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Falcon Heavy Flight 2 has been completed successfully after marking SpaceX's first ever triple booster recovery. (SpaceX) Falcon Heavy Flight 2 has been completed successfully after marking SpaceX's first ever triple booster recovery. (SpaceX)

SpaceX

SpaceX Falcon Heavy just nailed a triple rocket landing for the first time

Falcon Heavy Flight 2 has been completed successfully after marking SpaceX's first ever triple booster recovery. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX has pulled off an incredible feat, successfully recovering all three of Falcon Heavy’s Block 5 boosters shortly after the rocket’s commercial launch debut. Followed about two minutes later by the center core’s bullseye drone ship landing, both side boosters once again performed a near-simultaneous recovery at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Landing Zones.

With this flawless triple recovery in hand, SpaceX now has plans to reuse both side boosters as early as June 2019, while the center core will likely support critical reusability analysis and may also launch again in the near future. Above all else, Falcon Heavy Flight 2 has demonstrated that SpaceX’s super heavy lift rocket is truly ready to offer routine commercial services for customers – both public and private – around the world. With a combination of reusability, affordability, and performance unlikely to be matched for a minimum of 2+ years, SpaceX and its Falcon Heavy rocket have the opportunity to create an entirely new market in the coming years.

Completed less than 35 minutes after launch, this mission included a wealth of major events and firsts, including the first launch of Falcon Heavy Block 5, the first successful triple booster recovery, and one of the highest orbital apogees yet seen during a SpaceX mission – >90,000 km (55,500 mi) above Earth.

The huge Arabsat 6A satellite – weighing around 6450 kg (14,200 lb) is not quite the heaviest individual spacecraft SpaceX has launched, but it is by far the highest energy orbit SpaceX has reached with a spacecraft anywhere close to its size. Known as a supersynchronous (perhaps ultrasynchronous?) transfer orbit, the extremely high apogee – almost three times higher than the nominal circular orbit Arabsat 6A is destined for – will help the satellite reach that orbit far sooner than it otherwise would. The sooner a spacecraft can begin nominal operations, the sooner it can begin making money for its owner/operator.

Falcon Heavy Block 5 lifts off for the first time, April 11th. (Tom Cross)

Around seven and a half minutes after launch, Falcon Heavy side boosters B1052 and B1053 nailed a flawless simultaneous landing at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral-based Landing Zones (LZ-1 & LZ-2). Less than three minutes later, center core B1055 hit the bullseye on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, wrapping up the first successful landing of the critical Falcon Heavy booster.

With three once-flown Block 5 boosters now in hand, SpaceX will attempt to turn around both side boosters – basically just Falcon 9 first stages with nose cones – for Falcon Heavy’s third launch, potentially as early as June 2019. Meanwhile, the center core will complete another 1000 km journey, this time back to the Florida coast before likely shipping to Hawthorne, California or a local hangar for analysis. Falcon Heavy’s center core, as is fairly visible, is dramatically different from the Falcon 9 boosters SpaceX is used to reusing, including a range of connection hardware that is absolutely flight-critical and protrudes rather aggressively into the rocket’s often-violent airstream.

In other words, Falcon Heavy center cores could get far more toasty than Falcon 9 or even their side booster companions, potentially damaging hardware that simply has to be perfect for Heavy launches to succeed and do so reliably. As such, SpaceX will likely be expecting to learn a fair bit of new information and gather critical data in the hopes of eventually optimizing Falcon Heavy center core refurbishment and reuse to Falcon 9’s current level of finesse.

SpaceX’s spectacular Arabsat 6A webcast can be watched in full below.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX strengthens manufacturing base with Hexagon Purus aerospace deal

The deal adds composite pressure vessel expertise to SpaceX’s growing in-house supply chain.

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has acquired an aerospace business from Hexagon Purus ASA in a deal worth up to $15 million. The deal adds composite pressure vessel expertise to SpaceX’s growing in-house supply chain.

As per Hexagon Purus ASA in a press release, SpaceX has agreed to purchase its wholly owned subsidiary, Hexagon Masterworks Inc. The subsidiary supplies high-pressure composite storage cylinders for aerospace and space launch applications, as well as hydrogen mobility applications. Masterworks’ hydrogen business is not part of the deal. 

The transaction covers the sale of 100% of Masterworks’ shares and values the business at approximately $15 million. The deal includes $12.5 million in cash payable at closing and up to $2.5 million in contingent earn-out payments, subject to customary conditions and adjustments.

Hexagon Purus stated that its aerospace unit has reached a stage where ownership by a company with a dedicated aerospace focus would best support its next phase of growth, a role SpaceX is expected to fill by integrating Masterworks into its long-term supply chain.

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The divestment is also part of Hexagon Purus’ broader portfolio review. The company stated that it does not expect hydrogen mobility in North America to represent a meaningful growth opportunity in the near to medium term, and that the transaction will strengthen its financial position and extend its liquidity runway.

“I am pleased that we have found a new home for Masterworks with an owner that views our composite cylinder expertise as world-class and intends to integrate the business into its supply chain to support its long-term growth,” Morten Holum, CEO of Hexagon Purus, stated.

“I want to sincerely thank the Masterworks team for their dedication and hard work in developing the business to this point. While it is never easy to part with a business that has performed well, this transaction strengthens Hexagon Purus’ financial position and allows us to focus on our core strategic priorities.”

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Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement

SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.

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Credit: Starlink/X

SpaceX aired its first-ever Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, marking a rare move into mass-market advertising as it seeks to broaden adoption of its Starlink satellite internet service.

Starlink Super Bowl advertisement

SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.

The advertisement highlighted Starlink’s global coverage and emphasized simplified customer onboarding, stating that users can sign up for service in minutes through the company’s website or by phone in the United States.

The campaign comes as SpaceX accelerates Starlink’s commercial expansion. The satellite internet service grew its global user base in 2025 to over 9 million subscribers and entered several dozen additional markets, as per company statements.

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Starlink growth and momentum

Starlink has seen notable success in numerous regions across the globe. Brazil, in particular, has become one of Starlink’s largest growth regions, recently surpassing one million users, as per Ookla data. The company has also expanded beyond residential broadband into aviation connectivity and its emerging direct-to-cellular service.

Starlink has recently offered aggressive promotions in select regions, including discounted or free hardware, waived installation fees, and reduced monthly pricing. Some regions even include free Starlink Mini for select subscribers. In parallel, SpaceX has introduced AI-driven tools to streamline customer sign-ups and service selection.

The Super Bowl appearance hints at a notable shift for Starlink, which previously relied largely on organic growth and enterprise contracts. The ad suggests SpaceX is positioning Starlink as a mainstream alternative to traditional broadband providers.

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Celebrating SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Tesla Roadster launch, seven years later (Op-Ed)

Seven years later, the question is no longer “What if this works?” It’s “How far does this go?”

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SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy launch also happened to be a strategic and successful test of Falcon upper stage coast capabilities. (SpaceX)

When Falcon Heavy lifted off in February 2018 with Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster as its payload, SpaceX was at a much different place. So was Tesla. It was unclear whether Falcon Heavy was feasible at all, and Tesla was in the depths of Model 3 production hell.

At the time, Tesla’s market capitalization hovered around $55–60 billion, an amount critics argued was already grossly overvalued. SpaceX, on the other hand, was an aggressive private launch provider known for taking risks that traditional aerospace companies avoided.

The Roadster launch was bold by design. Falcon Heavy’s maiden mission carried no paying payload, no government satellite, just a car drifting past Earth with David Bowie playing in the background. To many, it looked like a stunt. For Elon Musk and the SpaceX team, it was a bold statement: there should be some things in the world that simply inspire people.

Inspire it did, and seven years later, SpaceX and Tesla’s results speak for themselves.

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Credit: SpaceX

Today, Tesla is the world’s most valuable automaker, with a market capitalization of roughly $1.54 trillion. The Model Y has become the best-selling car in the world by volume for three consecutive years, a scenario that would have sounded insane in 2018. Tesla has also pushed autonomy to a point where its vehicles can navigate complex real-world environments using vision alone.

And then there is Optimus. What began as a literal man in a suit has evolved into a humanoid robot program that Musk now describes as potential Von Neumann machines: systems capable of building civilizations beyond Earth. Whether that vision takes decades or less, one thing is evident: Tesla is no longer just a car company. It is positioning itself at the intersection of AI, robotics, and manufacturing.

SpaceX’s trajectory has been just as dramatic.

The Falcon 9 has become the undisputed workhorse of the global launch industry, having completed more than 600 missions to date. Of those, SpaceX has successfully landed a Falcon booster more than 560 times. The Falcon 9 flies more often than all other active launch vehicles combined, routinely lifting off multiple times per week.

Falcon Heavy successfully clears the tower after its maiden launch, February 6, 2018. (Tom Cross)

Falcon 9 has ferried astronauts to and from the International Space Station via Crew Dragon, restored U.S. human spaceflight capability, and even stepped in to safely return NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams when circumstances demanded it.

Starlink, once a controversial idea, now dominates the satellite communications industry, providing broadband connectivity across the globe and reshaping how space-based networks are deployed. SpaceX itself, following its merger with xAI, is now valued at roughly $1.25 trillion and is widely expected to pursue what could become the largest IPO in history.

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And then there is Starship, Elon Musk’s fully reusable launch system designed not just to reach orbit, but to make humans multiplanetary. In 2018, the idea was still aspirational. Today, it is under active development, flight-tested in public view, and central to NASA’s future lunar plans.

In hindsight, Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight with Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster was never really about a car in space. It was a signal that SpaceX and Tesla were willing to think bigger, move faster, and accept risks others wouldn’t.

The Roadster is still out there, orbiting the Sun. Seven years later, the question is no longer “What if this works?” It’s “How far does this go?”

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