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SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft arrives at space station on second to last mission
SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon has successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA’s CRS-19 resupply mission, marking what is almost certainly the spacecraft’s second to last orbital launch.
On December 5th, new Falcon 9 booster B1059 lifted off from SpaceX’s LC-40 Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) launch pad with a fresh upper stage and twice flown Cargo Dragon capsule C106 atop it. A little over nine minutes after launch, B1059 prepared to be robotically secured on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) while Cargo Dragon – now in orbit – separated from Falcon 9’s upper stage and headed on its merry way.
Cargo Dragon’s 20th orbital mission and 19th trip to the ISS, CRS-19’s twice-flown spacecraft commanded the deployment of its two solar arrays, primed its Draco maneuvering thrusters, and opened up its Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) bay. Using star trackers, inertial measurement devices, and lasers, Dragon then proceeded to precisely deliver itself to the ‘door’ of the space station before gradually approaching.
Astronauts aboard the ISS then manually guided Canadarm2 – a massive robotic arm externally attached to the space station – towards Cargo Dragon as it used its thrusters to essentially hover in place, ultimately grabbing the spacecraft with a sort of mechanical hand. At that point, Dragon effectively became a part of the ISS and astronauts monitored the subsequent (and mostly automated) process of using Canadarm2 to fully berth spacecraft with the station.
After berthing, astronauts are able to equalize the pressure between the ISS and visiting spacecraft and open the hatch, gaining access to whatever cargo it was loaded with prior to launch. Alternatively, visiting vehicles can also dock with the International Space Station, a process controlled entirely by the arriving spacecraft, a bit like berthing but with almost all of the risk on its shoulders. All Russian spacecraft currently use this method, as do Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
As it turns out, CRS-19 – partially hinted at in the name – is the second to last launch of SpaceX’s Dragon 1 (Cargo Dragon), which become the first commercial spacecraft capable of reentering Earth’s atmosphere in 2010 and rendezvousing with a space station in 2012. Five months later, SpaceX launched CRS-1 – its first operational resupply mission – and the rest is (more or less) history.
In the seven years since CRS-1, Cargo Dragon – including CRS-19 – has now flown 18 successful space station resupply missions and delivered more than 90,000 lb (50,000 kg) to its ever-changing crew of astronauts. Cargo Dragon has undergone at least two significant upgrades and suffered its fair share of mishaps, but has still successfully completed its mission every time it reached orbit.
NASA’s CRS1 SpaceX contract ultimately called for a total of 20 Cargo Dragon missions to the ISS, although more could technically be added retroactively if both entities were to decide they were needed. Currently, the plan is for CRS-20 – Cargo Dragon’s next launch – to be the spacecraft’s last orbital mission and is scheduled no earlier than March 2020.
After CRS-20, SpaceX – via its subsequent CRS2 NASA contract – means to introduce a version of Crew Dragon (Dragon 2) modified for cargo-only missions, optimally taking flight-proven Crew capsules and reusing them as Cargo Dragon 2s.
SpaceX recently revealed that the first Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft will unexpectedly not feature Crew Dragon’s complex SuperDraco abort system, a feature that has recently created several roadblocks. However, this dramatically simplifies Dragon 2 and means that SpaceX is still quite confident that the upgraded cargo spacecraft will be ready for its launch debut next year.
Known as CRS-21, that mission will see SpaceX’s CRS launches move from LC-40 to Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A pad in order to enable extremely late and convenient cargo-loading via Pad 39A’s Crew Access Arm (CAA), to be primarily used by astronauts boarding Crew Dragon. Similarly, Cargo Dragon 2 will dock with the ISS instead of using Dragon’s current berthing route, nominally requiring less hands-on astronaut time for each resupply mission.
Cargo Dragon will be missed but will forever remain a major piece of commercial spaceflight history. Dragon 2 will likely toe the line for the first half of the next decade, but SpaceX ultimately wants to get its generation Starship launch vehicle online as soon as possible – a feat that will make all Falcon and Dragon vehicles redundant if things go as planned.
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk spotlights the Starlink rescue that got through where no cell tower could
Elon Musk spotlighted how Starlink helped rescuers reach five people stranded in Kazakhstan’s snowy mountains.
Elon Musk put a spotlight on a mountain rescue in eastern Kazakhstan on Sunday, writing “Starlink saves lives” in response to a post describing how SpaceX’s satellite internet helped five stranded people reach emergency crews.
The post from DogeDesigner, which had been viewed more than 500,000 times by Sunday afternoon, said the group’s SUV broke down about 15 kilometers from the village of Kystau Kurchum in an area with no usable mobile network. Starlink carried their call for help and kept them in contact with rescuers, who used the connection to locate them.
The rescue itself took place in October. Local outlet YK.kz reported on October 22 that Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations responded to the breakdown in the Kurchum district of East Kazakhstan region and noted that the group stayed in touch through Starlink. Rescuers covered roughly 100 kilometers in a Trekol, a low pressure tire vehicle built for snow and marshland, then escorted the disabled SUV back to Kystau Kurchum. Nobody needed medical attention.
Starlink saves lives
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2026
Conditions in the region were rough at the time. Kazakh broadcaster Channel 7 identified the five as hunters caught in a snow trap and said satellite communication allowed rescuers to pinpoint where they were. A spokesperson for the East Kazakhstan emergency department said a storm warning was in effect and urged residents not to leave populated areas unless necessary. The same weather stranded seven utility workers repairing power lines in the nearby Kuygan rural district, according to Tengrinews.
Kazakhstan has been one of Starlink’s more notable markets in Central Asia. Teslarati reported in 2024 that Starlink was serving 1,731 of the country’s 1,879 schools, with the country’s Education Minister saying it had set a new standard for internet service in schools.
Rescue stories like this one have followed Starlink for years, usually in places where ground networks fail or never existed in the first place. Then Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis called Starlink a “game changer” for search and rescue crews during Hurricane Milton, and SpaceX and T-Mobile switched on Starlink Direct to Cell in North Carolina to push emergency alerts to phones after Hurricane Helene.
The next target is dead zones for people who do not carry a dish at all. SpaceX is building out Starlink Mobile and earlier this week selected Qualcomm to supply core infrastructure for a planned terrestrial 5G network in the United States, which it intends to pair with its next generation satellite constellation.
Sunday’s post is at least the third time Musk has written “Starlink saves lives” on X this week, following identical posts on November 5 and November 7.
SpaceX plans to attempt what will be a defining moment in rocket reusability on Starship Flight 15.
As Elon Musk announced in a recent X post, SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy Booster and the Starship upper stage during the upcoming orbital flight. If successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact, a breakthrough Musk has called essential to making life multiplanetary.
SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship on the upcoming flight.
If both are successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact.
This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
Previous flights have demonstrated the tower-catch technique with Super Heavy. SpaceX has successfully caught V1 boosters three times (on Flights 5, 7, and 8), with some even reflown. The Ship upper stage has never been caught.
Returning from orbital velocity after deploying payload makes it a significantly harder challenge due to higher energy, heat loads, and the need for precise belly-flop reentry, a flip maneuver, and a final landing burn to settle between the Mechazilla tower’s chopstick arms.
Flight 15, using Booster 22 and Ship 42 (both Block 3 vehicles), is targeted for no earlier than Friday, November 13, 2026, from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The 75-minute window opens at 4:45 p.m. CT, pending regulatory approval. After hot staging and separation, the booster is planned to return for a catch roughly 6 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff.
The Ship will insert into a roughly 275 km orbit, deploy 26 advanced Starlink V3 satellites, complete about 14 orbits over more than 22 hours, and—if systems check out—perform a deorbit burn, reentry, flip, and landing burn for a tower catch at approximately T+22 hours 32 minutes.
SpaceX confirms Starship 15 launch window with massive ambitions
A simulation shown during SpaceX’s October earnings call depicted the Ship descending in a belly-flop attitude, flipping upright with a short engine burn, and being captured by the arms:
From simulation to reality
SpaceX is just ONE WEEK away from attempting its most ambitious Starship catch yet https://t.co/nHrxSX6DSz
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) November 6, 2026
Contingency splashdown zones exist in the Gulf of Mexico (booster) and Pacific (Ship) if a catch is not viable. SpaceX has stressed rigorous health checks before committing the Ship to a return-to-launch-site trajectory.
Musk has described the odds of success on this first dual-catch attempt as “more likely than not,” noting a steady stream of additional flights is already scheduled if needed. Full recovery would enable rapid inspection, refurbishment, and reflight—slashing costs and supporting the high launch cadence required for Starlink expansion, lunar missions, and eventual Mars settlement.
As Musk put it, this is “the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.”
Tesla Cybercab is going to get some pretty substantial updates, including improvements to efficiency and a new color.
CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X on Saturday that Tesla would be working to refine the Cybercab even more, following the announcement during the week that the company would eliminate the Cybertruck lines within Giga Texas for more Cybercab manufacturing capacity.
“There are efficiency improvements coming that will allow for a 40kWh Cybercab pack,” Musk posted on X. “We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous.”
There are efficiency improvements coming that will allow for a 40kWh Cybercab pack. We will make this in liquid silver, so the colors are not too monotonous.
The biggest thing most people fail to understand is that there are a very limited number of smart, dedicated people! They can only do so many things.
If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can’t use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab, which is the vehicle that will PROFOUNDLY transform the world of terrestrial transport!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2026
A new, more efficient model of the Cybercab will be engineered, which will only help Tesla’s profitability and margins, and it also boosts the argument for why the Cybertruck should be discontinued, at least from a business perspective.
The current Cybercab that operates in the Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, has a 48 kWh pack, and it sounds like Musk believes Tesla is on its way to introducing a version that has fewer cells but can manage the same workload thanks to engineering efficiencies.
Credit: Tesla
Musk also doubled down on the decision to prioritize Cybercab production over Cybertruck, which is a decision that has been extremely polarizing within the community, and many fans have made it abundantly clear that they are not particularly pleased with the plans.
“If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain, and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can’t use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab, which is the vehicle that will PROFOUNDLY transform the world of terrestrial transport,” Musk said.
A good look at Tesla’s new Liquid Silver Cybercab, planned with a 40 kWh battery pack following new improvements
😍 https://t.co/IUYsUcCBMs
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 8, 2026
Cybercab is obviously Tesla’s path forward in an automotive sense. It seems that Tesla is less concerned about catering to the passenger vehicle market and is more prone to focus on transforming passenger transportation in a way that prioritizes autonomy. However, this requires some sacrifice on Tesla’s end, and the Cybertruck is unfortunately a victim of this.
Cybercab holds an extremely crucial part of Tesla’s future. With the company already revolutionizing passenger transportation once, this is the next phase, and Cybercab is the path forward.
Elon Musk spotlights the Starlink rescue that got through where no cell tower could
SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15
