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SpaceX Crew Dragon tests SuperDraco rocket engines in new slow-mo video
SpaceX has released a rare video from one of its slow-motion engineering cameras, showing off a Crew Dragon capsule performing a static fire test of its eight SuperDraco rocket engines. With this test now complete, SpaceX and NASA can focus on determining when the same Dragon will be ready to fly a crucial abort test.
After a week or two of delays, on November 13th, SpaceX successfully fired up Crew Dragon capsule C205’s eight SuperDraco abort engines and two Draco maneuvering thrusters in a ground simulation of a flight test planned for the same capsule. Crew Dragon’s eight SuperDraco thrusters are capable of producing a combined thrust of more than 130,000 lbf (570 kN), almost as much thrust as an original SpaceX Merlin 1D engine used on Falcon 9s in the early 2010s.
November 13th’s static fire was required only after Crew Dragon C201 catastrophically exploded just prior to an almost identical test on April 20th, 2019. The historic spacecraft had completed its first orbital launch, ISS rendezvous, docking, reentry, and splashdown less than six weeks prior to that attempted static fire. Although it performed to perfection during that uncrewed Demo-1 spaceflight, it apparently carried an unknown design flaw during that flawless launch.
That flaw became apparent after the spacecraft exploded around 10 seconds prior to a planned static fire of its SuperDraco engines, a test meant to verify vehicle health before SpaceX planned to launch the capsule again to support its In-Flight Abort (IFA). According to a joint SpaceX-NASA investigation, the source of that failure was the flawed decision to use titanium in a pressurized liquid nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) environment, a choice that ultimately resulted in an exotic titanium fire and violent explosion.
SpaceX decided to prevent the issue from recurring by replacing the actuating, titanium check valves with single-use burst disks, meaning that Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco engines will now only be capable of a single ignition each. That limitation is no longer relevant after SpaceX chose years ago to end work on propulsively landing Dragon spacecraft (a la Falcon boosters), thus presumably making burst disks the simplest, cheapest, and fastest change for SpaceX and NASA to re-certify.
Thanks to the speed with which SpaceX was able to respond to Crew Dragon’s April 2019 explosion, the company was able to shuffle its fleet of in-process spacecraft, reassign capsule C205 to Dragon’s IFA test, modify the vehicle to account for necessary changes, ship it to Florida, and static-fire the completed spacecraft a little over six months later. With that static fire test now fully complete and NASA and SpaceX deep into the process of carefully inspecting capsule C205 and poring over the data produced, it’s finally reasonable to start thinking seriously about Crew Dragon’s next flight milestone.
Known as the spacecraft’s In-Flight Abort (IFA) test, that milestone will see capsule C205 launch atop a Falcon 9 booster and upper stage and attempt to escape the rocket after reaching supersonic speeds. That point of maximum aerodynamic and thermal stress during launch – known as Max Q – is one of the most challenging abort scenarios Crew Dragon could face. If C205 is able to successfully perform that in-flight abort, it will verify that the spacecraft is capable of carrying its astronauts to safety at almost any point in flight, from the launch pad all the way to Earth orbit.
NASA and SpaceX will likely announce the IFA launch date within the next week or two and odds remain good that Crew Dragon will be able to fly again before the end of 2019.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
