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SpaceX teases Crew Dragon capsule and spacesuit details in new video

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Over the past few weeks, conference presentations given by SpaceX employees like Joy Dunn and Paul Wooster have kicked off with an updated intro reel including unseen slow-motion footage of Falcon Heavy and detailed looks at the company’s spacesuit and Crew Dragon capsule.

Those in the habit of catching SpaceX launches live will be readily familiar with the company’s intro reel – it’s marked the start of live coverage for nearly every webcast in the past three or more years. The current intro reel has remained more or less unchanged since the first successful Falcon 9 booster recovery in December 2015, and this updated intro reel will be a breath of fresh air for what is still admittedly an amazing video. Still, it’s hard to say “no” to slow-motion footage of Falcon Heavy.

Most recently shown at an MIT Media Lab conference during SpaceX Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster’s presentation, the new reel has – somewhat unsurprisingly – been built around the incredibly successful inaugural Falcon Heavy launch, as well as some more recent footage of the company’s Cargo Dragon docking with the International Space Station. Additional clips show what appears to be details of the finalized Crew Dragon – set to debut in late 2018 – and a closeup of SpaceX’s internally-designed spacesuit. Sticking out as the only truly unusual snippet, the end of the new reel features parts of the animation SpaceX released in 2016 during the debut of their Mars rocket, the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), which has since been replaced with the similar but different BFR.

While entirely possible that the inclusion of ITS footage in an intro reel clearly updated since 2018 is intentional, it seems more likely that SpaceX has yet to publicize this new video partially because they don’t yet have a similar animation featuring their updated Mars rocket and spaceship. CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments on the encouraging progress being made with the design and construction of the first BFR prototype suggests that such an updated animation could be just around the corner, if not full-up teaser photos of the construction progress. Set to begin suborbital hop testing as early as the first half of 2019 and orbital launches by end of 2020, SpaceX’s Mars ambitions may still feel far away, but the tech that could make them real is already undergoing preliminary construction and testing.

Sooner still is SpaceX’s upcoming debut of Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will eventually both carry astronauts to the ISS and later replace Cargo Dragon. Initially intended to land near the launch pad on legs, akin to Falcon 9, SpaceX has since canceled that work, largely due to numerous delays that would have almost certainly been incurred in the process of NASA certification of such a new and unproven technology. Instead, Musk made it clear that SpaceX would instead put its time, energy, and money into the development of BFR and BFS, sidestepping NASA’s sometimes-smothering and counterproductive paternalism for the time being.

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Crew Dragon will instead be recovered after landing in the ocean, a disappointing concession that is at least partially cushioned by SpaceX’s recent successes and growing expertise with the reuse of their similarly sea-recovered Cargo Dragons. While ocean-recovery certainly won’t lend itself to ease of reuse quite as readily as powered landings, SpaceX will likely be able to significantly drop the cost of Crew Dragon launches in the future by efficiently refurbishing each recovered capsule. Less likely but still a possibility, the company could adopt something similar to the fairing-catcher Mr Steven – essentially a giant net aboard a highly-maneuverable boat – to recover Crew Dragon without submerging the spacecraft in saltwater. As of March 2018, at least according to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center director, SpaceX is still on track to conduct its first uncrewed launch of Crew Dragon as early as August 2018, with the first crewed mission following in December 2018 if all goes well.

SpaceX’s spacesuit is a critical component of their crewed spaceflight efforts, and has been designed and built in-house to ensure that astronauts can survive the emergency depressurization of a Crew Dragon capsule, evidenced by Musk’s recent suggestions that senior suit engineers successfully survived stints in a vacuum chamber while wearing it. Thanks to the staggering success of Falcon Heavy and its iconic Starman and Tesla Roadster payload, SpaceX’s spacesuit will undoubtedly be a badge of honor for all future astronauts who fly aboard Crew Dragon.

Starman gives one final farewell to Earth as he departs for deep space aboard Musk’s Tesla Roadster. (SpaceX)

 

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla opens the Q&A for its biggest earnings call yet

Tesla opens its Q3 earnings Q&A, and Cybercab, Robotaxi, Optimus and regulators loom over October 21.

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Tesla has opened its shareholder question portal for the Q3 2026 earnings call, with the Say Q&A page already listing questions. Investors have until 4:00 p.m. EDT on October 20 to submit and vote on what management should answer.

The call is set for Wednesday, October 21. Tesla will post results after the market closes, with a live webcast at 4:30 p.m. CT, or 5:30 p.m. ET, through its investor relations site.

Say ranks questions by the number of shares behind the votes, which gives institutional holders extra weight over the retail crowd.

Ahead of Q2, retail investors asked why Robotaxi growth had stalled, when Cybercab would start customer rides, and where the Optimus Gen 3 ramp stood, while an institutional holder asked how Tesla and SpaceX would split Terafab duties. Cybercab has since answered one of those. Tesla said last week it has 300 plus Cybercabs serving Austin, up eightfold in 30 days, with Dallas named as the next city. The questions now are likely to move from when to how fast.

There is also a regulatory question hanging over the call. NHTSA has demanded sworn answers on how the pedal free Cybercab was certified against federal safety standards, with responses due October 30, nine days after the call. Whether an analyst raises it live is unknown, but it is the kind of exposure that tends to find its way into a Q&A.

The numbers will not be the main draw. Tesla already reported 486,532 deliveries and 13.7 GWh of storage for the quarter. Consensus sits around 43 to 45 cents per share on roughly $27.8 billion in revenue, according to Zacks, after a Q2 report that missed on EPS. Goldman Sachs, which holds a Neutral rating and a $360 target, argues the outlook for Robotaxi, FSD and Optimus will matter more to the stock than the quarter itself.

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The call also lands six days after the rescheduled Roadster event, which Tesla will stream on X on Thursday, October 15, at 7:55 p.m. CT. If the Roadster shows up with a production date or a SpaceX thruster package, expect it to climb the voting list before the deadline.

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Ukraine says Starlink is cutting out its military drones as Poland calls out Elon Musk

Ukrainian officials allege SpaceX limited military Starlink speeds, disrupting drone missions; SpaceX has not commented.

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Credit: Mykhailo Fedorov/Twitter

Ukrainian officials are accusing SpaceX of placing a speed limit on the military version of Starlink that their forces use to fly drones, but SpaceX has not confirmed that any change was made. Presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said in a Telegram post on Wednesday that Starshield terminals have begun losing service when they move faster than about 100 miles per hour, according to a Reuters report. “Our defense forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions,” he wrote.

Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps told Reuters that connections dropped for 10 to 20 seconds at just 68 to 75 mph, which made the drones harder to control. Volunteer Serhiy Sternenko, citing military reports, said the dropouts are now starting at 37 to 43 mph. These accounts come from Ukrainian officials and military sources and have not been independently verified. Regular civilian terminals were reportedly not affected, according to EUalive.


SpaceX has not publicly commented or explained what, if anything, changed. Beskrestnov and other Ukrainian officials believe the issue is intentional and point to the timing. Washington has been pressing Kyiv to stop long range strikes on Russian oil refineries after President Trump called for an “energy ceasefire,” and Musk posted on Saturday that “Zelensky has gone too far.” EUalive noted that neither Ukrainian nor Polish officials have presented evidence that the limit was ordered by Washington or by SpaceX, so the link to politics remains an allegation. Other explanations, such as a technical or policy change affecting fast moving terminals, have not been ruled out.

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, responded on X by quote tweeting a Kyiv Independent report and writing: “Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you.” Poland is the largest funder of Ukraine’s Starlink service, having supplied more than 29,000 terminals and covering operating costs Sikorski has put at roughly $50 million a year. The wording echoes their 2025 clash, when Musk told Sikorski to “be quiet, small man.” At the time of writing, neither Musk nor SpaceX had responded to the claims.

The dispute sits on top of a long history. Musk confirmed in February 2022 that Starlink was active in Ukraine after a request from a Ukrainian minister. That October, SpaceX asked the Pentagon to share the bill and Musk said the cost was approaching $20 million a month, before he reversed course and said SpaceX would keep paying. In December 2024 the Pentagon moved some of those terminals onto the Starshield service, the government version now at the center of the complaints.

SpaceX has also changed how its network treats certain terminals in Ukraine before, and that time it was with Kyiv’s cooperation. In February, Ukrainian officials confirmed that terminals believed to be used by Russian troops were disabled after coordination with SpaceX, a step that Ukrainian commanders later said hurt Russian assaults. Whether anything similar is behind the latest reports is unclear, which is why Kyiv is asking for answers.

Ukraine is already looking at backups. Defense tech company Stetman is developing its own satellite system, UASAT-NANO, and officials in Europe have discussed alternatives to Starlink since early 2025, though none match its scale yet.

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FAA kicks off review of SpaceX’s bid to fly Starship nearly every day

FAA is reviewing SpaceX’s plan for 456 Starship launches a year, up from 25 today.

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Rendering of Elon Musk overlooking a Starship fleet (Credit: Grok)

The FAA said Tuesday that it will prepare an environmental impact statement on SpaceX’s proposal to run as many as 456 Starship launches and 912 landings a year from Starbase, Texas. SpaceX is currently authorized for 25 launches and 50 landings annually, which makes the request roughly 18 times the existing ceiling. The notice of intent is set to publish in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

The plan comes in two phases. Phase 1 would allow up to 100 launches and 200 landings a year, on any day and at any hour. Phase 2, which the FAA says could arrive within several years, would raise the limit to the full 456 launches, still at any hour but only on weekdays. The agency noted that 912 landings is the upper limit for the Texas facility no matter where a given mission begins, and that Starship and Super Heavy could come down at the launch site or in the Gulf and open ocean.

A draft statement will be released for public comment at a later date, and the FAA has not said when. According to the Federal Registar, written comments are due November 30 on regulations.gov under docket FAA-2026-12808, with in person scoping meetings on November 17 in Brownsville and November 19 in Port Isabel, plus a virtual session on November 18. The review will weigh air quality, wildlife, coastal resources, water, noise, and aviation, and the FAA said any increase beyond this proposal would need its own separate review.

The numbers look large next to what Starbase has actually done. Starship has flown three times from Texas this year, including Flight 14 on September 28, the first orbital flight, which deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites. Bloomberg reported that Starbase has never launched more than five times in a calendar year. The current cap of 25 comes from an FAA approval in May 2025. In February, the agency also approved up to 44 Starship launches a year from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, so Phase 1 in Texas alone would more than double that allowance.

Musk has said Starship could eventually fly more than once per hour within less than a decade, per Bloomberg. The nearer term target is Flight 15. Musk said on October 10 that it is hopefully four to six weeks away and will try to catch the ship with the tower, as Teslarati covered. That flight still runs under the existing 25 launch limit, and so would every Starbase launch for as long as the new review takes.

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As of mid morning Pacific time on Tuesday, SpaceX had not posted about the filing on its own account.

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