Lifeboat Foundation

BRIGGS, Texas (KXAN) — More rockets will soon be built in the Austin area. Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, think space truckers, is unveiling its newest Rocket Ranch facility Wednesday.

The expanded facility will allow the company to produce and assemble new rockets, as well as test engines with 230,000 pounds of thrust. A new 100-foot test stand is part of the facility.

In addition, the facility will give the company access to a new automated fiber placement machine, allowing them to build rocket components at a faster pace as well as a new robotic powermill. This device will allow the company to rotate rockets with an 18-foot diameter.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently shared a number of notable updates for the next-generation Roadster. Apart from stating that Tesla is aiming to unveil the upcoming all-electric supercar later this year, Musk also provided some interesting tidbits about the vehicle. Among these is the fact that the new Roadster would be the product of Musk’s two largest companies — Tesla and SpaceX.

The new Roadster has been pushed far back in the company’s list of projects for years. Initially unveiled in late 2017 during the Tesla Semi’s unveiling, the Roadster was announced with a target availability date of 2020. The year came and went, of course, and the next-generation Roadster has mostly been forgotten, especially with Tesla getting busy with the Cybertruck.

But with the Cybertruck now being produced and the company now working on its next-generation platform, it would appear that Tesla is finally ready to work on releasing the new Roadster. Over the years, Musk’s comments about the vehicle have become wilder, with the CEO noting that the supercar should be able to fly for short “hops” due to a dedicated SpaceX package that would incorporate rocket tech in the car.

“Vyomitra” will be the robotic astronaut aboard the first Gaganyaan test flight, scheduled for later this year.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially closed its investigation into SpaceX’s 2nd failed Starship flight in November 2023. Launched on November 18, this test flight sadly ended in disaster as the giant rocket exploded shortly after takeoff.

However, the closure of the FAA investigation does not mean that SpaceX has a go-ahead for its planned third test flight later this year. Launched from SpaceX’s Starbase in South Texas, both of Starship’s rocket stages failed at around 3.5 and 8 minutes after launch.

The slide system differs notably from the slide wire basket system used over at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials said pad 40 will be ready for astronaut launches thi.

A privately built spacecraft on the moon has beamed back new photos from the lunar surface, showing the vehicle’s much-celebrated descent and the moments immediately after touchdown when it tipped over on its side.

The Odysseus lander, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, landed on the moon on Feb. 22, making history as the first commercial craft to reach the lunar surface and the first U.S. spacecraft on the moon in more than 50 years.

The following day, Intuitive Machines said Odysseus had pitched over when it touched down near a crater called Malapert A, close to the moon’s south pole. Company officials said the 14-foot-tall lander was operational but that some of the spacecraft’s antennas were pointing at the ground, limiting its ability to communicate with flight controllers back on Earth.

High-speed experiments can help identify lightweight, protective “metamaterials” for spacecraft, vehicles, helmets, or other objects.

An intricate, honeycomb-like structure of struts and beams could withstand a supersonic impact better than a solid slab of the same material. What’s more, the specific structure matters, with some being more resilient to impacts than others.

That’s what MIT engineers are finding in experiments with microscopic metamaterials — materials that are intentionally printed, assembled, or otherwise engineered with microscopic architectures that give the overall material exceptional properties.

The quartet will fly aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour capsule, which previously flew Demo Mission-2, Crew-2, Crew-6 and Axiom Mission 1.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expanding its SpaceX Starbase office in Texas. Here’s what we know.

Musk already claims Austin as headquarters for Tesla, and now he’s expanding his SpaceX facility in Brownsville.

Brownsville is currently home to a landing pad, launch facility, launch control center and tracking station. A 40-minute drive along Highway 4 will take you to the unincorporated community of Boca Chica.