About a month ago, SpaceX pulled off a first hop test for one of its Starship prototypes, and now it has repeated the feat. SN6 looks a lot like its predecessor SN5, with both missing a nose cone and fins, which makes them resemble a rocket-powered silo rising about 500 feet above the ground. In a tweet Elon Musk — who called a previous prototype a flying water tower — tweeted “Turns out you can make anything fly haha.”

Second 150m flight test of Starship pic.twitter.com/ROa0kQZXLI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2020

Video of the event in Boca Chica, TX has been captured both by outside observers and SpaceX itself, which also provides some camera angles captured from the vehicle itself. After some short hops, Musk has said the next step will be to apply the missing flaps and attempt high altitude tests. The plan is for its Starship to eventually be capable of multiple flights in a day, possibly launching from spaceports at sea, but we’re not quite there yet.

Almost a year after we saw SpaceX’s ‘Starhopper’ test vehicle make a short trip into the air, the company has successfully flown and landed a full-size Starship prototype. The SN5 vehicle is missing its nose cone, so it’s a bit like a taller “flying water tower” just like the earlier test rig, but it went up and down from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, TX launch pad all the same.

You can watch the NASASpaceflight YouTube stream that captured the event (start at about 1:14), and see the single Raptor engine-powered hop, that took SN5 about 150 meters into the air. According to Elon Musk, the next steps include several more short hops before going “high altitude” with body flaps attached. That makes SpaceX two for two on the week, after safely returning two astronauts from the ISS aboard its Crew Dragon vehicle, and is a notable step forward for reusable spacecraft.

Elon Musk’s hopes for Starship to reach orbit before this spring didn’t quite pan out, but a recent test firing has the SpaceX CEO expecting to see the company’s new vehicle take flight shortly. On Thursday he tweeted that its new SN5 build completed a full duration static fire, and said a 150m test hop will happen “soon.” Of course, ten days ago he said there would be a flight attempt within a week, but they are making progress.

Starship SN5 just completed full duration static fire. 150m hop soon.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2020

Last August we saw SpaceX’s Starhopper test vehicle complete a 150m Raptor-powered “bounce” and sooner or later the actual Starship will make a similar test flight. The company has continued to iterate on its design and pressure test prototypes — we remember SN4’s end — as it moves closer to actual flight. If there’s any information on a webcast of the event, we’ll let you know. Even with the Crew Dragon scheduled for a return this weekend, SpaceX’s priority is the Starship project.

This afternoon NASA astronauts will take off from US soil for the first time since NASA’s space shuttle program ended in 2011. The launch is historic for another reason too. It will be the first time NASA launches astronauts in a SpaceX spacecraft, and it marks the beginning of what could be many crewed missions NASA astronauts will complete via SpaceX.

You can watch the launch via the NASA Live feed. It’s scheduled for 4:33PM ET, with pre- and post-launch coverage, including the national anthem sung by Kelly Clarkson.

Virgin Orbit is finally ready to try a proper launch demo. The spaceflight outfit now expects the launch demo mission to take place on either May 24th or May 25th between 1PM and 5PM Eastern each day. If there’s enough of a launch window, the Cosmic Girl carrier aircraft will release LauncherOne over the Pacific, where the rocket will fire its engine in mid-air for the first time. It will sustain that flight for as long as possible and deploy a payload in orbit if successful, Virgin said.

The company is aware this is risky. No one has previously lit a liquid-fuelled rocket in a horizontal position at a 50-mile attitude — this could go well, or it could go spectacularly wrong.

The aircraft’s proportions are made possible in no small part due to the massive GE9X engines that each put out about 100,000 pounds of thrust. Boeing is also touting 10 percent better fuel efficiency than “the competition,” which includes aircraft like the Airbus A350-1000. The 777X series won’t have trouble carrying passengers, with the 777-8 hauling 384 people and the 777-9 handling 426. Airbus’ rival machines carry between 350 and 410 people.

The 777X doesn’t go into service until 2021, when Emirates and other airlines start receiving their aircraft. There will be plenty of tests in between, though. Boeing has three other test aircraft, and it’s planning a “comprehensive” series of tests both in the air and on the ground. The company is clearly aware of its tarnished safety image in light of deadly 737 Max crashes, and it wants to reassure everyone that behemoths like the 777X are safe before they start taking everyday travellers.

Volocopter is one of the first flying taxi companies to integrate into air traffic control systems, but others aren’t too far behind. As Engadget’s Andrew Tarantola wrote, more than 70 companies are currently developing their own personal flying vehicles. Uber, in particular, has invested heavily. And the demonstration at Helsinki Airport isn’t just good news for Volocopter. It also speaks to the fact that multiple air traffic systems are ready to safely manage air taxis and their interactions with traditional aircraft.

Earlier this month, Volocopter revealed the designs for its first commercial autonomous flying taxi. The company previously said it hopes to have air taxis in the sky by 2023, but it will have to build take-off and landing infrastructure and integrate with air traffic management systems. Yesterday’s successful test flights demonstrated that Volocopter is at least ready to do the latter.

While NASA and Boeing once said they’d launch the uncrewed Starliner in August 2018, skeptics always had doubts that the two would meet that goal. Initial delays were no surprise. Now, NASA says the new August 2019 date is due to limited launch opportunities this spring and early summer. In a press release, NASA said the Starliner spacecraft is close to ready for its uncrewed flight, but the delay will give teams additional time for test and validation activities without unnecessary schedule pressure.

August is a working date, and there’s no guarantee this will be the last delay. Starliner’s first crewed flight test is now targeted for late 2019, and when those astronauts arrive at the ISS, they’ll stay longer than we first thought. We don’t know how much longer, but the extension will allow NASA to conduct additional research, maintenance and activities.

This puts Boeing a bit behind in its race with SpaceX, which completed its first uncrewed test flight in March. SpaceX is now preparing for an in-flight abort test — which will demonstrate its ability to carry astronauts away from the launch vehicle if necessary, a test Boeing must also complete. NASA and SpaceX are expected to reevaluate their test dates in the coming weeks. To be fair, SpaceX has faced its own delays, and it’s still too early to tell who will win this race.