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Kennedy Space Center wants a SpaceX Falcon 9 core for its Rocket Garden
SpaceX continues to make history with nearly every Falcon rocket launch, so it’s only fitting that one of the most well-known places for preserving rocket history, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, would be interested in adding one of the company’s recovered cores to a display. SpaceX’s ‘flight proven’ collection is, after all, piling up. Even more relevant, however, is that most of those historic launches took place at KSC’s Launch Complex 39A.
After the Mars-bound enterprise successfully launched its third Falcon Heavy rocket this week, including the self-landed recovery of both side boosters, KSC directly voiced its interest in a SpaceX addition to their famous Rocket Garden display.
“Hint: We think a #Falcon9 and/or #FalconHeavy booster would look great in the Rocket Garden. ? We have the space available and the capability to make it happen,” Therrin Protze, COO of KSC’s Visitor Complex, tweeted to Elon Musk.
The request was quickly met with a positive reception by SpaceX’s CEO, confirming to fans and KSC visitors alike that both parties involved in making a display happen were on board with the idea. “Sure, that would be an honor,” Musk later replied after describing his admiration for the display. “I love the KSC rocket garden. Spent many days there looking at rocket design details.”
Sure, that would be an honor
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 26, 2019
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Kennedy Space Center’s Rocket Garden is currently home to a collection of rockets representing NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, including a Mercury-Redstone 3 rocket like the ones that put the first three American into space – Alan Shepard, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, and Ham the chimpanzee. Interestingly enough, while the Rocket Garden represents human achievements in space travel, the addition of a recovered Falcon core would represent the only resident to have actually left Earth, a distinction that wasn’t necessary only a few years ago. In effect, SpaceX’s success in recovering as much of each launch vehicle as possible would cast a new light on Rocket Garden tours with a Falcon in its midst, increasing expectations that one-and-done space travel is now largely a thing of the past.
If all goes well and a deal comes out of the SpaceX and KSC affirmations, the rocket will eventually join a few others in line to dot the country with space-faring Falcon cores. Among those planned is a display at Houston Space Center in Texas via a deal inked in May this year. The rocket is initially planned to be on its side and raised off the ground to allow visitors to walk underneath. One of the special aspects of Falcon’s presence in Houston, itself full of incredible spaceflight history, is why the Center chose to include a SpaceX vehicle in its display collection.
“[We want to]… interpret the history of the space program, but also interpret for the public what is currently going on and where we are going moving on into the future,” William Harris, president and CEO of Space Center Houston, said in an interview with collectSPACE. “With the relationship that NASA has with the commercial sector in support of the International Space Station and other missions, I felt we really needed to begin interpreting that as well.”
SpaceX also has plans for its very own rocket garden alongside an expanded presence at its launch facility in Florida. The company aims to build a dedicated facility for storing, refurbishing and decommissioning Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters and payload fairings “immediately” after construction approvals are granted, according to an environmental assessment published in April 2018. Included in the plan are 50 acres of land, a 130,000 square foot facility (with and additional 100,000 square-foot facility option, if needed), and a place to display decommissioned Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters, recovered fairings, and its Dragon spacecraft, assuming they won’t be donated to museums instead.
Until the construction for all planned sites are completed, SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California headquarters has the only Falcon on display for visitors to admire. The first booster the company recovered in December 2015 stands 156 feet tall on the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Jack Northrop Avenue, and it has since been the site for an untold number of visitors taking selfies, sharing their excitement for SpaceX’s achievements all over social media. Until more flight-proven cores are distributed, fans will have to just make due watching Falcon cores come home after ocean drone ship landings.
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News
Elon Musk makes a key Tesla Optimus detail official
“Since we are naming the singular, we will also name the plural, so Optimi it is,” Musk wrote on X.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk just made a key detail about Optimus official. In a post on X, the CEO clarified some key wording about Optimus, which should help the media and the public become more familiar with the humanoid robot.
Elon Musk makes Optimus’ plural term official
Elon Musk posted a number of Optimus-related posts on X this weekend. On Saturday, he stated that Optimus would be the Von Neumann probe, a machine that could eventually be capable of replicating itself. This capability, it seems, would be the key to Tesla achieving Elon Musk’s ambitious Optimus production targets.
Amidst the conversations about Optimus on X, a user of the social media platform asked the CEO what the plural term for the humanoid robot will be. As per Musk, Tesla will be setting the plural term for Optimus since the company also decided on the robot’s singular term. “Since we are naming the singular, we will also name the plural, so Optimi it is,” Musk wrote in his reply on X.
This makes it official. For media outlets such as Teslarati, numerous Optimus bots are now called Optimi. It rolls off the tongue pretty well, too.
Optimi will be a common sight worldwide
While Musk’s comment may seem pretty mundane to some, it is actually very important. Optimus is intended to be Tesla’s highest volume product, with the CEO estimating that the humanoid robot could eventually see annual production rates in the hundreds of millions, perhaps even more. Since Optimi will be a very common sight worldwide, it is good that people can now get used to terms describing the humanoid robot.
-->During the Tesla 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Musk stated that the humanoid robot will see “the fastest production ramp of any product of any large complex manufactured product ever,” starting with a one-million-Optimi-per-year production line at the Fremont Factory. Giga Texas would get an even bigger Optimus production line, which should be capable of producing tens of millions of Optimi per year.
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Tesla is improving Giga Berlin’s free “Giga Train” service for employees
With this initiative, Tesla aims to boost the number of Gigafactory Berlin employees commuting by rail while keeping the shuttle free for all riders.
Tesla will expand its factory shuttle service in Germany beginning January 4, adding direct rail trips from Berlin Ostbahnhof to Giga Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide.
With this initiative, Tesla aims to boost the number of Gigafactory Berlin employees commuting by rail while keeping the shuttle free for all riders.
New shuttle route
As noted in a report from rbb24, the updated service, which will start January 4, will run between the Berlin Ostbahnhof East Station and the Erkner Station at the Gigafactory Berlin complex. Tesla stated that the timetable mirrors shift changes for the facility’s employees, and similar to before, the service will be completely free. The train will offer six direct trips per day as well.
“The service includes six daily trips, which also cover our shift times. The trains will run between Berlin Ostbahnhof (with a stop at Ostkreuz) and Erkner station to the Gigafactory,” Tesla Germany stated.
Even with construction continuing at Fangschleuse and Köpenick stations, the company said the route has been optimized to maintain a predictable 35-minute travel time. The update follows earlier phases of Tesla’s “Giga Train” program, which initially connected Erkner to the factory grounds before expanding to Berlin-Lichtenberg.
-->Tesla pushes for majority rail commuting
Tesla began production at Grünheide in March 2022, and the factory’s workforce has since grown to around 11,500 employees, with an estimated 60% commuting from Berlin. The facility produces the Model Y, Tesla’s best-selling vehicle, for both Germany and other territories.
The company has repeatedly emphasized its goal of having more than half its staff use public transportation rather than cars, positioning the shuttle as a key part of that initiative. In keeping with the factory’s sustainability focus, Tesla continues to allow even non-employees to ride the shuttle free of charge, making it a broader mobility option for the area.
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Tesla Model 3 and Model Y dominate China’s real-world efficiency tests
The Tesla Model 3 posted 20.8 kWh/100 km while the Model Y followed closely at 21.8 kWh/100 km.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y once again led the field in a new real-world energy-consumption test conducted by China’s Autohome, outperforming numerous rival electric vehicles in controlled conditions.
The results, which placed both Teslas in the top two spots, prompted Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun to acknowledge Tesla’s efficiency advantage while noting that his company’s vehicles will continue refining its own models to close the gap.
Tesla secures top efficiency results
Autohome’s evaluation placed all vehicles under identical conditions, such as a full 375-kg load, cabin temperature fixed at 24°C on automatic climate control, and a steady cruising speed of 120 km/h. In this environment, the Tesla Model 3 posted 20.8 kWh/100 km while the Model Y followed closely at 21.8 kWh/100 km, as noted in a Sina News report.
These figures positioned Tesla’s vehicles firmly at the top of the ranking and highlighted their continued leadership in long-range efficiency. The test also highlighted how drivetrain optimization, software management, and aerodynamic profiles remain key differentiators in high-speed, cold-weather scenarios where many electric cars struggle to maintain low consumption.
Xiaomi’s Lei Jun pledges to continue learning from Tesla
Following the results, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun noted that the Xiaomi SU7 actually performed well overall but naturally consumed more energy due to its larger C-segment footprint and higher specification. He reiterated that factors such as size and weight contributed to the difference in real-world consumption compared to Tesla. Still, the executive noted that Xiaomi will continue to learn from the veteran EV maker.
“The Xiaomi SU7’s energy consumption performance is also very good; you can take a closer look. The fact that its test results are weaker than Tesla’s is partly due to objective reasons: the Xiaomi SU7 is a C-segment car, larger and with higher specifications, making it heavier and naturally increasing energy consumption. Of course, we will continue to learn from Tesla and further optimize its energy consumption performance!” Lei Jun wrote in a post on Weibo.
-->Lei Jun has repeatedly described Tesla as the global benchmark for EV efficiency, previously stating that Xiaomi may require three to five years to match its leadership. He has also been very supportive of FSD, even testing the system in the United States.
Elon Musk makes a key Tesla Optimus detail official
Tesla is improving Giga Berlin’s free “Giga Train” service for employees
