🚀 SpaceX News №47
Hello, space enthusiasts! Rocket Hub here. We've decided to wrap up each month with a comprehensive digest: in addition to SpaceX, we’ll cover events across the private space sector as a whole.
If you like this new format, let us know: support us with views, comments, and reposts because any feedback shows that this format interests you.
- The explosion of a Starship engine during a hotfire test;
- An insider tip from a SpaceX engineer and China’s competitors;
- An orbital tug from Firefly Aerospace;
- The launch of Jeff Bezos’ Starlink rival and Blue Origin’s successes;
- A new record in spaceflight and much more!
Buckle up—we’re taking off!
Starship S35 Engine Explosion
Let’s start with SpaceX. On May 2, at the Massey test stand in Starbase, the company performed a static fire of Ship 35: instead of the planned six engines, they briefly ignited just one vacuum Raptor to test the “space mode.”
The next evening, stream viewers saw a second hotfire, this time “looking very much like a six-engine test.” And yes, things did not go according to plan: the vacuum Raptor exploded. A few hours later, S35 was rushed back into Mega Bay-2 for a thorough inspection.
SpaceX has yet to release anomaly data. Engineers need to determine whether this issue is tied to the same propellant-system glitch or is something entirely new. The test stand eliminates flight-induced vibrations and the tank-to-tank thermal gradient, making it hard to replicate the exact flight scenario on the ground.
Unofficial Rumors During the six-engine burn, the oxygen-feed turbine in the vacuum Raptor E5 may have ruptured. The situation “resembles Flight-8,” but the damage seems less severe. Source: Space Sudoer account. That’s questionable, but okay—they’ve shared accurate scoops before.
What’s Next? Ship 35 will undergo another hotfire—likely with all six engines. Booster 14 (the same one that flew on Flight 7) remains on standby; its hotfire was deemed successful in April. Recently, SpaceX and Tesla engineer Dima Zeniuk claimed the flight would happen in May, but now that seems optimistic: fixes and FAA approvals still lie ahead.
So, we wait. Until SpaceX’s official report, all else—no matter how plausible—remains speculation, not gospel.
A post by Michigan State University graduate Sunaad Gurajada, set to join SpaceX in May, surfaced online. A quote:
“I’m joining the team developing a brand-new turbopump from scratch for the critical system that will enable all Starship missions beyond low Earth orbit, including the Moon and Mars.”
The LinkedIn post was quickly deleted, but screenshots spread across Reddit and X. The message doesn’t name the part but clearly refers to a “new system,” not the current Raptor 2, intended for deep-space missions.
No confirmation yet, but it’s obvious that work on cryogenic fluid systems in microgravity—a feature missing from today’s prototypes—may already be underway.
SpaceX Loses Control of Boca Chica Road and Beach
On April 28, the Texas House of Representatives barred the future municipality of Starbase from unilaterally closing the public beach and sole access road to the launch site on weekdays.
This authority was criticized by environmental groups and neighboring towns, which feared more frequent road closures would cut off access to the region’s only free beach. Still, SpaceX lobbyists are considering reintroducing the measure in the next legislative session.
This decision comes just before the May 4 referendum, when around 500 Boca Chica residents—most of them SpaceX employees—voted on turning Starbase into an official city. By the time you read this, the referendum will likely be over; we’ll share results in our Telegram channel!
China’s Counterpunch to SpaceX
On April 15, private firm LandSpace rolled out its 100th methane engine. The factory can produce up to 200 engines and 15 launch vehicles annually.
All engines are for the first stage of the ZQ-3 (ZhuQue-3, “Vermilion Bird”) rocket. Nine engines deliver a combined 900 metric tons of thrust; the stage is designed for up to twenty reuses.
Seriously—seven years ago, they had neither factory nor test stand; today, they increasingly resemble China’s SpaceX.
Last September at Jiuquan, their prototype already hopped to 10 km and relit its engine on descent—just like Grasshopper in 2013.
This summer, the company plans an orbital debut with payload from Guowang (a Starlink rival), pending timely regulator approval; by winter, they aim for their first sea-platform booster recovery in the Yellow Sea.
A government white paper this year hailed commercial space as a “new quality of productive forces”: tax breaks and subsidy budgets are approved to help firms like LandSpace catch up with world leaders.
Notably, LandSpace also competes with state-owned players. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) promises its own partially reusable rocket this year.
And another Chinese SpaceX rival, Space Pioneer, is gearing up for a “revenge play.”
After last year’s accident with Tianlong-3’s first stage during a hotfire, they moved tests to the HOS-1 sea platform off Haiyan. New tests are set for “in the coming weeks,” with a maiden launch in July–August. Their rocket, built entirely from Chinese components, aims to carry 17 t to LEO—positioned as a direct Falcon 9 competitor. This is already the third fully Chinese future Falcon 9 analogue!
Firefly’s Orbital Tug
On April 7, the Pentagon confirmed Firefly Aerospace’s Elytra Dawn orbital tug for the DIU’s Sinequone program.
Firefly is building the Elytra family with three versions:
- Elytra Dawn for deploying small satellites to LEO;
- Elytra Dusk for heavier payloads and transfers between LEO and GEO;
- Elytra Dark for lunar-orbit and beyond missions.
All share composite structures, onboard avionics, and the Spectre engine—tested on Blue Ghost’s lunar landing.
Sinequone’s first mission is slated for 2027: orbital maneuvers, plane changes, and imaging from low orbit.
To ramp up production, Firefly is expanding its Texas facilities with help from a Space Commission grant.
Amazon’s Starlink Rival Launch
Amazon has begun launching its own internet satellites to challenge SpaceX’s Starlink. ULA’s Atlas V deployed 27 spacecraft. Space-based images are already circulating!
This is just a taste of the planned fleet of over 3,200 "Project Kuiper" satellites. Amazon must launch at least half by mid‑2026 or risk FCC license revocation. So far, the pace is modest: up to five launches by year’s end, weather and ULA permitting.
The recent launch was a success: Amazon confirms all 27 are online and promises “first commercial service by year’s end.”
The catch: minimal coverage needs 578 satellites. For comparison, Starlink needed ~1,500 for its first stable service—and it had its own rocket fleet.
“Where’s Bezos’s rocket?” You ask. They did fly a launcher—once. That’s the problem. Blue Origin’s New Glenn still languishes in the hangar. A new flight is planned for May, but for now, Kuiper depends on contractors. Can Amazon hold its own against SpaceX’s 8,000+ sats and twice‑weekly launches?
Blue Origin’s Wins
New Glenn has earned a heavy-class bid.
On April 4, the US Space Systems Command awarded NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 contracts: besides SpaceX and ULA, the “heavy” slot went to Blue Origin. They’re counting on at least seven launches from 2027 to 2032 for high-energy orbits.
The January NG-1 flight already counts as certification; NG-2 is due by late spring. This contract is crucial: the Pentagon is happy and expects launches, while Blue Origin secures rockets outside the commercial market.
Also in April, the New Shepard suborbital rocket (NS-31) flew six passengers—wife of Jeff Bezos Lauren Sánchez, engineer Aisha Bowe, singer Katy Perry, and others. The 11‑minute flight crossed the Kármán line (100 km), gave minutes of weightlessness, and landed safely under parachutes.
It was Blue Origin’s 11th crewed mission and the first with an all-women crew—bringing 58 total “astro-tourists.”
Rocket Lab: New Solar Arrays and Hypersonic Contracts
On April 8, Rocket Lab unveiled the STARRAY family—a modular solar-array builder offering 100 W to 2+ kW per wing. Each panel uses radiation-hardened, four-junction cells, cutting lead times and costs by in-house crystal growth through final assembly.
Over 1,100 active spacecraft—from OneWeb’s first generation to Ingenuity and the James Webb Telescope—use Rocket Lab power systems; this lineup should speed up smallsat deployments with "own" power.
On April 14, the US and UK greenlit Rocket Lab for two multibillion-dollar hypersonics programs.
They propose HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron)—an Electron boost with 700 kg payload and an upper stage tuned for >7.5 km/s tests. Note: standard Electron does ~300 kg to LEO, ~200 kg to 500 km SSO.
HASTE offers governments a fast, relatively inexpensive hypersonics testbed.
Also, on April 23, Rocket Lab was chosen for full-flight tests under the DoD’s MACH-TB 2.0 (Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed). Launch from Wallops LC-2 in Q1 2026.
Astrobotic’s Griffin Lunar Lander
On April 25, Astrobotic completed desert tests in Mojave and Death Valley: landing-sensor hardware flew on a vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket Xodiac and a lab helicopter. These flights simulated the final descent kilometers on the Moon, collecting data for autonomous-landing algorithms.
Next up: integrate this kit onto the Griffin-1 lunar lander in Q2 2025 to deliver payloads to polar craters under NASA’s CLPS program. Passing these tests removes the biggest risk: autonomous lunar landing using only onboard sensors—no GPS, minimal reliance on orbital maps.
New Zealand’s Spaceplane
Dawn Aerospace of New Zealand plans three flights of its Mk-II Aurora reusable spaceplane by June, backed by New Zealand’s MBIE.
In November 2024, Mk-II Aurora became the first civil plane since Concorde to break the sound barrier and reach 25 km—setting a climb-rate record. The upgraded version aims for Mach 3.5 and 100 km altitude, with multiple same-day flights.
On April 23, Dawn signed with All Nippon Airways Trading to market its suborbital services in Japan.
Aurora will soon start regular research flights from New Zealand and lay groundwork for its first overseas base in Japan, offering fast, repeatable access to suborbital research.
Commercial Mission Record on ISS
Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission is set for May from LC-39A at Cape Canaveral. Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 will deliver former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (USA), pilot Shubhan Shukla (India), mission specialists Sławosz Uznaniecki-Wiśniewski (Poland, ESA), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary, HUNOR).
For India, Poland, and Hungary, this is only their second human spaceflight ever.
Over 14 days, the crew will conduct ~60 experiments—the largest science package ever for a private mission. By comparison, Ax-3 carried 36 projects—24 fewer. Experiments from 31 countries will study diabetes, cancer, blood interactions with microgravity, as well as biology, psychology, and new technologies.
First results are expected this summer. Ax-4 will hit a pace of ~4 experiments per day, outpacing all prior Axiom missions. Afterward, the crew will splash down in the Atlantic.
Remember, Axiom aims to become the first private company to build its own orbital station—slated for the latter half of this decade.
New Launch Record: Six Missions in 17.5 Hours
From the evening of April 28 to midday April 29, six different countries launched rockets—two more than the previous 24-hour record. The first four launches, all for broadband mega-constellations, took just 6.5 hours.
1. China: Long March 5B placed a batch for the 13,000-satellite Guowang network.
2. USA: 32 minutes later, a Falcon 9 lofted 27 Starlink sats.
3. USA: Then Atlas V sent up 27 Amazon Kuiper satellites from Cape Canaveral.
4. USA: After 3.5 hours, another Falcon 9 with 23 Starlink sats took off from Kennedy.
That morning, two non-broadband missions joined:
1. Europe: Vega-C launched the Biomass Earth-observation satellite from French Guiana.
2. USA: Firefly Alpha took off from Vandenberg with a Lockheed Martin demo but lost its second-stage nozzle and the payload. We covered that in our Telegram channel!
Let us know which story you liked best. Rocket Hub signing off—see you next week!