News
SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft sails home after flawless in-flight abort test
SpaceX’s newest Crew Dragon spacecraft has successfully returned to port aboard one of the company’s dedicated recovery vessels, neatly wrapping up what appears to have been a completely flawless in-flight abort (IFA) test.
Designed to prove that Crew Dragon can safely escape a failing Falcon 9 rocket at essentially any point from the launch pad to orbit, SpaceX voluntarily chose to perform a full-fidelity IFA test – something NASA left up to both it and Boeing. Boeing instead decided to extrapolate from a pad abort test – which SpaceX completed in 2015 – and a presumably large number of digital simulations to verify that Starliner would survive an in-flight abort.
To be clear, NASA is explicitly okay with this, but space agency officials did not shy away from openly embracing the superiority of integrated flight testing at several points both before, during, and after SpaceX’s second Crew Dragon launch. Although it will almost certainly remain (publicly) unsaid, there should be little doubt that for astronauts scheduled to fly on either Crew Dragon and Starliner, the successful completion of in-flight abort and pad abort tests almost certainly engenders at least a little more confidence in the vehicle they will be entrusting their lives to.
It’s worth noting that although NASA argues – perhaps soundly – that digital modeling, a pad abort test, and an orbital flight test are enough to determine whether any given spacecraft is safe enough to launch US astronauts, the unspoken reality – or at least a large part of it – is that cost is a major concern. At this point in time, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) contracts are expected to cost a total of $3.1B for SpaceX and $5.1B for Boeing – both including at least four total orbital launches of their respective spacecraft.
In simpler terms, despite the fact that SpaceX has received a full $2 billion (~40%) less than Boeing to accomplish the same tasks in the same time, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon completed a flawless orbital launch debut and space station rendezvous with Crew Dragon almost 10 months before Boeing’s Starliner suffered a serious partial failure in space. Simultaneously, for $2 billion less, SpaceX has now given NASA a seemingly flawless full-up in-flight abort test of Crew Dragon before the space agency will fully entrust the spacecraft with the safety of its astronauts.
In the last 10 or so weeks, Boeing has thus suffered a minor Starliner parachute failure, a far more concerning spacecraft failure during its first orbital flight test (OFT), has no plans to perform an in-flight abort test, and nevertheless still wants Starliner’s next launch to carry NASA astronauts.
A clear path ahead
SpaceX, on the other hand, has now completed two seemingly-flawless integrated launches of Crew Dragon on a Falcon 9 rocket – one of which successfully rendezvoused with the ISS and returned to Earth; the other of which has now proven that Crew Dragon can whisk astronauts to safety from a failing supersonic rocket. SpaceX says it will carefully inspect capsule C205 and eventually refurbish the spacecraft, although it’s entirely unclear what kind of mission the company could foreseeably reuse it on in the near future.
Speaking shortly after Crew Dragon’s second flawless launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that he had spoken with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine just prior to the post-launch press conference and together came up with a response to the most obvious question: when will SpaceX fly astronauts? In short, Musk was almost certain that all the hardware needed for the Demo-2 astronaut test flight – Falcon 9 booster, F9 upper stage, Crew Dragon capsule C206, and a Dragon trunk – will be completed, tested, and delivered to Cape Canaveral by late-February 2020.
If everything goes exactly as planned, NASA – prior to launch – indicated that an early-March 2020 launch was actually within reach. After launch, Musk tempered expectations, stating that SpaceX would almost certainly launch its first NASA astronauts sometime in Q2 – perhaps as early as April. Regardless, it looks like we wont have to wait more than a few months to find out.
Check out Teslarati’s Marketplace! We offer Tesla accessories, including for the Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Model 3.
SpaceX officially launched the Starlink Mini 2 on November 10, delivering the first portable Starlink terminal designed around independent power.
Invitation-only preorders for select U.S. customers are priced at $999 plus tax, a figure that includes a full year of Roam Unlimited service valued at roughly $2,100. A refundable $100 deposit reserves the kit, with the balance due at shipment, expected to begin in mid-December. Broader availability is listed as coming soon.
Starlink just unveiled Mini 2, its next-gen portable dish.
Quick-swap battery, up to 4.5 hrs per charge
USB-C power
Built-in Wi-Fi
Online in about 60 secondsPreorders are open now. https://t.co/QawqgbswrQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 10, 2026
The headline feature is the quick-swap 71 Wh battery. Clipped to the rear of the dish without tools, it delivers up to 4.5 hours of connectivity on a single charge.
The 490-gram pack includes its own USB-C port and LED indicators, so users can charge a spare separately and swap it in seconds while staying online. Starlink notes that the terminal can continue operating while the battery charges or run directly from a 60 W USB-C source. The retail box includes one battery, a 60 W USB-C charger, and a 3-meter cable.
Beyond power, the Mini 2 is thinner at 23.1 mm (versus 38.5 mm on the original Mini) while measuring 263 × 314 mm. With the battery and kickstand attached it weighs 1.6 kg.
Built-in Wi-Fi 6 expands coverage to up to 1,800 square feet, an IP67 rating protects against dust and water, and a standard 1/4-20 tripod thread plus physical power button round out the design. Field of view remains 110 degrees, and the unit retains support for mobile use.
For travelers, campers, and remote workers, the swappable battery removes the longstanding requirement for an external power bank or vehicle outlet that defined the first Mini. Spare packs sold separately further extend runtime, turning the compact terminal into a more self-contained solution.
While the bundled $999 invitation price sits well above the original Mini’s current $149 starting point, the included year of service and genuine untethered operation mark a clear step forward in portable satellite internet.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s $24B Starbase supercomputer plan slipped past a key roadblock
SpaceX wants a Starbase tax break for a $24 billion gas plant and supercomputer campus.
SpaceX is asking its own company town for a tax break on a $24 billion natural gas power plant and supercomputing facility at Starbase, Texas, and the land it picked sits just outside the reach of a data center moratorium that took effect in neighboring Brownsville last week.
A City of Starbase public hearing notice says SpaceX “proposes to construct, own, and operate a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility” on roughly 444 acres between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville. The $24 billion figure covers only the initial phases, and the notice leaves room for future expansions. The Starbase City Commission will consider a property tax abatement and a related economic development agreement at a 7 p.m. hearing on December 9. The notice does not disclose the size or length of the abatement, or how much computing capacity the site would hold.
The location has a history. Over the summer, SpaceX asked Brownsville to remove the tract from its city limits and offered $220 million for water and wastewater projects in return. Brownsville approved the move in August, and Starbase later annexed the land. Brownsville’s own 90-day pause on data center applications took effect last week, and had the tract stayed inside the city, the project likely would have needed a different home.
The power side is already in front of state regulators. SpaceX has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for air permits covering 35 mobile gas turbines producing roughly 750 megawatts, according to Politico, which also noted that two of the three Starbase commissioners voting on the incentives are SpaceX executives.
Building its own plant lets SpaceX skip the Texas grid. Gov. Greg Abbott paused new data center grid connections in August pending an audit, but a facility that generates its own electricity does not need one. The air permit still has to clear the TCEQ, where Abbott also ordered a halt on data center permits.
The bigger test arrives in January. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, who unseated Abbott last week, has said she will block data center approvals until the legislature passes new protections, and she has already asked state officials to hold off on any sale of Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX until she is sworn in. Tesla and SpaceX shares both fell the day after the election, and Musk’s first reaction on X was “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”
That line points to Starmind, SpaceX’s orbital compute constellation. Musk has said terrestrial compute will be “peanuts compared to orbital compute” and expects monthly orbital deployments to pass ground deployments around the end of 2028, as Teslarati reported. Until then, SpaceX still needs gigawatts on the ground. It ended the third quarter with 1.7 GW of nameplate compute, is targeting 2.5 to 3 GW by the end of this year and wants at least 10 GW more in 2027. Its existing Colossus sites around Memphis already run on gas turbines and face a lawsuit from residents over emissions.
Local reaction is split. The South Texas Environmental Justice Network has announced a protest, citing air quality, water use and energy bills, while some Brownsville residents told the Tribune they welcome the jobs. SpaceX did not respond to the Tribune’s questions about the project.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company will extend Cybertruck production slightly to handle its extensive order backlog.
On Wednesday, Musk announced that “In order to work through more of the Cybertruck order backlog, production will be extended through the end of summer 2027.”
In order to work through more of the Cybertruck order backlog, production will be extended through the end of summer 2027
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2026
Tesla has already attempted to simplify its last months of production for the Cybertruck by eliminating several trim levels and only offering the Cyberbeast, the most expensive trim that starts at $109,990. The other two trim levels, the Cybertruck All-Wheel-Drive and Premium All-Wheel-Drive have both been discontinued.
There has been plenty of backlash against Tesla’s decision to ax the Cybertruck, but the company’s forecast prioritizes Cybercab and autonomy. Factory space at Gigafactory Texas that is not necessary is now being set aside for the Cybercab as the company truly embraces its “transportation-as-a-service” model.
There is still a slim chance the Cybertruck survives. Last evening, Tesla upfitter Unplugged Performance offered to take the Cybertruck line off of Tesla’s hands and continue building it, along with a CyberSUV.
Nevertheless, Tesla seems to be ending the Cybertruck on its terms after what will be a three-and-a-half-year run. It still does not really feel quite real; I think many of us thought the Cybertruck would be around for years to come.
Musk added more detail, stating that while it was not the smartest move, “there must be some room in this world for sentimentality or what’s the point?”
This is not the smartest move from a profit-maximizing standpoint btw, but there must be some room in this world for sentimentality or what’s the point?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2026
Other EV pickups on the market have experienced a similar fate.
The Ford F-150 Lightning was axed by the Detroit company due to the continued losses the company took from sales. That truck was never profitable, and Ford is still taking a quarterly loss in its EV side. However, things are moving along as it has plans for a mass market EV pickup, which will likely gather some substantial demand if Ford can get it just right.
Perhaps another extension or even a total change of heart might come. Only Musk knows.
Starlink Mini 2 arrives with one feature for true off-grid connectivity
SpaceX’s $24B Starbase supercomputer plan slipped past a key roadblock
