July 11, 2021

Dragon Splashes Down Off Florida Coast, Returning Experiments From the ISS (Source: SPACErePORT)
NASA and SpaceX brought a load of experiments and other material back to Earth from the ISS on Saturday morning. A Dragon capsule successfully dropped into the Gulf of Mexico near the “big bend” area of Florida, assisted by parachutes after a fiery re-entry. The Dragon and its experiment payloads were quickly retrieved by a SpaceX ship and the experiments were rushed to Kennedy Space Center for processing. (7/10)

SpaceX to Develop Raptor Engine Production Facility at Texas Engine Test Complex (Source: SPACErePORT)
Elon Musk announced via Twitter on Saturday that SpaceX will expand its McGregor Texas rocket engine testing complex to include Raptor engine production, with “super high volume” capacity for two to four engines per day. Musk said production of 800-1000 per year is needed over 10 years to support a self-sustaining city on Mars. The Mars city would be built over 20 years, by ~2050. The company’s existing Raptor production in California will continue to develop Raptor Vacuum engines and produce new experimental designs. (7/10)

Branson and Crew Ride Spaceship to Edge of Space, Keeping Virgin Galactic Alive (Sources: SPACErePORT, Daily Beast)
Virgin Group CEO Sir Richard Branson successfully rode his SpaceShip III spaceplane to an estimated altitude of 282,000 feet above sea level on Sunday morning, taking off and landing at New Mexico’s Spaceport America. This is believed to be the final test flight of the vehicle before paying passengers are carried aloft, possibly later this year, to experience three minutes of weightlessness and views of curve of the earth below and the darkness of space above. 

This flight will deliver more than a priceless publicity gift. It will be a turning point in Branson’s ability to raise the money needed to take the company closer to its declared goal of operating as many as 400 flights a year. For there will need to be many more rounds of fund raising to move from a few virtually hand-built prototypes to having the industrialized volume production needed to build a fleet. (7/11)