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Blue Origin successfully tests first New Glenn fairing prototype
Blue Origin has completed a crucial test of the payload fairing of their upcoming New Glenn rocket at NASA’s Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio.
The fairing – also known as a nose cone – encapsulates payloads and insulates them from the local environment and the stress of ascent. During ascent, it must protect the payload from aerodynamic buffeting and heating as the rocket works to escape Earth’s atmosphere. The purpose of Blue Origin’s test was to ensure that the fairing’s halves properly separate and jettison, exposing the payload to the vacuum of space and preparing it for deployment minutes or hours later. Equally important is ensuring that those fairing halves are pushed far enough away from the rocket to avoid recontact, which could easily cause catastrophic damage.
New Glenn is set to be Blue Origin’s first orbital launch vehicle and is designed to launch at up to 45 metric tons (~100,000 lb) to low Earth orbit (LEO) and almost 14 tons (~30,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) – very similar to the performance offered by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy with full recovery of all three boosters. Set to stand approximately 96 meters (313 ft) tall, New Glenn improves upon the multi-core complexity of Falcon Heavy with a simpler single-core design. Similar to SpaceX’s single-core Falcon 9, New Glenn features a fully reusable first stage pair, an expendable upper stage, and the world’s largest composite payload fairing (likely also expendable). New Glenn will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) – barely a mile south of the land-based Landing Zones some Falcon boosters land at.
This test took place at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Armstrong Test Facility Space Environments Complex. The complex is home to the world’s largest vacuum chamber. “This is the only place in the world that we can test out this fairing in an environment similar to what the rocket will be seeing in space,” stated Shawna Sherwood Ryan, Project Manager and Test Coordinator for Blue Origin. SpaceX used the same facility to test the deployment performance of its first 5.2-meter-wide (~17 ft) Falcon fairing prototype in the early 2010s.
In a video released by Blue Origin on Monday, February 1st, what amounts to the first integrated New Glenn hardware test of any kind proved successful. “This is a very exciting day,” said Park Cover, Sr. Director of New Glenn Stage 2 & Payload Accommodations. Blue Origin is likely still years away from New Glenn’s first orbital launch attempt but this test provides some confidence that the company is finally entering the integrated testing phase of launch vehicle development.
The fairing is perhaps the simplest large assembly of any orbital launch vehicle and Blue Origin has yet to reveal any evidence of work on integrated booster or upper stage test hardware, but successfully completing the most important part of fairing qualification nonetheless raises the odds that New Glenn’s first launch could happen sometime next year. As of February 2021, the company claimed that New Glenn’s launch debut could happen as early as “late 2022.”
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
“Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes,” Musk said in regards to FSD v14.2.1 allowing texting and driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a major update with texting and driving capabilities on Full Self-Driving v14.2.1, the company’s latest version of the FSD suite.
Tesla Full Self-Driving, even in its most mature and capable versions, is still a Level 2 autonomous driving suite, meaning it requires attention from the vehicle operator.
You cannot sleep, and you should not take attention away from driving; ultimately, you are still solely responsible for what happens with the car.
The vehicles utilize a cabin-facing camera to enable attention monitoring, and if you take your eyes off the road for too long, you will be admonished and advised to pay attention. After five strikes, FSD and Autopilot will be disabled.
However, Musk announced at the Annual Shareholder Meeting in early November that the company would look at the statistics, but it aimed to allow people to text and drive “within the next month or two.”
He said:
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
Does anyone think v14.3 will enable this? pic.twitter.com/N2yn0SK70M
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 23, 2025
Today, Musk confirmed that the current version of Full Self-Driving, which is FSD v14.2.1, does allow for texting and driving “depending on context of surrounding traffic.”
Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2025
There are some legitimate questions with this capability, especially as laws in all 50 U.S. states specifically prohibit texting and driving. It will be interesting to see the legality of it, because if a police officer sees you texting, they won’t know that you’re on Full Self-Driving, and you’ll likely be pulled over.
Some states prohibit drivers from even holding a phone when the car is in motion.
It is certainly a move toward unsupervised Full Self-Driving operation, but it is worth noting that Musk’s words state it will only allow the vehicle operator to do it depending on the context of surrounding traffic.
He did not outline any specific conditions that FSD would allow a driver to text and drive.
News
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
The Tesla Semi is moving closer to broader fleet adoption, with Keller Logistics Group wrapping up a key pre-production planning session with the electric vehicle maker’s team this week.
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
Keller’s pre-production Tesla Semi sessions
Keller Logistics Group, a family-owned carrier with over 300 tractors and 1,000 trailers operating in the Midwest and Southeast, completed the session to assess the Tesla Semi’s fit for its operations. The company’s routes typically span 500-600 miles per day, positioning it as an ideal tester for the Semi’s day cab configuration in standard logistics scenarios.
Details remain under mutual NDA, but the meeting reportedly focused on matching the truck to yard, shuttle and regional applications while scrutinizing economics like infrastructure, maintenance and incentives.
What Keller’s executives are saying
CEO Bryan Keller described the approach as methodical. “For us, staying ahead isn’t a headline, it’s a habit. From electrification and yard automation to digital visibility and warehouse technology, our teams are continually pressure-testing what’s next. The Tesla Semi discussion is one more way we evaluate new tools against our standards for safety, uptime, and customer ROI. We don’t chase trends, we pressure-test what works,” Keller said.
Benjamin Pierce, Chief Strategy Officer, echoed these sentiments. “Electrification and next-generation powertrains are part of a much broader transformation. Whether it’s proprietary yard systems like YardLink™, solar and renewable logistics solutions, or real-time vehicle intelligence, Keller’s approach stays the same, test it, prove it, and deploy it only when it strengthens service and total cost for our customers,” Pierce said.
News
Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand.
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Extended FSD demonstrations
Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.
He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”
Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Building momentum for European approval
Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.
Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
