Tag: spacex
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SpaceX Inspiration4 astronauts reveal Dragon’s ‘cupola’ in the flesh
SpaceX’s first fully private astronaut crew have revealed the first real look at a unique part of the Crew Dragon spacecraft that will carry them to orbit just two weeks from now. Known as Inspiration4, the mission is the brainchild of Shift4 CEO, founder, and billionaire Jared Isaacman and will be the first orbital astronaut…
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I tried Elon Musk’s productivity hack of breaking my entire day into 5-minute slots. It was annoyingly inflexible – but I got a lot more done.
Elon Musk at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images As the CEO of three companies, Elon Musk has a lot on his plate. He works excessive hours and breaks his time into five-minute segments to get things done. I tested out his system…
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SpaceX President reveals 600,000 global Starlink internet preorders
SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell says that the company has secured more than half a million preorders for Starlink satellite internet in the last nine months. Several months after SpaceX began a gradual Starlink internet rollout to prospective customers on New Zealand’s northern island, the service has now been opened up to the entire…
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SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship stretches ‘wings’ ahead of Raptor installation
SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship prototype was spotted stretching its ‘wings’ on Sunday after completing a successful cryogenic proof test late last week. While minor relative to almost any other testing milestone, the small step still serves as a reminder that the end goal of Ship 20’s test campaign is a launch on Super Heavy to…
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SpaceX to put custom Starship propellant storage tanks through first trial
In the latest twist in the saga of SpaceX’s custom-built Starship launch pad propellant storage tanks, the company appears to have retroactively decided to build small prototype meant solely for testing. Known as a ‘test tank,’ the relatively small steel structure was fairly rapidly assembled from parts of an older Ground Support Equipment (GSE) tank…
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SpaceX’s first orbital Starship prototype prepares for proof tests
Several days after SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship prototype took a second trip to a nearby launch site, the rocket is on its way to one of two suborbital launch mounts. Once installed on the steel structure, Starship prototype 20 (S20) will finally be ready for – at minimum – two crucial tests: a cryogenic proof…
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SpaceX receives first major Starship Moon lander funding from NASA
SpaceX has received its first major funding from NASA for the development of a crewed Starship Moon lander meant to return humans to the surface of Earth’s nearest neighbor as early as 2024. Ordinarily, funding disbursement is just a routine, mundane part of government contracting. However, soon after NASA revealed that it had selected SpaceX…
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Elon Musk pulled his ‘last remaining house’ off the market after vowing to get rid of all his ‘physical possessions’ last year
Elon Musk on August 13, 2021 at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images Musk listed his Bay Area mansion for $37.5 million in June in a quest to offload all his property. The listing was pulled down last week, according to Zillow records.…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns to California port for the first time in years
For the first time in almost three years, a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster has returned to a California port after a successful West Coast launch and landing. On September 16th, 2021, less than three days after successfully launching SpaceX’s first West Coast Starlink mission and helping orbit the first batch of 51 upgraded Starlink satellites…
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SpaceX ‘sleeves’ Starship-derived propellant tank for the first time – here’s why
In a small but important step towards activating a pad capable of launching the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX has ‘sleeved’ one of its Starship-derived propellant storage tanks for the first time. Starship is a fully-reusable, two-stage liquid rocket designed to ultimately cut the cost of orbital launch by at least one…