SpaceX has had a busy few weeks. A Dragon cargo ship docked at the International Space Station on Thursday, Starship has reached orbit for the first time, and Elon Musk says the next Starship flight will attempt something SpaceX has never done: catch the ship itself on its return. SpaceX has not set a date for that flight.
Dragon docks with the final roll-out solar arrays
“A @SpaceX Dragon loaded with over 6,300 pounds of science, supplies, and roll-out solar arrays docked to the space station’s Harmony module at 10:27 a.m. EDT today,” the station team posted, via @Space_Station on X.
That was 15:27 BST on 15 October. NASA said the spacecraft docked to the space-facing port of the Harmony module, “delivering more than 6,300 pounds of food, supplies, and equipment” for the Expedition 75 crew. Aboard is “the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, or IROSAs, which will be installed later this fall.”
This is SpaceX’s 35th commercial resupply mission for NASA, known as CRS-35. NASA says Dragon will stay until mid-November, then return to Earth with research and cargo. For the launch and the experiments on board, see our earlier story on CRS-35.
Crew-13’s record-fast trip
Two weeks earlier, on 1 October, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov arrived at the station aboard a Crew Dragon. NASA said that at 7 hours and 55 minutes, it was “the fastest launch-to-docking of a U.S. spacecraft in the history of the International Space Station.”
Starship reaches orbit
On 28 September, Starship’s 14th flight became, in SpaceX’s words, “the first orbital Starship flight and the first to deliver meaningful payload to orbit with 26 Starlink V3 satellites.”
It was not flawless. A single Raptor engine on the Super Heavy booster shut down during the climb, SpaceX said. “Out of an abundance of caution given the engine issue experienced during ascent,” flight controllers limited the time Starship spent in orbit before bringing it down. The ship relit its engines for a landing burn and flip before “splashing down on target in the Pacific Ocean.”
Flight 15: Musk’s timing, not SpaceX’s
Musk gave his own estimate for the next flight at the X Takeover fan event on 10 October, as reported by The Gridfin. “Four to six weeks is about right. Probably launches a little bit before Thanksgiving is my guess,” he said. US Thanksgiving falls on 26 November.
He said SpaceX would again catch the booster, which it has done before, and added: “we’re going to try to catch the ship, which is a super big deal.” If that worked, he said, it would be the first full recovery of an orbital-class rocket.
That timing is Musk’s claim. SpaceX has not announced a Flight 15 date. NASASpaceflight reported that a new slide put the next ship’s readiness at no earlier than 8 November, and said it remained to be seen whether regulators would allow the flight by then. We covered Musk’s earlier comments in our story on the ship catch.
Florida pad nearly ready
Starship is also heading to Florida. “Things are going super well at 39A,” Julianna Scheiman, SpaceX’s director of NASA science and Dragon programs, said at a 1 October briefing, according to Space.com. She said the main construction at the pad is done and it is moving into acceptance and activation testing. Space.com reported that SpaceX plans at least one more Starship test flight from Starbase, Texas, before launching from Kennedy Space Center.
Starlink Mobile spectrum, briefly
The FCC has authorised SpaceX to deploy 15,000 next-generation direct-to-device satellites for Starlink Mobile, SpaceNews reported. SpaceX then agreed to buy 14 megahertz of paired 800 MHz spectrum from Grain Management, Via Satellite reported. The deal is subject to FCC approval, and terms were not disclosed. Our space roundup has the detail.
Launch cadence
Falcon 9 keeps flying. On 10 October SpaceX launched the Space Development Agency’s fourth Tranche 1 mission, and CRS-35 followed on 13 October. For an earlier SDA launch, see our report on the Northrop Grumman-built satellites.
What’s still unknown
SpaceX has not given a Flight 15 date or said when Starship will first fly from Florida. The Grain spectrum deal still needs FCC approval.
What to watch
Watch for the IROSA installation this autumn, Dragon’s return in mid-November, an official Flight 15 date and the first ship-catch attempt.
What this means
- Station upgrades continue. Dragon delivered the last set of new solar arrays.
- Starship is maturing. It has reached orbit, and SpaceX may soon try catching the ship.
- Dates are soft. Flight 15’s timing is Musk’s estimate, not an official schedule.
Sources
- International Space Station (@Space_Station) on X, 15 October 2026
- NASA, “SpaceX Dragon Docks With Science, Supplies, and Roll-Out Solar Arrays”, 15 October 2026
- NASA, “NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 35th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station”
- NASA, “Dragon Docks Bringing SpaceX Crew-13 to Station”, 1 October 2026
- SpaceX, “Starship Flight 14”
- The Gridfin, Musk on Starship Flight 15 timing, 15 October 2026
- NASASpaceflight, “Ship 40 Returns Home as Ship 42 Gets More Testing”
- Space.com, “‘Things are going super well at 39A’: SpaceX gearing up to launch Starship from Florida for 1st time”
- SpaceNews, “FCC tees up another D2D boost after approving Starlink Mobile upgrade”
- Via Satellite, “SpaceX Moves to Acquire Nationwide Low-Band Spectrum for Starlink Mobile”, 8 October 2026
Related stories
- SpaceX CRS-35 Launches NASA’s 35th Station Resupply Mission; Dragon Due to Dock 15 October
- Musk Says the Next Starship Flight Will Try the First Ship Catch, “Probably About Four Weeks or So” Away
- Space Roundup: SpaceX Agrees to Buy Mobile Spectrum, NASA Goes Nuclear and Amazon Leo Nears Launch
- SpaceX Launches 21 Northrop Grumman-Built Satellites for the US Space Development Agency
- Ukraine Says SpaceX Cut Off Military-Grade Starlink Terminals Moving Faster Than About 100 mph. SpaceX Has Not Confirmed Any Change
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