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SpaceX’s BFR Mars rocket and spaceship rendered in extraordinary fan artwork

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Part of a newly-formed group known as Gravitation Innovation, artist and spaceflight fan David Romax published an extraordinary series of concept artwork focused solely on SpaceX’s massive next-generation Mars rocket, known as the Big F—— Rocket (BFR). Generously published with the intent of providing SpaceX fans with a number of digital wallpapers, Romax’s work acts as an amazing companion to SpaceX’s own small collection of BFR renderings, perhaps even surpassing the company’s concept art in some cases.

David was inspired to create a series of BFR-themed wallpapers by a friend who had urged him to put his skills as a 3D modeler and artist to work for SpaceX (or at least the large community of fans built around the rocket company) by producing unofficial renders of its rockets – produce he most certainly did, and the results of his efforts are easily some of the best examples of unofficial artwork ever created by SpaceX enthusiasts.

Effectively unreleased, an updated Mars colonization video shown in 2018 replaces 2016’s ITS with the newer BFR design. (SpaceX)

Due to an understandable lack of technical detail available in the concept imagery SpaceX has thus far published for BFR and the earlier Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), Romax had to rely on aesthetic and technical intuition almost constantly over the process of producing his own artist impressions of BFR. In a number of cases, a matte painting style was used to ensure extraordinary realism by integrating real aspects of SpaceX’s current launch facilities and signatures of its active Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles and its Crew and Cargo Dragon spacecraft, reaching a level of believable detail that effortlessly surpasses similar media created by SpaceX.

Of course, a comparative lack of extreme detail is really not any fault of SpaceX: given the preliminary nature of the designs of both BFR and ITS at the time they were publicly revealed (September 2016 and 2017), adding details that extended beyond the actual scope of current design work (thus treading into the realm of speculation) would be fundamentally counterproductive for a company more recently keen on showing off results over parading what can be described as ‘paper rockets’. In both the ITS and BFR reveals, CEO Elon Musk’s presentations were repeatedly (and pointedly) punctuated with truly surprising reveals of real, physical progress with mature rocket R&D programs and extensive prototype testing.

Regardless, the level of detail Romax so elegantly and seamlessly integrated into SpaceX’s preliminary Mars rocket booster and crew and cargo spaceship designs is shockingly convincing and adds a level of depth and drama that is unique in fan renderings of SpaceX’s vehicles. It certainly helps that today, nearly a year after BFR was first unveiled, SpaceX’s hardware development for BFR is far more mature. Currently, those tangible efforts range from thousands of seconds of hot-fire testing of the rocket’s Raptor propulsion system to tangible work beginning on the flight version of that advanced engine, as well as a huge temporary tent housing preliminary BFR production tooling while construction is just beginning at a different Port of Los Angeles-located plot of land intended to support the first dedicated BFR factory within 12-18 months. One step further, SpaceX’s highly reusable upgrade to Falcon 9 and Heavy, known as Block 5, has already debuted and will soon put SpaceX’s experience with rocket reuse to the test.

All thanks to David Romax and Gravitation Innovation for the amazing artwork and the unflinching dedication to the future of spaceflight. Download the wallpapers in full-resolution here.

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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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Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s target for Starship’s 10th launch

Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk has revealed SpaceX’s target timeline for the next Starship launch, which will be the tenth in program history.

Musk says SpaceX is aiming for a timeline of roughly three weeks from now, which would come about ten weeks after the previous launch.

Coincidentally, it would bring the two launches 69 days apart, and if you know anything about Elon Musk, that would be an ideal timeline between two launches.

SpaceX is coming off a test flight in which it lost both the Super Heavy Booster and the Upper Stage in the previous launch. The Super Heavy Booster was lost six minutes and sixteen seconds into the flight, while SpaceX lost communication with the Ship at 46 minutes and 48 seconds.

Musk is aiming for the tenth test flight to take place in early August, he revealed on X:

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This will be SpaceX’s fourth test flight of the Starship program in 2025, with each of the previous three flights bringing varying results.

IFT-7 in January brought SpaceX its second successful catch of the Super Heavy Booster in the chopstick arms of the launch tower. The ship was lost after exploding during its ascent over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

IFT-8 was on March 6, and SpaceX caught the booster once again, but the Upper Stage was once again lost.

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The most recent flight, IFT-9, took place on May 27 and featured the first reused Super Heavy Booster. However, both the Booster and Upper Stage were lost.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hit SpaceX with a mishap investigation for Flight 9 on May 30.

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SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission targets July 31 launch amid tight ISS schedule

The flight will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

NASA and SpaceX are targeting July 31 for the launch of Crew-11, the next crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using the Crew Dragon Endeavour and a Falcon 9 booster.

Crew Dragon Endeavour returns

Crew-11 will be the sixth flight for Endeavour, making it SpaceX’s most experienced crew vehicle to date. According to SpaceX’s director of Dragon mission management, Sarah Walker, Endeavour has already carried 18 astronauts representing eight countries since its first mission with NASA’s Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in 2020, as noted in an MSN report.

“This Dragon spacecraft has successfully flown 18 crew members representing eight countries to space already, starting with (NASA astronauts) Bob (Behnken) and Doug (Hurley) in 2020, when it returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States for the first time since the shuttle retired in July of 2011,” Walker said.

For this mission, Endeavour will debut SpaceX’s upgraded drogue 3.1 parachutes, designed to further enhance reentry safety. The parachutes are part of SpaceX’s ongoing improvements to its human-rated spacecraft, and Crew-11 will serve as their first operational test.

The Falcon 9 booster supporting this launch is core B1094, which has launched in two previous Starlink missions, as well as the private Ax-4 mission on June 25, as noted in a Space.com report.

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The four-members of Crew-11 are NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, as well as Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov.

Tight launch timing

Crew-11 is slated to arrive at the ISS just as NASA coordinates a sequence of missions, including the departure of Crew-10 and the arrival of SpaceX’s CRS-33 mission. NASA’s Bill Spetch emphasized the need for careful planning amid limited launch resources, noting the importance of maintaining station altitude and resupply cadence.

“Providing multiple methods for us to maintain the station altitude is critically important as we continue to operate and get the most use out of our limited launch resources that we do have. We’re really looking forward to demonstrating that capability with (CRS-33) showing up after we get through the Crew-11 and Crew-10 handover,” Spetch stated.

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SpaceX launches Ax-4 mission to the ISS with international crew

The SpaceX Falcon 9 launched Axiom’s Ax-4 mission to ISS. Ax-4 crew will conduct 60+ science experiments during a 14-day stay on the ISS.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket kickstarting Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Axiom’s Ax-4 mission is led by a historic international crew and lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 2:31 a.m. ET on June 25, 2025.

The Ax-4 crew is set to dock with the ISS around 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Axiom Space, a Houston-based commercial space company, coordinated the mission with SpaceX for transportation and NASA for ISS access, with support from the European Space Agency and the astronauts’ governments.

The Ax-4 mission marks a milestone in global space collaboration. The Ax-4 crew, commanded by U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, includes Shubhanshu Shukla from India as the pilot, alongside mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

“The trip marks the return to human spaceflight for those countries — their first government-sponsored flights in more than 40 years,” Axiom noted.

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Shukla’s participation aligns with India’s Gaganyaan program planned for 2027. He is the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS since Rakesh Sharma in 1984.

Axiom’s Ax-4 mission marks SpaceX’s 18th human spaceflight. The mission employs a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket, designed with a launch escape system and “two-fault tolerant” for enhanced safety. The Axiom mission faced a few delays due to weather, a Falcon 9 leak, and an ISS Zvezda module leak investigation by NASA and Roscosmos before the recent successful launch.

As the crew prepares to execute its scientific objectives, SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission paves the way for a new era of inclusive space research, inspiring future generations and solidifying collaborative ties in the cosmos. During the Ax-4 crew’s 14-day stay in the ISS, the astronauts will conduct nearly 60 experiments.

“We’ll be conducting research that spans biology, material, and physical sciences as well as technology demonstrations,” said Whitson. “We’ll also be engaging with students around the world, sharing our experience and inspiring the next generation of explorers.”

SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission highlights Axiom’s role in advancing commercial spaceflight and fostering international partnerships. The mission strengthens global space exploration efforts by enabling historic spaceflight returns for India, Poland, and Hungary.

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