News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet, the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet, the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet, the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet, the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions.
SpaceX launches more powerful Super Heavy-Starship rocket on test flight
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. SpaceX launched a revamped Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday on a flight to test more powerful engines, enhanced control systems and a host of other upgrades needed to streamline operations and improve safety and reliability. Once operational, Elon Musk's company is counting on the mammoth rocket to launch larger Starlink satellites and government and commercial payloads, and eventually propel missions to the moon and even Mars. The upgraded Super Heavy-Starship blasted off at about 6:30 p.m. EDT from a new, beefed up pad at SpaceX's Starbase launch site on the Texas Gulf Coast. Launch followed a last-minute scrub Thursday due to a minor glitch with a launch pad system and two weather delays beforer that. Generating up to 18 million pounds of thrust -- twice the liftoff power of NASA's SLS moon rocket -- the 33 methane-burning Raptor engines at the base of the Super Heavy first stage pushed the 407-foot-tall rocket skyward atop a brilliant torrent of blue-white fire. It was the first launch of a "version 3" Super Heavy-Starship and the first use of SpaceX's second Texas launch pad, designed to better withstand the rigors of repeated launches by the world's most powerful rocket. Two minutes and 24 seconds after liftoff, now out of the dense lower atmosphere, the Starship upper stage's six Raptors ignited just before the Super Heavy first stage fell away. It was programmed to flip around, reverse course and head back toward Starbase for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf while the Starship upper stage continued the climb to space. "The booster's primary test objective will be executing a successful launch, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn and landing burn at an offshore landing point in the Gulf of America," SpaceX said on its website. "As this is the first flight test of a significantly redesigned vehicle, the booster will not attempt a return to the launch site for catch." About a minute and 10 seconds after booster splashdown, the 160-foot-tall Starship upper stage engines were expected to shut down, putting the spacecraft on an arcing sub-orbital trajectory targeting a Raptor-assisted splashdown of its own in the Indian Ocean. During its coast through space, the flight plan called for the release of 22 Starlink satellite simulators from a Pez-like dispenser, including two with cameras to photograph heat shield tiles during re-entry. Overall, the Super Heavy-Starship is equipped with about 50 cameras that will send imagery to the ground via the Starlink satellite system. The flight plan also called for one of the Raptor engines to be re-ignited in space to test start-up procedures in the space environment. One heat-shield tile was deliberately removed to measure the thermal and structural effects of re-entry on surrounding tiles. "Finally, the ship will perform experimental actions tested on previous flight tests, including a maneuver to intentionally stress the structural limits of the vehicle's rear flaps and a dynamic banking maneuver to mimic the trajectory that future missions returning to Starbase will fly," SpaceX said before launch. Version 3 test flights are major milestones for SpaceX as the company works to perfect the first fully reusable rocket for operational use launching government and commercial satellites along with science probes and, eventually, piloted flights to Mars. The flights also are critical to NASA, which is paying SpaceX to develop a version of the Starship upper stage for use as a lander to carry the agency's Artemis astronauts to the surface of the moon starting in 2028. Shortly thereafter, NASA plans to begin launching multiple missions per year and to build a base near the moon's south pole. In the near term, NASA plans to launch its next Artemis mission in 2027, sending up four astronauts in an Orion capsule atop an SLS rocket to rendezvous in Earth orbit with SpaceX's lander and an alternative being built by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. NASA plans tests with both landers during the Artemis III mission, but the flight will proceed even if only one is available. Both companies must launch a successful unpiloted moon landing mission before the agency will attempt to land astronauts in 2028. Neither company has yet put a moon lander in space and both face daunting test schedules. With version 3 of its showcase rocket now available, SpaceX is working to transition from sub-orbital test flights to orbital missions while continuing work to perfect the systems that will be needed for moon missions. A major challenge is the ability to autonomously refuel a Starship lander in Earth orbit before it can head for deep space. The version 3 Starship now features the attachment points and fuel-transfer systems that will be needed for those operations. SpaceX says the first in a series of orbital refueling tests is planned before the end of the year.
SpaceX launches Starship V3 -- the world's most powerful and tallest rocket ever
I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Scientific American and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy. We leverage third party services to both verify and deliver email. By providing your email address, you also consent to having the email address shared with third parties for those purposes. SpaceX on Friday launched the latest and largest version of Starship. Lifting off at around 6:30 P.M. EDT, the flight is the first test of Starship Version 3 (V3). This is the twelfth Starship test and the first demonstration of the rocket in seven months. Fully stacked with its booster, the rocket is 408 feet (124 meters) tall and packing 18 million pounds of thrust, it is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built. The entire vehicle is designed to be reusable, but SpaceX is not attempting to recover the booster or the rocket after this test. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman praised SpaceX before the test flight, nodding to Starship's anticipated role in future Artemis missions to return astronauts to the moon as soon as 2028. "We're looking forward to meeting up with you all in low Earth orbit," said Isaacman, referring to the agency's 2027 mission Artemis III, which will see NASA's crew capsule Orion attempt to dock with either (or both) a modified version of Starship and a Blue Moon spacecraft. If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight - KTAR.com
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight
SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that NASA is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he's taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It's the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But first comes the moon and NASA's Artemis program. The last of the old space-skimming Starships lifted off in October. SpaceX's third-generation Starship -- a souped-up version dubbed V3 -- soared from a brand-new launch pad at Starbase, near the Mexican border. Last-minute pad issues thwarted Thursday evening's launch attempt. SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended in flames. At 407 feet (124 meters), the latest model eclipses the older Starship lines by several feet (more than 1 meter) and packs more engine thrust. The revamped booster sports fewer but bigger and stronger grid fins for steering it back to Earth following liftoff, and a larger and more robust fuel transfer line to feed the 33 main engines. This fuel line is the size of SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage booster. The retro-looking, stainless steel spacecraft also has more of everything -- more cameras and more navigation and computer power -- as well as docking cones for future rendezvous and moon missions. Starship is meant to be fully reusable, with giant mechanical arms at the launch pads to catch the returning rocket stages. But on this latest trial run, nothing was being recovered. The Gulf of Mexico marked the end of the road for the redesigned first-stage booster, and the Indian Ocean for the spacecraft and its satellite demos. NASA is paying SpaceX billions of dollars -- and also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- to provide the lunar landers that will be used to land Artemis astronauts on the moon. The two companies are scrambling to be first. While Starship has reached the fringes of space on multiple flights lasting an hour at most, Bezos' Blue Moon has yet to lift off, although a prototype is being readied for a moonshot later this year. NASA is following April's successful lunar flyaround by four astronauts with a docking trial run in orbit around Earth planned for next year. For that Artemis III mission, astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with Starship, Blue Moon or both. A moon landing by two astronauts -- Artemis IV -- could follow as soon as 2028 using either Starship or Blue Moon, whichever lander is safer and ready first. It will be NASA's first lunar landing with a crew since 1972's Apollo 17. The goal this time is a moon base near the lunar south pole, staffed by astronauts as well as robots. SpaceX is already taking reservations for private flights to the moon and Mars on Starship. The world's first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and his wife signed up 3 1/2 years ago for a flight around the moon. The timing is uncertain. This week, another wealthy space tourist -- Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang -- announced he will fly to Mars on Starship's first interplanetary mission. Wang previously chartered a SpaceX polar flight in a Dragon capsule last year and, along with his hand-picked crew, became the first to orbit above the north and south poles. No price tag or date was revealed for his Mars cruise. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.