After repeated explosions, new test for Musk's megarocket / Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY - AFP/File
-
Stock market optimism returns after tech selloff but Wall Street wobbles
-
Clarke warns Scotland fans over sky-high World Cup prices
-
In Israel, Sydney attack casts shadow over Hanukkah
-
Son arrested after Rob Reiner and wife found dead: US media
-
Athletes to stay in pop-up cabins in the woods at Winter Olympics
-
England seek their own Bradman in bid for historic Ashes comeback
-
Decades after Bosman, football's transfer war rages on
-
Ukraine hails 'real progress' in Zelensky's talks with US envoys
-
Nobel winner Machado suffered vertebra fracture leaving Venezuela
-
Stock market optimism returns after tech sell-off
-
Iran Nobel winner unwell after 'violent' arrest: supporters
-
Police suspect murder in deaths of Hollywood giant Rob Reiner and wife
-
'Angry' Louvre workers' strike shuts out thousands of tourists
-
EU faces key summit on using Russian assets for Ukraine
-
Maresca committed to Chelsea despite outburst
-
Trapped, starving and afraid in besieged Sudan city
-
Showdown looms as EU-Mercosur deal nears finish line
-
Messi mania peaks in India's pollution-hit capital
-
Wales captains Morgan and Lake sign for Gloucester
-
Serbian minister indicted over Kushner-linked hotel plan
-
Eurovision 2026 will feature 35 countries: organisers
-
Cambodia says Thailand bombs province home to Angkor temples
-
US-Ukrainian talks resume in Berlin with territorial stakes unresolved
-
Small firms join charge to boost Europe's weapon supplies
-
Driver behind Liverpool football parade 'horror' warned of long jail term
-
German shipyard, rescued by the state, gets mega deal
-
Flash flood kills dozens in Morocco town
-
'We are angry': Louvre Museum closed as workers strike
-
Australia to toughen gun laws as it mourns deadly Bondi attack
-
Stocks diverge ahead of central bank calls, US data
-
Wales captain Morgan to join Gloucester
-
UK pop star Cliff Richard reveals prostate cancer treatment
-
Mariah Carey to headline Winter Olympics opening ceremony
-
Indonesia to revoke 22 forestry permits after deadly floods
-
Louvre Museum closed as workers strike
-
Spain fines Airbnb 64 mn euros for posting banned properties
-
Japan's only two pandas to be sent back to China
-
Zelensky, US envoys to push on with Ukraine talks in Berlin
-
Australia to toughen gun laws after deadly Bondi shootings
-
Lyon poised to bounce back after surprise Brisbane omission
-
Australia defends record on antisemitism after Bondi Beach attack
-
US police probe deaths of director Rob Reiner, wife as 'apparent homicide'
-
'Terrified' Sydney man misidentified as Bondi shooter
-
Cambodia says Thai air strikes hit home province of heritage temples
-
EU-Mercosur trade deal faces bumpy ride to finish line
-
Inside the mind of Tolkien illustrator John Howe
-
Mbeumo faces double Cameroon challenge at AFCON
-
Tongue replaces Atkinson in only England change for third Ashes Test
-
England's Brook vows to rein it in after 'shocking' Ashes shots
-
Bondi Beach gunmen had possible Islamic State links, says ABC
NYSE - LSE
| RYCEF | 2.01% | 14.9 | $ | |
| RBGPF | -4.49% | 77.68 | $ | |
| CMSC | 0.02% | 23.305 | $ | |
| SCS | 0.12% | 16.14 | $ | |
| BCC | -1.23% | 75.58 | $ | |
| CMSD | 0.26% | 23.31 | $ | |
| GSK | 0.65% | 49.13 | $ | |
| NGG | 0.9% | 75.61 | $ | |
| RIO | -0.25% | 75.473 | $ | |
| BCE | 0.77% | 23.575 | $ | |
| AZN | 1.39% | 91.1 | $ | |
| JRI | 0.17% | 13.59 | $ | |
| RELX | 1.82% | 41.13 | $ | |
| VOD | 1.22% | 12.745 | $ | |
| BTI | 0.76% | 57.535 | $ | |
| BP | -0.38% | 35.125 | $ |
After repeated explosions, new test for Musk's megarocket
Elon Musk's SpaceX announced Friday that its Starship megarocket is scheduled to blast off on a new test flight next weekend after recent attempts have ended in fiery explosions.
The biggest and most powerful launch vehicle in history is planned to return Americans to the Moon -- and is central to the dreams of colonizing Mars envisioned by Musk, the world's richest person.
But repeated explosions that sent debris raining down over Caribbean islands and disrupted flights have piled pressure onto SpaceX to pull off a smoother trial run.
The rocket's 10th test flight is set to launch as soon as August 24 from the company's Starbase facility in Texas, SpaceX said on its website.
During two test flights earlier this year, the rocket's upper stage -- which is the spacecraft intended to carry crew and cargo -- erupted in fiery cascades not long after launch.
Starship managed to make it to space during the last test in late May, however it then blew up when a fuel leak caused it to lose control.
The rocket's propulsion system was also supposed to execute a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico -- but it disintegrated before reaching the water.
Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, the black-and-white behemoth is designed to eventually be fully reusable and launch at relatively low cost.
SpaceX has been betting that its "fail fast, learn fast" ethos -- which helped it dominate commercial spaceflight -- will once again pay off.
But the latest string of setbacks, which also includes an explosion during a routine ground test in June, has raised serious questions about Starship's progress.
Musk -- who is known for making extremely ambitious proposals -- maintains that the rocket will launch its first uncrewed missions to Mars next year.
SpaceX has also been sharply criticized over the impact its launches have on people and the environment near where its rockets blast off.
In June, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened to sue SpaceX over falling debris and contamination from its launches.
More Starship tests are expected in the coming months, however, after the US aviation regulator approved the number of its annual launches increasing from five to 25.
A.Ruiz--AT
