Awesome Spacex

Private space exploration company SpaceX has been launching rockets from Florida’s Cape Canaveral for more than a decade. Hazegrayart put together this captivating digital animation, which shows each launch attempt through the end of 2023, and does a great job demonstrating the increasing frequency of blast-offs. (Thanks, Frenk!)

Varda Space Industries shared this POV footage of its space capsule returning to Earth at speeds up to Mach 25. At first, we see the blackness of space, then the Earth appears, and the capsule generates sparks as it re-enters the atmosphere. The launch and reentry was a joint effort between Varda, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the FAA.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket can land back on Earth after lifting payloads into space. Project Horizon has now replicated this impressive engineering feat on a much smaller scale. It’s hard enough to keep a model rocket balanced as it launches, let alone being capable of a controlled descent like this. It took 32 test flights to get it right. Onboard footage here.

One of the big innovations to come out of SpaceX is the Falcon 9 rocket, which can return to earth and land on its tail end, making it much more reusable than other rockets. After years of research, planning, and trial-and-error, Joe Barnard from BPS.space built a model rocket that works much in the same way. (Thanks, Rob!)

This 3D-printed lamp from Vall3DP is based on the design of the SpaceX Starship prototype. It looks just like Elon Musk’s reusable rocket, complete with a fiery illuminated launch plume. It measures 11″ tall and comes with a wooden base that needs to be superglued on after shipment.

SpaceX shared this sped-up footage of its Falcon 9 rocket as it took its SAOCOM 1B satellite payload into polar orbit, then returned its first stage safely to Earth. It’s worth watching if only for the rhythmic sounds that the thrusters make as they pulse on and off.

Nominal is a unique pen with a design inspired by the retractable legs on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Each pen is made from 34 individual components, and is available in aluminum or stainless steel. A magnetic “crew cabin” slides off to reveal a black mother of pearl end cap, which can be monogrammed for a small fee.

Among its projects, SpaceX is working on Starship, a rocket which may someday help colonize Mars. In this test of Starship’s can-shaped SN5 test vehicle, the rocket launched from one pad, hovered at 500 feet, then landed on another, a process which could allow for quick exploration of distant sites across the red planet.

Filmmakers Ryan Chylinski and MaryLiz Bender used high-speed cameras to capture incredible imagery from the launches of various SpaceX rockets. The footage is part of a larger project called Guidance Internal: Lessons from Astronauts, which is currently raising production funds on Kickstarter.

LEGO Ideas members Valerie Roche and Matthew Nolan’s SpaceX Ultimate Collection consists of 1,583 pieces. It lets you build the Falcon 9, the Falcon Heavy and the launcher. It also comes with a cargo ship, the Dragon spacecraft and Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

Most of the footage of SpaceX’s rockets are shot from far away, with little to no context to their size. Corridor Crew thought it would be nice to stack them up next to buildings so we can appreciate just how amazing it is that these babies can land and be reused.

Elon Musk is often hailed as a visionary, and his companies Tesla and SpaceX are often looked upon favorably. But a decade ago, both companies were days away from going bankrupt, with no brilliant solution in sight. Of course, those wouldn’t be his only challenges.

The largest privately-built rocket successfully took flight from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying test cargo in the form of Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster into space. As exciting as the launch was, the dual rocket booster landing was simply stunning. Skip to 28:39

Elon Musk’s visionary concept would employ reusable rockets to launch passengers into space, around the globe at speeds up to 18,000 mph, and from NY to LA in 25 minutes. They’ll need to work out the landing kinks before this would possibly be safe for humans.