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SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to have a continual presence in space starting this year

SpaceX's upgraded Dragon 2 spacecraft is on the cusp of becoming the single most dominant force in Western spaceflight. (NASA)

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Days after NASA confirmed that SpaceX is on track for a Crew Dragon launch on November 14th and the first Cargo Dragon 2 launch on December 2nd, a company executive says that that back-to-back launch is a sign of things to come.

The first semi-functional Dragon spacecraft flew more than a decade ago in December 2010, followed some 18 months later by vehicle’s second orbital mission, during which SpaceX became the first private company in history to launch and berth a spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS). Four months after that, Cargo Dragon successfully berthed with the ISS for the second time as part of SpaceX’s first NASA Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-1), beginning what would come to be an extraordinarily successful series of 19 operational space station resupply runs, delivering a bit less than 45 metric tons (~100,000 lb) total.

SpaceX fulfilled the entirety of its NASA CRS1 contract in April 2020, effectively retiring the first-generation Dragon spacecraft. Less than two months later, Crew Dragon – an upgraded ‘Dragon 2’ spacecraft – lifted off on its second orbital mission and astronaut launch debut, the flawless completion of which has made SpaceX the first private company in history certified to fly astronauts by a national space agency. Now, perhaps little more than two weeks apart, SpaceX is on track to attempt its first operational astronaut launch and the first launch of an upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft under a new NASA CRS2 cargo contract.

Crew Dragon capsule C207 prepares for SpaceX’s operational astronaut launch debut, November 8th. (SpaceX)
SpaceX’s first upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft has shipped to Florida ahead of the first orbital meeting of two SpaceX spacecraft. (SpaceX)

Speaking in a November 10th press teleconference focused first and foremost on Crew Dragon’s imminent operational launch debut, SpaceX executive Benji Reed – taking a well-earned stance of confidence – revealed some impressive details about what to expect from Dragon going forward.

“Over the next 15 months, we will fly seven Crew and Cargo Dragon missions for NASA. That means that starting with Crew-1, there will be a continuous presence of SpaceX Dragons on orbit. Starting with the cargo mission CRS-21, every time we launch a Dragon, there will be two Dragons in space – simultaneously – for extended periods of time. Truly, we are returning the United States’ capability for full launch services and we are very, very honored to be a part of that.”

Benji Reed, SpaceX – November 10th, 2020

In short, SpaceX has seven Dragon launches scheduled between November 2020 and January 2022, necessitating an average cadence of one Dragon mission every two or so months. To accomplish that feat, SpaceX will begin to delve deep into reusability, reusing both Crew and Cargo Dragons and the Falcon 9 boosters tasked with launching them. The first of those reuses is schedule as soon as March 2021, in which four astronauts will launch on a flight-proven booster, inside a flight-proven orbital spacecraft, to the International Space Station.

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Meanwhile, thanks to NASA’s plans to extend the amount of time uncrewed Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft spend in orbit at the ISS and an average of two six-month Crew Dragon missions annually, SpaceX could find itself maintaining a continuous presence in space starting as soon as November 14th. As Reed notes, that also means that every two Dragons will be simultaneously operating in low Earth orbit (LEO) every time SpaceX launches a Cargo Dragon resupply mission.

Roscosmos, Russia’s national space agency, is the only other entity on Earth that can claim a similar capability – now used to simultaneously operating multiple Soyuz crew and Progress cargo spacecraft in orbit after almost a decade spent serving as the sole bridge between Earth and the ISS. If SpaceX’s Crew-1 Crew Dragon and CRS-21 Cargo Dragon launches are successful, the private US company will effectively become the backbone of US spaceflight, almost singlehandedly reasserting the country’s position as a competitive space power.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1T pay package gets candid synopsis from Jim Cramer

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s $1 trillion pay package, which it proposed to Shareholders to vote on November 6 for its CEO Elon Musk has drawn a lot of attention lately.

Among those vocalizing their thoughts and feelings about the incentive program are proxy firms, investment analysts, and retail shareholders.

However, one analyst that always seems to draw some attention, especially when it comes to things related to Tesla and Musk, is Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who routinely puts his opinions out into the public realm when it comes to the company and its CEO.

Last week, Cramer gave a short breakdown of what he thinks the company and its shareholders should do on the social media platform X. He’s gone deeper into the pay package conversation with a candid synopsis of where he stands with it.

Jim Cramer chimes in on Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s pay package

Cramer is no slouch when it comes to breaking down companies and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

He recognizes Musk and his contributions to Tesla, especially in terms of its prowess as an automaker, an AI play, and a robotics entity. In his more lengthy breakdown of the mentality behind rewarding Musk, he writes:

“Then there’s Musk. He’s using AI to make the best full self-driving car. He’s using it to dominate the Robotaxi game, or at least try. There’s no doubt that he’s got the best self-driving alternative on a price basis…Musk has put AI to the test, and he recognized that if you could develop better and bigger, and stronger batteries, that might be the answer for our energy-starved country…”

This is essentially an echo of what he said last week, which included some of the same ideas. Musk is ultimately the right man for the job, Cramer believes, especially considering the analyst calls him one of the few CEOs who is “actually worth it,” in terms of his potentially massive payday:

“Hate him or like him, man, this guy’s real smart…I think that Musk, who says he needs to be in control so the robots don’t take over, clearly wishes he had two classes of stock so he could be like Mark Zuckerberg, who can do whatever he wants with Meta. I say, even though he didn’t start the company and therefore doesn’t have the two classes, give the man the pay package he wants. Unlike so many other CEOs, he’s actually worth it.”

Tesla shareholders will vote on the package on November 6, but a handful of proxy firms have already noted that they will be going against it. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis both voted not to offer Musk this pay package.

Musk called them “corporate terrorists” last week during the company’s Q3 Earnings Call.

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Tesla makes a massive change to a Service policy that owners will love

If you have a subscription to Full Self-Driving or Premium Connectivity for 30 days, the date of its expiration is 30 days after you activate the subscription, even if the vehicle was in service.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has decided to update its policy on Subscriptions and Service, and owners are going to love it.

If you have a subscription to Full Self-Driving or Premium Connectivity for 30 days, the date of its expiration is 30 days after you activate the subscription, even if the vehicle was in service.

So, if your car was with Tesla Service for five days, you essentially lost those five days, as your expiration date was not adjusted to reflect the time the vehicle was unusable.

Loaners that Tesla gives owners are usually equipped with perks like Full Self-Driving and Premium Connectivity, so your subscription does not roll over to another vehicle.

Tesla launches new loaner program that owners will love

However, Tesla has decided to revise that policy in an effort to give owners full access to the subscriptions they paid for. It requires Service visits to be longer than one day.

In a communication to an owner who was having their vehicle serviced, Tesla said:

“A loaner vehicle may be available during your appointment (pending availability) – please check the app closer to your appointment for the latest updates and access details. If your repair requires more than one business day, any active subscriptions or free trials will be extended accordingly.”

The move is a good one from a customer service standpoint, especially considering the loss of even a few days of a 30-day subscription to something like Full Self-Driving, which costs $99 per month, can be frustrating.

Tesla’s choice to extend the subscription duration for the length of the service visit is a good-faith move that customers will appreciate.

While this adjustment is not directly related to Service, many customers will relate it to that. It’s yet another move Tesla has made in 2025 to make its Service experience better for customers.

It is also offering more options to communicate with Service advisors during and after cars are repaired, which can help streamline the entire visit from start to finish.

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SpaceX reaches incredible Starlink milestone

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has reached an incredible milestone with its Starlink program, officially surpassing 10,000 satellites launched into low Earth orbit since starting the program back in 2019.

Last Sunday, October 19, SpaceX launched its 131st and 132nd Falcon 9 missions of 2025, one from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the other from Vandenberg, California.

The 10,000th Starlink satellite was aboard the launch from California, which was Starlink 11-19, and held 28 v2 mini optimized satellites.

The achievement was marked by a satellite tracker developed by Jonathan McDowell.

The first Starlink launch was all the way back on May 23, 2019, as SpaceX launched its first 60 satellites from Cape Canaveral using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Of the over 10,000 satellites in orbit, the tracker says 8,608 are operational, as some are intentionally de-orbited after becoming faulty and destroyed in the atmosphere.

SpaceX has truly done some really incredible things during its development of the Starlink program, including launch coverage in a global setting, bringing along millions of active subscribers that use the service for personal and business use, locking up commercial partnerships, and more.

Starlink currently operates in around 150 countries, territories, and markets and is available at least somewhere on all seven continents.

Additionally, Starlink has over 5 million subscribers worldwide, and 2.7 million have joined the program over the past year. It has revolutionized internet access on commercial aircraft as well, as several high-profile airlines like Qatar and United, among many others, have already installed Starlink on some of their planes to deliver more stable connectivity for passengers and crew.

SpaceX has the approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites from the FAA, but it plans to bring over 30,000 to its constellation, giving anyone the ability to have access to high-speed internet.

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