Space Exploration Technologies(English:SpaceX）, also known asAmerican Space Exploration Technology Corporation, is a familyPayPalEarly stage investorsElon MuskA space transportation company established in June 2002.Originally headquartered inCaliforniaOfEl Segundo, then moved to Hawthorne.The company has developed partially reusable“Falcon 1 ”And Falcon 9 carrier rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
In 2008, Space Exploration Technologies signed a commercial space contract with NASA.In October 2012, a cargo type "Dragon" spaceship owned by the companyThe International Space StationDocking, opening a new era of private aerospace.The space exploration technology company has been able to control the rocket to return to the ground or the mobile recovery platform at sea, and the fairing can also be recovered through the mobile recovery platform at sea.[1]
At 3:22 on May 30, 2020 EDT, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft code named "Demo-2"[322]fromKennedy Space CenterLaunch[2]And docking with the International Space Station[322]Completed the first commercial manned flight mission in human history[321]。
At about 5:50 local time on April 23, 2021, the "Dragon" spacecraft carrying four astronauts was launched from the Kennedy Space Center[55]And dock with the International Space Station.On May 5, the starship prototype landed successfully in flight test[59]。On November 10, EST, the Space Exploration Technology Company's manned "Dragon" spacecraft sent four astronauts to the International Space Station to carry out the "Crew-3" mission.[72]On December 22, US Eastern Time,Return to Earth。[261]
On April 23, 2024 local time, Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed the 300th landing and recovery of Falcon rocket[302]；In May, the Space Exploration Technology Company opened the "manned spaceflight" reservation.[305]
In July 2024, Elon Musk said that he planned to move his headquarters to Texas[336]。At 6:50 on September 12, EST, Isaacman began the first commercial space walk in human history.[370]
On September 25, according to the Vietnam News Agency, on the occasion of the United Nations Future Summit and the general debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly held in New York, the General Secretary and President of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Su Lin and SpaceX Senior Vice President of Global Business and Government Affairs Tim Hughes met in New York.Tim Hughes said that SpaceX has plans to carry out investment projects totaling 15 billion dollars in Vietnam in the future.... Details
June,PayPalEarly stage investorsElon MuskEstablish the company.
2005
In January, Space Exploration Technology boughtSurrey Satellite Technology 10% of the shares.
2006
In March, Elon Musk invested 100 million dollars alone.
On August 18, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced thatNASACommercial rail transport servicesContract of.
2008
In July, the number of employees of the Space Exploration Technology Company increased from 160 in November 2005 to more than 500.
On August 4, Space Exploration Technology Co., LtdThe Founders Fund$20 million was accepted.
On December 23, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced thatNASA$1.6 billion worth of commercial supply services to ensurespace shuttleAfter retirement in 2010The International Space StationThe task of replenishment.[333]
2009
On April 22, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX had sold 14 contracts for various Falcon launch vehicles.
2012
On October 7, Space Exploration Technology CompanyCape CanaveralThe Air Force Base launched a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket to put a cargo type "Dragon" spacecraft into orbit, which is the first time that the Space Exploration Technology Company cargo spacecraft has officially undertaken the task of transporting cargo to the International Space Station.The "Dragon" capsule is expected to dock with the space station on October 10, 2012, stay at the space station for 18 days, and then return to the atmosphere, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
2013
On June 22, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it would be responsible for the launchTurkmenistanThe first man-made satellite.The satellite was originally intended to be used byChina's Long March rocketsHowever, due to the restrictions of the US government, Thales·Alenia Aerospace(Thales Alenia Space) finally chose to sign a launch service contract with SpaceX.
On October 7, Space Exploration Technology Company conducted a vertical takeoff and vertical landing experiment.The experimental rocket accurately landed on the launching pad after flying 744 meters, marking the first time that human beings have made reusable rockets.
On December 4, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at Cape Canaveral, putting the SES-8 commercial communication satellite into the scheduled orbit.This is the company's first successful launch of a commercial satellite.
2014
Long time exposure shooting of rocket launch trajectory
In May, Space Exploration Technology Company carried out reusable rocket flight experiment again[6]The highest point of the test flight was 1000 meters (3280 feet) in the air. After reaching the highest point, the rocket slowly landed and landed safely.
On August 23, during a test flight in McGregor, Texas, a three engine recoverable "Falcon 9" carrier rocket exploded in the air.
On September 16, NASAKennedy Space Centerannounce,The Boeing CompanyWon a $6.8 billion "space taxi" contract with the Space Exploration Technology Company, which will deliver astronauts to the International Space Station in the next few years.
2015
On January 10, a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket carrying the "Dragon" spacecraft lifted off.The spacecraft entered orbit safely, but the rocket recovery failed[7]。
On January 10, 15 flatworms were launched through the "SpaceX-5" commercial supply mission.[279]
On February 11, Google SEC documents confirmed that it had invested 900 million dollars in space exploration technology companies.[8]
On March 1, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched fromCape Canaveral Air BaseThe first batch of all electric communication satellites in the world were launched into orbit.[9]
On June 28, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket was suspected to explode and disintegrate due to the leakage of the secondary fuel tank during the seventh cargo mission of the International Space Station.[325]
On November 25, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States recently announced that the Space Exploration Technology Company has won the "order" to launch a spaceship to carry astronauts to the International Space Station in 2017.[10]
At 20:33 on December 21 (9:33 a.m. Beijing time), the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at Cape Canaveral and successfully recovered the primary propeller.It has created the first place in the history of human space.[11]
2016
On January 23, the Space Exploration Technology Company released a video showing that the manned "Dragon" spacecraft had completed its hovering test in the air two months ago.[12][329]
On April 8, the first stage propeller of a Falcon 9 carrier rocket successfully landed on a maritime unmanned ship.[13]
On May 28, "Falcon 9" carrier rocket successfully put "Thaicom 8" communication satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, and the rocket primary thruster successfully landed on the offshore platform.[42]
On July 18, a cargo "Dragon" spacecraft was sent into space by a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.[14]
2017
On March 20, the Dragon spacecraft returned to Earth on March 19 after completing its tenth mission of delivering supplies to the International Space Station.[15]
On March 30, for the first time in space history, the US Space Exploration Technology Company launched a satellite using a recycled "second-hand" rocket.[16]
On June 25, "Falcon 9" carrier rocket put 10 communication satellites of Iridium Communication Company into orbit, and the rocket primary thruster landed on the floating platform in the Pacific Ocean as planned, and successfully recovered.[17]
On October 9, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket completed the launch mission of "one arrow and ten satellites", and launched the third batch of 10 satellites of Iridium Communications Corporation's next generation global satellite program into the target orbit. The first stage of the rocket thruster was recovered at sea.[18]
2018
On January 31, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base with a satellite belonging to the Luxembourg government and the satellite operator SES SA.The satellite named "GovSat-1" was deployed to the scheduled orbit about 32 minutes after launch.[19]
US Eastern TimeAt 15:45 on February 6, 2018 (4:45 am on February 7, Beijing time), the space exploration technology company's "heavy falcon" carrier rocket was successfully launched for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center.The booster is separated 2 minutes and 3 seconds after lift off;At 3:07, the first and second stage rockets separated;At 7:58, the two booster rockets landed at the same time and successfully completed the complete recovery of the two primary booster rockets.[20]
On February 17, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced the delay of the launch of its Internet access satellite.[21]On the 22nd, the satellites named "Microsat 2a" and "Microsat 2b" took the Falcon 9 carrier rocket fromVandenberg Air Force BaseLaunch.[22][29]
On March 6, a large satellite of Hispasat, a Spanish satellite company, was put into orbit.The satellite weighs 6 tons.[23]
In March, the space exploration technology company completed a new financing of 500 million dollars, and the leading investor isFidelity Investment GroupMusk co invested $100 million.[24]
On March 30, American Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully completed its sixth rocket launch mission within the year, using "second-hand" "Falcon 9" to put the fifth batch of 10 "Iridium NEXT" satellites into orbit.[25]
On April 3, the Space Exploration Technology Company successfully put the "Dragon" spacecraft into orbit.This is the company's 11 successful launches of "second-hand" rockets.[26]
At 4:14 p.m. on May 11, the Space Exploration Technology Company's "Falcon 9" Block 5 carrier rocket successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and successfully sent Bangladesh's first satellite, "Bangabandhu Satellite 1", into space, which was the first show of the company's latest upgraded "Falcon 9" carrier rocket.[27]
On June 22, the US Air Force said that the Space Exploration Technology Company had won a start-up contract worth 130 million dollars and would launch a secret satellite later in 2020.[28]
On December 3, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying 64 satellites.[30]
2019
On May 4, 2019 local time, the space exploration technology company "Dragon" cargo spacecraft was launched from the latest Falcon 9 rocket at the Cape Canaveral launch base in Florida, USA.[31]
On August 5, 2019, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced the rocket "carpool" launch project, which can send a satellite to the sky at a minimum cost of 2.25 million dollars.[32]
2020
On February 17, 2020, a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, carrying the fifth batch of 60 "Star Chain" satellites.[33]
On February 18, the American Space Exploration Company announced that it had signed a contract with the Space Exploration Technology Company to launch a private space tourism plan. Each spaceship can carry four passengers[34]。
At 3:22 p.m. on May 30, 2020, US Eastern Time, a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket sent the manned "Dragon" spacecraft, code named "Demo-2", into space, carrying US astronautsDouglas HurleyandRobert Benken[2][321], successfully docked with the International Space Station after 19 hours of flight.[322]The spacecraft finally returned to Earth on August 2, splashing down onFloridaNear the coast.[3][323]
On August 4, the starship prototype SN5 successfully completed its flight test at an altitude of about 150 meters.[35]
On August 18, the American Space Exploration Technology Company sent the 11th batch of "Star Chain" satellites into space, and the company has launched 643 "Star Chain" satellites in total.[36]
On August 30, 2020 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket. After the launch, the rocket did not fly eastward like most Florida missions, but flew southward after takeoff, bypassing the East South Sea coast of Florida and flying over Cuba.[37]
On the evening of November 15, 2020, the Space Exploration Technology Company successfully used a "Falcon 9" rocket to put the manned "Dragon" spacecraft named "Resilience" into orbit, carrying four astronauts.[4]
On December 8, 2020 local time, the "Starship" SN8 made its first test flight in Texas.One second before takeoff, its Raptor engine automatically stops working.Space exploration later said that the test task had been completed[38]。On December 9, the "Star Ship" SN8 took another test flight, fell about 6 minutes after lift off, and exploded[5]。
2021
On March 11, 2021, Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched the 21st batch of 60 "star chain" satellites using the "five handed" booster.Subsequently, the booster successfully landed on the unmanned recovery ship.[53]
At 21:00 p.m. (Beijing time) on March 30, 2021, the "Starship" SN11 prototype aircraft carried out a 10km altitude flight test at the Bocachika launch site in Texas. The signal of the high-altitude test flight was lost at 5:49, and there was news that the SN11 had been disconnected and disintegrated in the air.This is also the fourth time that Space Exploration Technology Company has made a flight attempt at an altitude of 10 kilometers.Although there was heavy fog at the time of launch, the Space Exploration Technology Company still decided to launch as scheduled.[54]
At about 5:50 local time on April 23, 2021, the "Dragon" spacecraft carrying four astronauts was launched at the Kennedy Space Center and flew to the International Space Station[55]。
On April 24, 2021, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company requested to deploy 2824 more "star chain" satellites in lower orbit. Previously, the company had been approved to deploy 1584 satellites there.[56]
On May 4, Space Exploration Technology Company successfully launched a batch of "Star Chain" satellites.The Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched from the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida at about 3 p.m. that day.This is the 26th similar launch of the company, which put 60 small satellites into orbit.The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched the satellite has returned to the offshore platform.[58]
On May 5, 2021, the Starship SN15 prototype successfully landed in the test flight in Texas, with a test flight altitude of 10 kilometers[59]。
On May 15, the space exploration technology company used the recovered "Falcon 9" carrier rocket to put the 28th batch of "Star Chain" satellites (52) and two satellites of other companies into orbit together[60]。
On June 3, 2021 local time, in Florida, the United States, a cargo "Dragon" spacecraft took the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket to the International Space Station, which is also the first time that Space Exploration Technology Corporation will use a new "Falcon 9" carrier rocket to launch in 2021.[61]
On June 26, 2021, the interface news reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company planned to launch an orbital "starship" in July.[62]
At 14:56 on June 29, 2021, the United States Eastern Time, the second special small satellite "spell out" launch mission - "Transporter 2" was carried out using the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at the Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.11 seconds before the launch, the mission was temporarily cancelled because a plane entered the no fly zone designated for rocket launch[63]The launch was later postponed to the 30th.The mission successfully put 88 microsatellites into orbit and realized the first booster land recovery in 2021.[64]This landing marks the 89th recovery of SpaceX's rocket booster and the first land landing in 2021.In the 19 launches that have been completed by SpaceX, its boosters have landed on the company's unmanned recovery ships.The launch marks the 20th launch mission of the Space Exploration Technology Company and the fourth mission of the company from the Florida Space Coast within one month.[65]
On September 15, 2021 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched the first commercial manned space flight mission of Le, using the manned "Dragon" spacecraft and the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket to launch four ordinary people into space.The rocket booster was successfully recovered.[66-67]
On October 7, 2021, Beijing time, NASA officials said that Boeing's interstellar airliner spacecraft will not attempt to launch again in 2021, and the two astronauts who originally intended to take the interstellar airliner have been reassigned to the "Dragon" spacecraft mission.[68-69]
On the evening of November 8, 2021, four astronauts from the International Space Station arrived safely on the manned "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation, ending the 199 day in orbit mission.According to the contract between NASA and the Space Exploration Technology Company, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft will carry out a total of six commercial manned space missions.[71]
On November 10, 2021 EDT, the Space Exploration Technology Company's manned "Dragon" spacecraft sent four astronauts to the International Space Station to carry out the "Crew-3" mission.This is the fifth manned launch carried out by the Space Exploration Technology Company in 18 months.[72]
On November 13, 2021 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Site, which carried 53 satellite chains.[73]
On November 24, 2021, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a spacecraft belonging to NASA.The spacecraft was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base and is planned to hit the asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022 to test the asteroid deflection technology.[75]
At 18:12 on December 2, US Eastern Time, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched at Cape Canaveral, carrying 48 "Star Chain" satellites and two remote sensing satellites of BlackSky.This is the 27th mission of the Falcon 9 carrier rocket in 2021, breaking the record of 26 missions set in 2020.[76]
On December 13, 2021, Elon Musk said on social media that the Space Exploration Technology Company is launching a plan to convert carbon dioxide into rocket fuel.[77]Musk said this plan is also important for going to Mars, because carbon dioxide is the main component of the Martian atmosphere.[78]
On December 16, 2021, Elon Musk announced that it was he who prompted Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, to devote more time to the Blue Origin of the space tourism company so that the company could make greater progress.[79]
At 4:41 on December 18, 2021, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket launched 52 "Star Chain" satellites at the Vandenberg Space Army Base in California, and SpaceX gave birth to the first one arrow 11 flying rocket.[80]
On December 19, 2021, SpaceX made its 30th round in 2021 and the second of three rounds in a row at the end of the year: it made its second round, setting its own record for the shortest launch interval - the first round (Starlink Group 4-4) and the second round (Turksat 5B), only 15 hours and 17 minutes apart, breaking the previous record of 44 hours and 17 minutes.[81]
On December 21, 2021, SpaceX's Falcon 9 carrier rocket carried out the 24th commercial replenishment service (CRS-24) mission for NASA from the historic 39A launch site of Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing the 31st and last launch in 2021.[83]
On December 21, 2021, the global broadband network speed testing website Speedtest.net announced the network speed data of several satellite Internet in the third quarter of 2021.The results show that the space exploration technology company's satellite chain has the fastest Internet speed and the lowest latency.[84]
2022
At 5:49 on January 7, 2022, Beijing time, the exclusive launch of star chain Group 4-5 is rare. This time, it is rare to launch star chain from Florida to the southeast, rather than the northeast.The ASOG offshore platform has now left for the sea area 637 kilometers away from the launch site.It is planned to launch three tasks in January: the fifth batch of Star Chain 1.5, Transporter 3, and Yixing CSG-2.[85-86]
On January 16, 2022, Musk disclosed on social media that 1469 "star chain" satellites are in operation, 272 are entering into operation orbit, and satellite laser link communication will be activated soon.[87]
On January 26, 2022, according to the data of online space garbage tracking software, the space movement track of a 4-ton rocket wreckage of the Space Exploration Technology Company showed that it was about to enter the moonThe ball collided.[88]
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics operated by Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution, said that the second stage debris of a Falcon 9 rocket sent into orbit by SpaceX in 2015 would hit the moon on March 4, 2022.[89]
On February 1, 2022, the Falcon 9 1.2 carrier rocket of the Space Exploration Technology Company was launched at Cape Canaveral, carrying the CSG 2 radar remote sensing satellite of the Italian Space Agency.[91]
On February 2, 2022, NASA announced that four space tourists will participate in the first private manned space mission "Ax-1" of Axiom Space Corporation, which is planned to be launched by the Falcon 9 carrier rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 30.[92]
At 13:13 on February 3, 2022, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, sending 49 "Star Chain" satellites into low Earth orbit.[93-94]On February 8, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that 40 of the satellites launched this time had been scrapped due to the geomagnetic storm.[95]
On February 10, 2022, NASA expressed concern about the plan of about 30000 satellites deployed by Space Exploration Technology Corporation for the Star Chain project, and believed that the frequency of related events caused by this might increase significantly, and might have an impact on NASA's implementation of scientific and manned space missions.[97]
On February 11, 2022, at the press conference held by the Space Exploration Technology Company, Musk introduced some of the latest developments of the "Starship", and also released a new promotional video. In the five minute video, he showed the use scene and the whole launch process of the "construction" in detail.[98]Musk predicted that in 2022, Space Exploration Technology Company plans to carry out about 50 launches, aboutOnce a week.It is hoped that the "Star Ship" can transport a large number of materials and build a self-sufficient "Mars City" on Mars.[99]
In February 2022, Musk said that there might be more than 250000 satellite Internet users, with an annual reservation amount of more than 300 million dollars.[101]
On February 14, 2022,Jared IsaacmanAnnounces that the "Polaris Program" is being launched, and cooperates with space exploration technology companies to accumulate manned space experience and help them to send humans to the moon and MarsThe goal of.[102]
At 22:44 p.m. on February 21, 2022, Beijing time, the Space Exploration Technology Company successfully launched 46 star chain G4-8 networking satellites with a "eleven handed" rocket.Eight minutes and 47 seconds after takeoff, the core first stage rocket body successfully completed the sea recovery, and the first stage rocket landed perfectly on the sea recovery ship ASOG.The Space Exploration Technology Company has two Falcon 9 launch vehicles that have flown 11 times.The two lobe fairing used in this mission is also recycled, which is their fourth flight.[103]
At 9:12 on February 25, 2022, Pacific Standard Time, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched at Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 50 "Star Chain" satellites.This is the fourth flight of the Falcon 9 primary booster. After the primary and secondary separation, the primary booster landed on the unmanned barge "Of course I still love you".[104]
According to Spacexstats data, as of March 1, 2022, there are 1919 "star chain" satellites in operation in Earth orbit, which means that Space Exploration Technology Corporation has increased the number of its Internet satellites by 185% in the past 18 monthsabove.[105]
At 9:25 a.m. on March 3, 2022, US Eastern Time, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket was launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 47 "star chain" satellites, and the cumulative number of launched star chain satellites exceeded 2200.[106]
On March 8, 2022, NASA recently signed a contract with the Space Exploration Technology Company, with a total amount of nearly 3.5 billion dollars, to provide the company with three more manned space missions to send astronauts to the International Space Station.[107]
At 8:45 on March 9, 2022, EST, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched another 48 "Star Chain" satellites.[108]
On March 21, 2022, OneWeb, a British satellite communication company, announced that it had reached an agreement with the Space Exploration Technology Company to enable OneWeb to restore the low orbit satellite Internet starThe launch of the pedestal.[109]
In March 2022, the official website of Space Exploration Technology Company showed that due to the high level of inflation, the company will comprehensively raise the service price from May.Among them, the price of star chain hardware rose by 20%;The launch price of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy carrier rockets increased by 8%.[110]
Federal Aviation AdministrationThe environmental review time for star ship orbital flight will be extended again to April 29, 2022.[111]
In March 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently announced that,Artemis PlanOpen bidding to a second company.The company is no longer solely responsible for space exploration technology.[112]
On March 31, 2022 local time, the Philippine Minister of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez announced that the Space Exploration Technology Company would launch the "Star Chain" satellite broadband service in the Philippines, which is also the first Southeast Asian country to enjoy the "Star Chain" service.[113]
At 12:24 on April 1, 2022 (00:24 on April 2, Beijing time), the space exploration technology company's "Falcon 9" carrier rocket carried out the fourth exclusive shuttle launch mission "Transporter 4" at the Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, putting 40 spacecraft into orbit, including CubeStar, microsatellites, pico satellites, etc.[114]
April 3, 2022, then Director of the Russian Space AgencyDmitry Rogozin A post on Twitter said that only when other countries "completely and unconditionally lift illegal sanctions" can the "partnership" with Russia on the International Space Station and other projects be restored.OneWeb, a British satellite company, said it had signed a contract with Space Exploration Technologies to put its satellite into orbit.[115]
On April 17, 2022, it was reported that at 9:13 a.m. EDT, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched a rocket at the 4E launch pad of Vandenberg Air Force Base, and successfully launched another military reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Agency of the United States using Falcon 9 B1071.2.About 8 minutes after lift off, the primary booster landed again accurately and completed recovery.[123]
On April 21, 2022 local time, the space exploration technology company's "Falcon 9" rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending another 53 "Star Chain" Internet satellites into space.[124]
On April 21, 2022 local time, NASA announced that Space Exploration Technology Corporation had obtained a communication service project agreement worth US $69.95 million for the development and demonstration of near earth space communication services.The method proposed by Space Exploration Technology Corporation shows a commercial optical LEO relay network to provide high-speed satellite communication services for LEO spacecraft.[127]
On the morning of April 27, Beijing time, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company would transport the next batch of astronauts to the International Space Station, including a former doctor and a geologist specializing in the study of landslides on Mars.[132]
At 15:52 on April 27, 2022, Beijing time, at Launch Pad 36A, Cape Point, Florida, a "four handed" and "Falcon 9" carrier rocket of the Space Exploration Technology Company carried four astronauts and the "Freedom" and "Dragon" spacecraft to the International Space Station.[133]
On May 6, 2022, NASA's manned space mission "Crew-3" astronauts landed in the SpaceX manned "Dragon" spacecraft, ending the six-month scientific mission of the International Space Station.[136]
At 3:07 p.m. local time on May 13, 2022, at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the space exploration technology company founded by American millionaire Elon Musk used the Falcon 9 rocket to send 53 "Star Chain" system satellites into low Earth orbit again.SpaceX later said on social media that 53 satellites had been successfully deployed.[137]
At 2:35 a.m. on May 26, 2022 local time, Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully carried out the "Transporter-5" mission using the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, sending 59 spacecraft, including cube satellites, microsatellites, non deployed managed payloads and orbital transmission vehiclesSun synchronous orbit.[142]
In June 2022, the Space Exploration Technology Company confirmed that the fourth of the five "orbital shells" in the initial stage of the "Star Chain" satellite network could be deployed as early as July.According to the plan, Space Exploration Technology Company will launch 4408 satellites at the initial stage of the "Star Chain" satellite network, which will be deployed on five "orbital shells" to provide low latency and high-speed Internet globally.[143]
In July 2022, "Falcon 9" carrier rocket carrying 46 satellite chain Internet satellites of Space Exploration Technology Company lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base.[150]
As of July 28, 2022, the "Star Chain" has more than 2500 satellites in use and more than 500000 subscribers worldwide.[155]
In July 2022, Tesla is working withKorea Aerospace Research InstituteCooperate to prepare to launch Tesla into space in the lunar orbit mission of Space Exploration Technology CorporationPhotos of customers.[156]
On April 4, 2022, it was reported that the second private space flight and the first fully private manned space mission of the International Space Station, Axiom 1 (Ax-1), had been postponed.This weekend, the Space Exploration Technology Company will use the manned "Dragon" spacecraft to transport the four passengers of Axiom Space Company（Michael Lopez Allegria、Larry Connor、Mark Passy、Etan Stibee）[354]To the International Space Station.The mission lasts for ten days[116]；SpaceX will launch artificial meat experiment to the International Space Station: a company called Aleph Farms will use this mission to launch a technology platform to the International Space Station to test how to produce artificial meat in space.[117]
The Axiom-1 mission will take off at 11:17 a.m. EDT (15:17 GMT) on Friday, April 8, and will rendezvous with the International Space Station by taking the "Dragon" spacecraft at about 7:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday.[118]
At 11:17 p.m. on April 8, 2022, Beijing time, the Space Exploration Technology Company's "Manned Dragon" spacecraft took off from Launch Pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the "Falcon 9" rocket, carrying four passengers to the International Space Station.[119-120]At 20:29 on April 9, 2022, the spacecraft completed docking with the International Space Station.This marks the first "all private" space travel on the International Space Station in history.[121]
On April 13, 2022, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company began to build the first launch pad and tower in Florida, the United States, and made rapid progress.[122]
On April 20, 2022 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company's "Star Chain" network, Amazon's "Project Kuiper" and other satellite companies won contracts from NASA to demonstrate space communications, totaling 2.785US $100 million.[125]
On April 22, 2022, according to Sina Finance, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced on Thursday local time that it had signed the first agreement with an airline company to provide wireless Internet services in the air using its satellite network.[126]
On April 22, 2022, JSX, the aircraft service provider, said on social media that JSX was honored to be the first airline to adopt the space exploration technology company Star Link Satellite Internet, providing free Internet access services for passengers on board. Later in 2022, JSX's Wi Fi on board will be available.[128]
On April 24, 2022, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced on its website that due to the adverse weather conditions along the coast of Florida, the departure time of the Dragon spacecraft carrying four passengers from the International Space Station was postponed.[129]On April 25, the spacecraft returned to Earth and landed near the coast of Florida in the southeast of the United States.[130]
"Crew-4" space mission
On the morning of April 27, 2022, Beijing time, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company would send the next batch of long-term astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday morning local time. This batch of astronauts included a former doctor and a geologist specializing in studying landslides on Mars.[131]
On April 27, 2022, the US space exploration technology company "Dragon" spacecraft carrying four astronauts took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:52 a.m. EDT (15:52 a.m. Beijing time on the 27th) on the "Falcon 9" rocket.At 19:37 on the same day (7:37 on the 28th Beijing time), the spacecraft docked with the space station.This is the fourth time that the manned "Dragon" spacecraft has transported alternate astronauts for the International Space Station.The four astronauts who participated in the "Crew-4" space mission are NASA astronautsSher LindgrenBob Heins, Jessica Watkins and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christopherti.[134]
Launch "Star Link" satellite
At 17:27 on April 29, 2022, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida, and the turnaround time for rocket recovery and reuse for this mission only took 21 days.[135]
At 15:07 on May 13, 2022, the Falcon 9 carrier rocketCaliforniaVandenberg Space Force Base launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites.[138]
04:40, May 15, 2022, Beijing time.B1073-1 "Falcon 9" carrier rocket lifted off from LC-40 launch pad at Cape Calaver, carried out the "Star Chain" G4-15 mission, and launched 53 satellites into low Earth orbit.[139]
At 6:59 on May 18, 2022, the Falcon 9 carrier rocket launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.[140]
In May 2022, the space exploration technology company carried out a new round of large-scale financing, with a valuation of about 127 billion dollars.[141]
In June 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Space Exploration Technology Company of the United States gave up launching the Falcon 9 rocket within the framework of the CRS-25 mission to deliver materials to the International Space Station this week.[144]
On June 9, 2022, the article on the US commercial insider website said that according to US officials and Ukrainian military personnel, the "Star Chain" plan of the satellite Internet service of the Space Exploration Technology Company was a key part of Ukraine's action against Russia.[145]
In June 2022, according to MarketWatch, an announcement submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 13 showed that Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed $1.72 billion of new equity financing and sold about $1.68 billion of new shares.This round of financing valued the space exploration technology company at about 125 billion dollars, higher than about 100 billion dollars at the end of 2021.[146]
At 12:09 on June 17, 2022, EST, Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites from the 39A launch station of Kennedy Space Center using the B1060-13 "Falcon 9" rocket.[147]
On July 7, 2022, Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched 53 "Star Chain" 4-21 networking satellites at Cape Canaveral using the "Thirteen Hands" and "Falcon 9" core class (B1058.13).[148]
On July 8, 2022, it was reported that the "Star Chain" broadband network service was extended to yachts.But the cost is not low, 5000 dollars per month.[149]
On July 11, 2022, a "starship" accidentally exploded during ground test.[151-152]
On July 15, 2022, South Korea Economic News reported that South Korea Future Asset Finance Group would invest $100 million in space exploration technology companies.[153]
On July 18, 2022, according to foreign media reports, on Sunday local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites into low Earth orbit.[154]
On August 5, 2022, in a document submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, the Space Exploration Technology Company said that it had raised $250 million in a round of equity financing in July.After this round of financing, the total financing amount of the company since the beginning of 2022 has reached US $2 billion.[157]
On August 10, 2022, the Russian satellite news agency Moscow reported that the US space exploration technology company announced that it had put 52 "Star Chain" Internet satellites into orbit with the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket.[158]
In August 2022, the static thrust test of the "Starship" propeller was successfully completed.[159]
In August 2022, the Space Exploration Technology Company said that it would welcome researchers to invade its "star chain" satellite network in a "non-destructive" manner.[160]
On August 20, 2022, the Space Exploration Technology Company successfully launched 53 "Star Chain" satellites using a "nine handed" rocket.[162]
At 23:41 on August 27, 2022 (US Eastern Time), a space exploration technology company "Falcon 9" carrier rocket carrying 54 "Star Chain" satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida.This is the 24th "Star Chain" satellite launch in 2022.[163]
At 1:40 a.m. on August 31, 2022, US Eastern Time, a Falcon 9 carrier rocket of the Space Exploration Technology Company carrying 46 "Star Chain" satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base.About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the two-stage Falcon 9 landed on the unmanned ship.This is the 25th "Star Chain" satellite launch in 2022.Up to now, 3208 "Star Link" satellites have been launched, including prototypes and test devices that are no longer in use.[164]
On September 11, the Russian satellite news agency Moscow reported that the US space exploration technology company launched the Falcon 9 carrier fire carrying 34 "Star Chain" Internet satellitesArrow.[165]
On September 18, the Russian satellite news agency Washington reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company announced on Twitter that it had put 54 "star chain" satellites into orbitAvenue.[166]
On October 5, 2022 local time, Space Exploration Technology Corporation and NASA successfully launched a manned spacecraft to the International Space Station in Florida, which carried Russian astronauts for the first time.It is reported that the spaceship carried four astronauts, including the commander of the mission and the first Native American woman to go into spaceNicole Mann, American astronautJosh Kasada, Japanese astronautRuoda HaoyiAnd Russian astronautsAnna Kikina。[167-168]
At 7:10 on October 6, 2022, just seven hours after the launch of the "Crew-5" manned "Dragon" spacecraft at Cape Canaveral, Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched 52 V1.5 satellite chains (star chains G4-29) into orbit using a five handed "Falcon 9" carrier rocket (B1071.5) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E.This also broke the record of the shortest interval between two Falcon 9 rocket launches.This mission will increase the total number of satellite chains launched to 3451, of which about 3179 are still in Earth orbit.[169]
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off in the same frame as the full moon[170]
On October 8, 2022 local time, the space exploration technology company's "Falcon 9" carrier rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, and passed through the moon near the full moon.[170]
On October 14, 2022 local time, the fourth long-term astronaut team launched by Space Exploration Technology Corporation to the International Space Station will return to Earth, and it is expected that four astronauts will splash down near the coast of Florida.The crew is scheduled to disengage from the International Space Station at 12:5 a.m. EDT on the 14th and splash down at about 16:55 a.m.[171]
On October 25, 2022 local time, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company had connected the three boosters that formed the first stage of the "Heavy Falcon" carrier rocket to prepare for the launch of the rocket from the 39A launch tower of NASA Kennedy Space Center.[174]
On November 1, 2022, the Space Exploration Technology Company launched two secret military satellites and a group of other small satellites for the US space forces at the Kennedy Space Center.The mission also included the successful landing and recovery of two wing boosters.The central booster is not recovered so that it uses the maximum fuel capacity to deliver the payload to the target orbit.[175]
In November 2022, NorthStar Earth and Space announced that it would launch its first satellites jointly with Virgin orbit.NorthStar's satellites are 12 unit cube satellites manufactured by Spire, a total of 24, used to collect space situational awareness data.It is reported that the first three satellites will be launched in the middle of 2023.[176]
On October 8, 2022, Falcon 9 launched Galaxy 33 and 34 satellites for Intelsat, and also reached the highest record for the 14th use of a single rocket of this type.[178]
On November 13, 2022, it was reported that SpaceX launched Galaxy 31 and 32 satellites for Intelsat with a "14 handed" Falcon 9 (B1051.14) at the SLC-40 launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 00:06:53 this morning. After the upper stage was launched twice, the satellite and arrow separated 38 minutes and 41 seconds after the launch.[177]
On November 19, 2022, NASA and Space Exploration Technology Corporation planned to jointly carry out the 26th commercial cargo spaceship launch mission (CRS-26) on November 22 to deliver supplies to the International Space Station[180]。
At 14:20 local time on November 26, 2022 (3:20 am today, Beijing time), SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the "Dragon" spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to transport materials to the International Space Station and provide new scientific research.[181]
At 3:20 on November 27, 2022, Taiwan made NutCube satellite (NUTSAT) took the Falcon 9 carrier rocket of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.[182]
On December 1, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission of the United States announced its decision that the agency approved the application submitted by Space Exploration Technology Corporation, allowing it to deploy up to 7500 second-generation satellites.[183]
On December 11, 2022, the lander of the lunar surface exploration project "White Rabbit - R" 1 of the Japanese private enterprise "i Space Company" was successfully launched by the US carrier rocket.[185]
At 3:1 a.m. on December 16, 2022, SpaceX conducted another "static ignition" test at its South Texas plant.The Ship 24 spacecraft used in this test is about 165 feet (50 meters) high.[186]On December 31, SpaceX officially announced that the 2022 launch would end, with 61 launches throughout the year, on average once every 6 days.Falcon 9 has become the world record holder for the number of launches of a single vehicle within a year.[187]
2023
At about 17:56 local time on January 15, 2023, a US space exploration technology company "Falcon Heavy" rocket was launched at NASA in FloridaKennedy Space CenterLaunch pad 39A lifts off.[188]
On February 12, 2023, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent 72 batches of 55 satellite chains into low Earth orbit from the Cape Canaveral 40 launch pad.This launch broke the record of the shortest turnaround time (5 days) for SpaceX on the same launch pad.[190]
On February 13, 2023, the New York Post reported that Elon Musk, CEO of Space Technology Exploration Company, said he would limitUkraineThe military uses the company's "Star Link" satellite communication service to avoid the use of this technology causing conflict escalation and triggering"The Third World War"。[191]
On February 27, 2023 EDT, NASA cancelled the launch mission of the manned "Dragon" spacecraft of the Space Exploration Technology Company due to ground system failure.[192]
At 18:13 local time on February 27, 2023, American Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched the first batch of "Star Link" v2 satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, which are Star Link satellitesNext generation version of.[193]
On February 27, 2023 local time, due to ground system failure, NASA canceled the launch mission of the manned "Dragon" spacecraft of the Space Exploration Technology Company.[194]
On March 3, 2023, according to CCTV news, the US space exploration technology company "Dragon" spacecraft carrying four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station and docked with it.[195]
On February 9, 2023, it was reported that Gwynne Shotwell, president of the US Space Exploration Technology Company, claimed that the company had taken preventive measures to prevent the Ukrainian army from using the key "Star Chain" satellite technology in UAVs, so as to ensure that the "Star Chain" would not be weaponized.[196]
On April 5, 2023 local time, NASA said on its blog that it planned to launch the Space Exploration Technology Company's "Manned 7" flight in mid AugustShip.[197]On April 7,On Friday, the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched an IntelSat-40E communication satellite from Cape Canaveral, which mainly provides broadband Internet signals for aircraft and cruise ships in North America. The satellite also carries the load of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to monitor air pollution.This launch is the 23rd mission of Space Exploration Technology Company in 2023.[198]In April, the SpaceX official tweeter announced that the SpaceX starship would conduct its first orbital test flight at its South Texas base on April 17.[199]On April 17, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk tried to lower people's expectations of his space company SpaceX's first launch of a "starship".He was on Sunday night local timeTwitterIt was pointed out in the discussion that the dozens of engines that provide power for the rocket to launch into the sky may bring potential dangers."We will be very cautious about this launch. If there is a problem, there will be many problems," he said of the possible launch.The launch could take place as early as 9 a.m. EST on Monday.SpaceX plans to start broadcasting the test launch about 45 minutes before any possible launch.[200]
On April 17, 2023 (Beijing time), the company plans to launch the first fully integrated launch of the "Star Ship" in the evening to form a real version of the star ship, conduct orbital flight tests, try to fly around the earth, and finally land on the Pacific Shanghai.[201]
On April 17, 2023, the US Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it would cancel the first orbital test flight of the new generation heavy carrier rocket "Xingzhou" and the spacecraft integrated system, which was scheduled to be carried out on that day.[202]
On April 17, 2023 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that the team was working hard to promote the first flight test of the "Star Ship" on April 20.[203]
On April 17, 2023 local time, the US Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it would cancel the first orbital test flight of the new generation heavy carrier rocket "Starship" and the spacecraft integrated system, which was scheduled to be carried out on that day.[205]
On April 20, 2023 local time, the launch of the "Star Ship" failed, an unplanned disintegration occurred over the Gulf of Mexico, an explosion occurred in the air, and the spacecraft failed to enter the scheduled orbit.[206-207]
In April 2023, SpaceX will launch the world's first 5G satellite in low Earth orbit for the Barcelona based Satelliot company.[210]
On April 27, 2023, SpaceX plans to share the flight test data of the starship spacecraft with NASA, thus continuing to promote the design of the moon landing plan of Artemis 3.[211]
On April 29, 2023, the American Space Exploration Technology Company announced one minute in advance to cancel the mission of launching the "ViaSat 3 Americas" satellite from the "Falcon Heavy" carrier rocket.The launch could have set a historical record for SpaceX.[212]
On May 6, 2023, the NASA Space Operations Mission Council just announced on Twitter that if everything goes according to plan, the "Ax-2" mission of commercial astronauts to the International Space Station will be launched at 5:37 p.m. on May 21 (early morning on May 22, Beijing time).[214]
On May 15, 2023, it was reported that Kathy Lueders, the former head of NASA's manned space business, retired from the agency a few weeks ago and joined Elon Musk's SpaceX.[215]
In May 2023, Bloomberg reported that the Italian insurance company Unipol Gruppo SpA said that it had purchased the star chain terminal from Elon Musk's space exploration technology company to help rescue the flood stricken areas of the countryget some action.[216]
On May 22, 2023, it was reported that SpaceX helped Axiom Space Corporation complete the second batch of private astronaut launch missions on Sunday local time, sending four people to the International Space Station for scientific research missions, including two from ShaSpecial civilians.[217]
On June 5, 2023, the American Space Exploration Technology Company's cargo "Dragon" spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to deliver scientific research equipment and supplies to the International Space StationGive materials.[218]
The Space Exploration Technology Company has launched 20 flight verified "Dragon" spacecraft to the International Space Station.After the CRS-28 mission is successfully launched and docked.SpaceX broke several US space flight records.Dragon C208 docked with the International Space Station at 5:54 a.m. on June 6, 2023, Eastern Time, and delivered more than 7000 pounds of materials and experiments.[219]
On June 12, 2023 Pacific Time (June 13, Beijing Time), the 41st rocket of the Space Exploration Technology Company in 2023 was successfully launched at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The company has completed the 200th rocket engine recovery landing mission and reduced the interval between rocket launches to 14 hours.[220]
On June 14, 2023, Elon Musk, CEO of the Space Exploration Technology Company, said on Twitter that the second test flight of the starship would take place within 6 to 8 weeks (between the end of July and the middle of August).[221]
On June 12, 2023, Space Exploration Technology Company launched the eighth dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program "Transporter 8" from the SLC-4E launch platform of Vandenberg Space Army Base by the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket.[222]
On June 18, 2023, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company would launch the Indonesian communication satellite "SATRIA-1" into the geosynchronous transfer orbit with the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket at 6:4 p.m. Beijing time on June 19.[223]
At 15:19 on June 22, 2023, American Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully sent 47 V1.5 satellite chains into the scheduled orbit using a four handed Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base.[224]
On June 26, 2023 local time, NASA said that the "Dragon" cargo supply spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation will leave the International Space Station on June 29 to bring scientific research samples and hardware back to Earth.The spacecraft was scheduled to disengage from the International Space Station at 12:05 p.m. EST on the 29th, and splashed down near the coast of Florida in the southeast of the United States at about 2:30 a.m. EST on the 30th.[225-226]
On July 3, 2023, it was reported that the pure electric flying car Model A invested by Space Exploration Technology Company was approved for road test flight, starting at $300000.[227]
On July 18, 2023, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company had previously launched a "Star Torch" prototype cooking torch. This $175 torch has completed the pre-sale phase and started mass production.[228]
At 11:04 on July 29, 2023, Beijing time, a "Falcon Heavy" carrier rocket was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, sending Jupiter 3, the "largest commercial communication satellite in history", into the geosynchronous transfer orbit.This launch is the 51st launch of the Space Exploration Technology Company in 2023, and the 250th successful launch of the Falcon series carrier rocket.[229]
On August 1, 2023,NASAThe news was released on the official website, saying that "the current goal of NASA and Space Exploration Technology Corporation is to carry out the" Crew "mission of the International Space Station at 5:23 a.m. EDT on August 21".[230]
At 11:36 on August 17, 2023 (Beijing time), SpaceX successfully launched the 99th batch of "Star Chain" satellites using a "13 handed" Falcon 9 "carrier rocket (B1067.13) at the launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral.[231]
At 3:27 on August 26, 2023, EST, the "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station.[233]
On the evening of August 27, 2023, Japanese time, Japanese astronauts were carriedGu ChuancongThe "Dragon" spacecraft of the American Space Exploration Technology Company successfully docked with the International Space Station.[234]
At about 7:25 a.m. local time on September 2, 2023, Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched 13 "Falcon 9" carrier rockets for NASA at Vandenberg Air Force Base in CaliforniaMilitary guardStar[235]。
At 07:05 on September 3, 2023 (19:05 on September 3, Beijing time), the "Dragon" spacecraft, which was carried by four astronauts, including US astronaut Stephen Bowen, Warren Holberg, UAE astronaut Sudan Naiyadi and Russian astronaut Andrey Fejayev, left the International Space Station and returned to Earth.At 0:17 EST on the 4th (12:17 GMT on the 4th), the spacecraft landed in the waters near Florida.[236]
On September 11, 2023, it was reported that SpaceX launched almost every day in 2023. The rocket launched by the company from the Kennedy Space Center recently has set a new record for the launch of Falcon 9 carrier rocket in a single year. This is the 62nd launch of Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy carrier rocket that year.[238]
At 11:00 a.m. on September 20, 2023, Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched 22 "Star Chain" V2 mini satellites (with a total weight of about 17600 kg) using "Falcon 9" at the Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.This is the 40th "Star Chain" mission in 2032.[239]
On September 30, 2023 (Beijing time), SpaceX launched the "Star Link" Group 6-19 mission using "Falcon 9" at SLC-40, Kajiao Air Force Base, sending 22 "Star Link" satellitesLow Earth orbit.[240]
On October 1, 2023 local time, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, the Administration and Space Exploration Technology Corporation planned to launch a space probe named "Spirit Star" from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:16 a.m. Eastern Time on October 12.[241]
At 10:19 on October 13, 2023 (22:19 on October 13, Beijing time), the "Spirit Star" probe lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the "Falcon Heavy" carrier rocket of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation, and began the exploration trip.The "Lingshen Star" probe is expected to arrive at Lingshen Star in 2029.[242]
At 4:23 p.m. on October 21, 2023, Beijing time, a 16 handed "Falcon 9" carrier rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, putting 21 satellite chains into orbit.After the launch, the rocket was successfully recovered at sea again.[244]
At 22:17 p.m. on October 21 (10:17 a.m. on October 22, Beijing time), at the launch site of Cape Cape 40, Florida, with the largest amount of SpaceX launches (150 rounds have been launched so far), another "Falcon 9" carrier rocket was launched, and 23 V2.0 mini star chains were launched, the sixth orbital layer of the second generation constellation with a fixed orbit of 559 kilometers.[243]
On October 29, 2023, the space exploration technology company announced on the social media platform X that it would give up the "Falcon 9" rocket launch attempt on the evening of October 29, 2023, and the next launch window would be 7:20 p.m. local time on October 30, 2023;According to the information released earlier by the Space Exploration Technology Company, this launch attempt includes 23 "Star Chain" satellites, launched in Florida.[245]
On November 11, 2023, Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed the Transporter-9 "carpooling" mission using the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket. The first stage of the rocket will take off about 7.5 minutesReturn to the ground and complete a vertical landing at Vandenberg.[246]
On November 13, 2023,Hon Hai Technology GroupIt was announced on the official website that two satellites with code names of "PEARL-1H" and "PEARL-1C" had passed throughSpaceXFalcon 9 was launched in the "Transporter-9" launch mission;After the launch, the orbital deployment was completed successively in the 57th minute and 59th minute of flight time.[247]
At 9:3 p.m. on November 18, 2023, Beijing time, the Space Exploration Technology Company conducted the second unmanned flight test of the "Starship" heavy carrier rocket in Bocachika, Texas. After the rocket lifted off, the first and second stages separated successfully, but then the booster and spacecraft exploded successively.The live broadcast showed that the first and second stages of the rocket separated successfully less than 3 minutes after lift off, but the booster exploded shortly afterwards.[248-251]Later, some researchers said that the explosion blew a huge "hole" in the ionosphere of the earth's upper atmosphere, stretching for thousands of kilometers and lasting for nearly an hour.[358]
At 10:19 a.m. local time on December 1, 2023 and 2:19 a.m. Beijing time on December 2, 2023, the military reconnaissance satellite 1 independently developed by South Korea was launched at Vandenberg Space Force Base in the United States.The military reconnaissance satellite was launched by the Falcon 9 carrier rocket developed by the US Space Exploration Technology Company.The satellite entered orbit about four minutes after launch, and successfully communicated with the ground station at 11:37 local time on December 1, indicating that the satellite was operating normally.[252-253]
On December 1, 2023, Amazon said that the company had signed a contract with the American Space Exploration Technology Company to entrust the latter to launch three satellites with Falcon 9 rockets.[254]
In December 2023, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it had decided to cancel the launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket "USSF-52" for additional system inspection.[255]
On December 12, 2023 local time, the Space Exploration Technology Company said that the Falcon 9 mission to launch the "Star Chain" satellite was cancelled this evening due to the high ground wind speed.[256]
On December 15, the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company planned to use Falcon 9 to launch 21 "Star Chain" satellites into low Earth orbit at 09:04 p.m. Pacific time (01:30 p.m. Beijing time) on December 14.[257]
On December 17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States issued a statement saying that, affected by adverse weather conditions, the National Aeronautics and Space Exploration Technology Corporation of the United States will set 17:05 on December 20, the United States Eastern Time, to carry out the 29th plan to unload the Space Exploration Technology Corporation cargo "Dragon" spacecraft from the International Space Station.[258]
On December 21, 2023, the "Star Chain" department of the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that its global number of users exceeded 2.3 million.[259]
At 17:05 on December 21, 2023 (6:05 on December 22, Beijing time), the cargo "Dragon" spacecraft left the International Space Station and set off to return to Earth.After nearly 20 hours of flight, the company confirmed that the cargo "Dragon" spacecraft splashed downFloridaNearby waters.The spacecraft brought back about 2000 kilograms of scientific experiment samples and materials.[260]
On December 27, 2023, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company said that the booster B1058 returned to the "Just Read the Instructions" (JRTI) deck less than 100 miles away from Navral Port after completing its launch mission on December 23. However, due to strong winds and waves, B1058 fell into the sea.The company said that booster B1058 has been in service for 3.5 years, during which it successfully launched more than 860 satellites or more than 260 tons of cargo into orbit, and successfully completed the 19th reuse mission on December 23, 2023.[262]
On December 26, 2023, it was reported that Kathy Leuders, general manager of the Space Exploration Technology Company "Starbase", said in his speech this month that he would strengthen cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States and accelerate the "Star Chain" launch mission. Leuders said that he was accelerating the expansion of its park in Bocachika,It is planned to build a rocket manufacturing plant called "Starfactory".[263]
On the evening of December 28, 2023 local time, the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched the US military X-37B "Orbital Experiment Vehicle" at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.This is the seventh launch of the X-37B "Orbital Experimental Vehicle".[264]
2024
On January 2, 2024 local time, the official account of SpaceX posted that it would launch six satellite links with the ability to directly connect mobile phones.[265]On January 3, 2024 local time, SpaceX announced that it had successfully sent short messages via satellite links using T-Mobile's network[266]。It is now planned to hold the AX-3 launch event on January 18.[267]In January 2024, SpaceX will soon be approved to launch the "Star Chain" service in India.[268]
On January 30, 2024, SpaceX set a new record, completing two space launches in just four hours.[270]
At 14:33 on February 8, 2024, SpaceX successfully launched the Earth observation satellite of NASA from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida with the "Falcon 9" rocketempty[272]。
On February 10, 2024, Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed 138 launches of star chains after several delays, and launched 22 star chains. The total number of star chains launched by Space Exploration Technology Corporation reached 5828。[273]
On February 15, 2024, at about 01:05 on Thursday (14:00 Beijing time), the Odysseus lunar lander of Intuition Machine, a US listed company, took off on the SpaceX "Falcon 9" rocket.[275]On the same day, Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed 139 launches of star chains, launching 22 star chains into the sky. The total number of star chains launched by Space Exploration Technology Corporation reached 5850.This launch is the 15th space launch mission of Space Exploration Technology Company in 2024.It is also the third launch of the Space Exploration Technology Company within 24 hours.
On February 23, 2024, Space Exploration Technology Corporation completed the launch of 140 batches of star chains, launching 22 star chains into the sky. The total number of star chains launched by Space Exploration Technology Corporation reached 5872.[276-277]
On February 26, 2024, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it had released its first post from space to social platform X through the "Star Chain" satellite network.[278]
On the evening of March 3, 2024 local time, the "Dragon" spacecraft of the Space Exploration Technology Company was launched from Florida, carrying four American and Russian astronauts to the International Space Station.[280]
On March 5, 2024, according to the US "Space" News Network, Elon Musk posted on the social platform that the "Starship" heavy rocket might soon carry out its third test flight.[281]
At 07:05 a.m. on March 11, 2024, SpaceX completed the launch of the 144th batch of 23 "star chain" satellites.At 12:09 on March 11, SpaceX launched the 145th batch of 23 satellite chains from Vandenberg Space Force Base.Two star chain launches were completed within 5 hours.After these two launches, the total number of space exploration technology company's star chain launches reached 5988.[283]
At 11:20 on March 11, 2024 (23:20 on March 11, 2024, Beijing time), the US space exploration technology company "Dragon" spacecraft with four astronauts left the International Space Station, and is expected to land in the waters near Florida at 5:50 on March 12 (17:50 on the 12th, Beijing time).[282]
On March 14, 2024, SpaceX, a space exploration technology company, plans to conduct the third test flight of the starship. The launch window will be within 110 minutes from 20:00 on March 14, Beijing time。The launch will take place at SpaceX's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.[284-285]
At 21:25 p.m. on March 14, 2024, Beijing time, the space exploration technology company's starship heavy carrier rocket was launched.The new generation of heavy carrier rocket "Starship" is the largest and most powerful carrier rocket in the world so far, with a total height of about 120 meters and a diameter of about 9 meters.The rocket is composed of two parts, the bottom is a "super heavy" booster, about 69 meters high, equipped with multiple "Raptor" engines;The top is a spaceship, about 50 meters high, which can be reused.[286][288]
At 21:29 p.m. on March 14, 2024, the third test flight of the Starship Heavy Launch Vehicle of the Space Exploration Technology Company had completed the primary and secondary separation four minutes after launch.[287]
At 22:16 p.m. on March 14, 2024, Beijing time, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that the heavy carrier rocket of the starship was adjusting its angle and re entering the earth's atmosphere.[289]
On the evening of March 14, 2024 Beijing time, the space exploration technology company's starship rocket lost its signal with the ground for nearly 14 minutes during re-entry. SpaceX commentators said, "We may have lost the starship", and the third test flight of the starship ended early.[290]
On March 14, 2024, the "Star Ship" was launched for the third time at the "Star Base" in Bokachika. The spacecraft numbered SN-28 successfully entered the scheduled orbit and carried out the test, but the ignition of the engine off the orbit failed.About 49 minutes after takeoff, the spacecraft lost its attitude and finally disintegrated when reentering the atmosphere.[292][359-360]
On March 15, 2024 EDT, the US Space Exploration Technology Company sent 23 "Star Chain" satellites into space with a "19 handed" Falcon 9 "carrier rocket, and the first stage of the rocket was successfully recovered again.[293-294]
At 16:55 on March 21, 2024 (4:55 on March 22, Beijing time), SpaceX launched a cargo "Dragon" spacecraft to perform the 30th commercial replenishment mission (CRS-30) of the International Space Station (ISS) with "Falcon 9" at the Space Force Station SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which is the first time in four years that the "Dragon" spacecraft has been lifted from the SLC-40 launch padempty。[295-296]
On March 25, 2024, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that the upper level of a "starship" spacecraft tested at the "Star Base" successfully lit all six Raptor engines and conducted a full time "static ignition" test.[297]
At 07:42 on March 26, 2024, Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched 149 batches of 23 "Star Chain" satellites.An eight handed Falcon 9 rocket was used for this launch.After the launch, the total number of satellite chains launched by the Space Exploration Technology Company reached 6077.[298]
At 09:30 on March 31, 2024 Beijing time, Space Exploration Technology Corporation launched 150 batches of 23 "Star Chain" satellites.An 18 handed Falcon 9 rocket was used for this launch.The Space Exploration Technology Company launched another 151 batches of 22 satellite chains at 10:30 on April 2, 2024 Beijing time.A 15 hand Falcon 9 rocket was used for this launch.The 15 hand Falcon 9 rocket B1071.15 successfully recovered from the barge at sea.After these two launches, SpaceX has so far launched 6122 "star chain" satellites.[299]
On the morning of April 8, 2024 local time in South Korea, according to CCTV news, the US space exploration technology company "Falcon 9" rocket carrying the Korean military reconnaissance satellite was launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USLaunch into the air.[300]
On April 23, 2024 local time (Tuesday), Space Exploration Technology Corporation successfully launched 23 satellite chains with Falcon 9 carrier rocket at the Florida launch site, and realized the 300th landing of rocket boosters after launchCollection.[302]
On April 27, 2024, NASA revealed that it hoped that a new round of test flight of SpaceX would be carried out before the end of May.[303]
2024On May 4, SpaceX announced extravehicular activity clothing (EVA),It will be used in the "Polaris Dawn" mission for the first time。[304]In the same month, SpaceX has opened a reservation channel for "manned spaceflight" on its official website. There are four destinations available: Earth orbit, the International Space Station, the moon and Mars.The scheduled flight to the International Space Station will start in 2025, and the cost is not announced yet.[305]
At 12:30 on May 10, 2024 (Beijing time), SpaceX launched another 20 "Star Link" V2 Mini satellites, 13 of which can be directly connected to mobile phones.So far, the total number of satellite chains has reached 6393, of which the number of directly connected mobile phones has doubled to 25.[308]
On May 11, 2024, it was reported that the Space Exploration Technology Company planned to build a new launch facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is expected to support up to 44 launches of starship rockets every year.[306]On the same day, SpaceX's "Star Chain" satellite department warned that due to solar activity, the Earth suffered the largest geomagnetic storm in 20 years, and the service of the star chain was degraded.[307]
In May 2024, the American Space Exploration Technology Company officially released the extravehicular spacesuit, which will be used for the first commercial spacewalk.[309]
On May 20, 2024, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said that his satellite launch company would put more than 90% of the world's payloads into orbit this year, and added that competitors could copy the company and its products at will.[310]
On May 27, 2024 local time, SpaceX announced that it would cancel the launch attempt of "Falcon 9" carrier rocket on that day, and the current goal is to rise on May 28 local timeEmpty.[312]
On June 1, 2024 local time, Japanese billionaire Yoshizuo Maezawa recently announced that he would cancel the original SpaceX moon trip because SpaceX delayed its launch plan.[313]On June 4 local time, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States issued SpaceX the launch permit for the fourth orbital test flight of a starship.[314]On June 6, the new generation of heavy carrier rocket "Starship" and spacecraft integration system of American Space Exploration Technology Corporation were launched from the base in Texas, the United States, which was the fourth test launch of "Starship".[315]
At 21:57 on June 6, 2024 Beijing time, the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that the body of the starship was confirmed to splash down in the Indian Ocean, and the fourth test flight was successful.[316-317]
On June 13, 2024 local time, the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation announced on the social platform X that due to weather reasons, the launch attempt of the Falcon 9 carrier rocket, originally scheduled for the evening of the same day, was canceled and the launch was tentatively scheduled for the 14th.[318-319]
On June 14, 2024, SpaceX announced the cancellation of the Falcon 9 launch mission that night.[320]
In June 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States announced that the agency would let a spacecraft of Musk's Space Exploration Technology Company lead the destruction of the International Space Station at the end of this decade.[324]
On June 27, 2024, SpaceX said that the "Starbase" team was testing the "chopsticks" on the tower to prepare for the upcoming super heavy booster.[326]
SpaceX will launch the private space flight project "Polaris Dawn" funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman as early as July 31, 2024[327]。
At 7:30 on July 9, 2024 (Beijing time), SpaceX successfully launched Turkey's first domestic communication satellite, T ü rksat 6A, and completed the recovery of the Falcon 9 primary rocket about 8.5 minutes later, while the satellite entered the geosynchronous transfer orbit 35.5 minutes later.[328]
On July 26, 2024 local time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Space Exploration Technology Corporation announced at the press conference jointly held on the same day that they planned to carry out the "Crew-9" space mission as early as August 18.[337]
On July 27, 2024 local time, SpaceX launched a "Falcon 9" rocket. On the morning of July 28, the company launched two "Falcon 9" rockets from the east and west coasts respectively in less than five hoursRocket.[338]
In July 2024, Musk revealed on the live X Takeover event in California that the new Roadster sports car, jointly developed by Tesla and SpaceX, can fly and will be unveiled in 2025.[339]
At 11:02 a.m. on August 4, 2024 local time, SpaceX successfully launched the Swan cargo spaceship of Northrop Grumman from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Site with a 10 hand "Falcon 9" carrier rocket.This is the second launch mission of SpaceX that day. Previously, the company had successfully put 23 satellite chains into orbit.[340]
On August 7, 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced on Tuesday that the Crew-9 manned space mission, originally scheduled to send four astronauts to the International Space Station, will be postponed."Crew-9" is the ninth manned space mission to the International Space Station carried out by SpaceX for NASA. It was originally scheduled to launch on August 18, but the mission has been postponed to launch no earlier than September 24.[341]
On August 8, 2024, it was reported that the space exploration technology company "Polaris Dawn" mission teamXThe launch time of the manned orbital mission has now been determined as August 26, according to the information released on the.This mission will carry out the first private space walk in history, which is of great significance.[342]
On August 9, 2024 local time, the space exploration technology company's third generation Raptor 3 engine carried out its first static ignition test at McGregor rocket factory in Texas.[343]
On August 12, 2024 (Monday), the Space Exploration Technology Company announced that it would carry out the first manned flight around the Earth's polar regions before the end of this year.The private space flight mission was led by Wang Chun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, and the other three members included a polar explorer, a robot expert and a film producer.[344]
On August 16, 2024, NASA released a blog, announcing that the Tanager-1 satellite developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was successfully launched, which will be used to monitor the Earth's methane and carbon dioxide emissions[345]。
On August 21, 2024 local time, SpaceX said that it planned to launch "Polaris Dawn" on Tuesday, August 27.[346]
In August 2024, SpaceX showed the "Crew Dragon" capsule, which is about to carry out the "Polaris Dawn" and "Crew-9" missions, which are scheduled to be launched on August 26 and September 24, respectively.[347]On August 26, the first commercial space walk plan of mankind promoted by the US Space Exploration Technology Company was unveiled.[348]On August 24, Reuters reported that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States announced that two astronauts who had stayed on the International Space Station for more than two months would return to Earth in February 2025 by taking the "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation.[349]
On August 27, 2024, the space exploration technology company released a tweet on its social platform, announcing that the "Polaris Dawn" mission was postponed to August 28.According to the official, the main reason for the delay was the discovery of helium leakage.[351]
At 15:48 on August 28, 2024, the Falcon 9 (B.1062) carrier rocket launched 21 "Star Chain" 8-6 satellite payloads.This is also the 23rd flight mission of the B.1062 booster.After successfully putting 21 satellites into orbit, the rocket had an accident when it landed on the unmanned recycling ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas" in the Atlantic Ocean.When it was recovered, it overturned and exploded for some reason, which was also the first landing failure of Falcon 9 since February 2021, and also meant that the record of continuous successful recovery of Falcon 9 core stage ended at 267 times.[352]On August 28 local time, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States announced that it would suspend the Falcon 9 mission and request an investigation of the mission failure.[353]On August 30, Musk sent an article on X saying that the space exploration technology company will provide free Internet services for Brazilian users until the problem is solved.[355]At 11:33 a.m. on September 6, 2024, US Eastern Time, SpaceX used a 15 handed Falcon 9 to complete the 191st batch of star chain launch missions, and launched 21 star chain V2 Mini satellites, 13 of which have the function of direct mobile phone connection.SpaceX successfully deployed 7001 satellite chains through 191 precise launches.[356]On September 7, Elon Musk, CEO of American Space Exploration Technology Company, said that the company planned to launch an unmanned "starship" spacecraft to Mars within two years.[357]On September 9 local time, SpaceX announced that it planned to launch Falcon 9 spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:38 a.m. on September 10, US Eastern Time, to carry out the "Polaris Dawn" mission;At 5:23 on September 10, US Eastern Time, the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the "Dragon" spacecraft lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to carry out the space mission code named "Polaris Dawn".The crew, consisting of four private astronauts and two men and two women, will carry out a series of scientific experiments and space activities in the spacecraft during the five-day trip, enter the Earth's radiation belt, verify the laser communication technology between the spacecraft and the satellite chain, and plan to carry out the first commercial spacewalk.[361-364]On September 12, 2024, SpaceX announced on its official website that the crew of Dragon Spacecraft and Polaris Dawn had completed six flights around the earth at an altitude of about 1400 kilometers.[369]At 6:50 on September 12, 2024 (18:50 Beijing time), Isaacman walked out of the "Dragon" spacecraft wearing the spacesuit developed by the Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) under Musk, starting the first commercial spacewalk in human history.[370]In September, United Airlines said that it planned to provide the in-flight Wi Fi provided by SpaceX Starlink on hundreds of its jetliners for free, which is SpaceX's largest in-flight Internet transaction so far.At present, airlines have been investing in faster in-flight Wi Fi.[371]On September 15 local time, four non professional astronauts carrying out the US "Polaris Dawn" space mission returned to Earth in the US Space Exploration Technology Company's "Dragon" spacecraft.SpaceX announced on the social networking platform that at about 15:30 on September 15, the dragon spacecraft carrying out the "Polaris Dawncrew" mission had successfully returned to the earth and splashed down in the waters of Florida.[372-373]On September 17 local time, the "Star Chain" Internet service under the space exploration technology company said that its service had been launched in Yemen.[375]
In September 2024, SpaceX and United Airlines (UAL. US) reached an agreement to provide free network connection for all flight passengers, and the backlog of Starlink Wi Fi orders nearly doubled.According to the agreement, United Airlines will provide in-flight connectivity services on all its aircraft in the next few years, and testing will begin in early 2025.This is also Starlink's largest air connection protocol.[376]
On September 22, 2024 local time, Elon Musk, founder of the US Space Exploration Technology Company, announced on the social media platform X that the US Space Exploration Technology Company plans to launch about five unmanned spacecraft to Mars within two years.[377]
On September 25, 2024 local time, according to the Vietnam News Agency, on the occasion of the United Nations Future Summit and the general debate of the 79th United Nations General Assembly held in New York, the General Secretary and President of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Su Lin and SpaceX Senior Vice President of Global Business and Government Affairs Tim Hughes met in New York.Tim Hughes said that SpaceX has plans to carry out investment projects totaling 15 billion dollars in Vietnam in the future.[379]
Management team
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Space Exploration TechnologiesKwajalein Atoll There are 25 employees and 6 task controllers.Elon Musk deliberately controlled the number of people in a small range, with the purpose of reducing costs.Musk believes that the high price of space launch services is partly due to unnecessary bureaucracy.His goal is to reduce costs and improve the reliability of space services by ten factors.
On June 26, 2009, it was announced that the new Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department would be added.It hired former NASA astronautsKenneth BowesoxAs the head of the department and vice president of the company.
international business
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International Space Station
On October 7, 2012, the Space Exploration Technology Company's cargo spacecraft officially undertook the task of transporting cargo to the International Space Station for the first time. The then Director of NASA said that this launch marks the official launch of the commercial supply mission of the United States company.The ability of the Dragon capsule to transport cargo back is crucial to support scientific research on the space station.The primary task of this flight is to transport the samples back.
This project belongs to the commercial rail transport service (COTS) plan.NASA has cooperated with industry to implement commercial rail transport services,Orbital ScienceThe Antares rocket is also part of the plan.Antares will undergo a series of tests, and is expected to launch the "Cygnus" simulation spacecraft at the end of 2012.NASA has also worked with industry to implement the Commercial Crew Program.In addition, NASA has developed the Orion spacecraft andSpace launch system（SLS）。[39]
Turkmenistan
On June 22, 2013 Beijing time, according to foreign media reports, SpaceX announced that it would be responsible for the launchTurkmenistanThe first man-made satellite.The satellite was originally used byChina's Long March rocketsHowever, Thales Alenia Space finally signed a launch service contract with SpaceX.
Launch Details
It is reported that this satellite will be responsible for Turkmenistan's national communication system after launch.As early as November 2011, Thales Alenia Aerospace signed a contract with Turkmenistan to use its Spacebus 4000 platform, with a design service life of 15 years.
This satellite will take off on the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket of the Space Exploration Technology Company in late 2014 or early 2015 and enter geostationary orbit.It is worth mentioning that the satellite was originally scheduled to use ChinaLong March Series Launch VehicleHowever, according to reports, some components of the satellite may be subject to export control restrictions of the United States State Department.
Competition wins
The Obama administration signed a bill to relax export controls on some commodities, and the specific implementation is still in progress.For this reason, Thales Alenia Aerospace can only give up the original choice and look for launch partners from outside China.The final two candidates were identified as SpaceX's Falcon 9 and European Space Agency's Ariane 5 ECA.
Related statements
Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of Space Exploration Technology Company, said at a press conference: "We have the ability to safely put Turkmenistan's first satellite into orbit, and thank Thales Group for its trust in this. We are pleased to see that this market is expanding with the addition of new manufacturers.Space Exploration Technologies is looking forward to providing the world's most reliable and advanced rockets to customers around the world. "[40]
Space taxi
On September 16, 2014,The Boeing CompanyAnd the Space Exploration Technology Company won the NASA "Space Taxi" contract worth 6.8 billion US dollars, which will transport astronauts to the International Space Station in the next few years, marking that NASA is moving towards restarting manned space flight.In order to usher in a new era of commercial space transportation flight and "cheap" space exploration, the U.S. government has launched a commercial rail transportation service plan, commonly known as "space taxi", to open bids to domestic commercial enterprises, aiming to enable domestic private enterprises to create qualified "safe, reliable and economical" manned spacecraft through competitive bidding.
In the next few years, the "Dragon" spacecraft of the Space Exploration Technology Company and the "Spaceman Transport System" (CST-100) designed by Boeing Company will be positioned to undertake the personnel transport mission of the International Space Station, and it is expected to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in 2017.The two contracts will help NASA ensure that the project is on track and that it will be free from dependence on Russia.
Boeing's contract value is 4.2 billion US dollars, becoming the big winner of this plan, and thus establishing its leadership in the future manned space industry in the United States.According to the design, after CST-100 is put into use, it will be sent into space by Atlas 5 rocketThe International Space StationAnd other destinations, and can carry a certain weight of materials.[41]
Commercial satellite
On December 4, 2013, it was reported that SpaceX's "Falcon 9" carrier rocket successfully put the SES-8 commercial communication satellite into the scheduled orbit on Tuesday evening, US time, which was the first time that the company successfully launched a commercial satellite.This launch can be described as "a lot of good things happen".On November 25, 2013, the launch of Falcon 9 was cancelled due to the pressure fluctuation of the booster liquid oxygen storage tank.On November 28, 2013, just one minute before the launch of the rocket, it was urgently stopped due to technical problems.
SES-8 is manufactured by Orbital Sciences. SES will use the satellite to provide services for users in South Asia and the Asia Pacific region.
In August 2022, the Japanese satellite operator Sky Perfect JSat announced that its "Superbird-9" communication satellite would be sent into the geosynchronous transfer orbit by the space exploration technology company's starship in 2024.[161]
spacecraft
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The main spaceship of the Space Exploration Technology Company is the Dragon series, whose name comes from the American folk song "Divine Dragon Pave".[333]
The first generation of "Dragon" spacecraft adopts a two compartment configuration.The conical pressure chamber at the front is used to transport general materials, while the non pressure chamber at the rear is used to transport goods installed outside the space station.The first generation "Dragon" spaceship, with a diameter of 3.7 meters, can transport about 3 tons of materials up and 2 tons of materials back down, with a cargo weight ratio of 0.32."Dragon" spaceship did not use traditional aerospace grade components at the beginning of its birth, but used industrial grade Intel x86 dual core processors. Although its radiation resistance and extreme environment resistance are not strong, its computing power is stronger, its price is cheaper, and its integration is higher.The space exploration technology company evaded the risk of the chip through the multiple redundancy design of the system, which greatly reduced the cost of the system while ensuring the reliability.[333]
The first generation of "Dragon" spacecraft (code: "C101") made its first orbital test flight on December 8, 2010. It has launched 22 times in ten years, of which 20 times were successfully put into orbit, 1 time was a test flight, and 1 time was a failure.[333]On May 22, 2012, a "dragon" spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in the United States[330], docked with the International Space Station on the 25th[331], and returned to Earth on the 31st, successfully completing the mission of transporting supplies from commercial spacecraft to the space station for the first time.[332]
After the successful launch of the first generation of "Dragon" spaceship, Space Exploration Technology Company soon began to promote the development of the second generation of manned "Dragon" spaceship, of which the manned "Dragon" spaceship is a complete version and the freight "Dragon" spaceship is a simplified version.[333]
The second generation cargo "dragon" spaceship, based on the manned "dragon" spaceship, has removed the seat, manual driving control system, life support system, launch suspension system, and super dragon engine, and can be reused for five times, up 3.3 tons, down 2.5 tons, with a cargo weight ratio of 0.4.In terms of appearance, the second generation cargo dragon is larger than the first generation, with a diameter of 4 meters and a cargo loading volume of 20% more. The solar cell system is changed from deployable solar wings to body mounted.In terms of configuration, the second generation of "Dragon" spacecraft can directly dock with the space station automatically (the first generation requires the Canadian manipulator to capture first and then dock with the hatch). At the same time, the parachute system has also been upgraded, and the return time has also been greatly shortened, from one or two days to several hours.[333]
The manned "Dragon" spacecraft is a complete version of the second generation "Dragon" spacecraft, which can accommodate 7 astronauts.Different from the new generation of manned spaceships in various countries in the configuration of "return cabin+service cabin", the manned "dragon" spaceship integrates these two segments and hangs a non pressurized cargo segment behind it.In addition, the "Dragon" spacecraft does not need to be equipped with an escape tower when it is launched - the eight super dragon engines outside the manned module can both slow down and be used for escape.[333]
The manned "Dragon" spacecraft uses full touch smart screens and tablets to replace the traditional physical mechanical control panel in its cabin. The purpose is to further face the commercial aerospace market and reduce the threshold for ordinary people to enter space by integrating and simplifying operations.[333]
On May 30, 2020, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft conducted its first manned flight test, sending two astronauts to the International Space Station.[321]On November 16, 2020, the manned "Dragon" spacecraft successfully sent four astronauts to the International Space Station, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to perform the crew rotation task of the space station.[4]On April 23, 2021, the "second-hand" manned "dragon" spacecraft successfully sent four astronauts to the International Space Station[55]This "second-hand" spaceship was the spaceship during the first manned test.[333]
Carrier rocket
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model
Falcon 1
Falcon 1
“Falcon 1 ”It is the first launch vehicle manufactured by Space Exploration Technology Company.It carried out flight missions from 2006 to 2009, with a diameter of 1.7 meters, a height of 21.3 meters, and a low Earth orbit carrying capacity of 670 kilograms. The first stage was powered by only one "Merlin" engine, using liquid oxygen as oxidant and kerosene as combustion agent.
After three failed launches, Falcon 1 successfully launched a dummy payload (aluminum block) into space on September 29, 2008.[365]On July 14, 2009, the fifth and final launch successfully put the Malaysian Earth observation satellite into orbit.The launch cost of Falcon 1 is spread evenly to about 10000 dollars per kilogram, slightly lower than the transportation cost of NASA contractors.[366]
Falcon 9 is the second mature rocket product of Space Exploration Technology Corporation.It is a two-stage rocket, 70 meters high and 3.7 meters in diameter. The early model can send a 13.15 ton payload into low Earth orbit.
Since Falcon 9, SpaceX has been committed to the reuse of the first stage of the rocket. However, the early recovery test was not successful.The recovery test of Falcon 9 during its first, second and sixth launches ended in falling into the sea.On April 18, 2014, SpaceX finally realized the controlled recovery and landing of the first stage of the rocket during the ninth launch of Falcon 9, which marked the arrival of a launch era of high quality and low price.
height
50m or 54m
diameter
3.6m
Maximum thrust
3400kN
Inner diameter of fairing
3.6 m or 5.2 m
Primary host
9 × "Grey backed Falcon" 1C engine
Secondary host
1 × "Gray backed Falcon" 1C engine
Falcon Heavy
"Falcon Heavy" rocket is developed on the basis of "Falcon 9" carrier rocket. It is a two-stage liquid heavy carrier rocket, which adopts the configuration of three general purpose core stages in parallel and two sub stages. It uses liquid oxygen/kerosene as propellant, and 27 engines ignite at takeoff.The rocket carries out missions in low Earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit and interplanetary orbit, with a low Earth orbit delivery capacity of 63.8 tons and a geosynchronous orbit delivery capacity of 26.7 tons.[365]
height
70m[367]
diameter
3.6m
Maximum thrust
12258kN
Inner diameter of fairing
5.2 m
Primary host
3 × 9 × "Grey backed Falcon" 1C engine
Secondary host
1 × "Gray backed Falcon" 1C engine
Overweight - Starship
The "Overweight Starship" system is composed of the second stage at the upper end, namely the "Starship" spacecraft, and the first stage "Overweight" carrier rocket at the lower end. It is a two-stage fully reusable carrier with a diameter of 9 meters, a height of 121 meters, and a maximum takeoff thrust of 7130 tons of the whole rocket.Its long-term planned carrying capacity is: the carrying capacity of near Earth orbit is more than 150 tons when it is fully reused, and more than 250 tons when it is used once.It is the most powerful reusable launch vehicle ever, and its scale is far beyond“Saturn 5”Launch vehicle.[368]
The specification of the "overweight starship" system used in the fourth full system flight test on June 6, 2024 is: the "overweight" propulsion level is about 71 meters high, powered by 33 "Raptor" 2 engines.The three engines in the inner ring and the ten engines in the middle ring can swing cross (swing ± 15 °), and the twenty engines in the outer ring are fixed without swing.The starship spacecraft is about 50 meters high, powered by six "Raptor" engines.The three outer rings are vacuum version Raptor engines, and the three inner rings are sea level version Raptor engines.[368]
While intensively organizing the production, test flight and improvement of the "Starship" V1 version rockets, the Space Exploration Technology Company is also building larger V2 and V3 versions.According to the data released by the company, the V2 version has a full arrow height of 124.4 meters, a refueling volume of 5150 tons, and a takeoff thrust of 8240 tons.Compared with the V1 version, the V2 version has significantly increased the size of the rocket. In the case of full reuse, the low earth orbit transport capacity exceeds 100 tons, of which the ground thrust of the Raptor engine has increased to 250 tons.The V3 version has a full rocket height of 150 tons, a refueling volume of 6350 tons, and a takeoff thrust of 10000 tons. Under the condition of full reuse, the low earth orbit transport capacity exceeds 200 tons.[368]
Cancelled model
Falcon 1e
Falcon 1e is an upgraded model of Falcon 1.The first stage uses the "Grey backed Falcon" 1C+engine with greater thrust (556kN), and the second stage is still the "Chafalcon" 2 engine, with a takeoff weight of 46760kg and a low orbit carrying capacity of 1010kg.[365]
Falcon 5
"Falcon 5" carrier rocket is the successor model of "Falcon 1".After the success of Falcon 1, Space Exploration Technology Corporation once considered to develop Falcon 5, but later, considering the development cycle, it directly skipped the medium transition rocket and began to develop Falcon 9, the first stage of which uses 9 Merlin engines.[366]"Falcon 5" is mainly divided into two levels of structure. The main structure of the first level is made of aerospace grade aluminum alloy and welded by stir welding.Stir welding is the strongest and most reliable welding process at present.It is similar to Falcon 1 in terms of containment release system, helium tank pressurization and interstage separation, and its recovery method is also the same as Falcon 1.The second level tank is actually a shortened version of the first level tank, and the tooling, materials and manufacturing process are basically the same as those of the first level tank.This can greatly save the production cost of rockets.The second stage uses a single Greyback Falcon 1 engine.In order to improve the reliability of restart, the engine uses a dual redundant TEA-TEB autoignition igniter with four injection holes.Falcon 5 rocket can fly on three engines when one or two engines are damaged.[367]
All "Falcon 9" on the SpaceX list was launched from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base
Moon landing plan
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On February 7, 2024, the US Space Exploration Technology Company and Intuitive Machines announced that they would launch a private lunar exploration mission, code named IM-1, on February 14.The mission is planned to send the robot lunar module "Odysseus" developed by Intuition Machine Company to the moon from Cape Canaveral Space Base, Florida, at 12:57 a.m. EDT on February 14 (05:57 GMT) via the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket of Space Exploration Technology Company.[271]
Failure cases
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Launch failed
for the first time
On August 23, 2014, a three engine Falcon9R rocket of SpaceX exploded in the air during a test flight in McGregor, Texas, USA.SpaceX said that the detonator was triggered because the airborne system found a fault.No casualties.SpaceX said that the rocket system found "an anomaly", which led to the automatic termination of the test flight.The company spokesman added that they were analyzing more information to understand the abnormal situation and its occurrence process."As a research and development project, detecting abnormal conditions during the flight test is one of the purposes of the project." A SpaceX spokesman said, "The flight test is very complicated, and the degree of exceeding the limit is greater than any previous time."
The original purpose of Falcon 9R rocket is to reduce the cost of space travel and transmit payloads.This kind of rocket can land vertically on the ground, so as to realize rapid reuse.It can also be used to launch satellites and the company's Dragon capsule, which can carry up to seven astronauts.
Falcon 9R has three engines. According to the statement issued by SpaceX, the rocket automatically terminated its activities when it detected engine abnormalities during flight.
Musk himself is said to have watched the test flight in McGregor.Musk also mentioned the launch failure of the rocket in his Tweet, and said that it was not easy to launch rockets.
It is precisely because of the high risk of space exploration activities that more financial support is needed.It is said that SpaceX is raising $200 million, and its valuation will reach $10 billion.It is not clear whether the failure of the launch will have an impact on financing.[43]
The second time
At 19:20 on January 6, 2015 Beijing time, the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket developed by SpaceX was originally planned to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, but the launch mission was suspended when the countdown entered one minute. SpaceX said that the launch mission was terminated because of the "drift of the secondary thrust vector control driver" of the rocket.Since the launch window period on January 6 is only 1 second, the launch mission has been cancelled. The next launch window is on Friday, January 9, and the expected launch time isUS Eastern Time5:09 a.m.
The Falcon 9 carrier rocket carries the Dragon spacecraft, which will dock with the International Space Station.The rocket carried 2350kg of equipment and goods for the International Space Station.
The Falcon 9 rocket was originally scheduled to launch on December 16, 2014, but the electrostatic fire test on the launch pad was postponed due to problems. Fortunately, all relevant tests had been completed before Christmas.However, the launch mission was terminated after entering the 1-minute countdown.
If the "Falcon 9" recoverable rocket can be successfully launched, it will be of epochal significance to the space exploration field. Through the independent return technology of the rocket, it will significantly reduce the cost of space travel.If the rocket can be fully recovered, it is expected that the launch cost will be reduced by 99%.[44]
On April 20, 2023, the starship exploded shortly after launch[208]
On April 20, 2023 local time, the American Space Exploration Technology Company willTexasThe second unmanned flight test of the "Starship" heavy carrier rocket was carried out, and the rocket was launched.[209]Three minutes after the launch, an unplanned disintegration occurred over the Gulf of Mexico, which exploded in mid air, and the spacecraft failed to enter the scheduled orbit.The US space exploration technology company was forced to suspend the mission.[208]
On September 8, 2023 local time, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States released the investigation report on the "explosion" accident of the first flight of the super heavy rocket "Starship" of the US Space Exploration Technology Company on April 20, saying that as many as 63 problems that need to be corrected urgently, including the redesign of the "ship body" and launch pad, were finally listed to prevent the accident from happening again.The FAA said that the end of the accident investigation does not mean that the launch can be resumed immediately in the "Starship".In order to meet all regulatory requirements, SpaceX must correct the above problems and apply to FAA for permission before the next launch.[237]
On July 11, 2024 local time, when the Falcon 9 rocket of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation was carrying out the "Star Chain" launch mission, the secondary engine failed rarely, resulting in the deployment of 20 "Star Chain" satellites to orbits "much lower than planned", and they faced the risk of burning in the Earth's atmosphere.
On July 12, 2024 local time, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States said in a statement that it would suspend the launch mission of the Falcon 9 rocket of the US space exploration technology company, and asked the company to investigate the cause of the rocket failure during the mission on the evening of the 11th.[334-335]
Recycling failed
At 10:42 a.m. on January 17, 2016, "Falcon 9" rocket carrying "Jason-3" ocean observation satellite lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.Subsequently, the first stage of the rocket was separated from the second stage, and the second stage of the rocket successfully put the satellite into orbit.
However, more than 20 minutes after the launch, the Space Exploration Technology Company said on Twitter, a social networking website, that the first stage rocket was aimed at an unmanned floating platform at sea, but it was difficult to land. "The landing bracket (of the first stage rocket) was broken, and the main task (satellite launch) remained normal".
The company had tried several times to land the first stage of "Falcon 9" on the unmanned ship at sea, but failed.[45]
Encounter a magnetic storm
In February 2022, it was reported that Elon Musk's satellite Internet service "Star Chain" had just suffered an expensive blow.According to the estimation of Space Exploration Technology Company, 40 of the 49 satellite chains launched on February 3 will bemagnetic stormIt was destroyed, with an estimated loss of 20 million dollars.[96][100]
Landing on Mars
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Landing on Mars is not a dream. SpaceX's engine for sending people to Mars has been tested
ITS (interplanetary transport system) was released on September 27, 2016[46-47]
Future aspiration
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In an interview with the US International Radio Marketplace, Gwynne Showwell, president of Space Exploration Technology, talked with Ben Johnson, the host, about the company's future vision, and predicted that SpaceX would dominate the solar system in 2100 or 2200.Gwen said that in just over ten years, the space exploration technology company has been able to send humans to Mars, realizing CEO Elon Musk's ambition to make human life "multi planetary".
Shotwell predicted that by 2100 or 2200, SpaceX would become "the most popular air transport company in the solar system." She added that if it could "transport in the Milky Way, it would be better." If her prediction could be realized,NASAThe situation is not good.
Elon Musk, the founder of American Space Exploration Technology Company, once proposed an ambitious Mars migration plan.He revealed more details of the Mars exploration plan in an exclusive interview with the Washington Post.As the first step of the Mars exploration plan, the Space Exploration Technology Company plans to launch a cargo spacecraft to Mars in 2018, then launch a manned spacecraft in 2024, and arrive at Mars in 2025.[48]
China news agency, Houston, November 18Federal Communications CommissionSubmit the application and plan to launch 4425 satellites to provide high-speed Internet services worldwide, which is more than the sum of all satellites launched by mankind.[49]
Space events
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On September 2, 2019, the ESA "Fengshen" meteorological satellite collided with the space exploration technology company "Xinglian 44" satellite.
On September 3, 2019, ESA issued a statement saying that about a week ago, the US Air Force data showed that the ESA "Fengshen" meteorological satellite might collide with the "Xinglian 44" satellite on September 2.The space debris office of ESA contacted the "Star Chain" team on August 28, and the team replied that it had no plans to take action within one day.
The European Aviation Administration pointed out that the probability of collision reaches one in ten thousand, which is the critical value for determining action.On September 1, the collision probability rose to about one thousandth.On September 2, according to the earlier communication records, ESA determined that the US satellite would not change its orbit, so it issued a command to make the "Aeolus" satellite ignite and change its orbit three times, avoiding the accident.
On September 3, 2019, the Space Exploration Technology Company said in a statement that when contacting ESA on August 28, the collision risk was only one in 50000, so no action was necessary;Later, the US Air Force warned that the collision risk was more than one in ten thousand, but the company's communication system failed, resulting in the technicians not seeing the follow-up email.In the statement, the company also said that if the "Star Link" technicians saw the relevant communication content, they would definitely contact ESA to determine the best assistance program or take their own avoidance operations.
Holger Dragh, the head of space security of ESA, pointed out that neither side was wrong in this incident, but it showed that there was an urgent need to carry out appropriate space traffic management, ensure smooth communication between satellite operators, and develop automatic avoidance technology for spacecraft.[50]
Honors won
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On October 21, 2019,Hurun Research InstituteThe 2019 Hurun Global Unicorn List was released, and SpaceX ranked 8th.[51]
In August 2020, SpaceX, a space exploration technology company, ranked No. 5 in the "Suzhou High tech Zone · Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020" with a market value of 250 billion yuan.[52]
In October 2021, the valuation of the space exploration technology company of Tesla CEO exceeded 100 billion dollars.The new valuation of SpaceX makes it one of the few "centaurs" in the world (one of the unlisted companies with a market value of more than 100 billion dollars).According to CB Insights, a research company, SpaceX is the second most valuable private company in the world, second only to byte hopping, and surpassing Stripe, a financial technology company.[70]
On December 20, 2021,Hurun Research InstituteThe 2021 Global Unicorn List was released, and SpaceX ranked 3rd.[82]
On December 9, 2022, space exploration technology ranked 81st in the 2022 Hurun Global 500.[184]
On April 18, 2023, SpaceX was listed in the 2023 Global Unicorn List with 945 billion yuantwoFirst name.[204]
On April 9, 2024, SpaceX was selected into the 2024 Hurun Global Unicorn List with an enterprise valuation of 1280 billion yuan, ranking second.[301]
On September 25, 2024, it was selected into the list of "world changing companies" published by Fortune magazine in 2024, ranking first.[380]
Planting vegetables
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In April 2021, NASA astronauts harvested a mini cabbage on the International Space Station and cooked it with soy sauce.This is largely related to an experiment conducted by NASA's Space Exploration Technology Company.[57]
Commercial financing
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On November 19, 2021, according to American Business News and Forbes, Sierra Nevada's commercial aerospace subsidiary, "Sierra Space", announced to obtain a round A financing of 1.4 billion dollars, which is the company's first financing, and is said to be the second largest private equity offering in the global aerospace and national defense fields.[74]
Hit the moon
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On January 26, 2022, the debris of a space exploration technology company rocket will fall in MarchMoon。[90]
Star chain cost
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In October 2022, according to CNN, the US Space Exploration Technology Company said it could no longer payUkraineThe US Department of Defense is required to pay for the cost of key satellite services.The media said that although the Star Link satellite terminal played an important role in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, this "charity project" may be coming to an end, because the US Space Exploration Technology Company, which provided this service, warned the US Department of Defense last month that unless the US military invests monthly, the company may stop funding Ukraine's use of the "Star Link" project.[172-173]
Enterprise revenue
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In August 2023, the Wall Street Journal quoted the detailed documents of the quarterly and annual performance of the US space exploration technology company and reported that the revenue of the space exploration technology company in the first quarter of 2023 was $1.5 billion, and the profit was $55 million.According to the report, in 2022, Elon Musk's Rocket Company had a revenue of $4.6 billion and a loss of $559 million.[232]
Enterprise Events
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On November 18, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that the lawyers of former SpaceX employees said that several former SpaceX employees alleged that the company dismissed them after they raised objections to the behavior of CEO Maske.com and SpaceX's internal culture, which violated the federal labor law.[179]
On February 8, 2023, Gwynne Shotwell, president of the Space Exploration Technology Company, said at a conference that the "Star Chain" would never be weaponized and that the company had taken positive measures to prevent the Ukrainian army from using the key "Star Chain" satellite technology in UAVs."We can do something to limit their ability to do so. There are some things we can do and have already done."[189]
In May 2023, the US environmental protection organization sued the US Federal Aviation Administration for approving the launch of SpaceX in Texas.According to the lawsuit, FAA approved the launch request without conducting environmental assessment on the land around the launch pad.If the court decides that the lawsuit is reasonable and requests FAA to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact review of the Texas Starbase launch site, industry insiders estimate that this will seriously affect the development and launch of the SpaceX "Starship" heavy rocket.Jamison Colburn, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, may be delayed for 2-5 years.[213]
On January 26, 2024, according to Reuters, the space exploration technology company of American millionaire Elon Musk is facing a negligence lawsuit filed by the wife of a worker.The worker's skull was fractured in a rocket engine test accident in 2022.
The accident on January 18, 2022 involved worker Francisco Cavada.The accident was one of the worker injuries detailed in Reuters' investigation report on the company at the end of last year.Reuters recorded at least 600 previously unreported industrial injuries in the rocket company of Musk, including limb compression, amputation, electric shock, head and eye injuries, and one death.[269]
In February 2024, the inspection records show that the American officials responsible for worker safety fined Musk's Space Exploration Technology Company 3600 dollars this month。[274]
On March 14, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that an accident occurred during the third test flight of the "Starship" of the Space Exploration Technology Company that day.At present, no report of public injury or loss of public property has been received.The bureau is supervising the accident investigation led by SpaceX to ensure that the company complies with the accident investigation plan and other regulatory requirements approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.[291]
On May 23, 2024, SpaceX encountered an accident during the Raptor Raptor 2 engine test. The test ended with a violent explosion. According to NASA Spaceflight, the engine was abnormal during the test, leading to steam leakage and thenSecondary explosion is triggered.[311]
In July 2024, Musk publicly resented California Governor Nelson and announced that SpaceX and X headquarters would all move away[336]。
On August 26, 2024, according to Reuters, NASA Administrator Bill Nielsen announced that because Boeing's Starliner capsule had encountered a series of technical problems, the two astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who originally planned to take the capsule would be forced to return to Earth by SpaceX spacecraft, which is expected to be in early 2025.[350]
On September 17, 2024 local time, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement proposing to impose a civil fine of US $633009 on SpaceX, because the company was suspected of failing to launch two missions in 2023Comply with relevant licensing requirements.[374]
On September 23, 2024, the production company of the party game Cards Against Humanity filed a $15 million lawsuit against SpaceX, accusing SpaceX of occupying and damaging a land located in Texas.The lawsuit said that SpaceX used the land owned by the Anti Human Brand production company as a place to stack building materials and other sundries.The 15 million US dollars will be used to compensate for losses, including the loss of natural vegetation damaged as claimed by the manufacturer of Anti Human Brand.SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.[378]
