The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) confirmed the successful recovery of its Starfall cargo capsule after a point‑to‑point rocket cargo test on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Bandwagon‑5 launch on Oct. 20. The disk‑shaped, 3.1‑meter Starfall vehicle returned three agile cargo pods to the Pacific Ocean, where military personnel inspected the payloads. Each pod carried representative items—including medical kits, food rations, a UNI‑PAC III life raft, a SATCOM tracker, batteries, a reverse‑osmosis desalinator, and survival gear—along with sensors to record temperature, [...]

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission to remove roughly 300 MHz of spectrum – specifically the 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz bands – from a proposal that would allow satellite operators such as SpaceX to provide direct‑to‑device cellular service. The carriers argue that the bands support about 300 million users and that satellite interference could cripple uplink coverage, citing T‑Mobile’s estimate of up to a 96 % loss. Their filing arrives a day before the [...]

Tesla displayed its next‑generation Roadster at SpaceX’s Hawthorne campus on Oct. 29, positioning the car beside Falcon 9 booster B1019 that achieved the company’s first orbital‑class landing in 2015. The photo, posted by SpaceX engineer Deanna Rice, shows the Roadster, which uses cold‑gas thrusters fed by composite overwrapped pressure vessels identical to those on Falcon 9, parked next to the rocket monument installed. The appearance follows the vehicle’s ramp launch in Texas on Oct. 15 and a video highlighting its fighter‑jet‑style [...]

Flexell Space and Singapore‑based Satoro have signed an agreement to demonstrate Flexell’s next‑generation CIGS and perovskite solar cells on two CubeSat missions launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets in 2027 and 2028. Satoro will build the satellites, while Flexell will supply the solar cells and test modules for integration. The missions aim to validate the cells’ power output, radiation tolerance and long‑term reliability in the space environment, comparing in‑orbit data with previous ground‑test results from Flexell’s 2025 and [...]

SpaceX lifted off a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:25 a.m. EDT on Oct. 27, delivering 27 Starlink Group 15‑16 satellites to low‑Earth orbit. The first‑stage booster B1082 performed a controlled separation after 2.5 minutes, steered toward the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship and touched down at T+8:23, marking its 21st Starlink flight and 26th overall mission. The upper stage reignited 53 minutes post‑launch for a brief three‑second burn to circularize the orbit before deploying the payload. The [...]

SpaceX’s Raptor engine family has progressed from the first version’s 185 metric‑ton sea‑level thrust at 2,080 kg to a projected Raptor 4 delivering 300 tons at roughly the same mass as Raptor 3. Each iteration has raised thrust while shedding weight: Raptor 2 achieved 230 tons at 1,630 kg, Raptor 3 targets 280 tons at 1,525 kg with flight ratings near 250 tons, and Raptor 4 is expected to hit 300 tons without a mass increase. Across the series, thrust‑to‑weight has improved by more than 60 percent. With 33 engines, Super Heavy [...]

SpaceX conducted a 15‑second fire of Super Heavy booster B22 on Oct. 25, igniting all 33 Raptor 3 engines as part of checks for Flight Test 15. The booster will be mated with upper stage Ship 42, which is also undergoing engine fire and systems verification. Flight 15 aims to attempt the first tower‑catch of the Ship stage, step toward Starship reusability. The mission follows Flight 14’s orbital debut, which delivered 26 Starlink V3 satellites but suffered an upper‑stage engine shutdown. Although a payload [...]