The pace is blazingly fast by NASA standards. They'll replace the three Americans and a German up there since November who will head back to Earth in their own SpaceX capsule.
SpaceX will attempt to launch three NASA astronauts and one Italian to the space station as soon as Wednesday. The latest guests were accompanied by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company in charge of the flight, making it the first fully private trip to the space station.Īfter hosting longer than expected, NASA was itching to make room for the next crew. In each case, an active-duty cosmonaut traveled with them. Last fall, a Russian film crew flew up, followed by a Japanese fashion mogul and his assistant. It was the first time NASA opened its space hatches to tourists after shunning the practice perfected over the decades by Russia. "Amazing mission," said real estate tycoon Larry Connor.īefore departing the space station Sunday night, the group thanked their seven hosts, including three NASA astronauts whose own mission is nearing an end. "We hope you enjoyed the extra few days in space." "Welcome back to planet Earth," radioed SpaceX Mission Control from Southern California. The trip was supposed to last a little over a week, but dicey weather kept the visitors in orbit almost twice as long as intended. Three rich businessmen returned from the International Space Station with their astronaut escort Monday, wrapping up a pricey trip that marked NASA's debut as a B&B host.įlying back in a SpaceX capsule, they splashed down in the Atlantic off the Florida coast to close out a 17-day tour that cost them $55 million apiece. SpaceX has raised billions in funding over the past several years, both to fund Starship and its satellite internet project Starlink, with the company's valuation recently hitting $100 billion.The SpaceX crew seated in the Dragon spacecraft earlier this month in Cape Canaveral, Fla.ĬAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. " is at least 90% internally funded thus far," Musk said.
"The overarching goal of SpaceX has been to advance space technology such that humanity can become a multi-planet species and, ultimately, a spacefaring civilization."Īlthough SpaceX has a $2.9 billion contract from NASA to develop Starship for delivering astronauts to the moon's surface, Musk said the company is "not assuming any international collaboration" or external funding for the rocket program. "I think, in order for life to become multiplanetary, we'll need maybe 1,000 ships or something like that," Musk said. SpaceX aims to launch as many as a dozen Starship test flights next year, he said, to complete the "test flight program" and move to launching "real payloads in 2023." He stressed that creating a mass production line for Starship is crucial to the program's long-term goals, noting that the current "biggest constraint" on rocket manufacturing is how fast the company can build the Raptor engines needed for Starship. "We intend to have a high flight rate next year," Musk said.
Musk noted that he wasn't sure if Starship would successfully reach orbit on the first try, but emphasized that he is "confident" that the rocket will get to space in 2022.
#Spacex will hopefully first orbital flight license
First, the company needs a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration for the mission, with the regulator expecting to complete a key environmental assessment by the end of this year. The company's next major step in developing Starship is launching to orbit. The company can regularly land and re-launch the boosters but not the upper portion, or stage, of the rocket. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets are partially reusable. SpaceX wants Starship to be fully reusable, with both the rocket and its booster capable of landing after a launch to be recovered for future flights. The company is testing prototypes at a facility in southern Texas and has flown multiple short test flights. Starship is the massive, next-generation rocket SpaceX is developing to launch cargo and people on missions to the moon and Mars.
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