Free Republic

These fins are said to be among the largest aerodynamic control surfaces ever built for a rocket. Grid fin for the next generation Super Heavy booster. SpaceX/X Elon Musk’s SpaceX has redesigned some parts of its colossal Mars-bound Starship to improve its stability and control. The most notable change is the removal of a landing fin from the Super Heavy booster, which will now use three redesigned grid fins that are 50% larger and stronger to improve vehicle control during descent. The announcement was made on Wednesday via a post on X, where SpaceX shared images revealing the complex, honeycomb-like...

NASA's picture-perfect Orion launch to Mars was all the rage last week. Praise was heaped upon key NASA contractors Boeing (NYSE: BA ) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) -- and deservedly so. Between Orion's success, and the companies' announcement that their United Launch Alliance joint venture will develope a "next-generation liquid oxygen/hydrocarbon first stage" rocket to power launches to near-Earth orbit, Boeing and Lockheed are on a hot streak. But amid all the hullaballoo at ULA, you might have forgotten there's another space launch company that is building even more innovative products. Its name is SpaceX. It goes up,...