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A Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX's Crew-13 mission from Cape Canaveral, sending four astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. The launch, originally planned for mid-September, was delayed so SpaceX could cut into a propellant line and replace a faulty valve in the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system.
Google sent a prototype orbital compute satellite, built by Planet Labs, aboard a SpaceX rocket from California, marking the first time one of its Tensor Processing Units has flown in space. The test will check whether the chip can sustain a kilowatt of continuous power, manage heat, and run AI models in short bursts without failure. Google's Travis Beals, who leads the effort called Project Suncatcher, said a more advanced two-satellite demo with laser communication links is planned for next year.
Satlyt, a startup co-founded by former Google and SpaceX engineer Rama Afullo, has raised an $8 million seed round to develop software that lets multiple satellites share AI computing workloads in orbit. Unlike rivals such as SpaceX, Google and Starcloud, Satlyt does not build its own spacecraft; instead it aims to supply software that runs across other companies' satellites. The company's software is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rocket alongside Google's first Project Suncatcher prototype.
Alphabet is sending its tensor processing units to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-18 mission launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The flight carries Planet Labs satellites, including a solar-powered prototype fitted with Google's AI chips, marking the first in-orbit test of Google's Project Suncatcher initiative first announced in November 2025.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission is set to launch October 1 at 11:10AM ET from Cape Canaveral, carrying commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov to the ISS. The crew will relieve Crew-12, who briefly sheltered in their capsule in June after an air leak was detected on the station, and NASA says the docking will be the fastest in US space station history at seven hours and 50 minutes.
SpaceX has told NASA and private space station developers including Axiom Space, Voyager Space, and Vast Space that it intends to stop flying Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 missions to low-Earth orbit after supporting the International Space Station through 2030. The move threatens the crew transportation backbone for NASA's two-decade effort to build a commercial human spaceflight market in orbit.
xAI's Grokipedia, an AI-generated encyclopedia, has begun updating and fact-checking articles again after reportedly stalling since April. The Verge found recent 'fact-checked by Grok' timestamps on pages like Barack Obama and Elon Musk, though other entries such as Honolulu still show scans from months ago. The site also appears to be processing user-submitted edit suggestions, including one about a video game release date that was accepted within minutes.
NASA faces a pivotal test of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft this year, according to reporting on the agency's crew transport plans. The report states that SpaceX's Crew Dragon is set to be retired, leaving NASA with fewer alternatives for ferrying astronauts to orbit.
SpaceX's Starship rocket completed a test flight reaching orbital velocity, marking the first time the vehicle has achieved this milestone after multiple prior attempts ended in failure. The flight demonstrated key systems needed for the spacecraft's eventual role in deep-space missions, though the company still faces significant engineering hurdles before Starship can be used commercially.
SpaceX's 14th Starship test flight reached orbit for the first time on Monday, deploying 26 functioning Starlink satellites and completing a controlled splashdown of its Super Heavy booster. However, engine failures—one on the booster during ascent and descent, and one on the upper stage during ascent—forced SpaceX to cut the planned 10-hour, six-orbit mission short, returning the ship to Earth after about three hours before it exploded on Pacific splashdown.
SpaceX's 14th Starship test flight on Monday reached stable orbit, deployed 26 V3 Starlink satellites, and completed a controlled splashdown in the Pacific despite a vacuum Raptor engine failure. Despite the largely successful mission, SpaceX's private stock fell about 2% on the day and remains below where it stood a week earlier, prompting confusion among investors on social media.
SpaceX's Starship completed its 14th test flight on Monday, achieving orbital insertion for the first time and deploying 26 of its new Starlink V3 satellites from Starbase in South Texas. The Super Heavy booster, using 33 Raptor engines, separated and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, while the upper stage suffered an early engine shutdown before restarting a Raptor engine to reach an orbit roughly 171 miles up. SpaceX confirmed contact with all 26 deployed satellites, each weighing about 2 metric tons.