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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains why Falcon Heavy’s center core missed the drone ship
Some 12 hours after Falcon Heavy successfully completed what Elon Musk described as the SpaceX’s “most difficult launch ever”, the CEO took to Twitter to offer some insight into the mission’s only sad note – an unsuccessful center core recovery attempt.
The second Falcon Heavy Block 5 center core built by SpaceX, B1057 suffered an untimely demise shortly after its first (and last) launch, failing to successfully land aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). Although an undeniable disappointment, the overall STP-2 mission was a spectacular success and will without a doubt serve SpaceX well as the company eyes its first certified Falcon Heavy launches for the US military. New center cores can and will be produced and there should be no doubt that SpaceX will eventually perfect center core recovery (or transcend the need entirely with Starship).
As noted by both CEO Elon Musk and several SpaceX engineers-turned-webcast-hosts, aside from the fact that the overall mission was by far the company’s most challenging yet, center core B1057’s recovery was also expected to be the most challenging booster landing ever. The booster’s landing target was drone ship OCISLY, stationed a record-smashing 1240 km (770 mi) off the coast of Florida – almost 30% further than any previous recovery attempt.
Sadly, SpaceX either chose not to broadcast the center core’s onboard camera during reentry or the booster could not maintain a downlink connection during the ordeal. However, based on basic info that was included in the webcast, B1057 completed its boost burn and separated from the upper stage and Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) payload some 3 minutes and 40 seconds after lifting off from Pad 39A. At MECO (main-engine cutoff), the building-sized booster was traveling a blistering 3.1 km/s (Mach 9) at an altitude of more than 120 km (75 mi).
Running on slim propellant margins, the booster coasted through vacuum almost the entire way to drone ship OCISLY. Around 9 minutes after launch, B1057 began its entry burn, likely igniting three Merlin 1D engines to effectively cushion it against the worst of atmospheric reentry heating. Unintuitively, much of the actual benefit of that burn derives from that cushioning effect, while the burn only slows the booster down by a few hundred meters per second (mph).
Effectively falling in near-vacuum conditions, pulled by gravity, B1057 could easily have been traveling 3.5-4 km/s (Mach 10-12) by the time Earth’s atmosphere began to slow it down. Described by Musk himself, back-of-the-envelope analysis of available telemetry apparently indicated that that spectacularly fast and hot reentry either burned through B1057’s heavy titanium heat shield or broke through the smaller heat shield surrounding its M1D engine bells.
In short, the brutal heating and buffeting of hypersonic atmospheric reentry damaged the rocket’s central M1D engine, necessary for an accurately controlled drone ship landing. Incredibly, B1057 actually appeared to make it almost all the way to a successful recovery, veering off course just a few hundred meters above OCISLY. Musk also noted that this may have actually been an instance of the rocket’s autonomous guidance computer intentionally abort a landing attempt to protect the drone ship. It’s possible that the reentry didn’t fully destroy components, but rather damaged them to the point that they failed only after a sustained landing burn.
Regardless, the end result is unambiguous. Falcon Heavy center core B1057 did its job perfectly, supporting the STP-2 launch, boosting the upper stage and payload almost half the way to orbit, and eventually sacrificing itself to avoid potentially damaging OCISLY. SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch is currently scheduled to launch the very large AFSPC-52 military satellite no earlier than September 2020, a full 15 months away. The company should have no trouble manufacturing multiple new center cores between now and then.
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A new report claims that Apple is in the process of developing what would be the missing link for Tesla to get CarPlay.
Apple and Tesla have been reportedly working together for some time to give Tesla owners the opportunity to utilize CarPlay within their vehicles. While many owners are more than happy with Tesla’s in-house UI, which is seamless, effective, and smooth, some still want CarPlay, which does have its advantages.
A report from 9to5Mac now states that a new CarPlay technology that was highlighted during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) would potentially be the bridge between Tesla and Apple. With the addition of a feature known as “Route Sharing,” which gives a navigation app the ability to share routing data with the vehicle, Tesla would be able to launch CarPlay in its vehicles, the report states.
CarPlay has not been a priority for Tesla because it has done extremely well with its in-house UI, but some drivers are just used to it. Additionally, it could improve Tesla’s subpar Navigation or offer improved app capabilities, especially with iMessage.
Route Sharing is an intended addition to CarPlay’s iteration in iOS 26.4, which was released in March:
The addition of CarPlay would undoubtedly be welcome, but at the same time, it seems like Tesla realizes it is not of the utmost priority. There are so many things that Tesla is working on currently within its own vehicles, especially attempting to solve self-driving.
Back in February, Bloomberg had reported that Tesla was still working on bringing CarPlay to its vehicles, but it had not due to app compatibility issues and incredibly low adoption rates of iOS 26.
This bottleneck could buy Tesla the proper amount of time to develop CarPlay for its vehicles. It would be a welcome addition, and could be brought on with either the Summer or Fall 2026 Software Updates.
Tesla deliveries got a big boost in expectations from Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, who believes the company will report some stronger-than-expected numbers when the second quarter comes to an end in the coming weeks.
Goldman Sachs has raised its vehicle delivery forecast for Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) in the second quarter of 2026, signaling growing confidence in the electric vehicle leader’s near-term momentum despite mixed market signals. Analyst Mark Delaney lifted the bank’s Q2 estimate to 420,000 units from a previous 405,000, surpassing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 400,000.
The upward revision stems from stronger-than-expected sales data across key regions. Europe stands out with projected year-over-year growth of 85-90 percent, driven by robust demand for Tesla’s Model Y and refreshed offerings. China posted high single-digit gains, while markets like South Korea and Australia also contributed positive momentum. These gains help offset mid-teens declines in U.S. deliveries through May, where broader EV market headwinds and competition persist.
Goldman extended its optimism to the full year, increasing its 2026 delivery projection to 1.73 million vehicles from 1.72 million. Longer-term forecasts remain unchanged, with 1.88 million units expected in 2027 and 1.96 million in 2028. The bank also nudged its 2026 earnings-per-share estimate higher to $1.35 from $1.30, reflecting anticipated margin benefits from higher volumes and operational efficiencies.
Despite these positive adjustments, Goldman maintained its Neutral rating and $375 price target on Tesla shares. At current trading levels near $411, the stock sits about 8-9 percent above the target, highlighting ongoing valuation concerns even as delivery momentum builds. Tesla’s Q1 2026 deliveries totaled 358,023 units, setting a baseline for recovery expectations in the current period.
This update arrives as Tesla prepares to report official Q2 figures shortly after June 30. Investors and analysts will closely watch not only headline delivery numbers but also regional breakdowns, average selling prices, and progress on energy storage deployments and autonomous technology initiatives.
The move by Goldman Sachs underscores a broader narrative for Tesla: while legacy auto markets face softening demand and tariff uncertainties, Tesla’s global footprint and product pipeline provide resilience. Europe’s surge reflects pent-up demand and policy support for EVs, while China’s steady growth highlights Tesla’s competitive positioning against local rivals.
Tesla still has its work cut out for it, including U.S. price sensitivity and intensifying competition. Yet Goldman’s revision adds to a series of analyst notes suggesting Q2 could mark a turning point. As Tesla pushes toward higher production rates at facilities in Fremont, Shanghai, and Berlin, sustained execution will be key to validating these higher forecasts.
We have said numerous times that deliveries are becoming a less important metric in the grand scheme of things, as AI truly takes precedence in the company’s thesis.
For Tesla bulls, the Goldman note reinforces faith in underlying demand trends. For skeptics, the unchanged rating serves as a reminder that delivery beats alone may not immediately resolve valuation debates in a high-interest-rate environment. Tesla’s stock reaction will likely hinge on the official numbers and management commentary in the coming weeks.
SpaceX has exercised its option to acquire Cursor, the innovative AI coding company, in an all-stock transaction valued at $60 billion. The deal, announced on June 16, marks a significant step in SpaceX’s expansion into advanced artificial intelligence, building on months of close collaboration between the companies.
Cursor, officially operated by Anysphere, Inc., is an AI-native code editor and coding agent designed to transform software development. Founded in 2022 by a group of MIT graduates in San Francisco, Cursor builds on the familiar foundation of Visual Studio Code but integrates powerful AI capabilities directly into the core experience.
Unlike traditional code editors or simple extensions, Cursor functions as a full “coding agent” that turns natural-language instructions into actionable code.
SpaceX has exercised the option to acquire @cursor_ai in an all-stock transaction with the goal of building the world’s most useful AI models.
For the past few months, SpaceXAI has been jointly training a model with Cursor, which will be released in Cursor and Grok Build soon.… https://t.co/X5mepgXgjJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 16, 2026
Developers interact with Cursor through features like its Composer agent, which can search entire codebases, edit multiple files, run terminal commands, debug issues, and complete complex multi-step programming tasks autonomously.
Users describe high-level goals, such as “build a scalable API endpoint with authentication,” and the AI plans, implements, tests, and refines the solution while the human oversees decisions. Additional tools include advanced autocomplete (Tab), context-aware chat, and infrastructure for handling billions of daily requests.
The platform has gained considerable traction, surpassing $3 billion in annual recurring revenue by early 2026 and earning adoption by over half of the Fortune 500 companies. Its agentic approach accelerates development dramatically, allowing engineers to focus on architecture and creativity rather than repetitive coding.
The acquisition integrates Cursor’s leading product, expert team of roughly 300 engineers, and distribution network among top software developers with SpaceX’s unparalleled computational resources. SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, equivalent to a million H100 GPUs, has already powered joint training of next-generation models. These models are expected to launch soon within Cursor and SpaceX’s Grok Build environment.
This combination positions SpaceX to develop the world’s most capable AI systems for coding and knowledge work. Access to Cursor’s real-world usage data from millions of professional developers provides unparalleled feedback loops for model improvement. Training on Colossus enables rapid iteration on massive datasets, potentially creating AI that outperforms current leaders in reliability, context handling, and complex reasoning.
For SpaceX, the benefits extend far beyond software tools. Rocket engineering, satellite constellation management, autonomous flight systems, and Starship development involve millions of lines of highly specialized, safety-critical code.
Cursor’s AI agents, supercharged by proprietary models trained on SpaceX’s domain expertise, could slash development timelines, reduce errors, and enable faster innovation cycles. This vertical integration of AI tooling strengthens SpaceX’s competitive edge in both aerospace and the broader AI race, complementing its xAI initiatives.
The deal reflects the exploding value of AI-native developer platforms. By owning Cursor outright, SpaceX secures a strategic talent pool and product pipeline that will accelerate internal projects while potentially offering enhanced tools to the wider engineering community. As AI continues reshaping software creation, this acquisition underscores SpaceX’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology for ambitious goals, from Mars colonization to global connectivity.
Apple is developing the missing link for Tesla to get CarPlay: report
Tesla deliveries get a big boost in expectations from Wall Street
