{"id":440794,"date":"2026-05-23T00:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/440794\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T00:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:12:10","slug":"live-updates-scaled-up-spacex-starship-megarocket-splashes-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/440794\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: Scaled-up SpaceX Starship megarocket splashes down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASA<\/p>\n

\n NASA watchdogs have raised concerns about Starship\u2019s complexity and the daunting technical risks associated with using the vehicle for a moon landing \u201cgiven its intricate operational design, complex concept of operations, and challenges during their ongoing flight test program,\u201d according to a recently published report <\/a>by NASA\u2019s independent safety advisory group, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.\n <\/p>\n

\n Another report from NASA\u2019s Inspector General notes that \u201cgaps exist\u201d in the \u201ctesting posture and crew survival analyses\u201d of Starship.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf the landers encounter a catastrophic event, NASA knows it would not have the capability to rescue stranded astronauts from space or the lunar surface,\u201d the report<\/a> noted.\n <\/p>\n

\n SpaceX has not directly responded to the reports.\n <\/p>\n

\n But in an October 2025 statement, the company said this:\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTo return Americans to the Moon, SpaceX aligned Starship development along two paths: development of the core Starship system and supporting infrastructure, including production facilities, test facilities, and launch sites \u2014 which SpaceX is self-funding representing over 90% of system costs \u2014 and development of the HLS-specific Starship configuration, which leverages and modifies the core vehicle capability to support NASA\u2019s requirements for landing crew on and returning them from the Moon.\n <\/p>\n

\n SpaceX is working under contracts worth up to about $4 billion with NASA, and the company has highlighted that the deal is \u201cfixed-price,\u201d meaning SpaceX doesn\u2019t get more money if it lags behind or development doesn\u2019t go as intended.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA watchdogs have raised concerns about Starship\u2019s complexity and the daunting technical risks associated with using the vehicle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-440794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}