News
SpaceX Dragon spacecraft heads to ISS as crewed version preps for debut
SpaceX’s third flight-proven Cargo Dragon spacecraft has arrived in orbit and is currently making its way uphill to the International Space Station for the 15th SpaceX resupply, scheduled for arrival around 7 am EDT July 2nd. Meanwhile, the company’s new Crew Dragon is undergoing its own earthbound trials, split between an artificial vacuum chamber and parachute drop tests over the California desert.
Following a twilight launch that brought to a spectacular close an era of older, less-reusable Falcon 9 rockets, the Cargo Dragon capsule trunk full of several tons of supplies and scientific instruments were placed into a parking orbit roughly 200 miles above Earth’s surface, trailed by a mesmerizing rainbow plume created by Falcon 9’s first and second stage over their nine-minute journey.
- CRS-15 minutes before an early July 29 launch. (SpaceX)
- Nine minutes after launch, Falcon 9’s upper stage shut off its main engine and Cargo Dragon detached. (SpaceX)
After arriving in orbit, Crew Dragon separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and officially commenced its second orbital mission roughly 25 months after its first, CRS-9 in July 2016. Alongside the three that have now flown successfully, all five of SpaceX’s remaining Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1) missions will be conducted with flight-proven Dragon spacecraft, two or three of which will see the already-reused capsules fly a third time before being officially retired.
After SpaceX’s first CRS contract comes to an end, currently scheduled for early 2020 with the CRS-20 mission, the upgraded Dragon 2 will take over all future cargo launches. Dragon 2’s cargo configuration is expected to be a slightly different version of the Crew Dragon capsule and trunk, scheduled to debut as early as late 2018, but the specifics are still somewhat hazy. Most probably, recovered Crew Dragon capsules – unlikely to ever been certified to fly NASA astronauts – will instead be refurbished after their first orbital missions, modified slightly to meet the cargo requirements, and then use to complete SpaceX’s CRS-2 contract alongside their crew transport missions.
At Naval Air Facility El Centro in Southern California, SpaceX recently completed its 16th test of Crew Dragon’s parachute system—verifying the system’s ability to slow Crew Dragon and ensure a safe landing in the unlikely event of a low altitude abort. https://t.co/OOQnAtNXJ3 pic.twitter.com/kFX7Qth3AK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 26, 2018
While its predecessors continue to grow SpaceX’s experience in orbit, the Crew Dragon program is making its own impressive progress towards the first uncrewed and crewed launch debuts in late 2018 and early 2019. DM-1, the capsule tasked with that first uncrewed demonstration, is likely nearing the end of a suite of tests inside NASA’s huge Plum Brook vacuum chamber facilities, ensuring that the brand-new spacecraft behaves as expected in the extreme environment of space. If successful, the capsule will be sent on its way to Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin true prelight preparations for the first time ever, while its trunk – an expendable structure installed at the base of the craft with solar arrays, radiators, and bays for unpressurized cargo – will be sent back to the Hawthorne, CA factory to be outfitted with flight hardware, after which it will ship to Florida one to two months after the capsule arrives.
- Crew Dragon parachute tests are likely to continue into the summer to ensure NASA certification in time for DM-1. (SpaceX)
- Falcon 9 B1045 and it’s flight-proven Cargo Dragon head skyward, marking the end of last-gen SpaceX Falcon 9 launches. (Tom Cross)
- CRS-15’s ‘jellyfish’ plume glowed as Falcon 9 flew above the terminator into the morning sun. (Tom Cross)
Meanwhile, the CRS-15 Dragon capsule currently orbiting Earth will dock with the International Space Station early Monday morning and is scheduled to depart, reenter, and return to Hawthorne, CA for Flight 3 refurbishment in early August, at which point the DM-1 Crew Dragon ought to have arrived in Florida. Aside from Dragon, SpaceX has three new Falcon 9 Block 5 launches scheduled between July 20 and August 2, the boosters of which will all be recovered aboard SpaceX’s fleet of drone ships
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Investor's Corner
SpaceX reports its second earnings today: here’s what to expect
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) will report its second public earnings call today since its IPO earlier this year, and there are a few things we expect to hear about, as well as Wall Street analysts, who have already outlined their expectations for the call.
Wall Street analysts have a consensus of $12.72 billion in revenue and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13. These are broken down into three sectors: Space, Connectivity, and AI/SI, which are perceived in this way:
- Space: $1.41 billion
- Connectivity: $4.84 billion
- AI/SI: $6.47 billion
Other outlets cluster near $12.8 or $12.9 billion in revenue and $0.14 – $0.15 EPS. This implies a roughly 65 percent sequential growth from Q2’s $7.81 billion, driven mostly by AI/SI, with the first post-IPO positive EPS expected.
Here are the three things to watch for on the call:
AI Revenue Ramp and the $100B+ ARR target
AI is truly the swing factor for SpaceX, and analysts expect it to roughly double from Q2’s $2.56 billion and become about half of total revenue. Management previously guided to a $100 billion+ annualized run rate by December, including the Cursor acquisition, which was $60 billion, to close the quarter.
Listen for updates on SpaceX’s compute capacity, especially pertaining to its contracts with Google, Anthropic, and others, revenue per watt, any new deals, and Cursor’s early contribution.
Starlink/Connectivity Metrics and Mobile Expansion
Connectivity remains a main profit engine for SpaceX. Subscriber additions will be something to pay attention to, as Q2 ended at 12 million and previews are looking at 14 million for this quarter. Additionally, ARPU trends, enterprise and government growth, and any commentary on Starlink Mobile will be something to pay attention to, especially following the recent low-band spectrum deal and FCC-related constellation approvals.
Capex Trajectory, Cash Burn/FCF, and Starship/Operational Updates
Q2 capex of roughly $18.4 billion weighed on the stock. Investors will look to scrutinize Q3 spending levels, any guidance on the pace into Q4/2027, free cash flow, backlog, and liquidity. Operational color on Starship (Flight 14 milestones and Flight 15 timing/reusability progress), Falcon cadence, and government/NASA contracts are also in focus.
Of course, there will also be some speculation on the potential Tesla-SpaceX merger, but there was nothing mentioned in the company’s proxy it sent earlier this week.
SpaceX will report earnings after market close today and will stream the call on X.
Watch live as SpaceX discusses our Q3 2026 earnings at 3:30pm CT today → https://t.co/Qrb0qeVG15
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 20, 2026
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News
SpaceX just launched its secret Starfall saucer again
SpaceX launched its Starfall capsule again on Bandwagon-5, this time listed openly beside rideshare customers.
SpaceX launched its Starfall reentry capsule for the second time on Tuesday morning, flying it as the payload of the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida at 7:04 a.m. ET with 32 payloads, and the first stage booster, on its 19th flight, landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas about nine minutes later.
Starfall was scheduled to separate last, 2 hours and 48 minutes after liftoff. The final customer satellite on SpaceX’s mission timeline comes off the upper stage about an hour and nine minutes in, which left a long gap before the capsule was due to be released alone. SpaceX later posted that the payload deployment sequence is complete. At liftoff, the company said Starfall “enables affordable, routine access to a microgravity environment, providing unique opportunities for on-orbit manufacturing, scientific research, and testing.”
Starfall enables affordable, routine access to a microgravity environment, providing unique opportunities for on-orbit manufacturing, scientific research, and testing https://t.co/y8kJg3QDor
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 20, 2026
As Teslarati reported before the first Starfall flight, SpaceX made no public announcement about the vehicle then, and nearly everything known came from FAA and FCC filings. This time Starfall is an item name on the official mission page, listed beside paying rideshare customers. SpaceX has still not said what, if anything, is aboard this Starfall, Spaceflight Now noted.
The FAA’s environmental assessment from May describes a disk about 10.2 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall that weighs roughly 4,600 pounds and can bring 2,200 pounds of payload back to Earth.
Interestingly, the same rocket also carries a competitor’s hardware. Varda Space Industries launched its W-Series 7 capsule on Bandwagon-5, a spacecraft about three times smaller than Starfall that will test whether microgravity can improve the solubility of a cancer drug called Protac. It is Varda’s ninth reentry capsule, and W-8 and W-9 launched earlier this month on Transporter-18. SpaceX has been Varda’s launch provider since the company’s first Falcon 9 rideshare contract in 2021.
SpaceX has not published where or how this Starfall will come down. The preview we ran in June described a recovery from the Pacific Ocean, and the company has not said whether this flight follows the same plan. The launch also arrives hours before SpaceX posts its third quarter results after the market closes, a report we previewed earlier this week.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s latest Tesla tunnel truck mod “fits like a glove”
The Boring Company has modified a Tesla powered tunnel truck to carry freight containers underground.
The Boring Company has found a second job for the Tesla hardware it already runs underground. In a post on X, Elon Musk’s tunneling company showed its latest Prufrock Liner Truck modified to carry a standard 20 foot shipping container. “Using TBC tunnels to transport freight,” the company wrote. “The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20′ shipping container. Fits like a glove!”
The photo shows a red container sitting on a long, low white chassis parked outside, with drive hardware visible at one end. The Boring Company did not say where or when freight hauling would start, which customers it has in mind, or how many trucks it is converting.
Using TBC tunnels to transport freight.
The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20’ shipping container.
Fits like a glove! https://t.co/VV0phWK4fc
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) October 19, 2026
Until now, the liner trucks have hauled concrete. Teslarati reported in August on Liner Truck 3, which uses Model 3 battery packs and drive units to move more than 22,000 pounds of precast tunnel segments to the boring machine. It has 28 miles of range, tops out at 12 mph, and is piloted remotely from the company’s operations center in Texas. The freight version appears to be the same platform with a different bed, and The Boring Company has not said whether it will also be remotely piloted.
Freight has been on the company’s menu for years. When TBC updated its product lineup in 2021, its freight tunnel was described as sized to fit a standard shipping container, “barely.” The company later used the idea at Tesla’s own factory, where Prufrock 3 dug a tunnel to Giga Texas that now moves finished Cybertrucks away from the production line.
The Boring Company closed a $3 billion Series D in September at a $23 billion valuation, and Teslarati has covered how that money is tied to a UAE tunneling push and a faster Nashville build. In Nashville, Prufrock MB1 and MB2 are mining at the same time, and a third machine is expected to launch in late October. Each machine needs a steady supply of liner trucks, so any design that works for segments and containers alike gives the company more use out of the same Tesla parts.
The Vegas Loop remains the only Boring Company system open to the public, and it moves passengers in Tesla vehicles. A freight service would be a separate product, and the post gave no indication that one is close to launch. For now, it is a truck, a container and a short caption saying they fit together.




