California Sky

Aerospace and astronomy related to California. For more information, please go to:

[X Freeze @XFreeze]

Raptor 3 just officially flew for the first time on Starship Flight 12 and it’s an absolute masterpiece of engineering

When SpaceX first revealed it, many people in aerospace really thought it was an incomplete render. They kept asking where the rest of the engine was

Turns out… that was the full engine

SpaceX eliminated so many external pipes, brackets, sensors, and components that it barely looked real

It became the perfect embodiment of Elon Musk’s engineering philosophy:

“The best part is no part”

Raptor 3 comes with:
• more thrust
• higher efficiency
• radical simplification
• improved reliability
• dramatically lower manufacturing complexity

This was not just an upgrade. It was a complete rethinking of what a rocket engine can be

Raptor 3 has officially raised the bar for the entire aerospace industry

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Starship flip and landing burn at the end of its twelfth flight test

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

This trend will continue for many years

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

SpaceX is only ~200 satellites away from having launched as many satellites as the rest of the world combined

(despite giving the rest of the world a 61-year head start)

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Congratulations on 600 missions!

Falcon will probably exceed 1000 missions before retiring.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Dragon coming in like a blazing meteor visible from San Francisco

[California Sky @CaliforniaSky]

Private equity deal shows just how far America’s legacy rocket industry has fallen - Ars Technica https://t.co/m14aqz0b0P

[X Freeze @XFreeze]

The Falcon 9 alone has now launched as many missions in a single year as NASA’s entire Space Shuttle program did in 30 years

- 135 SpaceX Falcon launches in 2025 (more expected by year-end)
- 135 NASA Space Shuttle launches over 30 years

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

BREAKING: SpaceX has announced that @Starlink now has over 7 million customers, up from 6M in June 2025 and 5M in Feb 2025.

Starlink added a record 12,200 new customers on average per day since they hit 6M. That growth rate is 23% higher than it was just 2.5 months ago!

[Dima Zeniuk @DimaZeniuk]

SpaceX Starship team deserves huge respect for what they're building

[Reinhard Kargl @TweetReinhard]

If this works out, SpaceX will have 2 launch sites for Starship (in Texas and Florida) and 2 for Falcon 9 (in Florida and California).

Falcon 9 has now flown 500 times without a loss. Being the world’s most reliable launch vehicle, it will remain operational for many more years.

[The California Rifleman @CaliforniaRifle]

Going where no man has gone before is what we do as Americans. We keep trying until one day we succeed.

Congratulations to @SpaceX, @elonmusk and all who worked on today’s phenomenal test flight! Go 🇺🇸🚀!

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

By far the most beautiful launch I’ve seen to date.

This is one of thousands of photos I captured across 7 cameras. I can’t wait to share more with you!

[John Kraus @johnkrausphotos]

STARSHIP IS BACK ON TRACK — With Flight 10, SpaceX has completed a fully successful Starship V2 mission, with the vehicle’s upper stage making an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean!

Onward.

[Starlink @Starlink]

Starlink satellites are designed, built, launched and operated from the United States to provide connectivity anywhere on the planet

[John Kraus @johnkrausphotos]

This is an incredibly cool video about @Starlink manufacturing - with so many views and insights we’ve not seen before. Built in the USA 🇺🇸- pretty awesome.

[SPACE.com @SPACEdotcom]

SpaceX scrubbed the planned 10th test flight of its Starship megarocket for the second day in a row today (Aug. 25), this time because of some uncooperative clouds. https://t.co/8bt18nT0xV

[Jay Keegan @_jaykeegan_]

Starship Flight 10 - Round 3 NET tomorrow, pending commodities.

Join @NASASpaceflight live on YouTube and X from T-9 hourStarship Flight 10 - Round 3 NET tomorrow, pending commodities.

Join @NASASpaceflight live on YouTube and X from T-9 hours

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Standing under Starship

[California Sky @CaliforniaSky]

SpaceX wants to launch Starship from Cape Canaveral. Elon Musk’s rivals are not pleased. - The Washington Post https://t.co/QceMPanomk