TechCrunch Space: A week that will go down in history

Welcome back to TechCrunch Space. During that same seven-day period, we watched the Boeing Starliner send astronauts into space for the primary time, after which saw these two astronauts dock with the International Space Station. We also saw SpaceX launch Starship for the fourth time in history after which take it back home. I feel I’m not the just one who thinks that this flight produced a number of the most spectacular images in the history of a rocket.

Let’s get to the news and more about these two historic stories below.

Story of the week

The story of the week is concerning the Boeing Starliner. After years of delays, roughly $1.5 billion in cost overruns, and ongoing technical problems (yes, ongoing…), the Starliner spacecraft delivered two astronauts to the ISS for the primary time. Of course, the mission is not over yet: After a few week on the station, each astronauts will re-board the Starliner and use it to return home. We all sit up for welcoming them.

Premiere of the week

SpaceX has once more shown that subjecting rocket equipment to real flight conditions brings advantages. During the most recent launch, the corporate achieved a key milestone in the Starship flight test campaign: bringing the booster and upper stage back to Earth in controlled ocean splashdowns. And I need to admit that the photos and videos from this premiere are absolutely…

What we read

Economist Pierre Lionnet took a more in-depth have a look at SpaceX’s funds (which in fact involves a whole lot of assumptions since their funds are private) and the way Falcon’s low launch costs are tied to Starlink’s profitability and will not be passed on to customers.