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SpaceX dropped a Crew Dragon mockup to save a helicopter and its passengers
SpaceX says it encountered an issue that forced it to drop a Crew Dragon spacecraft mockup during parachute testing — not a failure of the vehicle or its parachutes, to be clear, but still a problem nonetheless.
This is now the second significant hurdle SpaceX’s Crew Dragon astronaut spacecraft has faced in the last few days, following the revelation that NASA will not permit the company to launch astronauts until it completes an investigation into an in-flight rocket engine failure during its March 18th Starlink launch. There is likely no technical corollary for the new Falcon 9 rockets that will launch NASA astronauts, but existing Commercial Crew Program (CCP) contract rules still require SpaceX’s internal investigation be completed before it can proceed. With lives on the line, caution – within reason – is unequivocally preferable to the alternative.
Thankfully, SpaceX’s parachute test article anomaly should have a much smaller impact on Crew Dragon’s astronaut launch debut schedule, but it’s unlikely to have zero impact.
“During a planned parachute drop test [on Tuesday], the test article suspended underneath the helicopter became unstable. Out of an abundance of caution and to keep the helicopter crew safe, the pilot pulled the emergency release. As the helicopter was not yet at target conditions, the test article was not armed, and as such, the parachute system did not initiate the parachute deployment sequence. While the test article was lost, this was not a failure of the parachute system and most importantly no one was injured. NASA and SpaceX are working together to determine the testing plan going forward in advance of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission.”
SpaceX — March 24th, 2020
On March 24th, SpaceX says it was preparing for one of the last system-level Crew Dragon parachute tests planned before the spacecraft can be declared ready for human spaceflight. These final tests are reportedly focused on corner cases, referring to unusual but not impossible scenarios the spacecraft might encounter during operational astronaut landing attempts. Those likely include parachute deployment scenarios that are far more stressful than a nominal reentry, descent, and landing would allow.
Regardless, things did not go as planned during Tuesday’s test attempt. SpaceX primarily uses cargo planes, helicopters, and large balloons to carry its Crew Dragon test articles (not actual functional spacecraft) to the altitudes and speeds needed to achieve certain test conditions. On March 24th, SpaceX was using a helicopter – either a civilian Blackhawk or a much larger Skycrane.
For unknown reasons, the helicopter carrying the Crew Dragon test article on March 24th began to experience “instability”, likely referring to some sort of resonance (wobble, sway, oscillation, etc). Out of an abundance of caution, the pilot – likely highly trained – decided the instability was becoming an unacceptable risk and chose to drop the cargo load (a Crew Dragon mockup). Unsurprisingly, the parachute test article was not ready to drop and plummeted to the Earth without any kind of parachute deployment, likely pancaking on the desert floor shortly thereafter.
Again, it needs to be noted – as SpaceX did above – that the loss of the Crew Dragon parachute test article was entirely unrelated to the performance of the spacecraft or the parachutes it was testing. The mockup destroyed in the incident is essentially just a boilerplate mass simulator shaped like a Crew Dragon capsule to achieve more aerodynamically accurate test results. As such, it’s far simpler and cheaper than an actual Dragon spacecraft and shouldn’t take long at all to replace if SpaceX doesn’t already have a second similar mockup ready to go.
Thankfully, that means that the loss of the test article should have next to no serious impact on Crew Dragon’s inaugural astronaut launch schedule. Planned no earlier than (NET) mid-to-late May according to NASA’s latest official statement, SpaceX and the space agency still have at least a month and a half to work through a final parachute test campaign, complete an investigation into Starlink L6’s Falcon booster engine failure, and finish several trees worth of paperwork and reviews. Delays remain likely but they shouldn’t be more than a few weeks, barring any future surprises.
SpaceX has disclosed the full financial details of its groundbreaking agreement with Anthropic, confirming that the AI company will pay $1.25 billion per month for dedicated high-performance computing resources.
The revelation came through SpaceX’s latest securities filing in preparation for its initial public offering, shedding light on one of the largest compute deals in the artificial intelligence sector to date. The prospectus was released last night, as SpaceX is heading toward its IPO.
This arrangement underscores the fierce demand for specialized infrastructure as frontier AI models require unprecedented levels of processing power to train and operate effectively. Industry analysts see the disclosure as a significant milestone, highlighting how top AI labs are locking in massive capacity to stay ahead in a rapidly accelerating field.
For SpaceX, it feels like a massive move that pushes its perception as a company from space exploration to artificial intelligence.
SpaceX is following in Tesla’s footsteps in a way nobody expected
The comprehensive deal grants Anthropic exclusive access to SpaceX’s Colossus clusters, encompassing Colossus I and the substantially expanded Colossus II, which together deliver hundreds of megawatts of power along with more than 200,000 NVIDIA GPUs.
Payments extend through May 2029, totaling nearly $45 billion overall; capacity is scheduled to ramp up during May and June 2026 at an initial discounted rate to facilitate seamless integration. Both companies retain the option to terminate the agreement with ninety days’ notice, so there is definitely some flexibility for both.
This pact not only enhances Anthropic’s ability to scale usage limits for Claude users but also injects substantial recurring revenue into SpaceX, bolstering its expansion into advanced data center operations and future orbital computing initiatives.
Observers describe the collaboration between the two companies as strategically advantageous because it gives Anthropic cutting-edge AI development the opportunity to collaborate with SpaceX’s expertise in rapid, large-scale infrastructure deployment.
This disclosure arrives at a pivotal moment when computing resources have become the primary bottleneck for AI progress.
As leading organizations compete to build more powerful systems, securing reliable, high-density facilities has emerged as a key differentiator.
SpaceX’s sites, such as those in Memphis, offer superior power availability and advanced cooling solutions that set them apart from conventional providers. For Anthropic, the added capacity is expected to deliver tangible improvements, including extended context windows, quicker inference times, and innovative features that appeal to both enterprise clients and individual users.
Looking ahead, the partnership paves the way for ambitious joint projects, including potential space-based AI compute platforms designed to overcome terrestrial limitations on energy and thermal management. Such efforts could redefine sustainable computing at massive scales.
Financially, the deal solidifies SpaceX’s diverse revenue profile ahead of its public market debut, extending beyond traditional aerospace activities. The massive check SpaceX will cash each month opens up the idea that additional
While some experts question the sustainability of these enormous expenditures given ongoing efficiency gains in AI architectures, the commitment reflects a strong belief in sustained demand growth.
The agreement also exemplifies productive synergies across sectors, with aerospace engineering insights optimizing AI hardware performance. As global attention on technology concentration increases, arrangements of this nature may help shape equitable access to critical resources.
Elon Musk
SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for
SpaceX filed its public S-1, revealing $18.7 billion in revenue and billions in losses.
SpaceX publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026, making its financial details available to the public for the first time ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.
An S-1 is the formal document a company must submit to the SEC before going public. It includes audited financials, risk factors, business descriptions, and how the company plans to use the money it raises. Companies are required to file one before selling shares to the public, and it must be published at least 15 days before the investor roadshow begins. SpaceX had already submitted a confidential draft to the SEC in April, which allowed regulators to review the filing privately before it went public.
The S-1 reveals that SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven largely by its Starlink satellite internet division, which posted $11.4 billion in revenue, growing nearly 50% year over year. Despite that growth, the company lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and has burned through more than $37 billion since its founding.
SpaceX just forced Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to team up for the first time in history
A significant portion of those losses trace back to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, which was recently merged into SpaceX. SpaceX directed roughly 60% of its capital spending in 2025 to its AI division, totaling around $20 billion, yet that division lost billions and grew revenue by only about 22%.
SpaceX plans to list its Class A common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading the offering. The dual-class share structure means going public will not meaningfully reduce Musk’s control, as Class B shares he holds carry 10 votes per share compared to one vote for public Class A shares.
The company is targeting a raise of around $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The investor roadshow is reportedly planned for June 5.
Tesla has scaled back driver monitoring to be less naggy with the latest version of the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite, which is version 14.3.3.
The latest version is already earning praise from owners, who are reporting that the suite is far less invasive when it comes to keeping drivers from taking their eyes off the road. The first to mention it was notable Tesla community member on X known as Zack, or BLKMDL3.
14.3.3 nags less too https://t.co/IuiWzuYO6O
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2026
Musk confirmed that v14.3.3 was made to nag drivers significantly less, something that Tesla has worked toward in the past and has said with previous versions that it is less likely to push drivers to look ahead, at least after looking away for a few seconds.
This refinement aligns with Tesla’s ongoing push toward unsupervised FSD. The update also brings faster Actual Smart Summon (now up to 8 mph), reliable “Hey Grok” voice commands, richer visualizations, smoother Mad Max acceleration, and an intervention streak counter that rewards consistent use. Reviewers describe the drive as more human-like and confident, with fewer twitches or unnecessary maneuvers.
Musk has repeatedly signaled this direction. In late 2025, he stated that FSD would allow phone use “depending on context of surrounding traffic,” noting safety data would justify relaxing rules so drivers could text in low-risk scenarios like stop-and-go traffic.
We tested this, and even still, the cell phone monitoring really seems to be less active in terms of alerting drivers:
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 texting and driving: we tested it
Earlier, ahead of v14, Musk promised the system would “nag the driver much less” once safety metrics improved.
In 2023, he confirmed the steering wheel torque nag would be “gradually reduced, proportionate to improved safety,” shifting reliance to the cabin camera. Subsequent updates like v13.2.9 and v12.4 further loosened monitoring, cracking down on workarounds while easing legitimate distractions.
These steps reflect Tesla’s data-driven approach: FSD’s safety record—reportedly averaging millions of miles per crash—now outpaces human drivers in many scenarios, giving the company confidence to dial back interventions. Reduced nags improve usability and trust, encouraging more drivers to rely on the system rather than disengaging out of frustration.
However, there are certainly still some concerns. In many states, it is illegal to handle a cell phone in any way, requiring the use of hands-free devices. In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to use your cell phone at stop lights, which is definitely a step further than using it while the car is actively in motion.
v14.3.3 represents tangible progress. Making FSD less adversarial and more seamless is definitely a step forward, but drivers need to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. FSD is extremely capable, but it is in no way fully autonomous, nor does its performance warrant owners to take their attention off the road.
SpaceX reveals what Anthropic will pay for massive compute deal
SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for
