:

Space

SpaceX Aims To Begin Flight Tests Of New Mars Rocket In First Half Of 2019, Musk Says

By Marc Selinger

Monday, March 12th, 2018

SHARE:

SpaceX Aims To Begin Flight Tests Of New Mars Rocket In First Half Of 2019, Musk Says

Falcon Heavy lifts off from Florida during its first flight Feb. 6, 2018. (Photo: SpaceX)

The Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which SpaceX is developing to colonize Mars, is on a path to begin flight tests in the first half of 2019, according to company founder Elon Musk.Initial tests will probably be short up-and-down flights, Musk said March 11 at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. Musk acknowledged that the test schedule could change.“I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the timeline, although … people have told me that my timelines historically have been optimistic,” Musk said. “So…

Budget

Hegseth Pushes For Reconciliation With At Least $350 Billion For Defense ‘Regardless’ Of Midterms Outcome

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the Trump administration plans to continue its push for at least $350 billion in defense funds via the reconciliation process “regardless of what happens […]

Congress

Bipartisan Push in Senate to Hasten Export of 155 mm, GMLRS, HIMARS for Ukraine

A small, bipartisan group of senators is backing the Fast Tracking European Investment in Ukraine’s Defense Act, S. 5175, to hasten the export of allied buys of U.S. munitions for […]

Congress

Rep. Himes Signals Increased Contractor Oversight, if Democrats Win House

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, plans to increase the committee’s contractor oversight if the Democrats win control of the House […]

Congress

CBO Estimates Loss of One-Half to Two-Thirds of U.S. Missile Interceptors Since June Last Year

A new Congressional Budget Office report estimates the cost of the Iran war through Aug. 1 as $38 billion and says that the U.S. has likely depleted between one-half and […]