SpaceX

February 21, 2025 11:46 AM

US says it will drop immigration case against SpaceX

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said it would drop a case accusing Elon Musk's space technology company SpaceX of refusing to hire certain immigrants. The Justice Department last month signaled it could back away from the case, brought during Democratic President Joe Biden's term. Musk, a top adviser to Republican President Donald Trump, is leading a commission tasked with identifying waste in the federal government. In a Thursday court filing in Brownsville, Texas, government lawy...

January 29, 2025 3:26 PM

Trump, Musk suggest sped-up return of NASA astronauts, but details scarce

President Donald Trump said Tuesday night he had asked Elon Musk's SpaceX to return two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station, who were already scheduled to fly back on a SpaceX capsule in March. Musk earlier on Tuesday said Trump had asked him to return the two astronauts "as soon as possible," suggesting a change to NASA's current plan for a late March return. "We will do so," Musk said. "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been ...

January 17, 2025 10:56 AM

SpaceX’s Starship explodes in flight test, forcing airlines to divert

A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk's flagship rocket program. SpaceX mission control lost contact with the newly upgraded Starship, carrying its first test payload of mock satellites but no crew, eight minutes after liftoff from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 p.m. EST (2238 GMT). Video shot by Reuters showed orange...

November 19, 2024 12:16 PM

India’s GSAT-N2 satellite successfully deployed into orbit, to boost broadband infrastructure

India's GSAT-N2 communication satellite was successfully deployed into orbit on Tuesday by SpaceX, marking a significant milestone in the country's efforts to enhance broadband infrastructure. The satellite, launched from Florida, is expected to play a pivotal role in meeting the growing demand for broadband services and in-flight connectivity across India. SpaceX confirmed the success of the mission at 12:36 am, adding that the satellite was injected into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO...

November 12, 2024 4:37 PM

Musk’s Starlink gets Chad go-ahead to improve internet access

Chad said on Tuesday it had approved the licensing of Elon Musk's satellite internet provider Starlink to improve access to internet services in the central African country. Starlink, the satellite unit of SpaceX, operates in several African countries but has faced regulatory challenges in others and resistance from state telecoms monopolies. "We have been talking to Starlink since 2021 and we have managed to agree on the essentials," Chad's Communications Minister Boukar Michel told Reuters b...

October 25, 2024 3:14 PM

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts return safely to Earth

Space X's Crew-8 astronauts returned to Earth on the Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station on Friday (October 25). The spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin splashed down off the Florida coast at approximately 3:29 a.m. ET (07:29 GMT). According to NASA, the astronauts conducted new scientific research to advance human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit human life on Earth. (Reute...

October 14, 2024 10:03 AM

Moon race, private competition in focus as space powers gather in Milan

The world's space agencies are meeting in Milan this week as geopolitical rivalry fuels a new global race in Earth's orbit and on the moon, with heavy involvement from a private sector toiling to keep pace with Elon Musk's dominant SpaceX. The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) since 1950 has been a venue for the scientists, engineers, companies and political leaders of spacefaring nations to discuss cooperation, even in times of heightened tensions among world powers. This year's conf...

September 29, 2024 2:34 PM

SpaceX crew blasts off to bring back stranded astronauts after Hurricane delay

A SpaceX crew bound for the International Space Station (ISS) to shuttle back two stranded astronauts took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday (September 28) after the launch was delayed by Hurricane Helene. The Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov has two of its four available seats empty so that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can return in February 2025. Williams and Wilmore became the first crew to fly Boeing...

September 23, 2024 3:02 AM

SpaceX plans to send five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years, Musk says

SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars in two years, CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday in a post on social media platform X. Earlier this month, Musk had said that the first Starships to Mars would launch in two years "when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens." The CEO on Sunday said that the first crewed mission timeline will depend upon the success of the uncrewed flights. If the uncrewed missions land safely, crewed missions will be launched in four years. How...

September 12, 2024 9:37 PM

Billionaire and engineer conduct first private spacewalk in SpaceX mission

Two astronauts - a billionaire and an engineer - completed the world's first private spacewalk in orbit on Thursday outside a SpaceX capsule, wearing a new line of spacesuits in a risky feat previously exclusive to astronauts from national space programs. The astronauts on the Polaris Dawn mission went one at a time, each spending about 10 minutes outside the gumdrop-shaped Crew Dragon capsule on a tether, as Elon Musk's company again succeeded in pushing the boundaries of commercial spacefligh...