Lifeboat Foundation

Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport standing on the sands of the New Mexico desert, is readying itself to welcome the world’s first space tourists.

And Virgin Galactic will likely be the first to fly these people into outer space. The cost of a seat on a Virgin Galactic spaceflight is $250,000 and 600 people have already paid downpayments for their trips.

Virgin Galactic on Thursday declared Spaceport America “operationally functional” and transferred all its spaceflight operations to this facility. It also revealed the interior of its “Gateway to Space” building at the spaceport.

SpaceX’s silver Starhopper prototype could complete its biggest hop test this weekend, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Starhopper, which is an early prototype for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, has completed a couple of tests so far. According to Musk, the Starhopper’s next challenge will be to fly roughly 650 feet off the ground. Musk recently tweeted that the prototype’s next major hop could take place on Aug. 16, Aug. 17, or Aug. 18, as long as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gives SpaceX permission to conduct the test flight.

Just spoke with FAA, so hopefully yes.

What happens to a spacecraft once it dies?

When a spacecraft completes its mission or runs out of fuel, it’s sent to what NASA calls a Spacecraft Cemetery. Three thousand miles off the Eastern coast of New Zealand and more than 2 miles deep, it’s the one place farthest from any land mass on Earth.

The perfect spot to land giant chunks of spacecraft that are traveling more than 180 mph upon impact. NASA predicts the chance of a spacecraft hitting someone out here to be around 1 in 10,000.

How much would it cost to build a city on Mars? According to Elon Musk over the weekend, it could be the most expensive construction project in human history — and cost up to an eighth of the value of the entire global economy.

The SpaceX CEO’s vision includes not only sending the first humans to Mars, but to use that mission as a starting point to build a permanent settlement. Assuming all goes to plan, Musk believes that a self-sustaining city could take shape as early as 2050.

What happens after that point is anyone’s guess. Inverse has spoken to experts from a number of fields, who have flagged a series of issues those first inhabitants will need to address. They could mutate and develop new physical attributes, they could find the city’s confines stifling and develop a national identity, and they could develop a new, ground-up economy.

The company will soon start employing a second net-equipped boat during orbital launches, in an attempt to snag both halves of its rockets’ payload fairings before they splash down in the ocean, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk confirmed via Twitter on Friday (Aug. 9).

A SPACESHIP which is so fast it could travel 3.6 million miles per day has been successfully tested in Earth orbit.

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday challenging the Air Force’s plan to select two providers in the next procurement of launch services under the National Security Space Launch program.

Blue Origin, a rocket manufacturer and suborbital spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos, filed what is known as a “pre-award” protest with the GAO, arguing that the rules set by the Air Force do not allow for a fair and open competition.

“The Air Force is pursuing a flawed acquisition strategy for the National Security Space Launch program,” states a Blue Origin fact sheet that outlines the reasons for the protest.

NASA wants to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024. What if we stayed and settled on the Moon this time?

This week:

🔥 We conducted a critical test of the “powerhouse” for our NASA’s Orion Spacecraft 🔴 Our Curiosity Mars Exploration Rovers is still going strong after 7 years exploring the Red Planet 🔭NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures a view of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot.