The first Starship to return to its launch site, Ship 40's journey took it across air, space, and sea. Now that it is vertical alongside three other Starships in a Megabay at Starbase, it will provide first-of-its-kind data on a flown Starship heatshield, Raptor engines, avionics, and more.
Constant communication is what makes autonomy like this safe. Early contact lets us take maneuvering responsibility, publish ephemeris faster than ground radar can catalog the object, and deorbit and keep commanding through demise if needed
We treat early communications as a requirement, not a nice-to-have
LIVE: Four new crew members are about to lift off for the @Space_Station! NASA's @SpaceX Crew-13 mission is scheduled to launch from the Space Coast at 11:10am ET (1510 UTC). https://t.co/92LvakU7tq
Roadster event update
We've been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we've made the difficult decision to reschedule.
New date is October 15. Additional details to follow