Free Republic

A crucial test this week could bring SpaceX one step closer to revolutionizing spaceflight — or cast new uncertainty on the company’s boldest ambitions. SpaceX will for the first time attempt to bring every part of its massive Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, back to dry land — intact — during a mission set to launch on Friday between 5:45 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. ET. The aim is to develop a fully reusable launch system, a goal the company has deemed the “holy grail” of rocketry because it would eliminate the need to throw away multimillion-dollar rocket parts...

  Passenger-Carrying Spaceship Makes Desert DebutBy Leonard DavidSenior Space Writerposted: 02:00 pm ET18 April 2003  The wraps are coming off what is billed as the "First Private Manned Space Program" and a new, never-seen spaceship.Aggressive work on a passenger-carrying sub-orbital craft has been active and hidden from public view for two years. Labeled as the SpaceShipOne Project, the unveiling comes courtesy of Scaled Composites, Inc. -- highly regarded as a leader in innovative aircraft development -- and based in the Mojave, California desert, about 80 miles north of Los Angeles.Noted design wizard, Burt Rutan, is lead maverick of the...