SpaceX News

NASA Says Software Errors May Have Doomed Boeing Starliner Flight Test

Defective software could have doomed Boeing’s crew capsule during its first test flight, a botched trip that was cut short and never made it to the International Space Station, NASA and company officials said Friday. The Starliner capsule launched without …

Space-Faring Nations Need Regulations to Prevent Satellite Collisions: Opinion

Last week, the European Space Agency reached out to to warn Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. that one of its satellites might collide with a SpaceX communications satellite. When ESA first raised such concerns in late August, the chances …

NASA Warns SpaceX, Boeing on Space Program Safety Concerns

NASA has warned SpaceX and Boeing Co. of design and safety concerns for their competing astronaut launch systems, according to industry sources and a new government report, threatening the U.S. bid to revive its human spaceflight program later this year. …

SpaceX Lost Satellite on U.S. Mission Was Uninsured

U.S. taxpayers may end up paying for the missing satellite launched by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. that crashed into the ocean earlier this month, part of a classified U.S. government mission dubbed “Zuma.” Questions remain around the event, …

SpaceX Explosion Linked to Helium System Breach

SpaceX said Friday that evidence points to a large breach in the rocket’s helium system during a routine prelaunch test that turned into a devastating fireball three weeks ago. The Falcon rocket and a satellite were destroyed in the Sept. …

SpaceX Keeps Insurance Terms Secret

Israel’s Space Communication Ltd. said on Sunday it could seek $50 million or a free flight from Elon Musk’s SpaceX after a Spacecom communications satellite was destroyed last week by an explosion at SpaceX’s Florida launch site. Officials of the …

Hackers Find New Battleground in Space, Targeting Satellites in ‘Trophy Attacks’

Space, the ‘final frontier’, is rapidly becoming an extra-terrestrial battleground for corporate espionage and other types of cyber attack as hackers seek to gain commercial advantage from rival networks operating in the $330-billion space economy. At the same time, a …

SpaceX Cargo Loss is Government’s, but Rocket Costs and Backlog Uncertain

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket en route to the International Space Station erupted in flames on Sunday moments after its launch, delivering a potential business interruption blow to the so-far highly successful private space company. The craft was about 21 miles …

2 Explosions Trigger Debate Over Future of Private Space Business

Fiery failures are no stranger to the space game. It’s what happens when you push the boundaries of what technology can do, where people can go. And it happened again to Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. In the past decade, the space …

SpaceX Insured For ‘Maximum Probable Loss’

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft to orbit on Tuesday as part of a mission that would make it the first commercial company to attempt to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. The …