News
SpaceX’s next Starlink launch will have to wait a bit longer
According to NASASpaceflight.com sources, SpaceX’s next Starlink satellite launch will have to wait a bit longer after slipping about a week from its former April 16th target.
Recently discussed on Teslarati, SpaceX has planned what is effectively a “return to flight” launch just weeks after Falcon 9 suffered its first in-flight engine failure in almost eight years. While the rocket was able to adjust on the fly to ensure that the overall Starlink mission was a success, the unprecedentedly reused Falcon 9 booster was lost during its landing attempt. More importantly, the Merlin 1D engine failure immediately raised the concern of NASA and the US military, SpaceX’s most important launch customers.
Expected to launch on thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster B1051, a successful return-to-flight so soon after SpaceX’s Starlink-5 anomaly would strongly imply that the company has already identified and characterized the cause of that March 18th hiccup with a significant degree of confidence. While Starlink-6 (the seventh Starlink launch overall) wont exactly replicate the conditions preceding Starlink-5’s in-flight engine failure, a successful launch would hopefully help alleviate any major concerns from SpaceX’s customers. That mission, however, will now have to wait another week or so to launch.
While not quite as flight-proven as B1048, the Falcon 9 booster that suffered an engine failure and was lost at sea last month, SpaceX (according to Next Spaceflight) has assigned Falcon 9 booster B1051 to its seventh Starlink launch. Since its first flight in March 2019, supporting Crew Dragon’s historic orbital launch debut, B1051 has completed two additional orbital-class launches and landings, lofting Canada’s three-satellite Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) in June 2019 and SpaceX’s fourth batch of 60 Starlink satellites in January 2020.
The Starlink-6 (Flight 7) mission will be B1051’s fourth, making it the sixth SpaceX Falcon 9 booster to launch four times since booster B1048 pushed the envelope in November 2019 – just five months ago. Aside from Falcon 9 B1048’s Starlink-5 engine failure and subsequently unsuccessful landing attempt, SpaceX also lost booster B1056 after its fourth flight in February 2020. Excluding two or three new Falcon 9 boosters assigned to critical missions for NASA and the US military, those two booster losses shrunk SpaceX’s rocket fleet by 30-40%, leaving just three flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters for other Starlink or customer missions.
SpaceX does have two twice-flown Falcon Heavy side boosters, said by CEO Elon Musk to be relatively easy to convert into Falcon 9 boosters, but their status is currently unknown, leaving them as the wildcards of SpaceX’s rocket fleet.
For SpaceX to be able to continue an ambitious Starlink launch cadence throughout the rest of 2020, the successful recovery of flight-proven boosters like B1051, B1049, and B1059 will likely be uniquely paramount over the next few months. Assuming SpaceX is able to successfully launch its first astronauts on Crew Dragon (NET late May) and complete a second US military GPS satellite launch (NET June 30th), two once-flown boosters will thankfully enter the company’s fleet, raising it to five (or seven) strong in by July or August.
SpaceX’s next Starlink launch is now scheduled for no earlier than (NET) April 22nd, give or take a day or two.
Tesla will increase its Full Self-Driving subscription price, meaning it will eventually be more than the current $99 per month price tag it has right now.
Already stating that the ability to purchase the suite outright will be removed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the Full Self-Driving subscription price would increase when its capabilities improve:
“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).”
This was an expected change, especially as Tesla has been hinting for some time that it is approaching a feature-complete version of Full Self-Driving that will no longer require driver supervision. However, with the increase, some are concerned that they may be priced out.
$99 per month is already a tough ask for some. While Full Self-Driving is definitely worth it just due to the capabilities, not every driver is ready to add potentially 50 percent to their car payment each month to have it.
While Tesla has not revealed any target price for FSD, it does seem that it will go up to at least $150.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Additionally, the ability to purchase the suite outright is also being eliminated on February 14, which gives owners another reason to be slightly concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue paying for Full Self-Driving in any capacity.
Some owners have requested a tiered program, which would allow people to pay for the capabilities they want at a discounted price.
Unsupervised FSD would be the most expensive, and although the company started removing Autopilot from some vehicles, it seems a Supervised FSD suite would still attract people to pay between $49 and $99 per month, as it is very useful.
Tesla will likely release pricing for the Unsupervised suite when it is available, but price increases could still come to the Supervised version as things improve.
This is not the first time Musk has hinted that the price would change with capability improvements, either. He’s been saying it for some time. In 2020, he even said the value of FSD would “probably be somewhere in excess of $100,000.”
The FSD price will continue to rise as the software gets closer to full self-driving capability with regulatory approval. It that point, the value of FSD is probably somewhere in excess of $100,000.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2020
Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.
The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.
Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.
The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:
NEWS: Tesla no longer allows buyers to purchase FSD outright in the U.S. when ordering a pre-owned vehicle directly from inventory. Tesla now gives you the option to either subscribe for $99/month, or purchase FSD outright after taking delivery (available until February 14th). pic.twitter.com/1xZ0BVG4JB
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 23, 2026
This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.
It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.
In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.
There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.
Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.
News
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.
After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.
BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor
Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.
With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.
In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
Rear Camera Washer on Tesla Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/P9hgGStHmV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 24, 2026
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.
However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.
Tesla to increase Full Self-Driving subscription price: here’s when
Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order
