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With a bit of luck, Mr Steven will likely return to about 24 hours after Iridium-6/GRACE-FO's launch, hopefully with a fairing half in two. (Pauline Acalin) With a bit of luck, Mr Steven will likely return to about 24 hours after Iridium-6/GRACE-FO's launch, hopefully with a fairing half in two. (Pauline Acalin)

SpaceX

SpaceX rocket fairing reappears on Mr Steven after six week hiatus

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A hop and a skip away from SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 Block 5 recovery, the company’s famous fairing recovery vessel Mr Steven was caught by Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin performing some unusual maneuvers at sea, hauling what can only have been the intact fairing half recovered after SpaceX’s March 30 launch of Iridium NEXT-5.

Why exactly the fairing half was aboard Mr Steven for high-speed trials and eventual delivery to Berth 240 – SpaceX’s future Mars rocket factory – is not entirely clear. The most obvious explanation is that these new operations are in some way related to Falcon 9 payload fairing drop tests hinted at recently by CEO Elon Musk, tests that would allow the company to hone the accuracy of the autonomous parafoils currently used to recover them. In light of Mr Steven’s newly upgraded net, the goal is to gently catch each fairing before they touch down on the ocean’s surface – per SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann, even partial immersion in seawater precludes any future attempts at reuse.

SpaceX technicians offload the Iridium fairing half from Mr Steven while docked at Berth 240, SpaceX’s BFR (Mars rocket) factory in-waiting. (Pauline Acalin)

While we originally speculated that water intrusion into the fairing halves’ aluminum honeycomb composite structures – a common failure mode in the history of the material’s use in aerospace – would pose a problem for fairing reuse sans net capture, the actual reason Koenigsmann gave was the fact that the environment inside Falcon fairings must be kept extraordinarily clean to avoid damaging the highly sensitive satellite and spacecraft payloads housed inside. In retrospect, it makes a whole lot of sense that cleaning a fairing thoroughly enough after exposure to seawater/sea spray and its multitudes of organic material, minerals, and simple saltwater could pose an extremely expensive (if not outright intractable) problem for routine reusability. Hence Mr Steven and his wonderfully analog recovery hardware (i.e. a giant net).

After approximately six weeks of rest after its return to Port of San Pedro aboard Mr Steven, the fairing half found itself speeding around the mouth of Port of San Pedro aboard the net boat Mr Steven on May 16, after which it was carefully offloaded at SpaceX’s recently-leased Berth 240 facilities, set to one day become the company’s first Mars rocket and spaceship factory (currently housed in a giant tent a few miles away).

A careful scan of the day’s aviation activities showed no tracked helicopter flights that could have been involved in fairing drop tests, and it’s equally implausible that SpaceX would choose (or be permitted) to attempt to catch a 1000 kg autonomous parafoil a handful of miles from densely populated Los Angeles. Mr Steven’s distinctive yellow net – a brand new upgrade – was also visibly strewn about the vessel’s deck, over top of a basic wooden fairing stand, atop of which sat the sooty Iridium fairing half. Given the lengthy journey, it has made to be aboard Mr Steven, May 16’s unusual day of testing is presumably just the beginning of a number of outings, perhaps culminating in fairing drop and catch tests with a helicopter.

Regardless, the whole event was an incredible spectacle, caught in awesome detail by Pauline Acalin. One can only begin to imagine what other sights might one day – perhaps fairly soon – grace the dramatic dockside space SpaceX now owns at Berth 240.

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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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SpaceX to debut new Dragon capsule in Axiom Space launch

Ax-4’s launch marks the debut of SpaceX’s latest Crew Dragon and pushes Axiom closer to building its own space station.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission targets the International Space Station (ISS) with a new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The Axiom team will launch a new SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT). The Ax-4 mission launch was initially set for Tuesday, June 10, but was delayed by one day due to expected high winds.

As Axiom Space’s fourth crewed mission to the ISS, Ax-4 marks the debut of an updated SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. “This is the first flight for this Dragon capsule, and it’s carrying an international crew—a perfect debut. We’ve upgraded storage, propulsion components, and the seat lash design for improved reliability and reuse,” said William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of build and flight reliability.

Axiom Space is a Houston-based private space infrastructure company. It has been launching private astronauts to the ISS for research and training since 2022, building expertise for its future station. With NASA planning to decommission the ISS by 2030, Axiom has laid the groundwork for the Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station. The company has already begun construction on its ISS replacement.

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The Ax-4 mission’s research, spanning biological, life, and material sciences and Earth observation, will support this ambitious goal. Contributions from 31 countries underscore the mission’s global scope. The four-person crew will launch from Launch Complex 39A, embarking on a 14-day mission to conduct approximately 60 scientific studies.

“The AX-4 crew represents the very best of international collaboration, dedication, and human potential. Over the past 10 months, these astronauts have trained with focus and determination, each of them exceeding the required thresholds to ensure mission safety, scientific rigor, and operational excellence,” said Allen Flynt, Axiom Space’s chief of mission services.

The Ax-4 mission highlights Axiom’s commitment to advancing commercial space exploration. By leveraging SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and conducting diverse scientific experiments, Axiom is paving the way for its Axiom Station. This mission not only strengthens international collaborations but also positions Axiom as a leader in the evolving landscape of private space infrastructure.

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SpaceX

SpaceX Dragon to carry Axiom’s Ax-4 crew for ISS research

On June 10, Axiom’s Ax-4 mission heads to the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. It’s a historic return to space for India, Poland & Hungary.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission, launched on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, will carry a historic international crew to the International Space Station (ISS) next Tuesday, June 10, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule was recently photographed preparing for the Ax-4 launch. The Dragon will dock at the ISS on June 11 at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET for a 14-day mission focused on groundbreaking microgravity research.

The Ax-4 crew will be led by Commander Peggy Whitson from the United States. It includes Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla from India and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and the European Space Agency and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. This mission marks a historic return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary as each nation sends its first government-sponsored astronauts in over 40 years.

“With a culturally diverse crew, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration. Our previous missions set the stage, and with Ax-4, we ascend even higher, bringing more nations to low-Earth orbit and expanding humanity’s reach among the stars,” Whitson noted.

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The Ax-4 mission’s research portfolio will be Axiom’s most extensive. It includes 60 scientific studies from 31 countries, including the U.S., India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the UAE, and Europe. These studies will advance knowledge in human research, Earth observation, life, and biological and material sciences. Key investigations include supporting astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes, examining microgravity’s impact on the brain, and studying cancer growth, particularly triple-negative breast cancer. Additional research will explore blood stem cells, joint health, blood flow, and astronaut readiness using wearable devices, iPhone software, and AWS Snowcone analytics.

Axiom Space’s partnerships with research organizations and academic institutions aim to deepen understanding of spaceflight’s effects on the human body, with potential applications for Earth-based healthcare. The Ax-4 mission underscores Axiom’s role in redefining access to low-Earth orbit, fostering global collaboration, and advancing microgravity research. As SpaceX’s Dragon enables this historic mission, it reinforces the company’s pivotal role in commercial spaceflight and scientific discovery.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX to decommission Dragon spacecraft in response to Pres. Trump war of words with Elon Musk

Elon Musk says SpaceX will decommission Dragon as a result of President Trump’s threat to end his subsidies and government contracts.

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SpaceX will decommission its Dragon spacecraft in response to the intense war of words that President Trump and CEO Elon Musk have entered on various social media platforms today.

President Trump and Musk, who was once considered a right-hand man to Trump, have entered a vicious war of words on Thursday. The issues stem from Musk’s disagreement with the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will increase the U.S. federal deficit, the Tesla and SpaceX frontman says.

How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

The insults and threats have been brutal, as Trump has said he doesn’t know if he’ll respect Musk again, and Musk has even stated that the President would not have won the election in November if it were not for him.

President Trump then said later in the day that:

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Government Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

Musk’s response was simple: he will decommission the SpaceX capsule responsible for transporting crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS): Dragon.

Dragon has completed 51 missions, 46 of which have been to the ISS. It is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit. It is the only spacecraft that is capable of returning vast amounts of cargo to Earth. It is also the first private spacecraft to take humans to the ISS.

The most notable mission Dragon completed is one of its most recent, as SpaceX brought NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth after being stranded at the ISS by a Boeing Starliner capsule.

SpaceX’s reluctance to participate in federally funded projects may put the government in a strange position. It will look to bring Boeing back in to take a majority of these projects, but there might be some reluctance based on the Starliner mishap with Wilmore and Williams.

SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’

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