Connect with us

News

Watch a used SpaceX Falcon 9 make a textbook landing in new closeup video

Published

on

SpaceX has released a closeup landing video of last week’s historic flight when a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket landed onto the “Of Course I Sill Love You” floating drone ship at sea. The landing was a part of the SES-10 mission that took off from the famous Apollo-era Launch Complex 39A. The first stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and delivered a communications satellite into orbit before returning back to earth.

SpaceX’s historic landing is part of the company’s overall goal to make commercial space flight affordable by reusing rockets. With the ability to quickly refurbish previously flown rockets for re-flight — SpaceX aims to turnaround rockets in 24 hours — the young space company backed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is beginning a “revolution in space flight“.

In the landing video released by SpaceX, we get a rare close up look at the Falcon 9’s carbon fiber landing legs secure the rocket from toppling over after it makes a perfect “bullseye” landing onto the drone ship. The recent sighting of a robot codenamed “Optimus Prime” could mean that future flights will be helped by a landing-assist robot designed to secure and transport the rocket, as it prepares the landing zone for another incoming rocket.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSfJDjMFzwR/

Advertisement
Comments

News

SpaceX calls off Starship 10 flight attempt once again

SpaceX is calling off a potential launch of Starship this evening, marking the second consecutive night the tenth test flight of the massive rocket will be delayed.

Published

on

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is calling off a potential launch of Starship this evening, marking the second consecutive night the tenth test flight of the massive rocket will be delayed.

Originally planning to launch on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. local time in Starbase, Texas, SpaceX was forced to delay the tenth launch of Starship due to a hardware issue.

“Ground side liquid oxygen leak needs to be fixed. Aiming for another launch attempt tomorrow,” CEO Elon Musk posted on the social media platform X.

Starship Flight 10 rescheduled as SpaceX targets Monday launch

The launch was then pushed to Monday night, and the launch window was set to start at the same time as Sunday. However, SpaceX would push it back to 6:44 p.m. due to some weather issues.

Advertisement

Eventually, Starship seemed like it was trending toward a launch, but weather continued to persist in the area, with thunder, rain, and lightning all threatening in the area.

At around 7:03 p.m., SpaceX decided to stand down once again, confirming weather was the culprit of yet another delay:

SpaceX will likely try again on Tuesday night, but the company has not yet confirmed if it will open another launch window.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

WATCH: SpaceX Starship Flight 10 launch

Published

on

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is set to launch its tenth test flight of the Starship program, with a launch window that will open at 6:44 p.m. local time, or 7:44 p.m. on the East Coast.

Starship’s tenth test flight was originally scheduled for launch yesterday with a one-hour window that opened at 7:30 p.m. ET, but it was called off 17 minutes before that window even had a chance to open.

Starship Flight 10 rescheduled as SpaceX targets Monday launch

SpaceX moved the flight to tonight. It was also originally scheduled to have a launch window at the same time as Sunday, but it was pushed back 14 minutes to around 6:30 p.m. ET. There are storms in the area, as well as clouds over Starbase, so there is the off chance for another launch delay.

There are several big objectives for this launch, including the expansion of the operating envelope for the Super Heavy booster. SpaceX says there are “multiple landing burn tests planned.”

Advertisement

The booster will also be performing a few in-flight experiments to help with data collection. Specifically, real-world performance data on future flight profiles and off-nominal scenarios will be on the list of things SpaceX will be looking for.

Starship itself will have a few in-flight objectives that include the deployment of eight Starlink simulators that are similar in size to the next-gen satellites for the internet service. SpaceX was set to test this with Starship’s seventh test flight, which occurred in January 2025. However, the task was abandoned as the vehicle was destroyed before deployment could occur.

Liftoff conditions are currently looking favorable, and SpaceX will be eager to improve upon its Starship launch program as CEO Elon Musk has big plans for it in the coming years.

You can watch the launch below via SpaceX:

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla looks to expand Robotaxi geofence once again with testing in new area

It looks as if Tesla is preparing for its next expansion of the geofence, potentially moving toward a much larger service area that could eclipse 150 square miles.

Published

on

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla looks to be preparing for the potential expansion of the Robotaxi geofence once again, as the company was spotted testing the suite in an area well outside of the Austin service area.

After it first launched the Robotaxi platform on June 22, Tesla has managed to expand its geofence twice, essentially doubling the travel area both times.

The most recent expansion took the size of the geofence from 42 square miles to about 80 square miles, bringing new neighborhoods and regions of the city into the realm of where the driverless vehicles could take passengers.

However, it looks as if Tesla is preparing for its next expansion of the geofence, potentially moving toward a much larger service area that could eclipse 150 square miles.

Over the weekend, one fan noticed a Robotaxi validation vehicle testing in Bee Cave, Texas, which is roughly 25 minutes from the edge of the current geofence:

Advertisement

Tesla has been testing vehicles in the western suburbs of Austin for some time, and it seems the company is laying some groundwork to push its geofence expansion into Plaid Mode as competition with Waymo continues to be at the forefront of the conversation.

Waymo has been expanding with Tesla for some time, as the pace of expansion for the two companies has been relatively accelerated for the past couple of months.

Tesla’s expansions of the geofence sent a clear message to competitors and doubters, but it is still aiming to keep things safe and not push the envelope too quickly.

Advertisement

The geofence expansion is impressive, but Tesla is also focusing on expanding its vehicle fleet in both Austin and the Bay Area, where it launched a ride-hailing service in July.

Tesla Bay Area autonomous fleet to grow to over 100 units: Elon Musk

Still, safety is the priority at the current time.

“We are being very cautious. We do not want to take any chances, so we are going to go cautiously. But the service areas and the number of vehicles in operation will increase at a hyper-exponential rate,” CEO Elon Musk said during the Q2 Earnings Call.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending