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SpaceX shows off first completed Crew Dragon spaceship with new Falcon 9

COO and President Gwynne Shotwell shows elected stakeholders SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.

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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.

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.

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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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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!

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Starlink makes a difference in Philippine province ravaged by typhoon

The Severe Tropical Storm battered the province, leaving communications networks in the area in shambles.

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Credit: Starlink/X

The Philippines’ Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is using Starlink to provide connectivity in the municipality of Masbate, which was affected by Severe Tropical Storm Opong (international name Bualoi). 

The Severe Tropical Storm battered the province, leaving communications networks in the area in shambles.

Starlink units enhance connectivity

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda visited the province to assess internet and communications infrastructure and deliver 10 additional Starlink satellite units, according to the Philippine News Agency. The is move aimed at strengthening emergency response and restore digital access to the area.

Aguda met with Masbate Governor Richard Kho during his visit and joined telecommunications representatives in inspecting provincial offices, free charging stations, and Wi-Fi connectivity sites for residents. 

According to DICT officer-in-charge Rachel Ann Grabador, three Starlink units, 10 routers, and a 2kW solar-powered station have already been deployed in the province following the typhoon. The units have been installed at key facilities such as Masbate Airport’s communications tower and the Masbate Provincial Hospital’s administrative office. 

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Game-changing technology

Thanks to its global coverage and its capability to provide high-speed internet connectivity even in remote areas, Starlink has become the best communications solution that can be deployed in the aftermath of natural disasters. Its low-cost kits, which are capable of of providing fast internet speeds, are also portable, making them easy to deploy in areas that are damaged by natural disasters.

As noted in a Space.com report, there are currently 8,475 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 8,460 are working, as of September 25, 2025. Initially, SpaceX had filed documents with International regulators to place about 4,000 Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Over time, however, the number of planned Starlink satellites has grown, with SpaceX aiming to launch as many as 42,000 Starlink satellites to fully connect the globe.

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SpaceX shares targets and tentative launch date for Starship Flight 11

As with all SpaceX tests, the estimated timeline for Starship Flight 11 remains subject to change based on conditions and readiness.

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is targeting Monday, October 13, for the eleventh test flight of its Starship launch system. The launch window is expected to open at 6:15 p.m. CT. 

Similar to past Starship missions, a live webcast will begin about 30 minutes before launch on SpaceX’s website, X account, and X TV app. As with all SpaceX tests, the estimated timeline for Starship Flight 11 remains subject to change based on conditions and readiness.

Super Heavy booster landing test

The upcoming mission will build on the data gathered from Starship’s tenth test flight, focusing on booster performance and upper-stage capabilities. The Super Heavy booster, previously flown on Flight 8, will launch with 24 flight-proven Raptor engines, according to SpaceX in a blog post on its official website. Its primary objective is to validate a new landing burn engine configuration designed for the next generation of Super Heavy.

Instead of returning to Starbase, the Super Heavy booster will follow a trajectory toward the Gulf of America. During descent, it will ignite 13 engines before transitioning to a five-engine divert phase and then completing the landing burn with three central engines, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and dropping into the Gulf of America.

Starship upper-stage experiments

The Starship upper stage for Flight 11 will carry out a series of in-space demonstrations, including the deployment of eight Starlink simulators that are comparable in size to next-generation Starlink satellites. These payloads will reenter and burn up during descent. A planned Raptor engine relight in orbit will also provide valuable test data.

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To evaluate the upper stage’s resilience during reentry, SpaceX engineers have intentionally removed heat shield tiles from select areas to stress-test Starship’s thermal protection system. The vehicle will attempt new maneuvers during descent, including a banking profile and subsonic guidance algorithms intended to simulate future return-to-launch-site missions. The upper stage will ultimately target a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

SpaceX has already posted a link to the livestream for Starship Flight 11: 

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Astra CEO shades SpaceX over employee workload and Starbase

Elon Musk once stated that no one ever changed the world working just 40 hours a week.

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk once stated that no one ever changed the world working just 40 hours a week. This was something that is openly known among his companies. They have the potential to change the world, but they require a lot of hours.

SpaceX’s working environment was recently criticized by Chris Kemp, the chief executive officer of Astra. During some remarks at the Berkeley Space Symposium 2025 earlier this month, Kemp shared some sharp remarks about the Elon Musk-led private space enterprise.

SpaceX working conditions and Starbase

As noted in a report from Ars Technica, Kemp discussed a variety of topics during his talk. These included Astra’s successes and failures, as well as his thoughts on other players in the spaceflight industry. To be fair to Kemp, he practically shaded every major rival, calling Firefly’s engine “garbage,” dubbing Blue Origin as slow, and stating that Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is “too small.”

SpaceX also received some colorful words from the Astra CEO. According to Kemp, SpaceX is leading the way in the spaceflight industry and Elon Musk is admirable in the way that he is willing to fail in order to move quickly. He did, however, highlight that Astra offers a significantly better working environment than SpaceX.

“It’s more fun than SpaceX, because we’re not on the border of Mexico where they’ll chop your head off if you accidentally take a left turn. And you don’t have to live in a trailer. And we don’t make you work six and a half days a week, 12 hours a day. It’s appreciated if you do, but not required,” Kemp said.

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Elon Musk’s demands

It is known that Elon Musk demands quite a lot from his employees. However, it is also known that Musk-led companies move very fast and, in more ways than one, they have accomplished world-changing feats. Tesla, for example, has practically ushered in the era of the modern electric vehicle, and SpaceX has made space attainable through its reusable rockets. With this in mind, employees at Musk’s companies, and this of course includes SpaceX, are likely proud of their long work hours. 

No one could probably go to Mars in this lifetime with a team that really works just 40 hours a week, after all.

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