🚀 SpaceX News №49

A cosmic hello to everyone! You’re on Rocket Hub, and this is the latest SpaceX news digest. Today’s issue covers:

• Starbase Chronicles
• The FAA and the ninth flight
• Yet another SpaceX “backup” launch site
• A record for a Falcon 9 fairing half
• SpaceX’s new engine
• Starlink in India
• A possible new GPS replacement?
• Space communications in the fields

Before we begin, a quick note: we’re eagerly waiting for you in Rocket Hub’s cozy Telegram channel, where we publish spaceflight news and more. You’re the best!

Let’s get started.

Starbase Chronicles

Photographer StarshipGazer captured Booster V3’s fuel tank on camera—and what immediately jumps out are the hexagonal tiles on the top wall of the engine bay. According to a member of the NASASpaceflight team and space-enthusiasts on various forums, the heat-shield tiles on the new Super Heavy test article are made of metal—likely nickel—instead of ceramic.

Meanwhile at Starbase, the 1,200-ton Orbital Launch Mount-2 (OLM-B) was finally rolled out and installed on Pad B. Unfortunately, it looks like there won’t be a mobile “table” underneath: it’s already being welded to the mount’s supports. At the very same time, Ship 35 was being prepared for its final—and third—static fire; its outcome would determine the date of the ninth flight. Did it succeed? Yes.

On May 12, Ship 35 finally passed its 60-second static-fire test: all six Raptors ran without visible hiccups—for the first time since the April test-fire failures. Cameras even caught the three central Raptors vectoring their nozzles several times, exercising thrust-vector control. Shutdown was sequenced “vacuum Raptors first, then sea-level Raptors”: because vacuum-optimized engines can’t gimbal much, they’re cut off first so that the three central engines can handle any residual torque and keep the vehicle steady. Everything appeared nominal.

While Ship 35 was returned to the Mega Bay for inspection, Booster 14 was rolled onto the launch stand—only to be removed a short time later and taken back to the integration hangar. Why SpaceX did this remains unclear. That first stage had already done its own eight-second test fire back in April. Elon Musk has also confirmed on X that before the next launch he’ll deliver a company-wide address outlining the “roadmap” to a permanent Mars colony, streamed live from Starbase. We’re looking forward to it.

The FAA and Starship’s Ninth Flight

Recently the FAA upgraded Starship’s license from Starbase, clearing up to 25 launches per year. Now we learn that during Flight 9, first-stage recovery won’t be attempted: Booster 14 will splash down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Notably, Space Sudoer “insider” posted this back in April—and we even mentioned his scoop in one of our videos. That decision isn’t surprising: B14 will be the first “used” Super Heavy.

But it’s not a green light for Flight 9 just yet. “SpaceX cannot launch Starship until the FAA either concludes its Flight 8 accident investigation or issues an official decision to resume flights,” the agency states. Meanwhile, according to NASASpaceflight, the launch date has slipped to May 27—though the reason is unknown. It could easily slide into June, since May 24–26 is the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Another “Backup” SpaceX Launch Site

While Starbase negotiates with regulators, bulldozers are gearing up on the other coast. Vandenberg’s old Space Launch Complex 6 is officially being converted for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. The plan calls for boosting total launch capacity to 100 per year. Demolition begins late this year, and the first post-conversion launch could happen as early as 2027. The lesson: the more launch sites SpaceX has, the more resilient and flexible its operations become. Vandenberg provides a direct corridor to polar and sun-synchronous orbits; after SLC-6’s upgrade, the North Pacific launch cadence for Falcon rockets could reach 100 per year.

Falcon 9 Fairing-Half Reuse Record

SpaceX confirmed on X that one fairing half set a reuse record on its 30th flight! This was serial number SN 185—the most-flown element of Falcon 9, surprisingly beating even the first stage.

These reusable fairing halves save a tremendous sum: each costs about $3 million. Overall, fairing reuse has saved SpaceX hundreds of millions of dollars and months of manufacturing time.

Bonus: each half carries onboard engineering cameras. Their technical purpose is clear, but the byproduct has been stunning imagery. The most viral example was Elon’s tweet on September 27, 2022, capturing in a single frame the second‐stage exhaust plume, first-stage engine activity during return, and a beautiful twilight Earth. A disposable fairing never could have paid for itself just to get that shot—but a reusable one easily does, after a few flights.

SpaceX’s New Engine

On May 15, NASASpaceflight spotted Raptor 3 #20 at the McGregor test site. A month earlier they’d seen engine #16—so at least twenty V3s are now in circulation. A Super Heavy needs thirty-three Raptors, but production is accelerating: in 2024 alone McGregor conducted 1,768 hot-fire tests of various engines—a new record for the site. Scaling up production of the new engine won’t take long.

Starlink in India

After two years of protracted back-and-forth with New Delhi, SpaceX finally received a document from India’s Ministry of Communications granting the path toward a GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite) license—a clear hint that a commercial Starlink rollout on the planet’s most populous market is imminent.

Crucially, the government removed two of the strictest requirements: mandatory “Indian ownership” and a 10-kilometer monitoring zone beyond national borders.

But it’s not time to celebrate. Next come regulator approvals and allocation of test—and then commercial—frequency bands. India simultaneously issued a 29-point compliance checklist: full traffic localization; data centers and gateways on Indian soil; tracking every terminal within 2.6 km; and within five years, at least 20 % of ground-segment hardware must be Indian-made.

A New GPS Replacement?

Over in the U.S., SpaceX filed with the FCC claiming its 6,000+ low-Earth satellites already provide “nanosecond-level timing and meter-class navigation” by measuring signal-arrival times from dozens of satellites simultaneously. The filing stresses that no new frequency spectrum is needed—it all runs on Starlink’s existing bands. SpaceX cites military and commercial customer tests under degraded signal conditions as proof.

Interestingly, in 2022 a University of Texas team—without SpaceX’s involvement—determined their position to about a 30 m error margin using only public orbital data. In 2023, Ohio State University improved that to 4.3 m.

Until precise coordinates and time corrections are embedded in the broadcast, Starlink positioning remains promising but a backup—not yet a replacement—for GPS.

Space Communications in the Fields

Finally, a more down-to-earth application of Starlink. Transnational CNH Industrial has signed an agreement to integrate Starlink terminals into its tractors and combines: stable internet will enable live telemetry, AI analysis of drone imagery, and autopilot in regions where cellular networks are still scarce. The lack of reliable connectivity has held back “smart” agriculture in Brazil and India. If Starlink weathers price pressure, farmers stand to gain—lower fuel and chemical use, higher yields.

How did you like this edition? Let us know in the comments what stood out most. See you in a week!