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SpaceX prepares for space station supply mission as secret Zuma launch postponed
Zuma patiently awaits a new launch date
Just shy of two weeks ago, SpaceX announced the discovery of unspecified problems with a Falcon 9 payload fairing during routine quality assurance (QA) testing at the company’s Hawthorne, CA factory. The launch of Zuma, a deeply mysterious satellite with no clear manufacturer or customer, was subsequently delayed indefinitely, pending the results of an internal investigation into the aforementioned fairing defects.
Several days after SpaceX’s Zuma announcement, the Falcon 9 booster, second stage, and payload (often referred to as the “stack”) were rolled back into the pad facilities at LC-39A, verifying that a delay of at least several days would follow. This delay was both confirmed and denied in a confusing manner, with the Cape’s 45th Space Wing appearing to suggest that Zuma would not be impacted by a preplanned range closure in late November, although journalist Irene Klotz reported that Zuma was delayed until December, when maintenance was scheduled to end.
SpaceX’s mysterious Zuma payload and Falcon 9 1043 seen before stormy Florida skies. (Tom Cross/Teslarati)
All things considered, the month of November has been an unusually chaotic period for SpaceX and the Space Coast, and the chaos has almost certainly been exacerbated by the intense secrecy surrounding Zuma. As the sum total of publicly available information, these details indicate that SpaceX employees discovered a systemic defect or defects in recently-manufactured fairings, serious enough to indefinitely ground the company’s commercial launches. However, SpaceX recently opened press registration for the Iridium-4 mission, still apparently scheduled for launch on December 22 and further corroborated by the CEO of Iridium Communications, hinting that that mission’s fairing either predates the scope of the fairing investigation, or that the investigation and fairing groundings have arisen out of an abundance of caution above all else.
A Dragon stretches its wings
More importantly and perhaps more logically, SpaceX’s next Cargo Dragon mission to the International Space Station – CRS-13 – has not been directly impacted by fairing problems; Dragon missions do not require fairings. The CRS-13 mission, currently aiming for a static fire on November 29 and launch on December 4, will be exceptional for a number of equally thrilling reasons. In no particular order: CRS-13 will mark the first NASA-approved reuse of a Falcon 9’s first stage, in this case with the added aesthetic bonus that the Dragon will reach orbit aboard the same booster that launched CRS-11’s Dragon almost exactly six months prior, June 3 2017. Equally exciting, CRS-12 marked the final new Cargo Dragon launch, and CRS-13’s Dragon is a refurbished spacecraft, having previously flown the CRS-6 mission in late 2015.
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- The CRS-6 Cargo Dragon being mated to its Falcon 9 launch vehicle in 2015. (SpaceX)
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- This exact Dragon has been recovered from orbit, refurbished, and is now prepped and ready for another orbital mission on December 4th. (SpaceX)
Rather poetically, CRS-11 marked the first commercial reuse of an orbital spacecraft, and the booster that launched that mission, Falcon 9 1035, will now fly once more to lift the second-ever reused Dragon into orbit. If all goes as planned, SpaceX’s CRS-13 mission will arguably be the most-reused orbital-class mission in the history of spaceflight, with only the second stage and Dragon’s trunk being both new and expendable. Both the booster and Dragon likely required a fair amount of refurbishment, but if Elon Musk’s June 2017 statements remain accurate, SpaceX has probably progressed far along the reusability learning curve. Quoting Elon Musk and myself at the ISS R&D Conference in July 2017:
Musk said he expects the next Dragon reuse and all future reuses to save the SpaceX nearly 50% of the cost of manufacturing an entirely new spacecraft. Musk admitted that the first refurbishment of Dragon likely ended up costing as much or more than a new vehicle, but this is to be expected for the first attempt to reuse any sort of space hardware that must survive some form of reentry heating and saltwater immersion.
Indeed, CRS-13 will in fact be “the next Dragon reuse” after CRS-11’s success. If the spacecraft’s refurbishment does manage save SpaceX anywhere near 50% of the cost of manufacture, the mission will be an extraordinary accomplishment, above and beyond the already intense difficulty of refurbishing and reflying a several-ton (~4000kg empty) orbital spacecraft.
LC-40 pad repairs near completion
Even after the reuse of both the Dragon and Falcon 9 booster, CRS-13 will lay host to yet another milestone for SpaceX as the first mission to launch from the newly repaired Launch Complex-40 (LC-40), after the pad suffered widespread damage from a Falcon 9 failure during preparations for the launch of Amos-6. Little is known on the specifics of the damage suffered, but repairs have taken no less than 14 months and at a minimum required the fabrication, assembly, and qualification of entirely new Ground Support Equipment (GSE).
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- Based on photos posted to social media, LC-40’s new TEL will be considerably different than the 39A’s white monolith, likely closer in form to the original it is to replace (seen here). (SpaceX)
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- The TEL seen at LC-39A in early 2017. (SpaceX)
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- LC-39A’s TEL and Falcon 9 seen before the launch of SES-11 in October 2017. (Tom Cross/Teslarati)
Under the umbrella of GSE are thousands of feet of precisely machined and welded piping and pumps, a new launch mount and transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) to carry Falcon 9 out of the integration facilities, the repair or complete removal and replacement of a huge volume of scalded concrete, and the repair or replacement of likely dozens or hundreds of other miscellaneous components destroyed in the intense fire that followed the Amos-6 incident. Nevertheless, as spotted on a social media platform by the author, the aforementioned TEL and launch mount were shown going vertical just a handful of days ago, further evidence that LC-40 is once again rapidly marching towards operational status.
The long-awaited reactivation and return to operations at LC-40 is itself arguably the most critical path ahead of Falcon Heavy’s inaugural launch, and modifications to the pad and TEL have restarted in light of Zuma’s indefinite delays, with SpaceX’s ever-productive and heroic ground crew taking advantage of extra down-time between launches. With Zuma now ~11 days past its scheduled launch date, the mission’s delay will likely result in additional delays to Falcon Heavy’s inaugural launch, which was reported to be aiming for ~December 29. This deep of a delay might also necessitate the transfer of Zuma’s launch from LC-39A to LC-40, depending on the customer’s flexibility and SpaceX’s own needs. Time will tell, and in the meantime, the mystery of Zuma and wondrous accomplishments of CRS-13 ought to sate the launch withdrawals of SpaceX fans for the time being.
Tesla is delaying its event for the Roadster, moving it from this Thursday, October 1, to Thursday, October 15, due to unfavorable weather.
The company has said it has been tracking the weather for this Thursday closely with local meteorologists, and because the event can only be held outside, Tesla is making the call to delay it:
“We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule. New date is October 15. Additional details to follow.”
Roadster event update
We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule.
New date is October 15. Additional details to…
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 28, 2026
We are sure that this is bringing back PTSD for some Tesla fans, and we know it is not ideal, but this also reveals some things about the event. Tesla said that this can only be held outdoors, meaning it bodes well for the rumors that the vehicle could potentially hover.
Some believe that this was essentially confirmed by the FAA airspace restriction they were granted, but this could have been for a drone show or to keep drones from spying on the event.
Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold
The Roadster event has been long-awaited, and it is unfortunate that the weather is going to keep us all waiting a little bit longer.
The Tesla Roadster will be unveiled in Waco, Texas.
Elon Musk
SpaceX turned a heralding moment for Starship into its greatest
Starship reached orbit despite losing an engine, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Flight 14.
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, and for a few nail-biting minutes it looked like it wouldn’t. During ascent on Flight 14, one of Ship 41’s six Raptor engines shut down early, and SpaceX’s livestream host Dan Huot told viewers the team had decided not to commit to orbit. Minutes later, after what Huot described as a lot of conversation in the control room, the final poll came back in favor, and a roughly 19 second burn of a single Raptor pushed the ship into orbit about 170 miles up.
The reversal matters because SpaceX had written the exit ramp into the mission plan. The company said it would only fire the orbital insertion burn if flight controllers confirmed enough backup hardware remained for the deorbit burn, a condition Teslarati laid out ahead of the flight. Losing an engine was exactly the scenario that rule was built for.
Pressing forward fits Elon Musk’s history. Falcon 1 failed three straight times before its fourth launch reached orbit in 2008, with SpaceX nearly out of money, and Starship was developed by flying prototypes until they broke. What changed this year SpaceX going public, and with $SPCX sliding below its IPO price in July when Flight 13 slipped, the short interest climbed significantly, as Teslarati reported at the time. A Starship potentially lost today with revenue generating next-gen Starlink satellites aboard would have landed directly on shareholders.
Splashdown confirmed. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the first orbital flight of Starship! pic.twitter.com/urjmiwnvNl
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
That pressure showed up after orbit. SpaceX cut a flight planned to last nearly 10 hours to about three, moving splashdown from west of Chile to the North Pacific near Hawaii. SpaceX gave no reason, though Musk said this month the company was being extremely cautious about debris risk. The single Raptor for deorbit worked, and Ship 41 completed its flip and landing burn before breaking apart in the water, an outcome SpaceX expected. Musk has structured SpaceX’s governance to shield long term bets from market pressure.
The payload is the bigger business story. Musk posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and are “operating nominally.” Each V3 is rated for about 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink, so this single launch adds roughly 26 Tbps, about 10 times what a Falcon 9 load of V2 Mini satellites adds. The V3 is too large for Falcon 9, making Starship the only vehicle that can build out the planned 100,000 satellite constellation, at up to 60 per flight once it reaches routine service. Unlike the 20 V3 units on Flight 13, which reentered on a suborbital path, these will raise their orbits and could begin serving customers within weeks and bring in hundreds of millions of additional dollars in projected Starlink revenue.
SpaceX has already begun winding down Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Florida in favor of Starship. Reported targets put Flight 15 as early as October 19, leaving about three weeks to diagnose Monday’s engine shutdown before the next orbital attempt.
Starship’s 14th flight is set to launch on Monday, Sept 28. The 75-minute launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. CT. Live coverage of the mission starts ~35 minutes before launch → https://t.co/uQKQvgaTmJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 27, 2026
Tesla quietly doubled the size of its Cybercab fleet within the Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, over the weekend to well over 100 units.
The move not only establishes more of the steering-wheel-less and pedal-less vehicles within the ride-sharing fleet Tesla has been operating for a year, but it also solidifies a more robust Robotaxi fleet as a whole.
Riders started receiving notifications from the Robotaxi app that stated: “Cybercab fleet has doubled: more rides available.”
I got this notification on the robotaxi app. They are saying the Cybercab fleet has doubled. Glad that they are advertising this pic.twitter.com/FFrnw4FRCF
— Abhimanyu Yadav (@WorldlyReviewer) September 26, 2026
Tesla first launched rides in the Cybercab in early September, although the Robotaxi fleet has been active for over a year, as rides began last Summer. Cybercab is truly Tesla’s most crucial vehicle release yet, as it is the first car any company has built that is geared toward full-fledged and end-to-end autonomy, never needing human intervention for anything.
Only available in Austin at the current time, Cybercab has two seats and has been spotted testing around various U.S. states and regions; Tesla plans to deploy the Cybercab in various U.S. cities in the coming months as a best-case scenario.
Tesla Cybercab gets initial tie-in to localized, in-house cathode plant
The availability of the Cybercab has doubled from just 58 units last Monday to 125 the following Friday. Marking a substantial increase in Cybercab availability, the additional ride-sharing units are more than welcome, as wait times for Cybercabs, especially, were quite high.
The dramatic increase is a sign that demand for Robotaxi is growing and Tesla is feeling more confident that its driverless ride-hailing suite, especially its Full Self-Driving software, is able to handle any traffic situation without explicit direction or supervision from a human being.
Tesla Roadster event gets delayed due to unfavorable weather
SpaceX turned a heralding moment for Starship into its greatest
