Max Q: SpaceX’s mega-rocket for the moon and Mars goes farther than ever before

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! What an incredible weekend, folks. And no, I’m not talking about the OpenAI drama. If you’re a subscriber to Max Q, you know exactly what I’m referring to — STARSHIP. My jaw was on the floor the entire time.

In this issue:

  • More on Starship’s second launch
  • News from Blackshark.ai and more

SpaceX launches Starship for the second time, going farther than ever before

SpaceX flew Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, for the second time today — and even though both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage had to be blown up in mid-air, it was still a huge success for the company best known for taking a rapidly iterative approach to hardware development.

Rewatch the launch here:

More news from across TC

  • Blackshark.ai has already made a digital twin of the Earth, and its next play further democratizes the hitherto lofty (if you will) world of geospatial intelligence.
  • ispace will make its second attempt at putting a lander on the moon in the fourth quarter of 2024, just about two years after it launched its first failed mission.
  • Morpheus Space unveiled its first software product, a mission simulation and design platform called Journey.
  • World View was poised to go public, but the SPAC behind the deal is now under official deadline as shareholders voted to again push back the date by which it must complete the deal. (Update: On Sunday World View announced it was cancelling the SPAC deal altogether.)

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