SpaceX Alumni Have Collectively Formed More Than 100 New Startups

Falcon 9 lifiting off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in 2023.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying the NASA Psyche mission to orbit in 2023.
Photo: ©2023 TJ Waller / Florida Media Now.

Innovation is foundational at SpaceX, the California-based company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Not only has the company written a veritable laundry list of firsts, bests and mosts, it has also served as a cradle for former employees to start their own high-tech firms. Several SpaceX alumni startups are prospering, while others are still developing products and preparing to enter the marketplace.

Launch Alert: Starlink 6-34 Set To Launch Tonight

A SpaceX Falcon 9 stands on Pad 40 in this File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 stands on Pad 40 before a launch earlier this year. Photo: Richard Gallagher/FMN

Space X’s weather-delayed Starlink mission is set to launch tonight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Pad 40. Weather may still be a problem.

The Mission At A Glance
  • Launch Window: 11:00 PM – 3:31AM EST
  • Pad: 40, Cape Canaveral SFS
  • Mission: Starlink 6-34
  • Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
  • Booster Return: Drone Ship – A Shortfall of Gravitas
  • Launch Weather Forecast: 60% Go

Vulcan Completes Wet Dress Rehearsal

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Certification-1 (Cert-1) rocket sits atop Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced that the Wet Dress Rehearsal of the company’s new Vulcan booster was completed successfully on December 12, clearing the way for the rocket’s inaugural launch on Jan 8, 2024.

On Track for a Double Header – NOT! –Updated Again

FMN Photos by Mark Stone and Charles Boyer

UPDATE #2 : The USSF-52 launch has now been pushed to Wednesday night, the 13th. Weather forecast is not good, so stay on top of this one! Starlink still on for tonight…for now.

UPDATE: after a disappointing “Double Scrub” on the 11th, both launches have been rescheduled for same times tonight, Dec. 12th. Weather for the Falcon Heavy is 80% “go”, and 65% “go” for the Starlink mission, according to the SLD-45 Weather Squadron’s latest forecast.