Hello and welcome to TechCrunch Space. what a week! In that same seven-day period, we saw Boeing’s Starliner send astronauts into space for the first time, and then we saw those two astronauts dock with the International Space Station. And we also saw SpaceX launch Starship for the fourth time — and then bring it back home. I imagine I’m not the only one who thinks some of the most spectacular photos in the history of rocketry were created during that flight.
Let’s get to the news, and below are more details about these two historic stories.
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Story of the Week
This week’s story is Boeing’s Starliner. After years of delays, a cost overrun of nearly $1.5 billion, and ongoing technical problems (yes, ongoing…), the Starliner spacecraft is finally ready for launch. For the first time, two astronauts were transported to the ISS. Of course, the mission is not over yet: After about a week on the station, the two astronauts will reboard the Starliner and use it to fly back home. We will all be eager to welcome them back.
Launching the week
SpaceX has once again shown that rocket hardware benefits from being used in a real-world flight environment. In its latest launch, the company achieved a significant milestone in its Starship flight test campaign: returning the booster and upper stage back to Earth in a controlled sea splashdown. And I have to say, the images and video from this launch are absolutely spectacular Mind blowing,
what are we reading
Economist Pierre Lionnet A closer look at SpaceX’s financials (which involves a lot of assumptions, obviously, since their financial details are private), and how lower launch costs for Falcon are tied to Starlink profitability — and may not be passed on to customers.
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