Latest news with #MarsColonization
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX's Starship explodes in Texas during preparations for 10th test flight
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX's newest Starship vehicle just went up in smoke. The company was testing a Starship upper stage at its Starbase site in South Texas on Wednesday night (June 18), to prepare for the megarocket's upcoming 10th flight test. But something went very wrong, as video captured by shows: The vehicle exploded, sending a massive fireball high into the dark Texas skies. SpaceX acknowledged the incident in an X post early on Thursday morning (June 19), noting that it occurred around 11 p.m. local time (midnight EDT and 0400 GMT on June 19). "A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for," SpaceX added in the post. "Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue." SpaceX is developing Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, to help humanity colonize Mars, among other ambitious exploration tasks. The vehicle consists of two elements, both of which are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable — a first-stage booster called Super Heavy and a 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship, or simply Ship. It was Ship that exploded on Wednesday night, on a test stand at Starbase's Massey site (not the orbital launch mount, from which Starship liftoffs occur). According to NASASpaceflight, which closely monitors Starship activity at Starbase, the anomaly occurred just before Ship was set to perform a static-fire test. Static fires are common prelaunch tests, in which a rocket's engines are briefly ignited while the vehicle remains anchored to the ground. SpaceX had already conducted a static fire with this Ship, though that trial involved just one of its Raptor engines; this test may have been intended to fire up all six of them. SpaceX has also already static-fired the Flight 10 Super Heavy booster, successfully igniting all 33 of its Raptors. Related Stories: — SpaceX reached space with Starship Flight 9 launch, then lost control of its giant spaceship (video) — Starship and Super Heavy explained — Elon Musk says SpaceX will launch its biggest Starship yet this year, but Mars in 2026 is '50/50' Wednesday night's explosion continued a string of setbacks for Starship upper stages. Ship has broken apart on the last three Starship test flights, which launched in January, March and May of this year. On Flight 7 and Flight 8, the "rapid unscheduled disassembly" occurred less than 10 minutes after liftoff. Ship flew significantly farther on Flight 9; SpaceX lost contact with the vehicle about 46 minutes after liftoff, and its pieces are likely resting on the Indian Ocean seabed. Super Heavy has performed better. On Flight 7 and Flight 8, for example, the booster returned to Starbase after launch for a dramatic catch by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. The Flight 7 Super Heavy flew again on Flight 9, notching a major reusability milestone for the Starship program. (SpaceX did not attempt to recover the booster on Flight 9, and it broke apart as it was coming in for a planned "hard splashdown" in the Gulf of Mexico.) SpaceX is still looking into what happened on Flight 9, an investigation overseen by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. So there was not yet an official target launch date for Starship Flight 10 — and, if there had been, it would now have to be revised after the events of Wednesday night.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Science
- Al Arabiya
SpaceX Starship explodes during routine test in Texas
One of tech billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships exploded during a routine test late Wednesday in Texas, law enforcement said, adding that no one was injured. The Starship 36 suffered 'catastrophic failure and exploded' at the Starbase launch facility shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT Thursday), a Facebook post by the Cameron County authorities said. Musk's Space X said the rocket was preparing for the tenth flight test when it 'experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase'. 'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,' Space X added on social media. 'There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.' Starbase on the south Texas coast, near the border with Mexico, is the headquarters for Musk's space project. Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and central to Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars. The latest setback follows an explosion of a prototype Starship over the Indian Ocean in late May. The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built had lifted off on May 27 from the Starbase facility, but the first-stage Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The previous two outings also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean.
Washington Post
05-06-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
SpaceX's town in Texas warns residents may lose property rights
Homer Pompa has lived in a rural area on Texas's southernmost tip, near the U.S.-Mexico border, for more than a half-century. Since 2014, the 75-year-old Brownsville native has watched his tiny coastal community transform into ground zero for Elon Musk's SpaceX and its billion-dollar effort to colonize Mars. Then, last month, more than 200 people — many of them SpaceX employees — voted to turn Pompa's parcel of land and parts of unincorporated Boca Chica Village into a city named Starbase. Weeks later, the disabled Vietnam War veteran received a letter from the newly created city informing him that he is at risk of losing the 'right to continue using your property for its current use' as the city reviews its zoning.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Musk unveils major plan amid departing Trump administration
Elon Musk has unveiled bold new plans for SpaceX following his split from President Donald Trump. The billionaire hosted an event on Thursday outlining the company's strategy to colonize Mars, detailing what he called the next phase in space exploration. Musk said SpaceX aims to launch its first crewed Starship mission to the Red Planet in 2026, with a Tesla Optimus robot on board. 'Launching two years later, we would be sending humans, assuming the first missions are successful,' said Musk. The initial crewed launches would likely involve a small number of early settlers, focusing on building and troubleshooting infrastructure on the Martian surface. The ambitious plan hinges on the development of next-generation Starships, which Musk said will feature nine engines, improved heat shields and increased payload capacity. He also revealed that SpaceX's assembly facility in Texas will eventually produce 1,000 Starships a year, describing it as 'the biggest structure in the world,' designed to enable millions of people to travel to Mars. The announcement comes less than a day since Musk quit the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and bid farewell to the White House, saying his 'scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end.' While Elon Musk expressed admiration for President Trump, he didn't hold back criticism of the administration's recent $3.8 trillion spending bill. 'It undermines the work the DOGE team is doing,' Musk told CBS bluntly. 'I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit instead of reducing it.' Despite the fallout, Musk isn't letting his departure from the White House derail his long-standing vision of putting humans on Mars. During the event, he unveiled plans for new 'Gigabays' currently in development, one in Texas and another in Florida. These towering facilities serve as vertical integration hubs where Starship and Super Heavy rockets are stacked and prepped for launch. 'We'll be building as many Starships for Mars as Boeing and Airbus produce commercial airliners,' Musk said. 'Each Starship is bigger than a 747 or an A380.' For perspective, Boeing's 747 measures 231 feet in length, while the Airbus A380 comes in at around 238 feet. Musk also announced that SpaceX will ramp up production of its Starlink satellites to around 5,000 units per year, many of which are destined for Mars. 'Ideally, we'll be able to take anyone who wants to go to Mars,' he said. 'And bring all the equipment needed to make it self-sustaining, to let it grow on its own.' The goal, he emphasized, is to ship enough resources to the Red Planet so that if supply missions from Earth suddenly stop, life on Mars can continue uninterrupted. 'Having two strong, self-sustaining planets will be critical for the long-term survival of civilization,' Musk added. He believes a multiplanetary existence could extend humanity's lifespan tenfold. But Musk does not plan to stop at Mars—he envisions missions reaching the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter's moons, and eventually, other star systems. SpaceX is eyeing the Arcadia Planitia to land Starships due to it being close to ice for water, lack of mountains and not too close to the poles. The first mission would arrive in 2027 and the first human launch would take off two years later. 'Maybe to just be safe, we might do two landing episodes with Optimus and the third one with humans. We will see,' Musk said. He estimated that at least one million tons of cargo will be needed to make Mars self-sustaining, requiring 1,000 to 2,000 ships per transfer window, with the long-term goal of the Red Planet's independence from Earth. Musk finished the event saying that this is 'an opportunity for the Martians to rethink how they want civilization to be.' 'So you can rethink what form of government you want, what new rules you should have. There's a lot of freedom and opportunity in Mars to do a recompile on civilization, which will be up to the Martians,' he added.
Gizmodo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Elon Musk Flaked on His Big Mars Talk. Here's What He Might've Been Doing Instead
Elon Musk opting not to talk about his ambitious plans to colonize Mars, now that's a first. The rocket billionaire was a no-show for a company discussion on establishing human settlements on the Red Planet, which was meant to take place on the same day as Starship's most recent test flight. The megarocket's mid performance may have been the leading cause behind Musk's last-minute change of plans, or maybe he was busy finding ways to avoid paying child support. In an emailed statement on Monday, SpaceX announced that Musk was going to discuss the company's plans for colonizing Mars. The company talk was set to be livestreamed on SpaceX's X page and its website on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET. Instead of streaming Musk's overly eager ramblings, the webcast remained silent before delaying the start time to 1:10 p.m. and then another time to 1:15 p.m., and finally pushing it until 9 p.m. ET. On that same day, Starship's liftoff was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, so delaying the talk meant Musk was supposed to speak after the rocket's test flight instead of before. Musk, however, did neither. We're not entirely sure why the world's richest man failed to show up yesterday for the big Mars talk, so we've put together a list of other things Musk might have been doing instead of indulging in his favorite topic—colonizing the Red Planet. Cheating in video games What do you do when you have an accumulated wealth of $400 billion? If you're Musk, you might just pay people to play video games for you. Earlier this year, reports surfaced suggesting that Musk has used boosted characters in games like Diablo and PoE2. The SpaceX CEO often leans into his gamer persona as part of his personal brand, but he later admitted in direct messages on X to a gaming buddy that he does, in fact, pay others to play for him. Healing from his toxic relationship with Trump Musk and Donald Trump were inseparable throughout the president's campaign, to which he generously donated $288 million. He got especially chummy with Trump once he was back in the White House. It seems, however, that the two are drifting apart. This week, Musk admitted that he is disappointed with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which he says undermines the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, which he spearheads. Musk also complained that the administration is using DOGE as a scapegoat. 'DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,' Musk told The Washington Post in a recent interview. 'Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.' It's not like we didn't see this coming, but even rocket billionaires can get tangled up in the wrong relationship. Being a terrible father Musk has been criticized for not being a good father to his 13 children (or whatever the number actually is). The SpaceX CEO is often seen in public with his son X, who he shares with the musician Grimes, but his other kids don't seem to get the same amount of attention. The mother of one of Musk's children, MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair, recently sold her Tesla in retaliation to Musk allegedly not paying enough money in child support. The billionaire's own father, who is also famously known for bad parenting, called Musk a bad father in an interview earlier this year. Musk also has an estranged relationship with his trans daughter Vivian, whom he publicly refers to as 'dead.' Watching Starship flop yet again There was a lot riding on Starship's Tuesday launch. The rocket had suffered back-to-back glitches that resulted in two explosions during the last two test flights. SpaceX reported that it had identified the problem and made 'several hardware changes' ahead of Starship's ninth flight, according to a statement. Starship blasted off from its launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, a few minutes past 7:30 p.m. ET. Things were going smoothly at first, until around 30 minutes after liftoff when SpaceX announced that Starship had fallen into an unrecoverable spin as the result of the loss of attitude control. SpaceX managed to push Starship further than in the previous two tests, but its latest flight was a rocky affair that failed to achieve a number of key goals. Indeed, the Super Heavy booster—the first to be reflown in a fully integrated test—never made it back to the launch mount. Starship is a key part of Musk's plans to send humans to Mars, which he claimed could happen in 2026. At least, that was part of the announcement for 'The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary' talk, which he flaked on at the last minute. Perhaps scheduling it on the same day as Starship's test flight was a bit of a risk, and anything Musk had to say during his talk would have been nullified by the rocket's less-than-ideal performance. Still, it's rude to leave us hanging like that.
