M Muskularity The living map of the Musk universe.

Official archive

SpaceX Updates

Original summaries of official SpaceX posts from September 2016 through October 8, 2026, in a reverse-chronological timeline with sources.

Muskularity keeps a dated reading of SpaceX’s public update feed: Starship, Starlink, Dragon crew flights, and the occasional corporate note such as the xAI combination. The space map stays the place for program context. This page is the chronology.

How to read an entry

Each post page has the SpaceX publication date, an original plain-English summary, a table of key figures, a note on why the post matters on this site, links into the existing space and company pages, and a source list. The official anchor is always the Grade A receipt.

Company language is labeled as a company statement. A flight outcome in these posts is what SpaceX reported, not an independent range reconstruction. Predictions and design goals stay labeled that way.

Frequently asked

Does this timeline republish SpaceX posts?

No. Each entry is an original Muskularity summary with the post date, key figures SpaceX stated, a short note on why it matters, and a citation to the official spacex.com/updates anchor. The full company text is not copied. A short quotation appears only when it is marked as a quotation.

Which dates does the archive cover?

This timeline covers the official posts preserved from spacex.com/updates, from the September 1, 2016 AMOS-6 static-fire note through the October 8, 2026 Starlink Mobile spectrum update.

Timeline

60 posts, newest first

2026

  1. Starlink Mobile low-band spectrum and Gen2 approval

    SpaceX said on October 8, 2026 that it agreed to buy up to 14 MHz of paired 800 MHz spectrum and that the FCC authorized a 15,000-satellite Starlink Mobile Gen2 system.

    spacexstarlinkfcc

  2. Starship prepares for orbital flight

    On September 15, 2026, SpaceX said Starship flights from Flight 14 would begin as orbital missions, after 13 tests flown on intentionally suborbital paths.

    spacexstarship

  3. Terafab site named in Grimes County, Texas

    On August 6, 2026, SpaceX said Terafab, a joint chip plant with Tesla, will be built in Grimes County, with an initial investment it put at about $16.8 billion.

    spacextesla

  4. Chun Wang named for a Starship Mars flyby crew

    On May 21, 2026, SpaceX said Fram2 commander Chun Wang will fly a two-year Starship Mars flyby, after a commercial lunar flyby with Dennis and Akiko Tito.

    spacexstarshipmars

  5. Starship and Super Heavy V3 changes

    On May 12, 2026, SpaceX listed Starship V3 and Super Heavy V3 changes, including three larger grid fins, Raptor 3 thrust figures, and a first flight from Starbase Pad 2 on Flight 12.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  6. SpaceX says it has acquired xAI

    On February 2, 2026, SpaceX said it acquired xAI and argued that orbital data centers are the way to scale AI compute, with a worked example of 100 GW added per year.

    spacexxaistarship

2025

  1. Starship HLS progress toward the Moon

    On October 30, 2025, SpaceX reviewed Starship lunar-lander progress, including 49 completed HLS milestones, a 600-cubic-meter cabin claim, and 2026 targets for a long flight and a propellant transfer.

    spacexstarshipartemisnasamoon

  2. Cape cadence and methane-rocket clear zones

    On September 18, 2025, SpaceX argued Florida ranges can host airport-like launch rates and said Falcon was on track for more than 100 Florida launches that year.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  3. EchoStar spectrum deal for direct-to-cell

    On September 8, 2025, SpaceX said it would buy EchoStar's 50 MHz of U.S. S-band spectrum and global MSS licenses, and described a first-generation direct-to-cell network of more than 600 satellites.

    spacexstarlink

  4. Flight 9 mishap and the Ship 36 test-stand loss

    On August 15, 2025, SpaceX reported Flight 9's booster and ship losses and the June 18 destruction of Ship 36 during a static-fire propellant load.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  5. Ship lost during a Starbase static-fire load

    On June 19, 2025, SpaceX said the Starship being prepared for Flight 10 was destroyed the night before during propellant loading, with no injuries reported.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  6. Flight 8 booster catch and ship engine failure

    On May 22, 2025, SpaceX said Flight 8 caught the booster a third time and lost the ship after a center Raptor failure about five and a half minutes into the ship burn.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  7. Florida Gigabay and the LC-39A Starship pad

    On March 3, 2025, SpaceX described a Florida Gigabay targeted for the end of 2026 and a Starship pad at Kennedy LC-39A, with a first Florida launch hoped for late 2025 pending reviews.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  8. Flight 7 catch and attic fire

    On February 24, 2025, SpaceX said Flight 7 caught the booster a second time and lost the ship after a harmonic response and an attic fire.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

2024

  1. Flight 5 licensing delay and the flame deflector

    On September 10, 2024, SpaceX said Flight 5 hardware had been ready since early August and criticized an FAA license estimate of late November.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  2. Fram2 polar crew announced

    On August 12, 2024, SpaceX named Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Eric Philips, and Rabea Rogge to Fram2, a Dragon flight planned as the first crewed polar orbit.

    spacexdragon

  3. What a returning Super Heavy boom would be

    On July 29, 2024, SpaceX described sonic booms from a returning Super Heavy as louder than Falcon's but not an injury risk, based on Flight 4 splashdown data.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  4. Dragon splashdowns move back to the Pacific

    On July 26, 2024, SpaceX said Dragon trunks were surviving reentry in pieces and that splashdowns would return to the U.S. West Coast so the trunk could be aimed at the ocean.

    spacexdragonnasa

  5. Falcon 9 upper-stage leak and Starlink loss

    On July 25, 2024, SpaceX said a July 11 upper-stage oxygen leak left 20 Starlink satellites in a 135 km perigee, and that all of them reentered.

    spacexstarlinkfalcon

  6. Starship Flight 3 reaches space and loses both vehicles

    On May 24, 2024, SpaceX said the March 14 Flight 3 test completed the ship's ascent burn, then lost the booster on the landing burn and the ship during reentry.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  7. SpaceX EVA suit for Polaris Dawn

    On May 4, 2024, SpaceX described a new extravehicular suit for Polaris Dawn, targeted for no earlier than summer 2024, and said all four crew would be exposed to vacuum together.

    spacexdragon

  8. April 2024 Starbase talk on Mars

    On April 6, 2024, SpaceX pointed to an April 4 Starbase talk by Elon Musk on making life multiplanetary, including a goal of about a million people and several million tonnes to Mars.

    spacexstarshipmars

  9. Starship Flight 2 reaches space, then breaks up

    On February 26, 2024, SpaceX said the November 18, 2023 flight finished a full booster burn and hot-staging, then lost the booster and the ship.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

2023

  1. What Flight 1 changed on the vehicle and the pad

    On September 8, 2023, SpaceX said the April 20 first flight was lost after aft fires cut engine control, and listed hot-staging, electric steering, and a flame deflector as the fixes.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  2. Vast Haven-1 and a Dragon crew flight

    On May 10, 2023, SpaceX said it would launch Vast's Haven-1 station no earlier than August 2025, then a four-person Dragon mission for up to 30 days.

    spacexdragon

2022

  1. dearMoon names its Starship lunar crew

    On December 8, 2022, SpaceX said Yusaku Maezawa named ten crewmembers, including two backups, for a week-long Starship flight within 200 km of the Moon.

    spacexstarshipmoon

  2. NASA adds a second Starship lunar landing demo

    On November 15, 2022, SpaceX said NASA had modified the Starship HLS contract to add an Artemis IV demonstration and a docking with Gateway.

    spacexstarshipartemisnasamoon

  3. Dennis and Akiko Tito join a Starship lunar flyby

    On October 12, 2022, SpaceX named Dennis and Akiko Tito as the first two crew on a second commercial Starship flight around the Moon, within 200 km, after dearMoon and Polaris.

    spacexstarshipmoon

  4. T-Mobile and SpaceX announce phone coverage from Starlink

    On August 25, 2022, SpaceX and T-Mobile said Starlink would text ordinary phones in dead zones, with a beta targeted for the end of 2023 and voice and data later.

    spacexstarlink

  5. How SpaceX said Starlink avoids long-lived debris

    On February 22, 2022, SpaceX described low-orbit operations, a 99 percent satellite reliability claim, and 3,300 collision-avoidance maneuvers in six months.

    spacexstarlink

  6. Polaris Dawn and a path to crew on Starship

    On February 14, 2022, SpaceX said Jared Isaacman's Polaris Program would fly up to three missions, starting with a Dragon spacewalk targeted for the fourth quarter of 2022.

    spacexdragonstarship

  7. February 2022 Starbase Starship talk

    On February 10, 2022, SpaceX noted a Starbase presentation by Elon Musk on Starship as a fully reusable system for orbit, the Moon, and Mars.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  8. Geomagnetic storm downs freshly deployed Starlinks

    On February 8, 2022, SpaceX said up to 40 of 49 Starlink satellites launched on February 3 would reenter after a storm raised drag by as much as 50 percent.

    spacexstarlinkfalcon

2021

  1. Falcon 9 launches NASA's DART asteroid mission

    On November 23, 2021, SpaceX said Falcon 9 launched NASA's DART planetary-defense mission from Vandenberg at 10:21 p.m. PST, the company's first interplanetary flight.

    spacexfalconnasa

  2. Crew-3 Dragon docks to the space station

    On November 11, 2021, SpaceX said Crew-3's Dragon docked to the station at 6:32 p.m. EST after a November 10 launch from Kennedy LC-39A.

    spacexdragonnasa

  3. Crew-2 splashes down after 199 days

    On November 8, 2021, SpaceX said the Crew-2 astronauts splashed down off Pensacola at 10:33 p.m. EST after 199 days, then the longest U.S. spacecraft mission.

    spacexdragonnasa

  4. Inspiration4 splashes down after three days

    On September 18, 2021, SpaceX said the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew splashed down off Florida at 7:06 p.m. EDT after three days in a 575-kilometer orbit.

    spacexdragon

  5. Four Axiom crew missions to the space station

    On June 2, 2021, SpaceX said Axiom would fly three more private Dragon missions to the station through 2023, after a first flight then targeted for January 2022.

    spacexdragonnasa

  6. Starship SN15 lands

    On May 5, 2021, SpaceX said Starship SN15 flew to about 10 km on three Raptors and landed on the pad.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  7. Crew-1 returns after 167 days

    On May 2, 2021, SpaceX said Crew-1 splashed down off Florida at 2:56 a.m. EDT after 167 days, the first night crew splashdown for a U.S. ship since Apollo 8.

    spacexdragonnasa

  8. Crew-2 docks on a flown Falcon 9 and Dragon

    On April 24, 2021, SpaceX said Crew-2 docked at 5:08 a.m. EDT on the first crew flight of a previously flown Falcon 9 and Dragon.

    spacexdragonnasa

  9. NASA selects Starship to land Artemis astronauts

    On April 16, 2021, SpaceX said NASA had selected Starship as the lander to return astronauts to the Moon, and gave early prototype and Raptor test counts.

    spacexstarshipartemisnasamoon

  10. Starship SN11 breaks up at landing

    On March 30, 2021, SpaceX said SN11 reached about 10 km and broke up shortly after the landing burn started.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  11. Starship SN10 lands, then explodes

    On March 3, 2021, SpaceX said SN10 landed at the end of a 10 km flight and then broke up on the pad.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  12. dearMoon opens applications for eight seats

    On March 2, 2021, SpaceX said the dearMoon project was taking applications for eight civilians to join Yusaku Maezawa on a week-long Starship lunar flyby targeted for 2023.

    spacexstarshipmoon

  13. Starship SN9 misses an engine at landing

    On February 2, 2021, SpaceX said SN9 flew to about 10 km and hit hard after one Raptor failed to relight for the landing flip.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  14. Inspiration4 targeted for late 2021

    On February 1, 2021, SpaceX said Falcon 9 would launch Inspiration4, an all-commercial Dragon crew, from LC-39A no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2021.

    spacexdragon

2020

  1. Starship SN8 flies and lands hard

    On December 9, 2020, SpaceX said SN8 climbed, transitioned to header tanks, and flipped to the landing point, then hit hard because header-tank fuel pressure was low.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  2. Crew-1 begins the first operational Dragon stay

    On November 16, 2020, SpaceX said Crew-1 docked at 11:01 p.m. EST after a November 15 launch, the first six-month crew rotation.

    spacexdragonnasa

  3. NASA certifies Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon

    On November 10, 2020, SpaceX said NASA had certified Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon for station crew rotations, and listed the test counts behind that decision.

    spacexdragonfalconnasa

  4. Falcon's 100th successful flight

    On October 24, 2020, SpaceX said a 60-satellite Starlink launch from SLC-40 was Falcon's 100th success, with 63 landings and 45 reflights.

    spacexstarlinkfalcon

  5. Space Force agrees to fly used boosters on GPS

    On September 25, 2020, SpaceX said the Space Force would let it recover and later refly boosters on GPS missions, and restated its NSSL Phase 2 selection.

    spacexfalcon

  6. Starship SN5 hops 150 meters

    On August 5, 2020, SpaceX said SN5 flew to 150 meters on one Raptor and landed on August 4 at Boca Chica.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

  7. Demo-2 splashes down off Pensacola

    On August 2, 2020, SpaceX said Behnken and Hurley splashed down at 2:48 p.m. EDT after 63 days, closing the Demo-2 test of crew transport.

    spacexdragonnasa

  8. Demo-2 launches and docks

    On May 30, 2020, SpaceX said Falcon 9 launched Behnken and Hurley at 3:22 p.m. EDT and Dragon docked to the station the next day.

    spacexdragonnasa

  9. Starlink brightness and the astronomy talks

    On April 28, 2020, SpaceX described sun visors, a knife-edge climb attitude, and a goal of about magnitude 7 so satellites would not stand out to the eye or saturate detectors.

    spacexstarlink

  10. Demo-2 targeted for May 27

    On April 17, 2020, SpaceX and NASA targeted May 27 for Demo-2, with Behnken and Hurley, and listed escape, parachute, and docking tests already done.

    spacexdragonnasa

  11. Crew Dragon in-flight abort

    On January 19, 2020, SpaceX said an uncrewed Crew Dragon aborted from Falcon 9 about 90 seconds after a 10:30 a.m. EST liftoff and splashed down under four Mark III parachutes.

    spacexdragonnasa

2019

  1. September 2019 Starship design talk

    On September 29, 2019, SpaceX noted a September 28 talk in Cameron County by Elon Musk on the Starship and Super Heavy design.

    spacexstarshipstarbase

2016

  1. AMOS-6 static-fire explosion and the COPV finding

    On September 1, 2016, a Falcon 9 was destroyed during a static fire at SLC-40. SpaceX later traced it to a helium COPV in the upper-stage oxygen tank and targeted a January 8 return to flight.

    spacexfalcon

Muskularity

Submit a Tip

Share a source, correction, or lead.