpaceX employees in June that he doesnt intend to take the company public until 2025 or later.

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Elon Musk's SpaceX Attracts Over $8M In Investment Pledge In Record Time On Crowdfunding Platform - Benzinga

JustAnswer announced that it raised over $600,000 to help Ukraine. The platform also said that it partnered with SpaceX to provide almost 1,000 Starlink devices which protected critically important IT infrastructure.

The platform, which provides customers access to experts such as doctors and lawyers, partnered with the Arizae Foundation to raise over $600,000 for Ukraine relief efforts since the Russian invasion in February. Along with funding the Starlink dishes, the two organizations have helped:

In a statement, JustAnswer CEO Andy Kurtzig affirmed the companys commitment to Ukraine while other companies have either pulled out or scaled back operations.

From the day JustAnswer first established an office inUkraineand throughout these incredibly challenging times since the Russian invasion in February, we have remained 100% committed toUkraine and our team there.

Many other companies have pulled out ofUkraine or scaled back operations there, but thats exactly what Putin wants. Were not going to run away. The Ukrainian people are smart, kind, and honest people who have been fighting for their freedom for hundreds of years, including lots of progress in the last 35 years. And, theyve been getting very close to full independence over the last 8 years. We stand withUkraineand will continue to fight forUkrainesfreedom.

Elon Musk has also provided thousands of Starlink dishes to the nation since the invasion. Ukraines Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov said that Starlink dishes were provided free of charge and that Starlink has helped the nation provide accurate information about the ongoing war.

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JustAnswer raised over $600K to help Ukraine; partnered with SpaceX to provide Starlink - TESLARATI

On conducting a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video, we came across a YouTube video from 11 January 2021.

The video was uploaded by a channel named 'Night Sky' and the description read, "Starlink satellites train seen from Poland. Starlink is a satellite constellation being constructed by SpaceX in order to provide satellite Internet access."

On comparing the viral video with the 2020 video, we found similarities between the two.

The Quint also reached out to Nocne Niebo, the creator of the video, who told us that he shot this video on 10 August 2020 from Poland. He also sent us a longer version of the same incident.

Clearly, old videos from 2020 and 2021 are being falsely linked to the recent sight of Starlink satellites in India.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)

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Old Visuals of SpaceX Starlink Satellites Passed Off as Recent From UP - The Quint

In response to a Twitter user suggesting Apple and SpaceX partner up for the new iPhone 14's emergency SOS feature, Elon Musk wrote that SpaceX has had some "promising conversations" with Apple, writing that the "iPhone team is obv super smart."

The iPhone 14's emergency SOS feature will use satellites to allow users to send emergency messages even if they are outside of the range of WiFi and cellular coverage.

Users will be asked a series of questions to assess their situation, and then the iPhone will inform them how to connect to a satellite. The feature will be available to iPhone 14 users in the U.S. and Canada starting in November.

Related: Elon Musk's Starlink Is About to Make Major Waves in the Cruise Industry

It's unclear just how "promising" the conversations between SpaceX and Apple are given a recent filing that satellite communications firm GlobalStar will be partnering with Apple for the new emergency SOS feature. Apple has agreed to pay 95% of the costs necessary to implement the service.

Still, a SpaceX and Apple collab isn't totally off the table. In the meantime, SpaceX has partnered with T-Mobile to eliminate dead zones in rural areas. The beta phase is set to begin early next year.

Related: SpaceX Test Causes a Dumpster FireLiterally

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Are SpaceX and Apple Working Together for the New iPhone 14 Satellite Feature? - Entrepreneur