Ended up being a beautiful day.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Falcon Heavy’s side boosters land on Landing Zones 1 and 2 <a href="https://t.co/5RDbTGNnSq">pic.twitter.com/5RDbTGNnSq</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1805716646969196920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wait for it... (sonic boom warning)<br>This is what it would be like to stand next to Falcon Heavy boosters coming in for a landing 🎥 <a href="https://t.co/EOkMEcRQiz">pic.twitter.com/EOkMEcRQiz</a></p>&mdash; Cosmic Perspective (@considercosmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/considercosmos/status/1805331321406775647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Amazing shot of the boost back:

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Some shots from this morning at Starbase. Segments of the second Orbital Launch Integration Tower prepped at the production site, ahead of their final destination at the Starship Orbital Launch pad a few miles down Highway 4.
New mural along Highway 4 route to Starbase, based on infamous, shitty Elon sketch:

China won't be headed to space with this particular rocket.

Chinese rocket crashes after accidental launch during ground test

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/...,c_fill/f_webp

A Chinese rocket crashed after being accidentally launched during a ground test Sunday, its company Space Pioneer said in a statement.

The crash happened when the first stage of the Tianlong-3 rocket detached from its launch pad during a test, due to structural failure. It landed in a hilly area of the city of Gongyi in central China.

“Due to the structural failure of the connection between the rocket body and the test platform, the first-stage rocket was separated from the launch pad,” Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology, said.

“After liftoff, the onboard computer was automatically shut down, and the rocket fell into the deep mountains 1.5 kilometers [0.9 miles] southwest of the test platform. The rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated.”

There were no injuries as a result of the crash, the company said, as people in the area were evacuated in advance of the rocket test.

Space Pioneer, a leading company in the commercial rocket sphere, specializes in liquid-propellant rockets.

In April 2023, it successfully launched its Tianlong-2 rocket, making the company China’s first commercial launch operator to send a liquid carrier rocket into space and successfully enter orbit, according to state media.

Tianlong-3, the rocket that crashed on Sunday, is a large liquid carrier rocket. It was made to help construct China’s satellite internet network.

The rocket’s product performance is comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, according to Space Pioneer, adding that it will be capable of launching the rocket over 30 times per year after the rocket’s first successful flight.

The accident comes just days after China’s Chang’e-6 lunar module returned to Earth from space, where it collected the first ever samples from the far side of the moon.

The mission was a key milestone in China’s “eternal dream” – as articulated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping – to establish the country as a dominant space power and comes as a number of countries, including the United States, also ramp up their own lunar exploration programs.

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LOL oopsies

Barely a week ago they did this...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> dropped another booster stage full of hypergolics on a local village. Debris from a Long March 2C rocket that fell on a village in China today.<br><br>They give literally a shit on his own people&#39;s safety. <a href="https://t.co/WI6MsS36cT">pic.twitter.com/WI6MsS36cT</a></p>&mdash; Asgard Intel 🛡️ WW3.INFO (@AsgardIntel) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsgardIntel/status/1804852930639511792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yikes. Imagine the backlash if something like that happened here.

Despite not bothering to do a Starship pre-Flight 4 hype video (much to my chagrin!), SpaceX did just release a post-Flight 4 highlight video...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The fourth flight of Starship brought us closer to a rapidly reusable future <a href="https://t.co/maSky0Rsjy">pic.twitter.com/maSky0Rsjy</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1808900954730942940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

...and even remembered their YouTube password.

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"Flight 5 in 4 weeks," Musk said Friday (July 5) via X, the social media platform he owns.

Flight 5 will feature an exciting new twist, if all goes according to plan: SpaceX has said it aims to bring the giant booster back for a pinpoint landing on Starbase's launch mount, an effort that will be aided by the "chopstick" arms of the facility's launch tower.

This bold strategy will increase Starship's flight cadence, allowing the booster to be inspected, refurbished and relaunched more rapidly, Musk has said.

Boeing get them space travelers back yet?

Well, SpaceX's success streak ends at 334 launches. That's a crazy good streak, but it still sucks. We'll see how quickly they can move through the investigation and get launching again. It'll almost certainly delay things for a little bit at least.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit.<br><br>SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them…</p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1811635860481454487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;The FAA is requiring an investigation&quot; of the Starlink 9-3 mission inflight failure, the agency says in a statement: <a href="https://t.co/CaV6vZVXjz">https://t.co/CaV6vZVXjz</a> <a href="https://t.co/uoD2weFIk1">pic.twitter.com/uoD2weFIk1</a></p>&mdash; Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) <a href="https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1811769334529950072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Footage of Starlink sats reentering: (and probably Stage 2 as well) <a href="https://t.co/8njxBV2i6k">https://t.co/8njxBV2i6k</a></p>&mdash; Florida Man (@FLman747) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLman747/status/1812184724569252196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Starship Flight 5 booster testing underway, static fire likely in about 1 hour:

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Photos from static fire <a href="https://t.co/WZMVwklWtO">pic.twitter.com/WZMVwklWtO</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1812922455062945942?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>