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SpaceX’s Starship facilities, Raptor testing, and more shown off in new video
SpaceX has teased a video highlighting all aspects of its next-generation Starship rocket, ranging from new views of the Starship Mk1 prototype in Boca Chica to slow-motion clips of Raptor engine static fire tests in McGregor, Texas.
2019’s International Astronautical Congress (IAC) has included multiple SpaceX presentations, culminating on October 22nd with a discussion panel featuring SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell. Aside from offering some excellent details on the progress being made by SpaceX Starlink program, Shotwell also debuted a new Starship-centric video, featuring a range of new views of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket development program.
IAC 2019 attendee Trevor Mahlmann was able to stream the bulk of the panel, including Shotwell’s minute-long Starship program redux. Aside from a new perspective of Starhopper after its second and final test flight, perhaps the most notable new footage offered a select few glimpses of Starship Mk1’s build process. Drone timelapses and video taken from inside Starship’s tank section – prior to the installation of its third and final dome – are a strong confirmation that SpaceX is constantly acquiring high-quality footage throughout the development program.
Additionally, a back-to-back series of new videos of Raptor engine static fire testing may have been a sort of highlight reel of Raptor SN06 – the first engine to successfully make it through SpaceX’s preflight test regime – before it supported Starhopper’s final flight test in August 2019. It could nevertheless be any number of engines, as SpaceX continues to build and test Raptors at an accelerating rate.
Meanwhile, beyond Shotwell’s October 22nd discussion panel, SpaceX Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster revealed additional previously-unseen views of Starship – this time in the form of a lunar landing render. This particular render featured an unusual setup in which Starship appeared to have opened garage door-style hatches along its hull after landing on the Moon, revealing what can be assumed to be cargo bays.
In an even weirder twist, a large Moon rover appears to be heading to the lunar surface on a section of Starship’s detached hull that has been transformed into an ad-hoc elevator. The quality of the screenshot is subpar but there are no obvious strings or wires, suggesting that the implied elevator is some sort of track built directly onto the exterior of Starship’s hull. What is likely an astronaut stands on the surface, awaiting the delivery if their fresh Moon rover.
It’s unclear if the recent burst of Starship-related disclosures and teasers from SpaceX executives and senior employees is a glimpse behind the curtains or a sign of a new stage of seriousness and company-wide interest in the next-generation rocket, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be stopping anytime soon. Up next for Starship is a critical 20 km (12 mi) flight test that will use the Mk1 prototype to determine whether SpaceX’s exotic skydiver-like recovery method is a viable option for landing on Earth and Mars. A different SpaceX presenter indicated that that test flight could occur as early as December 2019.
If successful, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that the very next Starship flight test could be the spacecraft’s first attempted orbital flight. It’s far more likely that many more test flights – possibly including Super Heavy booster hops – will occur before an orbital launch attempt is made. Still, Musk believes that it could occur as few as six months from now, while Shotwell (often known for her more down-to-earth approach to schedule estimates) stated at IAC 2019 that she hoped it would occur “within a year”.
Starship’s first operational cargo mission to the surface of the Moon would then follow as early as 2022.
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Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
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Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.Â
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.Â
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.Â
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.Â
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
