The amount of money wasted on this flawed concept is tragic, when considering what better things could have been done with it to advance suborbital flight.

Are they still using hybrid propulsion? I haven’t seen much detail on what’s different about Delta, other than size.

If SpaceX is offering orbital rides for a few hundred thousand, I’m having trouble seeing how VG would compete with a suborbital system. They were way too late to market, and they’ve probably missed it. I would never have put a dime into this business, and I wouldn’t now.

Several firsts today. I think this is the first time we’ve seen an entry without a plasma blackout. It’s amazing that it managed to do a soft landing with all of that damage to the fin. I’ll be curious to know if all of the fins suffered like that, or just the one in the video, but it’s a testament to how robust the design is.

[Update a while later]

June 6th now has another reason to go down in history. The first launch and entry of a fully reusable spaceship occurred on the 80th anniversary of the invasion to liberate Europe.

— Rand Simberg (@Simberg_Space) June 6, 2024

I suspect that this is going to upstage Starliner docking with ISS.

[Update a while later]

Commentary from David Strom.

[Friday-morning update]

Reflections from Glenn Reynolds.

Centuries from now, on other worlds, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be minor footnotes in history, but everyone will know the name Elon Musk.

[Update a while later]

Ellie Sheriff interviews Elon:

NEWS: Elon Musk gives a thorough update after the 4th launch of Starship.
Will we see a catch for Flight 5?
How will Starlink be even better on the next flight?
These are some of the questions Elon answers for us.
I hope this interview informs you about the incredible work SpaceX… pic.twitter.com/NUzVmUxHFp

— Ellie in Space 🚀💫 (@esherifftv) June 7, 2024

Starliner finally launches with crew. I doubt that it will fly many times.