SpaceX
SpaceX shows off first completed Crew Dragon spaceship with new Falcon 9
New photos posted from an official tour of SpaceX’s Pad 39A launch facilities reveal that SpaceX has effectively completed integration and preflight preparations of the company’s first flightworthy Crew Dragon spacecraft, as well as the new Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket that will be tasked with launching it early next year.
Currently targeting launch no earlier than (NET) January 17th, this inaugural Crew Dragon launch – known as Demonstration Mission 1 (DM-1) – will be conducted without a crew aboard to ensure that the spacecraft’s performance and characteristics fit within design parameters, hopefully giving NASA the data it needs to certify Crew Dragon to launch astronauts as early as June 2019.
omfg @spacex just posted some absolutely stunning photos inside Pad 39A's hangar: meet the first completed Crew Dragon and its Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket (B1051) 😀 In the far left (second photo), you can also see what is probably B1047 in the midst of refurbishment. pic.twitter.com/NWULyAEhpQ
— Eric Ralph (@13ericralph31) December 18, 2018
Aside from the wonderful fact that all (or nearly all) of the hardware needed for Crew Dragon’s launch debut can be seen in the four photos posted today, this is also the first time SpaceX has ever provided a real photo of the next-gen spacecraft’s trunk-based solar array. A dramatic departure from Cargo Dragon’s more traditional duo of multi-panel solar arrays, which deploy from disposable covers and fold out like wings, SpaceX decided from the start that Crew Dragon would take a much different approach. In a move that presumably cut the risk of solar array deployment, Crew Dragon’s panels are conformally attached (i.e. curved to fit) to the disposable trunk’s rear exterior.
Incredible opportunity to see @SpaceX's Dragon 2 Capsule – an important part of the future of American human space exploration as we aim to return American astronauts to space on U.S. rockets from U.S. soil! pic.twitter.com/Pk5lkpOFEX
— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) December 18, 2018
Rather than deploying its arrays like wings, Crew Dragon will always have its solar cells ready and waiting to generate power, simply requiring the spacecraft to face one half of its trunk towards the sun. According to a few individuals involved with the trunk, guaranteeing food fitment between individual cells and subsections and avoiding the problems caused by different thermal expansion coefficients (shrinking and expanding as the temperature changes) was no easy task and led to many, many headaches in the final weeks of integration and testing. From a less objective standpoint, Crew Dragon’s new conformal solar array is absolutely stunning, and it will be a shame to see each sculpture-like trunk relegated to a destructive atmospheric reentry after each launch.
Pragmatically speaking, it’s extremely satisfying to see all the hardware (both rocket and spacecraft) effectively under the same roof at the launch pad they will soon lift off from. Much like Falcon Heavy, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has been beset with the better part of two years of delays from original launch targets in 2017 for both Boeing and SpaceX. Since then, a combination of NASA bureaucracy and technical/programmatic stumbles made by both companies have conspired to almost indefinitely delay the first uncrewed and crewed trips to orbit.
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- At long last, SpaceX’s first completed Crew Dragon has been integrated with a flightworthy trunk and is awaiting attachment to Falcon 9. (SpaceX)
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- The first complete Crew Dragon is likely just days away from rolling out to Pad 39A atop Falcon 9. (SpaceX)
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- The DM-1 Crew Dragon testing inside SpaceX’s anechoic chamber, May 2018. (SpaceX)
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- SpaceX’s Demo Mission-1 Crew Dragon seen preparing for vacuum tests at a NASA-run facility, June 2018. (SpaceX)
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- The first spaceworthy Crew Dragon capsule is already in Florida, preparing for its November 2018 launch debut. The same capsule will be refurbished and reflown as few as three months after recovery. (SpaceX)
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- Crew Dragon arrives at ISS. (SpaceX)
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- DM-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley train for their first flight in Crew Dragon. (NASA)
SpaceX suffered catastrophic Falcon 9 failures in both 2015 and 2016 and has largely been working to ameliorate the technical and organizational flaws that allowed those anomalies to occur, while also having to convince NASA that they are ready to safeguard the lives of the space agency’s astronauts. Since SpaceX’s last known total vehicle failure in September 2016, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have managed an extraordinary 37 successful launches in a row in a little more than 24 months.
SpaceX is targeting Crew Dragon’s first orbital launch sometime in January 2019, with the placeholded launch date currently sitting on January 17th, pending International Space Station (ISS) availability and NASA’s go-ahead. Given the presence of Falcon 9 B1051 in 39A’s integration hangar and the fact that SpaceX technicians already appear to be integrating the first and second stages, the company may well be ready to perform a full-up dress rehearsal – involving Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon rolling out and going vertical on Pad 39A – before 2018 is out.
For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!
Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
Elon Musk
Starlink passes 9 million active customers just weeks after hitting 8 million
The milestone highlights the accelerating growth of Starlink, which has now been adding over 20,000 new users per day.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has continued its rapid global expansion, surpassing 9 million active customers just weeks after crossing the 8 million mark.
The milestone highlights the accelerating growth of Starlink, which has now been adding over 20,000 new users per day.
9 million customers
In a post on X, SpaceX stated that Starlink now serves over 9 million active users across 155 countries, territories, and markets. The company reached 8 million customers in early November, meaning it added roughly 1 million subscribers in under seven weeks, or about 21,275 new users on average per day.
“Starlink is connecting more than 9M active customers with high-speed internet across 155 countries, territories, and many other markets,” Starlink wrote in a post on its official X account. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell also celebrated the milestone on X. “A huge thank you to all of our customers and congrats to the Starlink team for such an incredible product,” she wrote.
That growth rate reflects both rising demand for broadband in underserved regions and Starlink’s expanding satellite constellation, which now includes more than 9,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet worldwide.
Starlink’s momentum
Starlink’s momentum has been building up. SpaceX reported 4.6 million Starlink customers in December 2024, followed by 7 million by August 2025, and 8 million customers in November. Independent data also suggests Starlink usage is rising sharply, with Cloudflare reporting that global web traffic from Starlink users more than doubled in 2025, as noted in an Insider report.
Starlink’s momentum is increasingly tied to SpaceX’s broader financial outlook. Elon Musk has said the satellite network is “by far” the company’s largest revenue driver, and reports suggest SpaceX may be positioning itself for an initial public offering as soon as next year, with valuations estimated as high as $1.5 trillion. Musk has also suggested in the past that Starlink could have its own IPO in the future.
SpaceX employees, including its CEO Elon Musk, shaded American Airlines on social media this past weekend due to the company’s reported talks with Amazon’s Starlink rival, Leo.
Starlink has been adopted by several airlines, including United Airlines, Qatar Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, WestJet, Air France, airBaltic, and others. It has gained notoriety as an extremely solid, dependable, and reliable option for airline travel, as traditional options frequently cause users to lose connection to the internet.
Many airlines have made the switch, while others continue to mull the options available to them. American Airlines is one of them.
A report from Bloomberg indicates the airline is thinking of going with a Starlink rival owned by Amazon, called Leo. It was previously referred to as Project Kuiper.
American CEO Robert Isom said (via Bloomberg):
“While there’s Starlink, there are other low-Earth-orbit satellite opportunities that we can look at. We’re making sure that American is going to have what our customers need.”
Isom also said American has been in touch with Amazon about installing Leo on its aircraft, but he would not reveal the status of any discussions with the company.
The report caught the attention of Michael Nicolls, the Vice President of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX, who said:
“Only fly on airlines with good connectivity… and only one source of good connectivity at the moment…”
CEO Elon Musk replied to Nicolls by stating that American Airlines risks losing “a lot of customers if their connectivity solution fails.”
American Airlines will lose a lot of customers if their connectivity solution fails
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2025
There are over 8,000 Starlink satellites in orbit currently, offering internet coverage in over 150 countries and territories globally. SpaceX expands its array of satellites nearly every week with launches from California and Florida, aiming to offer internet access to everyone across the globe.
Currently, the company is focusing on expanding into new markets, such as Africa and Asia.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk drops massive bomb about Cybercab
Tesla Q4 delivery numbers are better than they initially look: analyst
