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SpaceX is continuing Texas’ legacy as the center of space travel. Here’s what to know

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SpaceX is continuing Texas’ legacy as the center of space travel. Here’s what to know

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston provides one of the many iconic aspects of Texas’ identity, but in recent years the government’s aerospace agency has taken a step back and encouraged private companies to push space exploration further. One of the winners of this new approach was SpaceX. So far, the company, helmed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has received upwards of $2 billion from the government to test new technologies. 

While NASA has scaled back operations, Texas is still center stage as Boca Chica has served as the test site for several Space X launches. The latest took place June 6 and was a resounding success.

Here’s everything you need to know about the latest launch:

How did the latest Starship launch go?

By all accounts, this launch was a resounding success for SpaceX and Starship, its flagship development. Starship is intended for repeated space exploration and for cargo or passenger flights. When perfected, SpaceX says, it will be able to carry up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights.

After its successful launch June 6, Starship flew a full test mission around the planet before heading back for landing. In past flights, the landing has plagued Starship operations, and it was a source of stress ahead of this launch. 

This time, the craft landed successfully in the Indian Ocean, a significant milestone for Musk and SpaceX. According to the company, damage suffered by the craft was to black tiles that came off as the ship reentered the atmosphere — but that was expected. 

“Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” Musk said in a social media post.

Previous SpaceX launches have not been as successful

The first Starship launch was in April 2023. The party didn’t last long, however, as the spacecraft encountered issues only 24 miles above the Gulf of Mexico when leaking propellant caused a fire in the Super Heavy booster, according to SpaceX.

This malfunction resulted in SpaceX losing communication with the spacecraft, and later the craft itself went out of control. The Autonomous Flight Safety System took over, and it detonated the craft in less than four minutes.

In November, Starship took flight again, reaching space for the first time, according to the SpaceX website. However, it encountered issues with its liquid oxygen supply during the flight. One engine failed, and the vehicle ignited into flames.

According to the SpaceX website, the failure was “determined to be filter blockage where liquid oxygen is supplied to the engines, leading to a loss of inlet pressure in engine oxidizer pumps that eventually resulted in one engine failing in a way that resulted in the loss of the vehicle.”

SpaceX the center of multiple controversies

On Wednesday, SpaceX and Musk were sued by eight engineers who say they were illegally fired for raising concerns about allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against women.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles claims that Musk’s conduct cultivated a “pervasively sexist culture” at SpaceX in which female engineers were often subjected to sexist comments and harassment. The lawsuit also claims that, when brought forward, the women’s concerns about workplace culture were ignored.

That is not the only claim SpaceX is facing. In December, a handful of environmental groups logged an additional complaint about the environmental impacts of Starship launches from Starbase, the company’s facility at Boca Chica in far South Texas, with the Federal Aviation Administration. The groups initially filed a suit against the FAA shortly after the first Starship launch in April of last year, SpaceNews reported.

Brandi D. Addison of USA TODAY contributed to this report

Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.

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