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SpaceX to ring in Crew Dragon’s success with a Starlink launch and landing

Falcon 9 booster B1058 lifted off with Crew Dragon and NASA astronauts for the first time ever on May 30th, perhaps just four days before SpaceX's next scheduled launch. (NASA)

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SpaceX wants to ring in the historic success of its Crew Dragon spacecraft the only way it knows how – sending 60-satellite Starlink satellites into orbit and landing another Falcon booster as few as three days after the company’s inaugural astronaut launch.

The mission – deemed Starlink-8 – will be SpaceX’s eighth Starlink launch overall and the seventh launch of upgraded v1.0 satellites, pushing the company a mission past the halfway point towards its first internet beta test. If successful, it will raise SpaceX’s ever-growing constellation to some ~475 satellites strong, approximately 400 spacecraft shy of the ~840 COO and President Gwynne Shotwell believes are necessary to begin rolling out Starlink internet service.

Delayed from May 7th to the 17th, 18th, and 19th before SpaceX called the mission off to give Crew Dragon’s inaugural astronaut launch space to breathe, Starlink-8 is now scheduled to launch no earlier than 9:25 pm EDT on June 3rd (02:25 UTC, 4 June). Aside from taking SpaceX another step towards an operational Starlink constellation and source of income independent of launches, the launch is also on track to mark several more critical milestones both in orbit and back on (or near) the ground.

Last used to recover the late Falcon 9 booster B1048 in January 2019 after its second launch, drone ship Just Read The Instructions is back at work after a 16-month hiatus. (Pauline Acalin)

By far the most notable (and unexpected) first of Starlink-8 is related to booster recovery plans. On May 30th, the very same day SpaceX performed its first astronaut launch, drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) was spotted heading out into the Atlantic Ocean, deck cleared for the first time in the better part of a year. While initially assumed to be another one of a few sea trials the radically upgraded drone ship has performed in the last few weeks, news broke hours later that JRTI was actually heading out to sea for its first rocket recovery attempt in more than 16 months.

Replacing SpaceX’s original East Coast-based drone ship of the same name, the current iteration of Just Read The Instructions debuted in the Pacific Ocean in January 2016 with an explosively-unsuccessful booster landing after launching the Jason-3 weather satellite. The ship’s next landing attempt would come one year later and kick of seven consecutive booster landings completed over the following 24 months, followed shortly by a temporary pause of SpaceX’s West Coast launch presence.

SpaceX intends to perform its limited manifest of future Californian launches while relying entirely on return-to-launch-site (RTLS) rocket booster recoveries back onshore, freeing up drone ship JRTI to head to Florida to support the company’s far busier East Coast manifest. After transiting the Panama Canal in August 2019 and undergoing several months of refits in Louisiana, JRTI arrived in Florida in December 2019 and has been gradually upgraded at Port Canaveral over the last few months. Now, outfitted with a new Octagrabber robot and thrusters and power supplies that dwarf those on SpaceX’s other drone ship, SpaceX has apparently given JRTI the go-ahead to attempt its first booster recovery in almost a year and a half.

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B1046 became the first Falcon 9 booster to successfully launch three orbital missions and landed on drone ship JRTI shortly thereafter. (SpaceX)

Visors, reuse, rideshares and more

Additionally, Starlink-8 is scheduled to debut SpaceX’s first “VisorSat”, a Starlink satellite modified with a visor specifically designed to prevent sunlight from reflecting off of the shiny satellites and disrupting ground-based astronomy. If successful, all future Starlink satellites SpaceX manufactures will include the modification, hopefully mitigating or wholly eliminating Starlink’s impact on astronomy.

During a surprise April 27th Astro2020 presentation, Elon Musk revealed a conceptual render of SpaceX’s new VisorSat design. (SpaceX)

Starlink-8 is also expected to debut SpaceX’s potentially game-changing addition of rideshare slots for small satellites aboard a large portion of the company’s planned Starlink launches. Earth imaging company Planet is the first announced customer, with three ~125 kg (~300 lb) SkySat imaging satellites manifested on Starlink-8. Potentially costing Planet just $1 million apiece, the launch option could easily become industry-leading if SpaceX can regularly include several hundred kilograms of 3rd-party satellites on each of the 20+ Starlink missions it’s likely to launch annually.

A SkySat imaging satellite. (Planet/SSL)

Finally, Next Spaceflight says that Falcon 9 booster B1049 has been assigned to support Starlink-8, meaning that the mission will be the second time ever that a Falcon 9 booster has attempted its fifth orbital-class launch. Starlink-8 will come two and a half months after improper refurbishment caused Falcon 9 booster B1048 to suffer an in-flight engine failure during its fifth launch. While the booster changed its flight program on the fly to ensure the Starlink-6 mission was successfully completed, B1048 did so at the cost of its landing propellant, ending the booster’s productive life with a violent crash somewhere on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

B1049 completed its fourth launch and landing in January 2020. (Richard Angle)

If B1049 can successfully launch and land for the fifth time on June 3rd, it will become the pack leader of SpaceX’s fleet of reusable rockets. With a safe landing, B1049 can prepare to become the first booster to launch six times, hopefully proving that Falcon 9 can safely fly six, seven, eight, or more times – perhaps one day cresting 10 launches to achieve Falcon 9 Block 5’s design goal.

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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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Tesla Model Y has become the most common vehicle in Norway

The Tesla Model Y passed more than 70,000 registrations recently.

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Model Y has become the most common car on Norwegian roads. This is a remarkable achievement for the all-electric crossover, which has also commanded the top spot in Norway’s vehicle sales rankings for several years running.

Model Y Domination

As per vehicle registration figures tracked by the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV), there were 68,378 Model Ys with Norwegian license plates at the end of March/beginning of April 2025. In recent weeks, the Model Y passed more than 70,000 registrations, as per a report from Elbil24.

With the Model Y now becoming the most common car in Norway, the Toyota Rav4 now stands in second place, followed by the Nissan Leaf, the Volkswagen Golf, and the Toyota Yaris. The Model Y also topped the country’s vehicle registration rankings for the last three years, and it set a record for selling the most vehicles in a year in 2023, breaking the Volkswagen Beetle’s record that has stood since 1969.

Possibly More Momentum

It is undeniable that the Tesla Model Y has helped Norway push its electric vehicle transition. As of date, electric vehicles now account for 28% of the Norwegian car fleet, a notable portion of which is comprised of the all-electric crossover.

While the Model Y’s achievements in Norway have been impressive, the vehicle could expand its reach into the country even more this year. Tesla, after all, has been aggressively pushing the new Model Y to consumers, with the company offering a zero percent interest promotion for the vehicle. These efforts, as well as the new Model Y’s improved features, should make the vehicle even more compelling to Norwegian car buyers this year.

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Tesla Board Chair slams Wall Street Journal over alleged CEO search report

Denholm’s comments were posted by Tesla on its official account on social media platform X.

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robyn-m-denholm-tesla
CeBIT Australia, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm has issued a stern correction to The Wall Street Journal after the publication posted a report alleging that the electric vehicle maker’s Board of Directors opened a search for a new CEO to replace Elon Musk.

Denholm’s comments were posted by Tesla on its official account on social media platform X. 

The WSJ’s Allegations

Citing people reportedly familiar with the discussions, the WSJ alleged that Tesla Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Elon Musk’s successor. The publication also alleged that tensions had been mounting at Tesla due to the company’s dropping sales and profits, as well as the time Musk has been spending with DOGE.

The publication also alleged that Elon Musk had met with the Tesla Board about the matter, and that members told the CEO that he needed to spend more time on Tesla. Musk was reportedly instructed to state his intentions publicly as well. The CEO did not push back against the Board, the WSJ claimed. 

Elon Musk did announce that he is stepping back from his day-to-day role at the Department of Government Efficiency during the Tesla Q1 2025 earnings call. Musk’s announcement was embraced by Tesla investors and analysts, many of whom felt that the CEO’s renewed focus on the EV maker could push the company to greater heights. 

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Tesla and Musk’s Response

In response to The Wall Street Journal’s report, Tesla’s official account on X shared a comment from its Board Chair. In her comment, Denham noted that the WSJ‘s report was “absolutely false.” She also highlighted that Tesla had communicated this fact to the publication before the report was published, but the Journal ran the story anyway.

“Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company. This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead,” Denholm stated.

Elon Musk himself commented on the matter, stating that the publication showed an “extremely bad breach of ethics” since the report did not even include the Tesla Board of Directors’ denial of the allegations. “It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!” Musk wrote in a post on X.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk is now a remote DOGE worker: White House Chief of Staff

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is no longer working from the West Wing.

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Credit: Elon Musk/X

In a conversation with the New York Post, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles stated that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is no longer working from the West Wing.

As per the Chief of Staff, Musk is still working for DOGE—as a remote worker, at least.

Remote Musk

In her conversation with the publication, Wiles stated that she still talks with Musk. And while the CEO is now working remotely, his contributions still have the same net effect. 

“Instead of meeting with him in person, I’m talking to him on the phone, but it’s the same net effect,” Wiles stated, adding that “it really doesn’t matter much” that the CEO “hasn’t been here physically.” She also noted that Musk’s team will not be leaving.

“He’s not out of it altogether. He’s just not physically present as much as he was. The people that are doing this work are here doing good things and paying attention to the details. He’ll be stepping back a little, but he’s certainly not abandoning it. And his people are definitely not,” Wiles stated.

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Back to Tesla

Musk has been a frequent presence in the White House during the Trump administration’s first 100 days in office. But during the Q1 2025 Tesla earnings call, Musk stated that he would be spending substantially less time with DOGE and substantially more time with Tesla. Musk did emphasize, however, that DOGE’s work is extremely valuable and critical.

“I think I’ll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so and as long as it is useful. But starting next month, I’ll be allocating probably more of my time to Tesla and now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” Musk stated.

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