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SpaceX testing ceramic Starship heat shield tiles on flight-proven CRS-18 Cargo Dragon

SpaceX says a handful of Starship heat shield tiles will be tested on Cargo Dragon's own heat shield during the spacecraft's CRS-18 mission. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX announced during its CRS-18 Cargo Dragon webcast that the twice-flown orbital spacecraft will feature a handful of ceramic Starship heat shield tiles, meant to flight-test a critical component of the next-generation SpaceX spacecraft.

Extremely unfavorable weather forced SpaceX to scrub today’s scheduled CRS-18 launch around T-30 seconds to liftoff and tomorrow’s backup window (July 25th) doesn’t look any better. Nevertheless, whenever central Florida’s weather chooses to cooperate, the flight-proven Cargo Dragon capsule (C108) will be carrying a little piece of its successor along for the ride, a particularly fitting flight test given that the capsule will also become the first commercial spacecraft to launch to orbit three times.

Although Cargo Dragon’s reusability milestone is an undoubtedly impressive achievement, Starship must necessarily make the spacecraft’s third trip to orbit look like child’s play if it is to realize SpaceX’s dream of radically lowering the cost of spaceflight. To do so, Starship and Super Heavy will need to be the most easily reusable spacecraft and boosters ever built and flown by a nearly infinite margin, given that the ultimate goal is to require little more than careful inspections between suborbital booster launches and orbital Starship launches and reentries.

To accomplish that incredible feat, SpaceX will need to develop, test, and mass-produce thermal protection systems (including heat shields) that are more effective than anything that has flown in space. This is where Cargo Dragon (Dragon 1) and Crew Dragon come into play.

Cargo Dragon C113 bares its scorched heat shield after returning to port on June 4th, following its successful CRS-17 mission. (Pauline Acalin)
Crew Dragon C201 displays its heat shield after the spacecraft’s first orbital-velocity Earth reentry, March 8th. (NASA/Cory Huston)

Although this Starship heat shield test comes as a surprise, it’s just a logical extrapolation of SpaceX’s tendency to flight-test hardware in retrospect. SpaceX’s routine and regular Cargo Dragon launches offer an obviously invaluable platform for the company to test new technologies both in orbit and reentry conditions. In fact, SpaceX is the only entity – government or commercial – with a reusable spacecraft capable of returning appreciable amounts of cargo from space to Earth’s surface.

If Cargo Dragon capsule C108 continues its successful record of orbital missions and recoveries, SpaceX will be able to recover Starship’s prototype ceramic heat shield tiles perfectly intact and thus have access to orbit- and reentry-tested hardware that should provide invaluable data for Starship. It’s unclear where exactly ceramic heat shielding would be used on Starship or if this means that the spacecraft’s transpirationally-cooled steel tiles did not pass muster, but CEO Elon Musk will hopefully provide additional details in a presentation later this month or early next.

Of note, the Starship heat shield test tiles appear to be installed near what is effectively the leading edge and thus the most stressed section of the heat shield. Ultimately, it’s extremely impressive that NASA has accepted this significant modification and concluded – alongside SpaceX – that the added risk of the prototype tiles is near-zero.

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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 weighs Nasdaq listing as company explores early index entry: report

The company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly leaning toward listing its shares on the Nasdaq for a potential initial public offering (IPO) that could become the largest in history. 

As per a recent report, the company is reportedly seeking early inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index. The update was reported by Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the publication, SpaceX is considering Nasdaq as the venue for its eventual IPO, though the New York Stock Exchange is also competing for the listing. Neither exchange has reportedly been informed of a final decision.

Reuters has previously reported that SpaceX could pursue an IPO as early as June, though the company’s plans could still change.

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One of the publication’s sources also suggested that SpaceX is targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion for its IPO. At that level, the company would rank among the largest publicly traded firms in the United States by market capitalization.

Nasdaq has proposed a rule change that could accelerate the inclusion of newly listed megacap companies into the Nasdaq-100 index.

Under the proposed “Fast Entry” rule, a newly listed company could qualify for the index in less than a month if its market capitalization ranks among the top 40 companies already included in the Nasdaq-100.

If SpaceX is successful in achieving its target valuation of $1.75 trillion, it would become the sixth-largest company by market value in the United States, at least based on recent share prices. 

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Newly listed companies typically have to wait up to a year before becoming eligible for major indexes such as the Nasdaq-100 or S&P 500.

Inclusion in a major index can significantly broaden a company’s shareholder base because many institutional investors purchase shares through index-tracking funds.

According to Reuters, Nasdaq’s proposed fast-track rule is partly intended to attract highly valued private companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic to list on the exchange.

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The Boring Company’s Prufrock-2 emerges after completing new Vegas Loop tunnel

The new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

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Credit: The Boring Company/X

The Boring Company announced that its Prufrock-2 tunnel boring machine (TBM) has completed another Vegas Loop tunnel in Las Vegas. The company shared the update in a post on social media platform X.

According to The Boring Company’s post, the new tunnel measures 2.28 miles, making it the company’s longest single Vegas Loop tunnel to date.

The new tunnel marks the fourth tunnel constructed near Westgate Las Vegas as the Vegas Loop network continues expanding across the city.

The Boring Company also noted that the new tunnel surpassed its previous internal record of 2.26 miles for a single Vegas Loop segment.

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Construction of the tunnel involved moving roughly 68,000 cubic yards of dirt. The excavation process also used about 4.8 miles of continuous conveyor belt, powered by six motors totaling 825 horsepower.

The Boring Company’s Prufrock-series all-electric tunnel boring machines are designed to support the rapid expansion of company’s underground transportation projects, including the growing Vegas Loop network. Prufrock machines are designed for reusability, thanks in no small part to their capability to be deployed and retrieved easily through their “porposing” feature.

The Vegas Loop, specifically the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Loop segment, has already been used during major events. Most recently, the LVCC Loop supported the 2026 CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show, which was held from March 3-7, 2026. 

As per The Boring Company, the LVCC Loop transported roughly 82,000 passengers across the convention center campus during the event’s duration. 

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CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of the largest construction trade shows in North America, drawing more than 140,000 construction professionals from 128 countries this year.

The LVCC Loop forms the initial segment of the broader Vegas Loop network, which remains under active development as The Boring Company continues building new tunnels throughout the city.

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Tesla gathers Cybercab fleet in Gigafactory Texas

Images and video of the Cybercab fleet were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

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Credit: Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla appears to be assembling a growing number of Cybercabs at Gigafactory Texas as preparations continue for the vehicle’s mass production. Recent footage shared online has shown over 30 Cybercabs being transported by trucks or staged near testing areas at the facility.

The images and video were shared by longtime Giga Texas observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer in posts on social media platform X.

Interestingly enough, Tegtmeyer noted that many of the Cybercabs being loaded onto transport trucks were still equipped with steering wheels. This suggests that the vehicles are likely testing units rather than the final driverless configuration expected for the company’s Robotaxi service.

The vehicles could potentially be headed to testing sites across the United States as Tesla prepares to expand its Robotaxi fleet.

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Additional footage captured at Gigafactory Texas also showed the Cybercab’s side and rear camera washer system operating as vehicles were being loaded onto transport trucks.

The growing number of Cybercabs at Giga Texas comes amidst the company’s announcement that the first production Cybercab has been produced at the facility. Full Cybercab production is expected to begin in April.

The vehicle is expected to play a central role in Tesla’s Robotaxi ambitions as the company looks to expand autonomous ride-hailing operations beyond its early deployments using Model Y vehicles.

Tesla has also linked Cybercab production to its proposed Unboxed manufacturing process, which assembles large vehicle modules separately before integrating them. The approach is intended to reduce production costs and accelerate output.

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Musk has also noted that the Cybercab’s ramp will likely begin slowly due to the number of new components and manufacturing steps involved. However, he stated that once the process matures, Cybercab production could scale quickly.

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