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SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrives in Florida for next NASA astronaut launch

A photograph of the Demo-2 Crew Dragon capsule as it was delivered to a SpaceX processing facility in Florida in February 2020. (SpaceX)

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The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule destined to complete the company’s first operational mission to the International Space Station (ISS) – designated Crew-1 – has been delivered to SpaceX processing facilities in Florida. As previously reported by Teslarati, the C207 capsule was in the final stages of wrapping up integration at the SpaceX factory in Hawthorne, CA in early August. Over the weekend, capsule C207 completed the trek from California to Florida and arrived at SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, August 18 according to a NASA Commerical Crew blog post.

Ahead of shipment from California, capsule C207 was outfitted with a trunk section featuring upgraded solar panels intended to extend Crew Dragon’s previous limitation of ~120 days in orbit. The upgraded solar panels should extend the limitation and mitigate the amount of solar cell degredation that occurs while in orbit allowing the Crew Dragon – and astronauts – to remain in orbit for as long as six months meeting NASA’s long-duration mission requirements.

The capsule was also equipped with all necessary hardware including the re-entry heat shield, Super Draco emergency ascent abort thruster system, and parachute landing mechanisms prior to shipping out to Florida. The capsule will undergo final check outs and testing – such as acoustic testing – while at SpaceX’s Florida processing facilities prior to being mated with its Falcon 9 booster in SpaceX’s Horizontal Integration Facility at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A.

Ahead of its debut crewed mission to the ISS in May 2020, the Demo-2 Crew Dragon capsule was photographed prior to acoustic testing as part of its final prelaunch processing in a SpaceX facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in February 2020. (SpaceX)

The arrival of the astronaut capsule follows the delivery of a brand new Falcon 9 booster. The booster (B1061) made the trek from SpaceX testing grounds in McGregor, Texas back in July before arriving at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Before shipment the booster successfully passed a static fire acceptance test of its nine Merlin 1D engines on a test stand at the Mcgregor facility.

Falcon 9 B1061 completed a static fire acceptance test in Texas in April 2020 and arrived in Florida for Crew Dragon’s next NASA astronaut launch on July 14th. (SpaceX)
Falcon 9 B1061, the booster NASA refers to above, arrived in Florida on July 14th ahead of SpaceX’s second astronaut launch ever. (SpaceX)

In the blog post, NASA also stated that the Falcon 9’s second stage outfitted with a single Merlin Vacuum engine also passed acceptance test firing at the McGregor facility on Tuesday August, 18. The MVac engine of the second stage was previously succesfuly static fired back in April as confirmed on the company’s Twitter account. The recently test fired completed second stage is expected to ship to Florida in the coming weeks. The arrival of the second stage will mark the delivery of all SpaceX Crew-1 flight hardware.

The Crew-1 Crew Dragon capsule will fly three NASA astronauts, commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker, as well as mission specialist Soichi Noguchi of Japan’s space program JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to the ISS and safely return them home for a splashdown landing.

NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting no earlier than October 23rd for the launch of Crew-1. As previously reported by Teslarati, the late October launch date is a slip of a few weeks from the previously identified no earlier than late-September timeline. The extra time is likely a result of neccessary testing and time needed for NASA to complete the operational status certification of SpaceX’s human spaceflight system.

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SpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver almost looked like it was AI-generated.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

SpaceX has shared a video of a remarkable feat achieved by Starship’s Super Heavy booster during its 11th flight test.

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver, which was captured on video, almost looked like it was AI-generated.

Super Heavy’s picture perfect hover

As could be seen in the video shared by SpaceX, Starship’s Super Heavy booster, which is nearly 400 feet tall, smoothly returned to Earth and hovered above the Gulf of America for a few seconds before it went for its soft water landing. The booster’s picture-perfect maneuver before splashing down all but capped a near-flawless mission for Starship, which is about to enter its V3 era with Flight 12.

The booster’s balance and stability were so perfect that some users on X joked that the whole thing looked AI-generated. Considering the size of Super Heavy, as well as the fact that the booster was returning from space, the hovering display all but showed that SpaceX is dead serious about keeping its dominant lead in the spaceflight sector.

Starship V2’s curtain call

As noted in a Space.com report, Flight Test 11 achieved every major goal SpaceX had set for the mission, including deploying Starlink mass simulators, relighting Raptor engines in space, and executing a stable reentry for both the Starship Upper Stage and the Super Heavy booster. The feat also marked the second time a Super Heavy booster has been reflown, a milestone in SpaceX’s quest to make the entire Starship system fully reusable.

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Starship’s V2 vehicle will now give way to the upgraded Starship V3, which is designed for faster turnaround and higher payload capacity. The Starship program is expected to pursue even more aggressive targets in the coming months as well, with Elon Musk stating on social media platform X that SpaceX will attempt a tower catch for Starship Upper Stage as early as spring 2026.

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After moving Tesla to Texas, Elon Musk is back in the Bay Area with Neuralink expansion

The news marks a noticeable step in Musk’s expanding presence in the Bay Area, despite the move of his biggest companies, Tesla and SpaceX, to Texas.

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Credit: Steve Jurvetson/Twitter

Recent reports have indicated that Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup, Neuralink, has leased a five-story, 144,000-square-foot building in South San Francisco. At the same time, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is reportedly also looking around for a Bay Area office. 

The news marks a noticeable step in Musk’s expanding presence in the Bay Area, despite the move of his biggest companies, Tesla and SpaceX, to Texas.

Neuralink’s Bay Area expansion

As noted in a report from the San Francisco Business Times, the property that Neuralink has leased is located at 499 Forbes Boulevard, and it was built by Aralon Properties before it was leased to cancer test developer InterVenn Biosciences. The site, however, had remained vacant since 2023 after InterVenn canceled its 10-year lease.

xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, is reportedly scouting for an even larger Bay Area office as well, as noted in a report from the San Francisco Chronicle. Combined, the two ventures could secure nearly 400,000 square feet of local workspace, a move seen as a symbolic return of sorts for Musk-led innovation to Silicon Valley.

Neuralink’s momentum

Founded in 2016, Neuralink develops brain-computer interfaces intended to help paralyzed patients control digital devices through thought. The company received U.S. regulatory approval in 2023 to begin human trials, with its first patient, quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh, making headlines for his stunning ability to control a computer cursor and play games using only his mind. Since receiving his implant, Arbaugh has stated that he now browses the web, plays video games like Mario Kart, studies neuroscience, and operates his smart home without lifting a finger. 

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Nauralink is only just getting started, with Elon Musk noting on X that the company is busy preparing its next product, Blindsight, for human trials. As per Musk, Neuralink is “aiming to restore (limited) sight to the completely blind next year,” an aggressive target for a potentially life-changing device.

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Tesla Cybercab tests seem to be ramping up again

Elon Musk has stated that he expects the company to achieve a run rate of 2 million Cybercabs annually.

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Credit: @serobinsonjr/X

Tesla seems to be ramping the tests of its autonomous two-seater, the Cybercab, once more. This was hinted at in recent drone footage from both the Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas.

The fresh sightings of the Cybercab in the Fremont Factory and Giga Texas have renewed conversations about the vehicle potentially being built with manual controls today. 

Fresh Cybercab tests

As noted by longtime drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer on social media platform X, he recently spotted a Cybercab driving on Giga Texas’ South River Road to the West side. Interestingly enough, the longtime Giga Texas watcher noted that this was the first Cybercab that he had seen conducting road tests in a while.

Over in the Fremont Factory, another Cybercab was spotted driving around the facility’s testing area. Similar to the Cybercab in the Giga Texas sighting, the vehicle that was spotted in the Fremont Factory seemed to be manually driven, at least based on the way it was being steered. This behavior has incited speculations among Tesla watchers that current Cybercab test units have manual controls, unlike their production version, which would have no steering wheel or pedals. 

Cybercab production preparation

The sightings of Cybercabs around the Fremont Factory and Giga Texas bode well for the vehicle’s development and impending production. It does, if any, complement reports that Tesla has been busy setting up production equipment for Giga Texas’ Cybercab production line. At the same time, drone footage around the Giga Texas complex has also revealed that Tesla is stockpiling some Cybercab castings, a likely sign that initial test production of the vehicle might soon begin.

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The Cybercab is expected to be Tesla’s highest volume vehicle, with CEO Elon Musk stating that he expects the company to achieve a run rate of 2 million Cybercabs annually. He also mentioned that the Cybercab will be easy to produce thanks to its Unboxed manufacturing process, so much so that its production would resemble a high-speed consumer electronics line instead of an automotive assembly line.

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