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SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule christened ahead of operational astronaut launch debut
The long-standing tradition of astronauts naming the spacecraft that transports them safely to and from space continues ahead of SpaceX’s next crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Shortly after safely arriving in low Earth orbit during SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley revealed “Endeavour” to be the chosen name of their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Prior to being named by its crew, the capsule had only been referred to by its internal build number, C206. The next Crew Dragon Capsule to visit the ISS, the Crew-1 mission C207 capsule, has been given the same treatment. Until now.
On Tuesday, September 29, during a full day of Crew-1 pre-mission media briefings, NASA astronaut and Commander of the Crew-1 mission, Mike Hopkins, revealed that “the Crew-1 Dragon capsule number 207 will henceforth be known by the call sign: Resilience.”
Hopkins explained that “I think all of us can agree that 2020 has been a challenging year; global pandemic, economic hardship, civil unrest, isolation. The name Resilience is really an honor of the SpaceX and the NASA teams.” He went on further to explain that the name was also chosen as a nod to all of those that have endured the difficulties, but continued to support the mission, “our families, our colleagues, our fellow citizens, our international partners, our leaders that have all showed those same characteristics through these difficult times.”
What’s in a name?
The naming of crewed spacecraft is a tradition that extends all the way back to NASA’s Mercury program. Alan Shepard, the first American in space in 1961, designated his spacecraft “Freedom 7” before its debut flight.
More notable names arose during NASA’s Apollo era of lunar exploration. With two spacecraft required for the missions to the Moon – a command module and a lunar lander – monikers were needed to distinguish between the two vehicles during radio communication. “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy” were chosen for the spacecraft of the Apollo 10 mission. The characters of Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” have since become synonymous with NASA.
In observance of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 10, an inflatable Snoopy balloon dressed in an orange astronaut suit premiered during the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. It was a reoccurrence of the astronaut Snoopy balloon that originally debuted in 1969 celebrating Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s famous walk on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission.
New era of spaceflight, same traditions
Hurley and Behnken designated “Endeavour” for their dragonship as a way of honoring those before them. Both Behnken and Hurley both flew to the ISS for the first time as NASA astronauts on NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour.
After the tragic loss NASA’s space shuttle “Challenger” in 1986, NASA returned to flight with the newly christened space shuttle “Endeavour” in 1992. The name was chosen to fit in-family with the other space shuttle names designated after famous historical ships that set sail to explore the great unknown. Endeavour was named after a British Royal Navy research vessel designated for the lands of Australia and New Zealand in 1768.
The command module of Apollo 15 also shares the name. Commander David Scott once explained that the named “Endeavour” was chosen to recognize the heavy scientific emphasis of the Apollo 15 mission mirroring that of the British Royal Navy research vessel of the same name.
It seemed only fitting that the first crewed vehicle to return humans to the ISS from American soil after an absence of nine years receive the honorary name “Endeavour” as well.
Although the tradition of naming the spacecraft remains, the inspiration for those names has shifted. Dragonship “Resilience” is not the only spacecraft to launch from Earth in 2020 with a name defined by a characteristic. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover launched earlier this year on its way to the Red Planet.
The name option of Perseverance was submitted, along with 28,000 other essay submissions, to be voted on by the general population. Perseverance was chosen by seventh-grader Alexander Mather. He believed the name fit in-family with the other Mars rovers currently occupying the Red Planet and that it was one of the most important characteristics missing from the line up of other inspirational names such as Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and InSight.
When Mather submitted the name, he believed it to represent a quality possessed by humans. Throughout the year 2020, the definition of the name evolved to represent the wilfulness of human nature to endure and overcome the tumultuous year of 2020. As Mather explained “we, not as a nation, but as humans will not give up. The human race will always persevere into the future.”
Dragonship “Resilience” is sure to inspire just as many as its many predecessors. “Resilience” will be the very first spacecraft to complete an operational crewed mission to the ISS for NASA’s Commerical Crew Program. It will carry NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker along with Japan Aerospace Exploration astronaut Sôichi Noguchi to the ISS. Barring any further delays, the Crew-1 “Resilience” Dragon capsule is slated to blast off atop of a SpaceX Falcon 9 at 2:40 am (0640 UTC) from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, FL on October 31, 2020.
Check out Teslarati’s Marketplace! We offer Tesla accessories, including for the Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Model 3.
Tesla has officially put the Cybercab up for sale, revealing a bargain price and a $299 per month “Autonomy Subscription” that could hit customer hands as soon as December.
The offer requires a $299 monthly Autonomy Subscription, with the first month included in the purchase price, along with a $1,000 non-refundable order deposit. Tesla’s ordering interface shows deliveries targeted for Austin, Texas.
Tesla says that the Cybercab is making transportation more efficient, affordable and accessible than ever before, and that buyers can order their own Cybercab for personal use.
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: Tesla Cybercab is officially on sale for $29,990 with a $299/mo “Autonomy Subscription”
Delivery slotted for December! HUGE!
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 13, 2026
The Cybercab is Tesla’s dedicated robotaxi, a gold-finished, two-passenger vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, designed from the outset for unsupervised autonomous operation. It has been in limited Robotaxi service in Austin since September 2026, operating alongside Tesla’s larger fleet of Model Y vehicles.
Production takes place at Gigafactory Texas, which launched earlier this year. Tesla has stated for some time that it planned to put Cybercabs on sale by the end of the year, and it looks like they will come through on that promise if everything goes according to plan.
The Autonomy Subscription is mandatory for the vehicle to operate because it is void of a steering wheel and pedals. Tesla notes that the subscription and regular vehicle maintenance are required, indicating that personal owners will depend on the company’s software and service infrastructure rather than traditional ownership models.
One month of the subscription is included with purchase and subsequent months are billed separately until canceled.
This limited personal-sales opening marks a shift from Tesla’s earlier emphasis on fleet and transport-as-a-service operations. During the Q3 2026 Earnings Call, executives indicated that the vast majority of Cybercabs would remain Tesla-owned and used for rideshare service, while still aiming to place some vehicles with customers by year-end.
Elon Musk has previously targeted a price below $30,000, which was a huge point of emphasis for the Cybercab being the central point of Tesla’s “transportation-as-a-service” model.
Availability remains restricted to invited customers rather than a public order page, and the initial deliveries are expected only in the Austin area where unsupervised Robotaxi operations are already active. Buyers will need to accept the geographic and operational constraints of current autonomous deployment, as the vehicle cannot be driven manually outside supported zones.
The move gives a small number of early buyers the chance to own Tesla’s dedicated autonomous vehicle at the long-discussed sub-$30,000 price point, while the bulk of production continues to support the company’s expanding Robotaxi network.
UPDATE: The FAA has granted the license for Starship Flight 15.
Starship Flight 15 License has been granted by the FAA!
Let’s go! https://t.co/DugsgjvYAe
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 13, 2026
SpaceX is set to attempt its 15th test flight of Starship this evening from Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX is targeting Starship Flight 15 for a launch as soon as today, Friday, November 13, pending an FAA Flight License, during a 75-minute window that opens at 4:45 p.m. CT (5:45 p.m. ET) from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The flight remains pending final regulatory approval.
WATCH Starship Flight 15 here:
https://t.co/C6GnCHyF8p
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 13, 2026
The mission, using Booster 22 and Ship 42, aims to achieve the first full recovery of an orbital launch system. Primary objectives include a tower catch of the Super Heavy booster roughly six and a half minutes after liftoff and the first-ever tower catch of a Starship upper stage after more than 22 hours in space.
SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15
Between those catches, Ship 42 is planned to enter a low Earth orbit of about 275 km, complete roughly 14 orbits, and deploy 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites (Starlink Group 31-2). Three of those satellites carry cameras to inspect the ship’s heat shield in orbit and help controllers decide whether the vehicle is healthy enough for a return to the tower.
Contingency ocean splashdown options exist if either stage is not cleared for catch.
To watch the attempt, check the link to the broadcast in both X posts in this article. The live webcast is scheduled to begin about 30 minutes before liftoff and is planned to continue through the ship catch the next day, with the possibility of extended onboard views during the orbital coast via Starlink.
Because the schedule is dynamic, check back here or on our social media channels for the latest updates on window timing and regulatory status. A successful dual catch would mark a major milestone toward making Starship a rapidly reusable rocket capable of frequent flights.
WATCH Starship Flight 15 here:
https://t.co/C6GnCHyF8p
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 13, 2026
Tesla has trimmed its Model Y offerings as its Standard All-Wheel-Drive configuration has been removed from the online configurator after roughly nine months on sale. The move follows the removal of the Cybertruck, as its trims have also been minimized as that vehicle heads for total discontinuation at the end of Summer 2027.
Launched in February 2026 as a mid-tier dual-motor option between the Rear-Wheel-Drive model and the Premium trims, the Standard All-Wheel-Drive Model Y offered 294 miles of range and a 4.6-second 0-60 mph time in a stripped-down package.
🚨 Tesla has pulled the $41,990 Model Y AWD from its U.S. configurator after nine months on sale.
The cheapest AWD Model Y you can order is now the $49,990 Premium AWD, with Premium deliveries quoted for Jan–Mar 2027.
The $39,990 RWD stays, and AWD units remain in inventory. https://t.co/uROJp2lVpx
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 13, 2026
With it gone, the cheapest new AWD Model Y buyers can configure is now the Premium AWD at $49,990, with estimated deliveries pushed into January–March 2027. The $39,990 rear-wheel-drive Model Y remains available for custom orders, and some AWD units are still listed in inventory.
The move arrives days after Tesla sharply narrowed its Cybertruck lineup. New orders for the Dual Motor AWD and Premium AWD versions have been disabled, leaving only the high-performance Cyberbeast—priced around $109,990 before fees—as the sole configurable option.
Elon Musk has stated that Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas will wind down around the middle to late summer of 2027 to free manufacturing space for greater Cybercab output. Tesla has raised prices on remaining trims and is prioritizing higher-margin builds while working through an existing order backlog that exceeds what the line can complete before conversion.
These parallel decisions reflect a broader effort to simplify Tesla’s retail customer lineup. Lower-volume or lower-margin variants are being phased out or deprioritized in favor of core, higher-spec models that generate stronger profitability and clearer production planning.
For the Model Y, this concentrates volume on the remaining RWD and Premium configurations while Premium deliveries already stretch into 2027. For the Cybertruck, it accelerates the transition away from a stainless-steel pickup that underperformed relative to initial volume expectations.
Tesla Model Y Standard Full Review: Is it worth the lower price?
The freed capacity and reduced complexity directly support Cybercab scaling. Tesla began pilot Cybercab production at Giga Texas in early 2026, launched paid autonomous rides in Austin in September, and is preparing for substantial volume growth.
By streamlining the existing vehicle portfolio, the company is reallocating factory space, engineering attention, and supply-chain resources toward its purpose-built Robotaxi, which lacks a steering wheel or pedals and is designed exclusively for unsupervised autonomy.
The result is a leaner retail lineup today and a clearer path to high-volume Cybercab deployment tomorrow.
Tesla Cybercab goes on sale for $29,990, slated for December deliveries
SpaceX Starship Flight 15: How to watch the double catch attempt
