Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: BFR

  • Raptor roars under Starship prototype in 1st static fire test

    Derek RichardsonApril 4th, 2019

    SpaceX’s stainless steel Starship prototype in South Texas has undergone its first static fire test with a Raptor engine installed beneath it.

  • 1st Starship Hopper test firing could be this week

    Derek RichardsonMarch 18th, 2019

    SpaceX’s Starship Hopper test article recently had a Raptor engine installed in advance of its first test firing, which could come as early as this week.

  • Raptor fired at power level needed for Starship, Super Heavy

    Derek RichardsonFebruary 7th, 2019

    SpaceX's first Raptor flight engine performed another test, increasing its thrust and chamber pressure to levels required for Starship and Super Heavy.

  • Launch date for SpaceX’s Demo-1 flight announced

    Jason RhianNovember 21st, 2018

    A launch date for the first test flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft has been announced and the company's BFR rocket has gained a new name.

  • Falcon 9 second stage to be upgraded to ‘mini-BFR ship’

    Derek RichardsonNovember 7th, 2018

    In the lead-up to the first flights of the Big Falcon Rocket, the second stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 is to be modified to test key design features.

  • Japanese billionaire named as 1st passenger to fly around Moon in SpaceX BFR

    Derek RichardsonSeptember 18th, 2018

    HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Japanese citizen Yusaku Maezawa has booked a journey to the Moon atop SpaceX’s yet-to-be-built Big Falcon Rocket and he wants to bring six to eight artists with him—for free.

  • SpaceX: Announcement coming Monday about private passengers flying on BFR around Moon

    Jason RhianSeptember 13th, 2018

    SpaceX's Elon Musk is days away from an announcement regarding the BFR - and private passengers that travel to where few others have ventured to before.

  • SpaceX building BFR at Port of Los Angeles

    Joe LatrellMay 1st, 2018

    The location where SpaceX intends to build its next rocket, code-named Big Falcon Rocket or BFR, has been revealed. On April 19, 2018, the Los Angeles board of harbor commissioners unanimously approved the Hawthorne, California-based company's use of the Port of Los Angeles for building the super-heavy-lift vehicle.

  • Elon Musk says 1st flight of SpaceX’s Mars spaceship may happen in 2019

    Derek RichardsonMarch 12th, 2018

    While at South by Southwest, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he believes the first test flights of SpaceX's "Big Falcon Rocket" (BFR) spaceship could happen in the first half of 2019, although he admits to having optimistic timelines.

  • Musk provides more insight on SpaceX’s Mars ambitions

    Curt GodwinOctober 20th, 2017

    Less than a month after Elon Musk revealed SpaceX's updated Mars mission architecture at the 2017 International Astronautical Congress, the billionaire CEO made himself available to the public to answer further questions about the company's ambitious undertaking. In a surprise tweet on Oct. 14, 2017, the SpaceX founder gave short notice to taking part in an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) on the popular website, Reddit.

  • Elon Musk hopes to make SpaceX’s Falcon, Dragon fleet obsolete with Mars rocket

    Derek RichardsonSeptember 29th, 2017

    Just a year after unveiling a design for a mega-booster four times the size of the Saturn V, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk presented an updated version of the Mars rocket his company hopes will enable colonization of the Red Planet. The Sept. 29, 2017, presentation occurred during the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia.