Space
SpaceX, NASA enter final phase of training for imminent astronaut launch debut
SpaceX and NASA are working together to make sure they’re ready to start flying crews to the space station. Two astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are preparing to launch on a Crew Dragon capsule, with a scheduled date of mid to late May for the historic launch.
As the world deals with the coronavirus, essential personnel at both NASA and SpaceX are continuing to progress to a crew flight. Since the final shuttle flight in 2011, NASA and other space agencies around the world have been forced to rely on Russian rockets as their sole means of transporting astronauts to and from space.
That will change with the next flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. The gumdrop-shaped spacecraft is set to carry Behnken and Hurley to the orbiting outpost. The length of their stay is still to be determined, but training efforts suggest that it will be longer than the original planned flight.
To that end, the duo has been working with NASA and SpaceX to practice day of launch procedures. On March 19 and 20, teams gathered in Firing Room 4 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to complete a series of full missions, from launch to landing. After the retirement of the shuttle fleet, NASA turned to the private sector to find its next generation of space taxi.
The space agency selected SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to each build a spacecraft capable of ferrying crew to and from the space station. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon was the first to complete an uncrewed flight test, where the vehicle proved it could dock and undock itself from the space station. That test was a huge success and was followed on by a picture-perfect test of the Crew Dragon’s onboard escape system earlier this year.
Following the inflight abort test, all SpaceX needed to do was complete a few more tests of its Mark 3 parachute before NASA gave the all-clear to launch. But the company ran into a snag when it experienced two incidents back-to-back – the loss of a mock Dragon used for parachute testing and an unrelated in-flight rocket engine failure.
But SpaceX and NASA’s plans appear unphased, and the duo are working full steam ahead to the tentative May launch deadline. Key flight control teams stationed at their launch posts at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center and SpaceX HQ have simulated the different phases of launch. In contrast, the astronauts have practiced launch procedures from their Crew Dragon simulator.
“The simulations were a great opportunity to practice procedures and to coordinate decision-making for the mission management team, especially with respect to weather,” Michael Hess, manager of operations integration for NASA’s commercial crew program said in a news statement.
“Simulation supervisors do a great job at picking cases that really make the team think and discuss,” he added.
During the most recent simulations, teams ran through an entire mission, from prelaunch countdown to ascent and docking with the station while previous tests ran through timelines from hatch closure to undocking from the space station as well as practiced free-flight in preparation for re-entry and splashdown.
The countdown is on as the Crew Dragon capsule undergoes its final testing and preparations at SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once crew training and flight readiness reviews are complete, the spacecraft will be attached to its launcher: a shiny, new Falcon 9 booster.
If all goes according to plan, in late May, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will strap in and blast off the space station. There they will join fellow NASA astronaut, Chris Cassidy, who launches to the space station on April 9.
To ensure the mission gets off without a hitch, NASA and SpaceX are working closely and adhering to CDC guidelines to ensure teams stay safe and healthy. All non-essential employees are working from home, and the number of people coming in contact with the astronauts is minimal.
“The Space Station Program is looking forward to [having] another way to rotate crews to station to perform science and experiments to benefit all,” Hess said.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1211493590456848385?lang=en
Elon Musk
SpaceX is quietly becoming the U.S. Military’s only reliable rocket
Space Force drops ULA for SpaceX on GPS launch after Vulcan rocket anomaly investigation halts flights.
The U.S. Space Force announced today it is switching an upcoming GPS III satellite launch from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a move that is as much a reflection of Vulcan’s mounting problems as it is a validation of SpaceX’s growing dominance in national security space launch. The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, originally contracted to fly on Vulcan this month, will now target a late April liftoff on Falcon 9, marking the fourth consecutive GPS III satellite the Space Force has moved to SpaceX after contracts were originally awarded to ULA.
The immediate trigger is a solid rocket motor anomaly that occurred on February 12 during Vulcan’s USSF-87 mission. Although the payloads reached orbit and ULA declared the mission successful, the company characterized the malfunction as a “significant performance anomaly” and has since paused all military launches on Vulcan pending a root cause investigation.
“With this change, we are answering the call for rapid delivery of advanced GPS capability while the Vulcan anomaly investigation continues,” said Systems Delta 81 Commander Col. Ryan Hiserote. “We are once again demonstrating our team’s flexibility and are fully committed to leverage all options available for responsive and reliable launch for the Nation.”
The broader reality is that SpaceX’s reliability record and launch cadence have made it the path of least resistance for the Pentagon, and bodes well with Elon Musk’s plans to IPO SpaceX sometime this year. Its Falcon 9 is the most flight-proven rocket in history, and the Space Force’s Rapid Response Trailblazer program was specifically designed to enable exactly this kind of provider swap for GPS missions, and effectively building SpaceX’s flexibility into the national security launch architecture by design.
For ULA, the stakes are existential. The company entered 2026 with aspirations of finally turning a corner after years of Vulcan delays, with interim CEO John Elbon pointing to a backlog of over 80 missions as reason for optimism. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s contracts with the Space Force have given it a formal pathway to take on even more national security launches going forward.
The significance of today’s announcement extends beyond one satellite swap. It reinforces that America’s most critical space infrastructure, including GPS, missile warning, and beyond, is increasingly dependent on a single commercial provider.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship V3 is almost ready and it will change space travel forever
SpaceX is targeting April for the debut test launch of Starship V3 “Version 3”
SpaceX is closing in on one of the most anticipated rocket launches in history, as the company readies for a planned April test launch and debut of its next-gen Starship V3 “Version 3”.
The latest iteration of Starship V3 has a slightly taller Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage than their predecessors, and produce stronger, more efficient thrust using SpaceX’s upgraded Raptor 3 engines. V3 also features increased propellant capacity, targeting a total payload capacity of 200 tons to low Earth orbit with full reusability, compared to around 35 tons for its predecessor. With Musk’s lifelong aspiration to colonize Mars one day, the increased payload capacity matters enormously, because Mars missions require moving massive amounts of cargo, fuel, and eventually, people. But the most critical upgrade may be orbital refueling. SpaceX’s entire deep space architecture depends on moving large amounts of propellant in space, and having orbital refueling capabilities turn Starship from just a rocket into a true transport system. Without it, neither the Moon nor Mars is reachable at scale.
Initial Super Heavy V3 and Starbase Pad 2 activation campaign complete, wrapping up several days of testing that loaded cryogenic fuel and oxidizer on a V3 vehicle for the first time. While the 10-engine static fire ended early due to a ground-side issue, we saw successful… pic.twitter.com/uHGji17srv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2026
A fully reusable Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX aims to drive marginal launch costs down and at a tenfold reduction compared to current market leaders. To put that in perspective, getting a kilogram of cargo to orbit today costs thousands of dollars. Bring that number down far enough and space stops being an exclusive domain. That price point unlocks mass deployment of satellite constellations, large-scale science payloads, and affordable human transport beyond Earth orbit. It also means the Moon stops being a destination we visit and starts being one we inhabit.
NASA expects Starship to take off for the Moon’s South Pole in 2028, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanently crewed science station there. A successful V3 flight this spring keeps that timeline alive. As for Mars, Musk has shifted focus toward building a self-sustaining city on the Moon first, arguing that the Moon can be reached approximately every 10 days versus Mars’s 26-month alignment window. Mars remains the horizon, but the Moon is the proving ground.
Elon Musk hasn’t been shy with hyping the upcoming Starship V3 launch. In a social media post on Wednesday, he confirmed the first V3 flight is getting closer to launch. SpaceX also announced its initial activation campaign for V3 and Starbase Pad 2 was complete, wrapping up several days of cryogenic fuel testing on a V3 vehicle for the first time. The countdown is on. April can’t come soon enough.
Elon Musk
Starbase after dark: Musk’s latest photo captures a Spaceport on the brink of history
SpaceX’s Starbase city in Boca Chica, Texas is rapidly transforming the southern tip of the Lone Star State into one of the most ambitious launch complexes in history.
A striking nighttime photograph of SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, shared recently by Elon Musk on X, offers a dramatic glimpse of an operation that is rapidly transforming the southern tip of the Lone Star State into one of the most ambitious launch complexes in history.
The most immediately visible change in the photo is the presence of two fully erected Starship launch towers dominating the coastal skyline. The second orbital launch pad, known as Pad B, now features its fully erected tower, OLIT-3, which stands approximately 474 feet tall and incorporates an integrated water-cooled flame trench designed to minimize damage and reduce turnaround time between launches. The dual-tower silhouette against the night sky signals a decisive shift from experimental testing facility to high-cadence launch operations.
Grok Image concept of Elon Musk’s latest Starbase photo via X
Back at Starbase, Pad 2 is approaching hardware completion, with upgraded chopstick arms, a new chilldown vent system, and all 20 hold-down arms now fitted with protective doors to shield them from the intense exhaust of up to 33 Raptor 3 engines, according to a deeper dive by NASASpaceFlight.
SpaceX has also received approval to nearly double the footprint of the Starbase launch site, with groundwork already underway to add LNG liquefaction plants, expanded propellant storage, and additional ground support infrastructure.
The photo also carries a milestone civic dimension. Starbase officially became a Texas city in May 2025 after a community vote, with SpaceX employees elected as mayor and commissioners of the newly incorporated municipality. That legal status streamlines launch approvals and gives SpaceX direct control over local infrastructure decisions.
The FAA has approved an increase in launches from Starbase in Texas from five to twenty-five per year, clearing the runway for the kind of flight frequency needed to fulfill Starship’s ultimate mission of ferrying cargo and crew to the Moon, servicing the Department of Defense, deploying next-generation Starlink satellites, and eventually establishing Elon Musk’s long sought after goal of a self-sustaining human presence on Mars.
Seen from above in the dark, Starbase looks less like a test site and more like a spaceport.
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