Hacker News with Generative AI: SpaceX

Four private astronauts launch on first human mission to fly over the poles (arstechnica.com)
Four adventurers suited up and embarked on a first-of-a-kind trip to space Monday night, becoming the first humans to fly in polar orbit aboard a SpaceX crew capsule chartered by a Chinese-born cryptocurrency billionaire.

Space Travel, Private Spaceflight, SpaceX, Cryptocurrency

14 points by perihelions 13 hours ago | 0 comments

SpaceX launches private Fram2 astronauts on first spaceflight over Earth's poles (space.com)

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Private Spaceflight

16 points by decimalenough 1 day ago | 3 comments

SpaceX reportedly has a secret backdoor for Chinese investment (techcrunch.com)
Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has allowed Chinese investors to buy stakes as long as the funds are routed through the Cayman Islands or other offshore hubs, according to reporting from ProPublica.

SpaceX, China, Investments, Offshore Finance

10 points by 01-_- 6 days ago | 1 comments

Botswana launches first satellite BOTSAT-1 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 (spaceinafrica.com)
Botswana’s first satellite, BOTSAT-1, was successfully launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9—Transporter 13 rideshare mission on Saturday, March 15, 2025, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, USA.

Space Exploration, Satellites, Botswana, SpaceX

395 points by vinnyglennon 7 days ago | 225 comments

Elon Musk's SpaceX Allows Investment from China (propublica.org)
As a U.S. military contractor, SpaceX sees allowing Chinese ownership as fraught. But it will allow the investment if it comes through secrecy hubs like the Cayman Islands, court records say. “It is certainly a policy of obfuscation,” an expert said.

SpaceX, China, Investment, National Security, Business

62 points by danso 7 days ago | 9 comments

Fundamental miscalculation in the design of Starship V2 and its engine section (twitter.com)
Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.

SpaceX, Starship, Engineering, Rocketry

24 points by JumpCrisscross 14 days ago | 0 comments

Anonymous sources: Starship needs a major rebuild after 2 consecutive failures (behindtheblack.com)
According to information at this tweet from anonymous sources, parts of Starship will likely require a major redesign due to the spacecraft’s break-up shortly after stage separation on its last two test flights.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Starship, Engineering, Failures

40 points by jethronethro 14 days ago | 24 comments

Crew-9 Returns to Earth (spacex.com)
On its flight to the International Space Station, Dragon executes a series of burns that position the vehicle progressively closer to the station before it performs final docking maneuvers, followed by pressurization of the vestibule, hatch opening, and crew ingress.

Space Exploration, SpaceX

461 points by saikatsg 14 days ago | 659 comments

NASA's and SpaceX's Crew-9 Splashdown in Gulf of America (upi.com)
NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, second from left, and NASA astronauts Nick Hague, second from right, and Suni Williams, right are seen inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Space Exploration, NASA, SpaceX, Crew Missions

7 points by xqcgrek2 14 days ago | 1 comments

NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Crew-9 Return (nasa.gov)
NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17.

Space Exploration, NASA, SpaceX

15 points by gnarlynarwhal42 15 days ago | 4 comments

Elon Musk's Starlink Expands Across White House Complex (nytimes.com)
Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser.

SpaceX, White House, Elon Musk, Politics, Government

14 points by croes 15 days ago | 3 comments

Startship Was Doomed from the Beginning (planetearthandbeyond.co)
Musk’s impotent attempts to get his giant shiny phallus to work are the perfect metaphor for the man. Indeed, Starship seemed promising at first if you didn’t ask too many questions.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Elon Musk

12 points by af78 15 days ago | 6 comments

NASA Astronauts Depart Space Station After Nine Months in Orbit (bloomberg.com)
Two NASA astronauts stuck in orbit for nine months finally departed the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX capsule on Tuesday, kicking off their long-awaited voyage home.

Space Exploration, NASA, SpaceX

23 points by JumpCrisscross 15 days ago | 18 comments

Starlink satellite part hit a Canadian farm when it fell from orbit (newscientist.com)
A fragment of an out-of-control SpaceX Starlink satellite smashed into a farm in Canada last year, New Scientist can reveal – raising questions about the risks of de-orbiting space junk.

SpaceX, Space Junk, Canada, Satellites, Accidents

18 points by ironyman 16 days ago | 16 comments

SpaceX's Crew-10 mission arrives at ISS to relieve Starliner astronauts (space.com)

SpaceX, ISS, Space Travel, NASA, Crew Missions

7 points by saikatsg 17 days ago | 0 comments

Musk says first mission to Mars will launch next year (bbc.co.uk)
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said his Starship rocket will head to Mars by the end of next year, as the company investigates several recent explosions in flight tests.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Mars

13 points by goodcanadian 18 days ago | 12 comments

Anonymous sources: Starship will need a major rebuild after consecutive failures (behindtheblack.com)
According to information at this tweet from anonymous sources, parts of Starship will likely require a major redesign due to the spacecraft’s break-up shortly after stage separation on its last two test flights.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Starship

16 points by wallflower 21 days ago | 8 comments

What's behind the recent string of failures and delays at SpaceX? (arstechnica.com)
It has been an uncharacteristically messy start to the year for the world's leading spaceflight company, SpaceX.

SpaceX, Spaceflight, Failures, Delays

11 points by _mitterpach 22 days ago | 0 comments

FAA workers threatened with firing if they 'impede' SpaceX federal deal (independent.co.uk)
A SpaceX operative has threatened Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees with termination if they stand in the way of agency work by the company, which could lead to a lucrative federal contract, according to a report.

SpaceX, FAA, Government Contracts, Lawsuits, Threats

10 points by perihelions 25 days ago | 2 comments

SpaceX Make the Same Mistake Twice with Starship Flight 8 (youtube.com)

SpaceX, Starship, Spaceflight

7 points by fallinditch 26 days ago | 0 comments

Days Since Starship Exploded counter made it to 48. It's back to zero again now (theregister.com)
SpaceX's latest attempt to fly its Starship has again ended in a rapid unscheduled disassembly.

SpaceX, Starship, Space Exploration, Rocket Launches

19 points by beardyw 26 days ago | 28 comments

SpaceX's Starship explodes in second failure for Musk's Mars program (theguardian.com)
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded on Thursday minutes after lifting off from Texas, dooming an attempt to deploy mock satellites in the second consecutive failure this year for Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Elon Musk, Failures, Starship

28 points by prawn 26 days ago | 1 comments

SpaceX Starship Lost (smh.com.au)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX lost contact with its Starship rocket in space on Friday (AEDT), dooming a satellite deployment demonstration in the company’s second consecutive Starship failure this year.

Space Travel, SpaceX, Elon Musk

11 points by adampwells 26 days ago | 1 comments

SpaceX launches Starship on 8th test flight, tries to catch returning booster [video] (youtube.com)

SpaceX, Starship, Space Exploration, Rocketry, Video

13 points by busymom0 27 days ago | 7 comments

SpaceX launches Starship Flight 8 - Loses attitude control (spacex.com)
On its flight to the International Space Station, Dragon executes a series of burns that position the vehicle progressively closer to the station before it performs final docking maneuvers, followed by pressurization of the vestibule, hatch opening, and crew ingress.

SpaceX, Spaceflight, Spacecraft

67 points by s1artibartfast 27 days ago | 59 comments

Italy is having growing doubts about closing €1.5B deal with SpaceX for Starlink (bloomberg.com)
The Italian government is having growing doubts about closing a €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in light of the US pullback from commitments to European security, people familiar with the matter said.

SpaceX, Starlink, Italy, Politics, International Relations

18 points by donsupreme 27 days ago | 7 comments

SpaceX's Texas Starlink Factory Produces 15,000 Dishes per Day (pcmag.com)
SpaceX has published a rare behind-the-scenes video of its Starlink dish factory in Bastrop, Texas, which is preparing to expand.

SpaceX, Starlink, Manufacturing, Technology, Texas

10 points by signatoremo 28 days ago | 2 comments

SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8 suborbital test mission from Starbase (spaceflightnow.com)
SpaceX is preparing for the launch of its latest Starship test flight from its Starbase facility in southern Texas as soon as Monday, March 3.

Space Exploration, SpaceX, Starship, Launch

4 points by JumpCrisscross 30 days ago | 1 comments

Unprecedented Starlink Reentries (spaceweatherarchive.com)
Feb. 5, 2025 (Spaceweather.com): What goes up, must come down–which could be a problem when you’re launching thousands of satellites. Since 2018, SpaceX has placed more than 7,000 Starlink satellites into Earth orbit, and now they are starting to come down. In January alone, more than 120 Starlinks deorbited, creating a shower of fireballs.

SpaceX, Space Debris, Satellites, Astronomy

12 points by 882542F3884314B 30 days ago | 3 comments

Musk: Upgrade of FAA's ATC system is failing and SpaceX needs take over (cnn.com)

SpaceX, FAA, Aviation

15 points by e12e 34 days ago | 9 comments