News
SpaceX nears Falcon 9 lunar rideshare launch as main satellite arrives in FL
SpaceX and customers Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), SpaceIL, and Spaceflight Industries are reportedly one month away from the NET February 18th launch of Indonesian communications satellite PSN VI (since renamed Nusantara Satu), commercial moon lander Beresheet, and additional unspecified smallsats.
In an encouraging sign that the mission’s launch date might hold, the PSN VI communications satellite – manufactured and delivered by Space Systems Loral (SSL) – arrived at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral, Florida payload processing facilities in late December 2018 and is likely to be joined by SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft in the next few weeks.
https://twitter.com/sslmda/status/1082427646921846784
Easily the most exotic rideshare mission yet in terms of the sheer variability and newness of almost every aspect, communications satellite PSN VI will not only be joined by the world’s first commercial lunar lander but also play host to rideshare organizer Spaceflight’s first dedicated rideshare mission to a high-energy geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), stretching approximately 200 to 36,000 km (120 to 22,000 miles) above Earth.
Led in large part by satellite contractor SSL’s recently-introduced PODS method of attaching rideshare satellite dispensers to larger geostationary satellites, the company’s main manufacturing focus, GTO or even full-GEO rideshare opportunities could open all kinds of doors for exotic but affordable smallsat missions beyond Earth orbit. If successfully implemented, one could foresee commercial, government, or academic entities with budgets that would have originally had them laughed out of doors actually be able to support their own dedicated missions to the Moon and perhaps even to other planets, asteroids, or comets.
Big Science, Small Packages
A pair of tiny, experimental spacecraft called #MarCO flew to Mars and fulfilled a their mission yesterday, relaying near-real-time data during @NASAInSight’s #MarsLanding. Find out more about the record-setting CubeSats: https://t.co/JOAaM2lHjx pic.twitter.com/IlNesoEonq— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) November 27, 2018
Less than coincidentally, JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) successfully launched, tested, and demonstrated a pair of small signal relay cubesats as viable communications infrastructure during Mars lander InSight’s November 2018 landing attempt, becoming the first smallsats ever to operate in deep space. While the utility of each MarCO cubesat was very limited, the program was an extremely successful technology demonstration and has likely opened a number of doors for smallsat passengers to join future interplanetary missions. Already, the European Space Agency (ESA) hopes to include multiple cubesats on an asteroid defense-focused mission to the Didymous asteroid system in the 2020s.
A couple of #CubeSats will join #ESA’s Hera mission towards a binary asteroid system to perform additional bonus science alongside the main mothership. #newspace #cubesat #space https://t.co/gu3BS4sgL0 pic.twitter.com/13iw7gh1u6
— D-Orbit (@D_Orbit) January 8, 2019
While SSL apparently tested PODS with success on the communications satellite Hispasat 30W-6, launched by SpaceX in March 2018, it appears that PSN VI may be the first purely commercial use of SSL’s offerings. Whatever the complex relationship is, it appears that PSN VI’s PODS were co-opted (ordered?) by Spaceflight, who then sold those spaces and managed the integration of customers with spacecraft that needed an orbit truly unique for cubesats.
Given the fact that there has been almost complete silence on Spaceflight’s GTO-1 rideshare mission and that the most recent use of PODS on Hispasat was reportedly funded and used by military research agency DARPA, it may actually be reasonable to conclude that Spaceflight is acting as the middleman for a number of satellites built or owned by military agencies, potentially explaining the radio-silence from Spaceflight’s normally talkative communications team.
- PSN-6, an SSL-built communications satellite weighing several thousand kilograms, arrived in Florida roughly 10 days ago. (SSL)
- PSN-6, an SSL-built communications satellite weighing several thousand kilograms, arrived in Florida roughly 10 days ago. (SSL)
- SpaceIL’s Beresheet moon lander. (SpaceIL)
- Beresheet is seen here prior to the spacecraft’s flight from Israel to Florida. (SpaceIL/IAI)
Regardless, this launch is bound to be a fascinating one from a trajectory design perspective. Whether or not Falcon 9’s upper stage is actually going to be involved in the task of helping lunar lander Beresheet on its way to the Moon, info from manufacturer and operator SpaceIL suggests that the small ~600 kg spacecraft will rely on an eccentric method of shifting orbits from around the Earth to intercept the Moon. Over the course of several months of small nudges in the right direction, Beresheet will eventually – and very gradually – oscillate on the tip of the gravitational peak between the two planetary bodies until it eventually slips down the lunar side to eventually intercept the Moon. While very slow, this optimized trajectory will be extremely efficient, allowing as much propellant as possible to be saved for the actual task of landing on the Moon.
Which rocket slipper fits?
Come launch day, the combined mass of PSN VI (Nusantara Satu), Beresheet, and unknown rideshare passenger spacecraft will most likely fall somewhere between 5500 and 6000 kg (~12,000-13,500 lbs), indicating that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 should be more than capable of placing the stack of satellites into a healthy geostationary transfer orbit before attempting to land aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY).
- Pad 39A seen after most extraneous Shuttle-era hardware had been removed, November 2018. (Tom Cross)
- Falcon 9 B1047.2 is seen here conducting its second successful drone ship landing. (SpaceX)
- Falcon 9 B1048 appears out of the fog prior to its second orbital-class launch. (Pauline Acalin)
- Falcon 9 B1048.2 landed at LZ-4 after its second successful launch. (SpaceX)
The question that remains, then, is which Falcon 9 rocket will be tasked with launching the unique mission. Given that SpaceX appears to be rushing full-speed-ahead to complete the next Falcon Heavy in time for a late-February or March launch debut, it seems very unlikely that SpaceX could preserve that aggressive FH launch schedule while also preparing a separate, new Falcon 9 booster for PSN VI. If that’s the case, then the two options at hand are Falcon 9s B1047.3 and B1048.3, both of which have previously launched twice and are currently at SpaceX’s Florida facilities.
In other words, it appears that SpaceX’s first commercial launch to the Moon might lift off on a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster, an unintended but thoroughly fitting precursor to what is hopefully a future full of highly reusable rockets and interplanetary (as in between two or more planetary bodies) spaceflight.
Investor's Corner
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.
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.
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.
Elon Musk
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.
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.
.@POTUS: We told Zelensky, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem.’ And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop. https://t.co/CdRlMcPlKr
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 10, 2026
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.
Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?
As your European customers, we are watching you.— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) October 14, 2026
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.
Elon Musk
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.
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.
As of mid morning Pacific time on Tuesday, SpaceX had not posted about the filing on its own account.







