News
SpaceX spacecraft undocks from space station for Dragon’s fifth orbital reentry this year
An upgraded SpaceX Cargo Dragon has successfully undocked from the Internation Space Station after delivering tons of cargo, setting the spacecraft family up for its fifth orbital reentry this year.
Launched on August 29th, the CRS-23 mission marked SpaceX’s first reuse of Dragon 2’s cargo variant and carried approximately 2.2 tons (~4900 lb) of consumables, hardware, and science experiments to the world’s oldest orbital outpost. First launched in December 2020, capsule C208 was the first upgraded Cargo Dragon to fly, debuting a number of changes to the Crew Dragon spacecraft it was based on. Like Crew Dragon and unlike the original Cargo Dragon, Cargo Dragon 2 is designed to autonomously dock to the ISS, requiring a smaller docking port than the older spacecraft’s berthing mechanism but making the process significantly easier on the space station’s NASA crew.
The Cargo variant of Crew Dragon removes the spacecraft’s SuperDraco abort thrusters, seats, displays, windows, and most life support systems, cutting thousands of kilograms of mass that can be replaced with cargo carried to and from orbit. Unchanged since SpaceX’s first orbital Dragons splashed down in 2010 and 2012, Cargo Dragon continues to be the only operational spacecraft in the world capable of returning significant amounts of cargo from orbit to Earth.
Likely carrying 1-2 tons of ‘downmass’ cargo, Cargo Dragon C208 is now on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of Florida later today, hopefully completing the fifth successful orbital reentry of a Dragon spacecraft in 2021. Perhaps even more significantly, the first Dragon reentry of 2021 was actually completed in January by the same Cargo Dragon capsule (C208) now scheduled to return to Earth for the second time on September 30th. That will be the first time in the history of orbital space capsule reuse – almost exclusively pioneered by SpaceX – that the same spacecraft has completed two orbital reentries in the same year.
Only NASA’s Space Shuttle, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish, has performed similar feats of orbital reuse – and only in the five years between the vehicle’s first launch and its first fatal launch failure, which led NASA to be slightly more methodical and cautious going forward.
Up next for SpaceX, Crew Dragon is set to ferry another batch of four NASA and ESA astronauts to the ISS on October 30th, followed by Dragon’s sixth reentry of the year – this time returning four Crew-2 astronauts to Earth. Finally, barring delays, SpaceX will launch Cargo Dragon 2 capsule C209 into orbit for the second time in five months no earlier than December 4th.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
