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SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule ends its second flawless trip to space and back
On June 4th, SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule C113 departed from the International Space Station 250 miles (400 km) above Earth’s surface, tapped its thruster ‘brakes’, and reentered the atmosphere soon after.
After a month spent in orbit, the uncrewed Dragon returned more than 1900 kg (4200 lb) to Earth, currently the only operational spacecraft on Earth capable of doing so. Per usual, Cargo Dragon splashed down off the coast of California, was picked up by SpaceX vessel NRC Quest, and arrived at Port of Los Angeles a few hours later. Captured by Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin in spectacular detail, C113’s second successful orbital mission serves as excellent foreshadowing for a follow-up launch – CRS-18 – that could come as soon as July 21st.
Orbital-class marshmallows
As per usual, Cargo Dragon received a healthy dose of charring during its orbital-velocity Earth reentry, barreling through the atmosphere at a blistering 7.7 km/s (4.8 mi/s, Mach 23). The capsule’s orientation during reentry is essentially seared into its hull by its own heat shield-generated plasma trail, creating the distinct dark-brown and black streaks visible in photos.
Although the visible wear and tear might look dramatic, the reality is SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft are specifically designed to survive the ordeal of Earth reentry in excellent shape – the ablative heat shield takes nearly all (~99%) of the heating-related stress. Cargo Dragon (and Crew Dragon, for that matter) are just shy of encased in a cocoon of a different type of foam-like thermal protection material, visible as Dragon’s pearly white skin prior to reentry.
Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin did an exceptional job of capturing the well-done SpaceX spacecraft’s return to shore in all its gritty, flight-proven glory, offering glimpses of Cargo Dragon’s Drago thrusters, parachute/drogue mortar, docking mechanism, and PICA-X heat shield.
CRS-18 crests the horizon
NASA and SpaceX have already scheduled Cargo Dragon’s next launch to the International Space Station on July 21st, a brisk 85 days after CRS-17’s successful launch. To make that date, preparations are already well underway and Cargo Dragon will likely ship from California within the next two weeks if it’s not already in Florida. Having successfully supported Cargo Dragon’s CRS-17 mission one month ago, Falcon 9 B1056.2 is scheduled to become the first flight-proven Block 5 booster to launch a dedicated NASA mission and the space agency is even open to using B1056 for a third time on CRS-19.
Beyond NASA’s Block 5 booster reuse milestone, there is also a good chance that CRS-18 will mark SpaceX’s first launch of an already twice-flown and refurbished Cargo Dragon capsule. Since CRS-10 (February 2017), just one of SpaceX’s seven subsequent Cargo Dragon launches has flown with a new capsule, and all of the company’s remaining CRS missions are expected to use refurbished spacecraft. Although one mystery Cargo Dragon capsule (C107) remains publicly unaccounted for, chances are quite good that CRS-18 will mark the first time a commercial space capsule has reached orbit three times.
Assuming SpaceX’s third refurbishment follows the fairly consistent two-year time scale of past Dragon reflights, Cargo Dragon C106 – the first Dragon SpaceX reused – will likely be CRS-18’s capsule.
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SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.
The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.
The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.
View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13.
This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to… pic.twitter.com/sNTHHz5vLr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 31, 2026
Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.
Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
