SpaceX’s Starship V3 set to launch from Texas. What it means for Florida.
SpaceX is getting ready to launch the first of its redesigned Starship from its Texas base and all eyes are on this flight as the massive rocket could potentially launch from Cape Canaveral by year’s end.
Currently, the Starship launch is set for no earlier than 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21 from Starbase, Texas, an area east of Brownsville. It will be the 12th launch overall of the fully stacked Starship and the first of this new Version 3 (V3).
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida set for Thursday morning
SpaceX is gearing up for another Falcon 9 rocket launch in Florida, resuming its usual schedule less than a week after the last mission.
The liftoff is set for no earlier than 5:26 a.m. Thursday, May 21 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. If needed, SpaceX has until 9:26 a.m. to make the launch window.
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Astrolab’s FLIP rover to carry NASA science, supporting Artemis moon base
When NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman outlined Artemis plans for a future moon base, plans called for more landers and rovers to launch to the lunar surface.
Now, that’s starting to take shape with the announcement this week that Astrolab’s FLIP rover will carry NASA science to the moon later this year after launching on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center. The FLIP rover will be a payload on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander.
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SpaceX ‘jellyfish’ launch recap: Live updates from predawn Starlink mission
Launch recap: Scroll down to review live updates from the Thursday, May 21, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral that produced a visual “jellyfish” on the Starlink 10-31 mission.
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NASA intros full-size Blue Moon lander replica for Artemis training
With humans due to return to the moon in as little as two years, astronauts will need to begin getting familiar with the spacecraft that will get them to the surface.
Fortunately, a full-scale replica of one of the two commercial lunar landers under development for NASA’s Artemis program is now available for training purposes. The U.S. space agency announced that a crew cabin prototype of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander has “landed” at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
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NASA’s Artemis III won’t reach moon — but it’s critical to get there
The next astronauts to embark on a mission under NASA’s Artemis lunar program won’t be going anywhere near the moon. But that doesn’t make the undertaking any less critical.
In fact, Jeremy Parsons, a NASA deputy administrator, recently referred to a mission known as Artemis III as “one of the most highly complex missions NASA has undertaken.”
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SpaceX’s Starship Flight 12 sees scrub on first launch attempt
Recap of the May 21 launch attempt of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 12. The rocket saw an issue on the launch pad which could not be solved in time. Flight 12 is a new rocket and new launch pad, and SpaceX stated an issue was not surprising. The next launch attempt will be the evening of May 22.
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Palm Bay residents may hear explosions, see green smoke during military drill
Palm Bay residents may notice simulated explosions and green smoke rising from the Malabar Transmitter Annex on Friday, May 22 — but Space Force officials say these will be “controlled effects” deployed during a training exercise.
Space Launch Delta 45 and the 45th Security Forces Squadron will conduct a base-defense field-training exercise from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday at the military property off Minton Road, which includes an old airfield.
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SpaceX launches Starship V3 rocket on Texas test flight: Live updates
Launch recap: Scroll down to review live updates from the Friday, May 22, maiden liftoff of SpaceX’s Starship V3 rocket from Texas on the Flight 12 test mission.
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SpaceX’s next-generation Starship V3 rocket makes maiden flight from Texas
SpaceX’s maiden liftoff of the reengineered, third-generation Starship and Super Heavy booster kicked off a successful test flight leading from the Texas launch pad around the globe to the Indian Ocean on Friday, May 22.
The colossal Starship rocket system — which topped off at a whopping 407 feet tall — rumbled from SpaceX’s remote Starbase at 6:30 p.m. EDT in Boca Chica, Texas.
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Blue Origin announces $600M Florida expansion, FAA clears New Glenn for launch
Look for Blue Origin to build a $600 million expansion of the space company’s sprawling Rocket Park manufacturing complex on Merritt Island, supporting 500 aerospace jobs with average salaries topping $98,000.
Labeled Project Horizon, this expansion will feature an estimated 830,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for upper stages of heavy-lift New Glenn rockets.
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‘Their memories will live on’: Orlando students honor Brevard WWII Marines
As young U.S. Marines, Isom “Ike” Rigell, 18, and Thomas “Tommy” Pechacek, 20, were stationed in the distant Pacific theater on Dec. 7, 1941, when surprise Japanese attacks forced them to scramble for their lives at Midway Island and Wake Island, respectively.
As middle-aged men, Rigell and Pechacek logged long careers at Cape Canaveral for NASA and Pan Am, working in the pivotal Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs during America’s Space Race with the Soviet Union.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida will kick off Memorial Day
SpaceX plans to kick off Memorial Day with a Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, delivering more Starlink internet satellites to orbit.
The liftoff is set for now no earlier than 7:48 a.m. Monday, May 25 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. If needed, SpaceX has until 11:41 a.m. to make the launch window.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch recap: Memorial Day liftoff from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX launch recap of the Starlink 10-47 mission, which took off 7:48 a.m. May 25 from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
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Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Starship launch, Blue Origin expansion lead Florida space newsletter
Reporting by Rick Neale, Florida Today / Florida Today
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