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The pad and surrounding area were cordoned off well in advance of the test, SpaceX said. [1/7] SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, explodes after its launch from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on a brief uncrewed test flight near Brownsville, Texas, U.S., April 20, 2023. "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch," he tweeted. Still even a textbook test flight would have by design ended with crash landings of both portions of the spacecraft at sea.

The steep drop in fresh capital has left many companies in a vulnerable state, while the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, a leading provider of venture debt, has added to the challenge, a report by venture capital (VC) firm Space Capital said on Thursday. Space Capital's report, coming on the heels of a Chapter 11 filing from Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc, tracked 89 companies active in the sector. The risk threshold to invest in space companies was much higher earlier, but given recent market uncertainty, investors may not be as risk-loving and space being a nascent sector, many are dialing back, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu told Reuters separately. However, Space Capital added that companies in emerging industries, like those associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Artemis mission to the Moon are seeing an increased interest. Reuters GraphicsReporting by Akash Sriram and Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Space fans walk the dunes as workers prepare the SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket as they attempt to schedule another launch launch from Starbase after it was scrubbed on April 17, 2023. SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Elon Musk's SpaceX is again attempting to launch of its towering Starship rocket to space after scrubbing an attempt earlier this week. The Starship orbital launch, out of a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast, represents the culmination of years of regulatory work and technological tests. The company had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but faced delays in development and in winning FAA approval, which came late Friday. Watch SpaceX's live stream below and follow along for live updates out of South Texas.

REUTERS/Go NakamuraBOCA CHICA, Texas, April 20 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX aimed on Thursday to launch the company's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket for the first time, on a highly anticipated but brief uncrewed test flight from the Gulf Coast of Texas. A successful flight would instantly rank the Starship system as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth. In February, SpaceX conducted a test-firing of the Super Heavy, igniting 31 of its 33 engines for roughly 10 seconds with the rocket bolted in place vertically atop a platform. The Federal Aviation Administration last Friday granted a license for the first test flight of the fully stacked rocket system, clearing a final regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited launch. After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf.

☆ Analysis: Investors seek to break through Japan Inc's 'value trap'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Corporate governance in Japan has suddenly become a cause celebre, rousing the world's third-largest stock market out of decades of lethargy and drawing in hordes of foreign investors. Japan's stock market has long been seen by investors as a 'value trap' where companies focus on market share, hoard cash and care little about shareholder returns. What has prompted investors globally to sit up and take notice is an endorsement from legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The MSCI Japan Value index (.dMIJP0000VPUS) is up 9% since August 2020 versus a 9% drop for the MSCI Japan growth index (.dMIJP0000GPUS). "I think the value trap that was Japan is no longer."

NASA chief Bill Nelson tweeted: "Congrats to @SpaceX on Starship’s first integrated flight test! Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test — and beyond." Musk, the founder, chief executive and chief engineer of SpaceX, said on Twitter that the next Starship test launch would be "in a few months." "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," he tweeted.

☆ Live Updates: SpaceX Prepares Again to Launch Starship Rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

PinnedSpaceX’s first attempt on Monday to launch Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, was called off. During a livestream for a different SpaceX launch on Wednesday, the company noted that another Starship postponement was possible. Credit... Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWhy didn’t Starship launch on Monday? Splashdown Near Hawaii Launch SpaceX Starbase Boca Chica, TexasStarship is designed to be entirely reusable. About eight minutes after the launch on Thursday, the Super Heavy booster will splash into the Gulf of Mexico.

Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX on an "exciting" Starship launch after the prized rocket exploded. Musk had given the rocket launch a 50% chance of success, guaranteeing "excitement." "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!" Musk was expecting the launch to be spectacularMusk had previously hinted the launch had a one-in-two chance of ending in an explosion. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX with the goal of making spaceflight cheap enough to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.

[1/5] A full-sized humanoid robot named ARTEMIS is shown at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, where mechanical engineering students developed a first of its kind robot in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 13, 2023. Standing at 4 feet, 8 inches tall (142 centimeters) and weighing 85 pounds (38 kg), ARTEMIS is a first-of-its-kind robot that University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) mechanical engineers developed, and it is ready for the pitch. ARTEMIS’ actuators are also unique in that they are electrically driven, rather than controlled by hydraulics. RoMeLa student Justin Quan said his personal goal is engineering robots that improve people's lives. "Seeing these robots helping push the robot technology to that next level is really rewarding because you're like, oh, the dream, it gets closer," he said.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Elon Musk's SpaceX is attempting to launch its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time Monday from a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast. SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, but delays in development and FAA approval pushed back the timeline. Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA's plan to return astronauts to the moon. Two years ago, SpaceX won a nearly $3 billion contract from NASA to use Starship as a crewed lunar lander. Watch the run-up to the launch below and follow along for live updates from South Texas.

BOCA CHICA, Texas, April 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX called off the highly anticipated debut launch of its newly-combined Starship cruise vessel and Super Heavy rocket in the final minutes of countdown due to a frozen valve, delaying the uncrewed test flight for at least two days. But the California-based space company announced in a live webcast that it was scrubbing the planned 90-minute flight into space for a minimum of 48 hours, citing a frozen pressurization valve in the lower-stage rocket booster. A successful debut flight would also instantly rank the Starship system as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth. But neither stage would be recovered for the expendable first test flight to space. After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.

☆ Elon Musk holds the keys to the moon because SpaceX's Starship megarocket launch is crucial to NASA's return
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The rocket, which NASA has tagged for upcoming missions, is crucial to NASA's return to the moon. The highly anticipated Starship launch will determine whether NASA's Artemis moon program is on track for success. NASA's SLS relies on Starship for the moon landingA Starship prototype being launched. NASA's SLS rocket, by contrast, has a high price tag for the taxpayer: The project has cost $50 billion in development since the program's inception in 2006. All of this makes NASA's SLS a poor competitor to SpaceX's shiny new rocket.

☆ China could start building a moon base with lunar-soil bricks in 5 years, amid NASA fears of a moon territory dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China could be ready to start building its lunar base within five years, scientists said. China has made major strides in space exploration, recently launching its own crewed space station. "We will be using real moon soil to make the first brick right there on the moon," he added, per SCMP. These could be used to make habitats on the moon using traditional Chinese building techniques, he said. The agency wants to build its own station orbiting the moon, as well as an Artemis lunar base.

☆ Elon Musk's $1 million Twitter bounty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's $1 million bounty. Twitter CEO Elon Musk has some kind of bounty out for whomever is behind the botnets that he says target certain users and suppresses the reach of their tweets. Million dollar bounty if convicted" in response to a Twitter user who claimed that botnets "silence" certain accounts. Musk and the user were referring to a thread where another user analyzed Twitter's recently open-sourced algorithm. Twitter users called attention to the difficulty in seeing direct messages that mention "gay", "queer", and "trans."

☆ NASA Names Artemis II Crew for Mission to Fly by Moon in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency selected four astronauts to fly around the moon on a mission that would take people deep into space for the first time in decades. Americans Christina Koch , Victor Glover , and Reid Wiseman , and Canadian Jeremy Hansen , are the quartet chosen for the flight, officials from the two agencies said.

☆ NASA has flown 24 white American men to the moon. Now it's finally sending a woman, a Black astronaut, and a Canadian.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But the next mission, Artemis III, is set to drop two astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA/Ben SmegelskyNASA has promised that the following mission, Artemis III, will land a woman and a person of color on the moon for the first time ever. Those will be the first boots on the lunar surface since the last Apollo moon landing, in 1972. The agency is also working with SpaceX to turn the company's Starship into a lunar lander for the Artemis III moon touchdown. "We need to celebrate this moment in human history, because Artemis II is more than a mission to the moon and back.

☆ NASA unveils the four astronauts who will fly on the Artemis 2 mission around the moon in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, center, stands with the crew of the Artemis II mission, from left: Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday announced the four astronauts who will fly on the agency's upcoming mission around the moon, currently scheduled for late 2024. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I mission, which completed a nearly month-long journey around the moon late last year. The Artemis II mission will launch on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion capsule carrying the astronauts on a 10-day journey to the moon and back. While Artemis II won't land on the moon, it will make a near pass above the surface and demonstrate the Orion spacecraft's ability to transport people safely.

☆ NASA to announce astronauts chosen for Artemis II lunar flyby mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] People gather ahead of an event of NASA to announce the crew of the Artemis II space mission to the moon and back in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Go NakamuraApril 3 (Reuters) - NASA plans on Monday to introduce the four astronauts for its Artemis II lunar flyby mission, set for launch as early as next year in what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon since the end of the Apollo era more than 50 years ago. The newly introduced crew will include the first Canadian astronaut for a moon mission, as well as three Americans from a pool of 18 NASA astronauts - nine women and nine men - selected for the Artemis program in 2020. They were the last of 12 NASA astronauts who walked on the moon during six Apollo missions starting in 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. If Artemis II is a success, NASA plans to follow up a few years later with the programs' first lunar landing of astronauts, one of them a woman, on Artemis III, then continue with additional crewed missions about once a year.

☆ Former fighter pilot to be first Canadian to fly to the moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, April 3 (Reuters) - NASA on Monday said Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will join a lunar flyby mission expected to take off for the moon in 2024 as part of an expedition that will make the former fighter pilot the first Canadian to explore beyond earth's orbit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Quebec, said he was extraordinarily excited for Hansen. The mission, Artemis II, will also include the first woman, Christina Koch, and the first African American, Victor Glover, ever assigned as astronauts to a lunar mission. He served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force between 2004 and 2009, before being picked for an astronaut recruitment program by the Canadian Space Agency. The crew members were announced by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency at an event near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

But after a two-week storm which had analysts and investors rushing to rework their spreadsheets, the outlook is clouded. And the ructions have left the gap between the ratios of European and U.S. banks at its narrowest since September 2017. Reflecting concerns over the stability of the sector, bank shares are set for an almost 15% monthly drop in March, after five consecutive months of gains. European bank earnings growth expectations'UNLIKELY TO BUY'Other investors see pressure on European bank earnings as they anticipate the euro zone economy will slow down. Also in the calculation mix is the ECB's campaign to raise interest rates to tackle rising inflation, which had previously been a boon for euro zone lenders.

☆ 4G internet is set to arrive on the moon later this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Nokia hopes to install a data network on the moon sometime in 2023, an executive told reporters. Nokia is preparing to launch a 4G mobile network on the moon later this year, in the hopes of enhancing lunar discoveries — and eventually paving the path for human presence on the satellite planet. The network will be powered by an antenna-equipped base station stored in a Nova-C lunar lander designed by U.S. space firm Intuitive Machines, as well as by an accompanying solar-powered rover. The infrastructure will land on the Shackleton crater, which lies along the southern limb of the moon. Nokia says the technology is designed to withstand the extreme conditions of space.

☆ Don't let NASA fool you: The next astronauts on the moon will not be wearing black spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA and Axiom Space revealed a new spacesuit for the Artemis moon missions last week. The spacesuit is black, but astronauts have to wear white when they're on the lunar surface. Axiom Space chief engineer Jim Stein shows off the prototype spacesuit in Houston on March 15, 2023. Astronauts can't wear black on the moonThe Apollo moon suits were white for a reason. Axiom's spacesuit prototype looks cool, but we're waiting for the version that will go to the moon.

☆ NASA’s New Artemis Spacesuits Are Designed to Put a Woman on the Moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration unveiled its next generation of spacesuits, and this time they have been designed without just men in mind. The prototype suits, which NASA says have been developed by Axiom Space Inc. for moonwalkers on the Artemis III mission currently planned for 2025, takes a major departure from the kit featured on earlier missions.

NASA unveiled the suit astronauts will wear during the 2025 Artemis III moon mission. The new Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit was developed by private company Axiom Space. NASA gave astronauts their first operational spacesuits in the early 1960s. The space agency just unveiled a new fit for the occasion, developed by private company Axiom Space. From the silvery suits of the Mercury program to Elon Musk's sleek Crew Dragon suits, here's how astronauts' spacesuits have evolved over six decades.

☆ Axiom unveils spacesuits for NASA's upcoming Artemis moon missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chief Engineer Jim Stein wears the new spacesuit during the Axiom Space Artemis III Lunar Spacesuit event at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 2023. "We're pleased that humanity's next steps on the moon are going to be in an Axiom spacesuit," Suffredini added. NASA's Artemis program represents a series of missions with escalating goals. In addition to Axiom, NASA also awarded a contract to Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon , to build next-generation spacesuits. Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services program, NASA expects to provide up to $3.5 billion for spacesuits through 2034.

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