SpaceX
SpaceX’s Mr. Steven highlights ambiguity of Falcon fairing catches with port return
SpaceX’s fairing recovery vessel Mr. Steven highlighted the maddening and exhilarating uncertainty of unpublicized fairing recovery attempts with a return to Port of San Pedro on October 18th, the morning after spending a day at sea for the second Falcon fairing drop-and-catch test.
Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin was on site to watch Mr. Steven’s 1AM Pacific port return and was able to capture the arrival, showing a familiar test fairing resting on the vessel’s deck, perfectly intact, with the recovery net fully retracted.

Schrödinger’s Fairing
Beginning with a dry run on October 8th, SpaceX technicians and engineers have spent the last 10 days testing Mr. Steven more intensely than ever previously observed, centering around a campaign of apparent Falcon fairing drop tests. Although it’s possible that these tests are more captive-carry trials than true drop tests, it seems more likely – judging by the fact that NOTAMs, notices to airmen, were only filed for 2 of the 3 attempts – that the helicopter is actually releasing a fairing half around 11,000 feet (3300 m) and letting it glide towards Mr. Steven.
Previously, SpaceX executive Hans Koenigsmann and CEO Elon Musk have mentioned a probable drop test campaign if operational (post-launch) fairing recovery attempts were unsuccessful. Mr. Steven has yet to successfully snag a fairing out of the air over the course of four post-launch catch attempts, evidence that – just like landing Falcon 9 boosters intact – recovering orbital-class rocket hardware in a state that allows for future reuse is extraordinarily difficult, regardless of the subsystem. However, SpaceX has managed to successfully recover fairing halves intact and in a condition good enough to make Koenigsmann, Vice President of Reliability, visibly excited during an IAC 2018 presentation.
- Hans Koenigsmann was extremely excited about the condition of this particular fairing half, and included this photo in his IAC 2018 keynote. (SpaceX)
- One half of SpaceX’s Iridium-6/GRACE-FO just moments before touchdown on the Pacific Ocean. (SpaceX)
- Close. (SpaceX)
The problem with those intact halves is that they have been recovered only after soft landings in the ocean – once immersed in saltwater, the sheer expense of cleaning a fairing to the point that it would be able to host another sensitive satellite payload is apparently too high to be worthwhile, at least from a perspective of economical reusability. The (quite literally) miniscule line that thus appears to be separating failed fairing recovery attempts from successes also means that it’s extraordinarily difficult to know whether the fairing half that returned on Mr. Steven yesterday morning is indicative of a breakthrough success or another successful failure.
Clearly, the fairing is perfectly intact from a purely structural perspective, meaning that its recovery hardware – cold gas thrusters and a parafoil – worked nominally. What is impossible to tell is whether its autonomous guidance systems were able to successfully direct it to Mr. Steven’s net, or whether Mr. Steven himself was able to maneuver beneath the falling fairing in time to catch it. And yet, a fairing half still sits visibly intact on Mr. Steven’s deck, story and fate unknown. With any luck, SpaceX will offer an official confirmation of some sort once success is in hand. For now, we wait.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s next project will produce Starships at a level that sounds impossible
1,000 rockets per year is an insane number, especially considering Starship’s sheer size.
Elon Musk has revealed bold plans for SpaceX’s newest Starbase facility in Texas, predicting it will become a birthplace for “so many spaceships.” The upcoming “Gigabay,” a massive $250 million production hub in Starbase, Texas, is designed to manufacture up to 1,000 Starship rockets per year.
That’s an insane number of rockets for a single facility, especially considering Starship’s sheer size.
One of the world’s largest industrial structures
SpaceX’s Gigabay is expected to stand roughly 380 feet tall and enclose 46.5 million cubic feet of interior space, making it one of the largest industrial structures to date. The facility will feature 24 dedicated work cells for assembling and refurbishing Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, complete with heavy-duty cranes capable of lifting up to 400 U.S. tons, as noted in a Times of India report.
Construction crews have already placed four tower cranes on-site, with completion targeted for December 2026. Once operational, the Gigabay is expected to boost SpaceX’s launch cadence dramatically, as it would be able to build up to 1,000 reusable Starships per year, as noted in a report from the Dallas Express. Musk stated that the Gigabay will be “one of the biggest structures in the world” and hinted that it represents a major leap in Starbase’s evolution from test site to full-scale production hub.
A key step toward Mars and beyond
Starship is SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket system, and it remains a key part of Elon Musk’s vision of a multiplanetary future. The vehicle can carry 100–150 tonnes to low Earth orbit and up to 250 tonnes in expendable mode. With several successful flights to date, including a perfect 11th test flight, the Starship program continues to refine its reusable launch system ahead of crewed lunar missions under NASA’s Artemis initiative.
Starship is unlike any other spacecraft that has been produced in the past. As per Elon Musk, Starship is a “planet-colonizer” class rocket, as the magnitude of such a task “makes other space transport task trivial.” Considering Starship’s capabilities, it could indeed become the spacecraft that makes a Moon or Mars base feasible.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck fleet takes over at SpaceX’s Starbase
Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.
Tesla Cybertrucks have taken over at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas, as hundreds of the all-electric pickup trucks were spotted late last week rounding out a massive fleet of vehicles.
The Cybertruck fleet is geared toward replacing gas vehicles that are used at Starbase for everyday operations. The only surprise about this is that it was not done sooner:
Was just visiting. pic.twitter.com/5Q9wPPaeuH
— Derek Li (@derek1ee) October 31, 2025
Deliveries have been going on for a few weeks, as Cybertrucks have made their way across the state of Texas from Austin to Starbase so they could be included in SpaceX’s fleet of vehicles at the facility.
Interestingly, the Cybertruck uses the same exterior, a stainless steel alloy, as SpaceX rockets. This synergy between the two companies and their very different products shows a very unified mentality between Musk companies.
However, there are some other perspectives to consider as SpaceX is utilizing such a massive fleet of Cybertrucks. Some media outlets (unsurprisingly) are seeing this as a move of weakness by both Tesla and SpaceX, as the aerospace company is, in a sense, “bailing out” lagging sales for the all-electric pickup.
It’s no secret that Tesla has struggled with the Cybertruck this year, and deliveries have been underwhelming in the sense that the company was anticipating between 1 million and 2 million orders for the vehicle before it was widely produced.
A lot of things changed with the Cybertruck between its 2019 unveiling and 2023 initial deliveries, most notably, price.
The price of the Cybertruck swelled significantly and priced out many of those who had pre-ordered it. Some have weighed the option of whether this purchase was a way to get rid of sitting inventory.
However, it seems more logical to consider the fact that SpaceX was likely always going to transition to Teslas for its fleet, especially at Starship, at some point.
It doesn’t seem out of the question that one Musk company would utilize another Musk company’s products, especially considering the Cybertruck has been teased as the vehicle that would be present on Mars.
News
SpaceX successfully launches 100th Starlink mission of 2025
With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.
SpaceX achieved its 100th Starlink mission of the year on Friday, October 31, marking another milestone for 2025.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:41 p.m. ET, carrying another 28 Starlink satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Falcon 9 booster’s 29th flight
Roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the booster’s 29th flight, which is approaching SpaceX’s reuse record of 31 missions.
This latest mission adds to SpaceX’s impressive 138 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, 99 of which were dedicated to Starlink, according to Space.com. The company’s focus on reusing boosters has enabled this breakneck pace, with multiple launches each week supporting both Starlink’s expansion and external customers.
Starlink’s network continues massive global expansion
Starlink remains the largest active satellite constellation in history, with more than 10,000 satellites launched, nearly 8,800 of which are currently active. SpaceX recently achieved Starlink’s 10,000-satellite milestone. With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.
Starlink, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity even to the world’s most remote areas, has been proven to be life-changing technology for people across the globe. The service is currently operational in about 150 countries, and it currently has over 5 million subscribers worldwide. From this number, 2.7 million joined over the past year.
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