Category Archives: Boca Chica Texas

NASA and SpaceX last week agreed to an unfunded study to investigate the feasibility of boosting the Hubble Space Telescope, which is at risk of falling out of orbit in the next decade, into a higher orbit.

SpaceX approached NASA earlier this year about potentially using one of its Dragon spacecrafts to move the telescope to a higher altitude,Thomas Zurbuchen, NASAs associate administrator for science, said in a press conference Thursday.

Hubble was placed into orbit in 1990 and was last serviced and repaired by astronauts in 2009 at an altitude of 350 miles. In the last 13 years it has fallen by about 20 miles, according to The New York Times.

Despite signing the Space Act Agreement with SpaceX for the six-month project on Sept. 22, Zurbuchen added, "I want to be absolutely clear, Were not making an announcement today that we definitely will go forward with a plan like this."

NASA HUBBLE TELESCOPE HITS NEW MILESTONE IN MYSTERY OF UNIVERSE'S EXPANSION RATE

An astronaut aboard the space shuttle Atlantis captured this image of the Hubble Space Telescope on May 19, 2009. (NASA)

Any endeavor to reposition the telescope would be privately funded at no cost to the government, NASA said, adding that the study wasn't exclusive and it would welcome proposals from other space companies.

Moving the telescope to a higher orbit could give Hubble more years of operability, NASA said.

BOCA CHICA, TX - FEBRUARY 11: The Crew of the next SpaceX private astronaut flight called Polaris Dawn, (Left to Right) Anna Menon, who works to develop astronaut operations for SpaceX, Sarah Gillis, lead space operations engineer, SpaceX, Scott Poteet, who served as the mission director of the Inspiration4 mission SpaceX, and Jared Isaacman, who is financing the mission, Pose at the Starbase Complex in Boca Chica. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington)

"What we want to do is expand the boundaries of current technology," SpaceXs Jessica Jensen,vice president of Customer Relations & Integration, said."We want to show how we use commercial partnerships as well as the public-private partnerships to creatively solve challenging and complex problem missions such as servicing Hubble."

She said SpaceX is looking at the capabilities of the Dragon capsule to see how it would need to be "modified in order to safely rendezvous and dock with Hubble."

NASA'S HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPOTS FARTHEST STAR EVER SEEN

This combination of images made available by NASA shows the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting the Earth (NASA via AP)

Without repositioning, NASA may have to eventually destroy the telescope and guide it as it falls from orbit into the ocean, the Times reported.

Any potential mission would be a collaboration between SpaceX and billionaireJared Isaacmans Polaris Program, a planned series of spaceflights with SpaceX, one of which Isaacman has said would include the first civilian spacewalk.

Last year, Isaacman headed Inspiration4, the first all-civilian crewed SpaceX mission.

The M74 galaxy shines at its brightest in this combined optical/mid-infrared image, featuring data from both the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. With Hubbles venerable Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Webbs powerful Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) capturing a range of wavelengths, this image has remarkable depth. (ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team; ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt)

Over the years, the Hubble telescope has taken spectacular images and videos of the cosmos, including the discovery of moons around Pluto.

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The telescope is named after leading 20th century American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), who, among other discoveries, found evidence that other galaxies exist beyond the Milky Way.

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NASA, SpaceX to study feasibility of boosting beleaguered Hubble Space Telescope into higher orbit - Fox News

As SpaceX works toward the first orbital launch of a Starship from South Texas, its with the idea of deploying hundreds of the Starlink communications satellites the company has said are key to its future.

Elon Musks private space company this month has been conducting static fire tests full dress rehearsals for a rocket in preparation for the massive Starships long-sought first trip into orbit from Boca Chica. Its also been raising billions of dollars to fund the Starship and Starlink projects.

While Musk has been widely quoted about his dreams of colonizing Mars and taking people and cargo to the moon, his companys immediate plans are in low earth orbit, with a satellite business thats taking an increasingly Texas flavor.

The big secret that is not so secret is that they now have actual Starlink satellites there in Boca Chica and have loaded them in to SN24 like a giant PEZ dispenser, an ex-SpaceX employee said this week, referring by number to a Starship thats been on the launch pad since early last month. On the first orbital launch from Boca, Elon wants to deploy satellites on its very first test mission, which is very ambitious.

Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at Port Canaveral, Fla., at 10:14 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, launching Starlink satellites. In the foreground is the booster from last Thursday's SpaceX KPLO mission, that returned to Port Canaveral on the drone ship, now suspended on the giant mobile harbor crane. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)

On ExpressNews.com: Its not going to be as sexy: Boca Chica looks toward a SpaceX future less lofty than itd hoped

The former employee spoke on condition of anonymity to share knowledge of the companys plans.

In a tweet early this month, Musk said a *successful* orbital flight is probably between 1 and 12 months from now.

SpaceX has long touted Starships potential to ramp up its Starlink network. In 2019, Gwynne Shotwell, president and CEO, said that while its Falcon 9 rocket could launch 60 Starlink satellites per batch, Starship could take 400 satellites at a time into orbit.

Since 2019, the company has deployed thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit to create its planned constellation of tens of thousands of orbiting transmitters beaming internet service to customers from 100 miles above the planet. The Starlink service is available in parts of Texas, and Musk recently said its now active in Ukraine.

A photo provided by SpaceX shows a view of SpaceXs Starlinks satellites just before being deployed on May 24, 2019. Various companies are pressing ahead with plans for internet service from space, which has prompted astronomers to voice concerns about the impact on research from telescopes on Earth. (SpaceX via The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH NYT STORY SPACEX LAUNCH BY SHANNON HALL FOR NOV. 11, 2019. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED. --

In anticipation of the orbital launch, SpaceX fans have posted articles, tweets and YouTube videos about Starlink sightings at the Starship compound.

The YouTube fanboy videos are guessing correctly, the ex-SpaceX employee said. But the average Joe on the street certainly isnt aware of it.

In the meantime, SpaceX is continuing to use the Falcon 9 to grow its satellite business. Last week, the reusable rocket carried 46 Starlink satellites to low-earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It was the companys tenth flight of the Falcon 9 booster, including two Starlink missions.

On ExpressNews.com: Elon Musk warns SpaceX faces genuine risk of bankruptcy if engine production troubles continue

SpaceX, which is headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., has built a launch facility in Boca Chica it calls Starbase, and a rocket testing facility in McGregor, near Waco.

In this photo provided by the U..S. Space Force, a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket carrying Starlink mission 3-3 launches from Space Launch Complex-4E on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at 2:40 p.m. PDT, Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. SpaceX has launched 46 more Starlink satellites into orbit from California. The satellites were carried aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on the central coast at 2:40 p.m. Friday. (Airman 1st ClassCKadielle Shaw/U.S. Space Force via AP)

While the private company continues to manufacture its Starlink units in Redmond, Wash., east of Seattle, its also apparently preparing to start making them in Texas.

To keep up with global demand, SpaceX is breaking ground on a new, state of the art manufacturing facility in Austin, TX, the company said in a March 2021 job posting seeking an engineer for its Starlink satellite internet division.

Tuesday, SpaceXs website had three job openings in Austin including a senior application software engineer, facilities engineer and development test engineer.

Our team is currently creating and evolving systems to enable rapid build and reuse of Starship as well as designing the next generation manufacturing software that will be used in high throughput factories for Starlink, according to the software engineer posting. Other applications range from platforms that support concurrent streams of data from many always-on assets to manage the worlds largest satellite constellation to public facing systems where customers can join our Starlink network globally.

Another four of the companys 120 jobs postings for Brownsville made references to Starlink.

SpaceX performed a static fire of a single Raptor engine on the Super Heavey Booster 7 on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022 at its Starbase site in Boca Chica, Texas. (SpaceX/TNS)

Starship prototypes went through five suborbital tests in the spring of 2021. Until earlier this year, though, the engines had fallen silent.

The static fire tests being conducted as recently as last week on the Starship on the launch pad at Starbase are a sign SpaceX is advancing toward launching the vehicle into orbit from the Boca Chica site.

Last weeks successful tests came nearly a month after an explosion rocked the site while firing the rockets engines, creating a fireball that sent plumes of smoke into the skies above nearby Boca Chica Beach.

On ExpressNews.com: SpaceX booster test explosion, fire slows companys progress toward orbital launch from Boca Chica

Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage, Musk, founder of SpaceX, said in tweet on July 11.

William Stark of Dallas walk on Boca Chica beach as SpaceX Booster 7 is seen at the launchpad on Friday, July 1, 2022. For years, Elon Musk has touted SpaceXs compound in Boca Chica as the Gateway to Mars the site from which his company would launch its massive Starship to carry astronauts to the moon and Mars. But South Texas residents now fear Musk is abandoning Starbase as his premiere launch site.

Musk, who flew to Starbase that night, said problems arose from testing all the Raptor 2 engines on the booster at once. This particular issue, however, was specific to the engine spin start test (Raptor has a complex start sequence), he said. Going forward, we wont do a spin start test with all 33 engines at once.

SpaceX managed to save the hardware, he said, and the booster was inspected.

The explosion came about a month after the Federal Aviation Administration concluded an environmental review of SpaceXs plans for orbital launches from the 47-acre facility, issuing a finding of no significant impact. The FAA said it would require SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to mitigate environmental impacts before issuing the operator license needed to launch from the site.

The company hasnt yet obtained a license from the FAA.

Last week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission suggested another Starship launch date as it said SpaceX could pursue radio-spectrum tests between Sept. 9 and March 1. The FCC granted special temporary authority for the company to conduct experimental orbital demo and recovery test of the Starship test vehicle from Boca Chica TX, according to an FCC filing.

The radio spectrum license is just to let FCC and FAA know that they will be communicating radio signals on frequencies throughout the upper levels of the stratosphere and possibly beyond, the ex-SpaceX employee said. They need FCC approval so as not to conflict with any possible telecommunications satellite.

eric.killelea@express-news.net

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SpaceX satellite biz banking on South Texas Starship launch

The Verge uncovered the ways Starbasse is shaping one rural Texas community. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

Since 2019, Elon Musk has been launching his Space X rockets from a remote point near the border between Texas and Mexico. As with many of Musks endeavors, the launches have attracted many of his diehard followers to the state, but the companys expansion has also driven away locals.

Now, a new report from The Verge uncovers the fascinating reasons hardened Musk fans have for upending their lives and moving south. But, it also uncovers the environmental and human cost of the ever-expanding space company.

According to the report, theres a spot called Rocket Ranch in Boca Chica, close to Texas border with Mexico. There, fans of Musks rocket company can gather together to watch test flights from Space Xs nearby Starbase site. From this vantage point, they can see the company grow before their very eyes.

One enthusiast The Verge spoke with, called Anthony Gomez, visited the site for one launch and quickly wanted to make the move permanent. The site reports:

Anthonys brief visit to Rocket Ranch turned into an overnight stay, then a couple of days, then a full week. It was long enough to convince him that he wanted to make the situation permanent. I had fallen in love with the place, Anthony said. So I just kind of asked if there was a way that I could absorb myself into it somehow.

He was committed to packing up his life and moving to Boca Chica full time.

What do you want me to do? Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

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This fierce following of Musks space exploration adventure sets the company apart from other more traditional engineering firms. But its more than just some harmless space tourism at work here. The Verge reports:

Any perceived doubt or criticism of either SpaceX or Musk is met with extreme vitriol, and Ive actually become frightened seeing some of the replies to my tweets or even an article thats seen as too pessimistic.

Being a woman adds another layer to the whole thing. Oftentimes, its a lot of men yelling at me online, calling me a bitch. Ive mostly brushed it off as online behavior. But its enough to make me hesitate when I meet a SpaceX believer in real life.

Despite the worries surrounding an encounter with die-hard Space X fans, writer Loren Grush spent time at Rocket Ranch with Gomez and other enthusiasts. There, she uncovered the reasoning behind their unfaltering support for the company, and found out why they were prepared to upend their lives for it. She writes:

I was fully prepared for an otherworldly experience here at Rocket Ranch when I met Anthony Gomez, who was co-managing the property at that point.

The vibe was communal. Guests who were staying in the nearby airstreams would come in and out of the main building if they needed something from the kitchen. Some were in town, as I was, for Elon Musks latest Starship event; others were living full time at Rocket Ranch for the foreseeable future. People were buzzing in anticipation of Musks update.

Space X gradually ramped up the number of launches from Starbase. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

At the ranch, fans describe themselves as outcasts from other circles. In this little corner of Texas, the nerds and dorks and people that were made fun of have found a place where they can come together and share their excitement for Space X.

Grush speaks with accountants who have abandoned their nine to fives to monitor Space X, as well as a tech expert who now makes their living by livestreaming the Starbase facility. Its fascinating to hear about the types of people who have dedicated their lives to following the companys progress.

But as well as bringing Musks followers to the area, Space Xs expansion has had a deeper impact on the surrounding area.

An explosion in the number of launches planned from the site could be impacting protected environments. And, the locals that spent their whole life in the region are struggling to deal with the changes afoot.

Locals have been driven out of Boca Chica Village. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

Grush explains that the nearby Boca Chica Village felt like this dark cloud and something that shouldnt be discussed when talking to Space X fans. There, locals spoke of the nightmare of selling their properties to Musks company.

Residents said that the company seemed to get away with everything as it began testing rockets at Starbase. Locals would get little to no warning ahead of some launches, before the company finally began trying to buy people out.

Despite a unified front against the sale, residents soon began flowing out of the village to be replaced by workers. The Verge reports:

Boca Chica Village now looks very different than it once did. The mostly brown and beige brick homes have been given makeovers, painted white and black in the signature SpaceX style. Employees and executives have moved in. Even Elon Musk lives in one of the houses when hes at Starbase to oversee operations.

Starbase is having an impact on the people and wildlife around it. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

The whole piece shows the fascinating juxtaposition with people searching for meaning through Musks endeavors, and the individuals loosing their sense of place as Space X expands.

I highly recommend heading across to The Verge to read the piece in its entirety, you can do that right here.

Original post:

The Space X Starbase Is Shaping the Community Around it - Jalopnik

The task is cut out for Tesla, Inc. TSLACEO Elon Musksteam, with the billionaire himself outlining the focus areas for the remainder of the year.

What Happened: The orbital launch of SpaceXs Starship reusable spacecraft and the wider release of Teslas full-self-driving software are the main goals for this year, Musk said on Twitter early Monday.

Although many other things are in the pipeline, these are the two giant kahunas, he said.

Will require insane work by many super talented people, but, if anyone can do it, they can, he said in a pep talk directed apparently at his employees. He also commended his workforce and said it is an honor to work with such awesome human beings."

Musk said in a separate tweet that the Neuralink progress update show & tell is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Separately, the entrepreneur expressed a wishto have a simplified Hyperloop demo tunnel between Austin, where Tesla is now headquartered, to San Antonino.

It is the fastest way to get between one downtown and another with known physics (and the Standard Model is proving quite resilient)1, he said.

See also:Do You Want To Work With Elon Musk? Here's What Over 55% Of Benzinga's Twitter Followers Said

Why Its Important: Musk announced Sunday a 25% bump up in the price of FSD, which is currently in beta testing. The price hike to $15,000 would take effect on Sept. 5 and this would mark the second upward adjustment for the year.

The FSD is seen by analysts as a major revenue earner for Tesla in the mid-to-long term.

Musk had said in early August that the Starship, which is being developed and tested at SpaceXs Boca Chica, Texas facility, will likely have a successful orbital flight between one and 12 months. The Starship is meant to transport both crew and cargo to the Earths orbit, the Moon, and Mars. NASA has chosen Starship for its Moon mission and Musk also harbors an ambitious goal of using the spacecraft to transport humans to Mars in a bid to make life multi-planetary.

Price Action:In premarket trading, Tesla shares were plunging 2.05% to $890, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by Daniel Oberhaus via Flickr

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Elon Musk Spells Out 2 'Giant Kahunas' He Hopes To Accomplish In 2022: 'Will Require Insane Work By Many - Benzinga

Elon Musk captures the persona of an eccentric billionaire rather well, with the Tesla CEO recently admitting to living in a tiny $45,000 (37,000) home next to his rocket factory

Image: Getty Images)

Elon Musk recently opened up about where he lays his head at night, and it isnt the multi-million-dollar mansion that most would expect the worlds richest man to live in.

Instead, he makes do with a small three-bedroom property located right near his SpaceX rocket factory.

The Tesla CEO has certainly had his hands full this year as the billionaire has found himself caught in the middle of a lawsuit following the collapse of his Twitter buyout.

Wasting no time, he has now jokingly suggested buying another unexpected venture: Manchester United.

It comes as the team is battling setback after setback.

Image:

If we won the lottery tomorrow, many people would immediately go out and buy their dream home: a mansion, beachside pad, or city-centre penthouse.

Even though he is the worlds richest man, Elon spends most of his time in a house that cheaper than most luxury treehouses.

During an interview on the Full Send podcast, the Boring Company CEO said he bought a $45,000 (37,160) house, mainly due to its location in Boca Chica, Texas, which is within walking distance of his SpaceX factory.

The house that I bought actually costs less than whats in a Boxabl, Elon told the podcast. It cost like $45k or something, but Ive done a lot with the place.

Boxabls are tiny homes and a building system that can be built to almost any style of house, costing between $5,000 (4,100) and $50,000 (41,200).

Image:

The podcast host asked if the home is small, and Elon replied: Its small. Its very small. Its a tiny its a small, small house.

He added: "Its right next to the rocket factory, so I can just literally walk to the rocket factory, its like half a mile away.

Explaining the layout of the home, he continued: Its technically a three-bedroom, but it used to be a two-bedroom.

I converted the garage into a third bedroom.

Yeah, its like, friends of mine come and stay there and they cant believe Im staying in this house.

Asked if he likes living like that, he said: Yeah, if Im there by myself its fine.

It's worth noting that this is just one of his homes, as the billionaire has a small property empire.

He owns four mansions in Bel-Air, a pad in Brentwood, California, and another nearly 100-year-old mansion in San Jose.

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Elon has once again got himself in hot water thanks to an irreverent tweet that was posted earlier this week.

The Neuralink CEO shared a tweet explaining his political preferences, stating: To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!

He replied, with a seemingly unrelated remark, he wrote: Also, Im buying Manchester United ur welcome.

The tweet received over 500,000 likes in less than 24 hours, with many social media users confused over the randomness of the post.

The account Tesla Owners Silicon Valley replied: Are you serious?

The billionaire replied: No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. Im not buying any sports teams.

Link:

Elon Musk actually lives in tiny 37k house as he jokes about buying Man United - The Mirror

Jul. 12A Starship pressure test at the SpaceX Boca Chica launch site Monday afternoon ended with an explosion at the test site, video from LabPadre and others confirmed.

Smoke from the pressure test could be seen as far away as South Padre Island with some visitors saying they heard what sounded like a boom.

A Monitor reporter felt and heard the explosion from a boat that was about 7 miles away from the site. SpaceX founder Elon Musk replied to a tweet stating engine testing was going on at the Boca Chica site Monday afternoon and addressed the issue.

NASASpaceflight tweeted to Musk that there was a fire at the launch site and that it seemed to be dying off. Musk tweeted "Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing the damage."

Several members of the SpaceX Boca Chica Group reported hearing the loud booms and said residents reportedly lost windows as a result of the explosion.

___

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Testing at SpaceX Boca Chica Site Ends with Explosion

SpaceX was testing its Super Heavy booster on the launch pad at Boca Chica in preparation for its first-ever Starship orbital launch from South Texas.

Then came the explosion.

Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet a few hours later.

About 4:30 p.m. Monday, NASASpaceFlight.com recorded footage of a burst of fire at the bottom of the booster rocket, which has been undergoing a series of static tests. The fireball turned into flames and plumes of smoke that lingered above nearby Boca Chica Beach outside of Brownsville.

Hours later, Musk tweeted that hed arrived at Starbase.

On ExpressNews.com: Its not going to be as sexy: Boca Chica looks toward a SpaceX future less lofty than itd hoped

Base of the vehicle seems ok by flashlight. I was just out there about an hour ago, he said in a tweet at 12:27 a.m. Tuesday. We shut down the pad for the night for safety. Will know more in the morning.

The explosion comes about a month after the Federal Aviation Administration concluded an environmental review of SpaceXs plans for orbital launches from the 47-acre facility, issuing a finding of no significant impact. The FAA said it would require SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to mitigate environmental impacts before issuing the operator license needed to launch from the site.

In response, Musk said the company could handle the mitigation steps and be ready to launch as early as this month.

Mondays explosion may slow his plans.

SpaceX didnt immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

On ExpressNews.com: South Texas environmental group to appeal ruling in SpaceX beach closure lawsuit

In another tweet Monday, Musk said a propellant known as cryogenic fuel is an added challenge to his plans. It evaporates to create fuel-air explosion risk in a partially oxygen atmosphere like Earth, he said.

He said Mondays problems arose from testing the 33 Raptor 2 engines under the booster.

This particular issue, however, was specific to the engine spin start test (Raptor has a complex start sequence), he said. Going forward, we wont do a spin start test with all 33 engines at once.

In late 2020 and early 2021, SpaceX lost four prototypes of the Starship itself in a series of high-altitude test launches when the return landing attempts ended in explosions. The prototype finally made a safe touchdown in May 2021.

eric.killelea@express-news.net

Original post:

SpaceX booster test explosion, fire slows companys progress toward ...

An orbital launch of SpaceXs new massive rocket is getting closer to reality with the company firing up its new engines for launch pad hot fires of both a super heavy booster and Starship prototype.

The company performed the two separate hot fires at its Boca Chica, Texas site Starbase on Monday posting images and video to its social media of the dialed-back tests. In mid-July, the Super Heavy Booster 7, spinning up all 33 of its Raptor engines, suffered damage after a fireball exploded during a test, which required repairs.

This time, the company chose to light up just a single Raptor engine during a static fire on the booster sitting on its orbital launch pad while also performing a separate static fire test of only two Raptor engines of the Starship 24 prototype.

The booster is designed to be topped with the Starship so that when combined, they stand 395 feet tall. When it lifts off, the orbital Starship and Super Heavy would become most powerful rocket to ever launch from the Earth, generating more than 16 million pounds of thrust. That nearly doubles the power of NASAs planned Artemis flights and more than doubles those of the Apollo missions.

Starship 24, the 24th prototype of the next-generation rocket, rolled out to the launch pad more than a month ago in anticipation of the companys first orbital test flight. Super Heavy Booster 7 has been back and forth from the launch pad to the on-site factory several times since March, including for repairs from the July incident that was caught on video by NASASpaceflight.com.

The company still has more regulatory approvals needed before it can attempt a launch, but earlier this year was able to move forward after the Federal Aviation Administration released the results of an environmental assessment, which found there would be no significant impact as long as SpaceX followed a series of proposed mitigation efforts at the southeast Texas launch site.

SpaceX has stated it prefers to keep Starship test flights in Texas, but is also building out launch facilities for the next-gen rocket at Kennedy Space Center, where it launches its current stable of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

To date, the company has flown prototype versions of Starship without the booster to about 6 miles altitude, and attempted landings back in Texas, sometimes with fiery results. Those used only three or fewer of the new, powerful Raptor engines.

The plan for the next test flight, though, is to launch the stacked version of Starship and Super Heavy, have them separate, return the booster to land on a SpaceX vessel 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico while Starship achieves orbit for least one trip around the Earth and then lands in the Pacific Ocean.

Immediate plans for Starship are for Starlink satellite delivery to add to the companys growing constellation of internet satellites, as well as to develop a version to assist NASA in getting humans back on the surface of the moon by 2025. Also upcoming is a tourist flight to orbit the moon funded by a Japanese fashion tycoon whos taking along several artists.

Follow Orlando Sentinel space coverage at Facebook.com/goforlaunchsentinel.

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SpaceX performs hot fire tests on Starship and super heavy, this time without a fireball - Orlando Sentinel

If Elon Musk wants to sell 20 million cars a year by 2030, hell need a lot of nickela key metal used in the electric batteries that power Tesla cars. And now, after years of wooing, the largest source of the metal seems to have won the Tesla CEO over.

On Monday, an Indonesian cabinet minister told CNBC Indonesia that Tesla had agreed to buy $5 billion worth of nickel products from the Southeast Asian country over the next five years. Indonesia is the worlds biggest source of nickel, with about 23.7% of the worlds reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (The U.S. imports most of its nickelwhich is also used to make alloys like stainless steelfrom Canada, Norway, Finland, and Australia).

Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesias coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, told CNBC Indonesia that Tesla could buy even more from the country, saying that officials are still in constant negotiation with Tesla.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla is hungry for metals like nickel as it tries to ramp up electric vehicle production. Some of the batteries used in Tesla EV models consist of 80% nickel. But its unclear as of now if the Indonesia deal fulfills Musks 2020 promise to award a giant contract for a long period of time to anyone who could mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.

The Tesla deal is a victory for Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has encouraged Musk to invest more in the country, including in its nickel production. Widodo even made a detour during his trip to Washington earlier this year to see Musk in person at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore in January 2020 to push foreign investors to build local processing and refining facilities, and thus allow the Southeast Asian country to capture more of the nickel value chain. Rather than setting up a local facility, Tesla is working with local Indonesian processors to source its nickel products. Tesla may also soon build battery and vehicle factories in the country, as officialsclaimed in May.

Not everyone in Indonesia is happy with efforts to expand nickel mining and processing. In late July, Indonesian and U.S. environmental groups sent a letter to Musk and Tesla shareholders accusing the local nickel industry of cutting down forests, polluting water sources, and uprooting indigenous communities. The letter asked Tesla to terminate plans to invest in Indonesia, and to stop using the countrys nickel in its cars.

Its unclear if Teslas Indonesia deal makes good on Musks call for environmentally sensitive nickel mining. Tesla is buying nickel products, rather than nickel ore itself, meaning its one step removed from the extraction process. Mining companies that have signed nickel deals with Tesla, like Vale or Kabanga Nickel in Tanzania, have trumpeted their efforts to extract the metal with lower carbon emissions.

According to Pandjaitan, Tesla agreed to work with nickel processing companies based in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, on Sulawesi Island.

The Morowali Industrial Park, according to Caixin, is a joint venture from Indonesian mining company Bintang Delapan Group and Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group.

Tsingshans founder, Xiang Guangda, notoriously caused a rapid surge in nickel prices in March. Xiang had tried to short the price of nickel, but rising prices sparked by the war in Ukraine created a short squeeze, causing nickel to rise to over $100,000 per ton. The London Metal Exchange controversially suspended and even reversed trades to bring down the price of nickel, and kept trading suspended until Xiang could negotiate a solution with his creditors.

The price of nickel has cooled significantly since March, now standing at $21,561 per ton, just slightly above where it was at the start of the year.

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Tesla needs nickel to dominate the car industry. It just signed a $5 billion deal with the metals largest source - Fortune

We know that Elon Musk is ambitious. Such managers almost always achieve their goals. In this regard, we should recall one of the projects that his companies are working on landing on Mars. Once it becomes real, humans will become interstellar species. Yesterday, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO shared their thoughts on this project.

Before we talk about Elon Musks plans to land on Mars, wed like to share the Twitter status of The Tesla Owners Silicon Valley. As shown in the photo below, SpaceX has made great progress in 20 years. They also asked how it was going and what to expect in the near future.

2002: How it started vs 2022: Hows it going @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/VVcWvZemGb

Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) August 14, 2022

To this, Musk responded: I hope there is a self-sustaining city on Mars in 20 years!

Mars is currently recognized as a valuable planet by human beings. It is the closest to the earth, and its size and activity patterns are similar to those of the earth.

Some scientists predict that in addition to the polar regions, Mars will have traces of liquid water. If humans want to enter the deeper universe, Mars will be an excellent transit station.

But can humans build a Martian city in 20 years? Twenty years is almost a quarter of human life, but to the universe, its just a jiffy.

Last month, Musk said that this generation would see humans on Mars within their lifetimes.

Humanity will reach Mars in your lifetime

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2022

In addition, Musk said in mid-July that he would create a self-sufficient civilization on Mars. 20 to 30 years from first human landing if launch rate growth is exponential, the Tesla co-founder replied. Assumes transferring ~100k each rendezvous and ~1M total people needed.

This will be Mars one day pic.twitter.com/nf4hML8dKx

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2022

Currently, Musk is promoting the next-generation Starship launch vehicle platform, Starship. On August 9, the Starship Booster B7 conducted a static ignition at the Boca Chica Starship Base in Texas and was successful.

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Elon Musk Hopes To Build Self-sustaining City on Mars in 20 Years - Gizchina.com