News
SpaceX’s newest Falcon 9 booster arrives in FL as rocket fleet activity rapidly grows
SpaceX’s fifth Falcon 9 Block 5 first stage was spotted a few dozen miles away from arriving at Cape Canaveral at the same time as a freshly launched and landed Block 5 booster was being transported from its drone ship at Port Canaveral to Kennedy Space Center.
The now flight-proven booster in question – B1047 – completed a successful launch of the massive 7100 kg Telstar 19V satellite on July 22nd (EDT), after which it landed safely aboard East Coast drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. Three days after that, sooty Falcon 9 B1047 arrived at Port Canaveral, where it took five days to prepare for transport to one of SpaceX’s several Floridan refurbishment facilities. That transport was captured by an impressive number of independent observers from start to finish, in this case winding up at Pad 39A’s hangar (or horizontal integration facility, HIF) for examination and refurbishment before its next launch.
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- B1047 returned safe and sound to Pad 39A for refurbishment less than a week after launching and landing. (Instagram /u/d_lo_ags)
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- Likely taken around the same time, Instagram /u/acslater90 took this photo from the opposite direction. (Instagram – acslater90)
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- B1047 seen rolling into 39A’s integration hangar for refurbishment on July 31st. (Reddit – Kent767)
Simultaneously, multiple separate members of the subreddit /r/SpaceX observed a different Falcon 9 rocket booster being transported in Western Florida and later Orlando, this time a brand new core shrink-wrapped in the usual black plastic – fresh from static fire testing in McGregor, Texas. A photographer flying in the area in mid-July caught the most likely booster candidate (B1050) vertical on the Texas static fire test stand, rounding out a dizzying array of photos documenting SpaceX’s rigorous test and transport system in action over the last several months.
B1050 will likely be tasked with lifting communications satellite Es’hail-2 in very late August or early September. Intriguingly, the appearance of B1050 in Florida also happens to indicate that SpaceX’s next West Coast launch – SAOCOM 1A, NET September 5th – will have to launch aboard a flight-proven Block 5 booster, of which B1047 and B1048 will be up for consideration. B1051, the next new Block 5 booster expected to ship from Hawthorne to Texas to launch pad, is specifically reserved for SpaceX’s first Crew Dragon mission (DM-1), an uncrewed demo flight that could launch in October or November.
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- Crew Dragon gleams in the orbital sunlight before the ISS. The spacecraft’s first launch has reserved Falcon 9 B1051, the next serial booster expected to leave SpaceX’s factory.(SpaceX)
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- Falcon 9 B1050 on its way to McGregor for static fire testing, July 6th.
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- SpaceX tests all new Falcon 9 boosters and upper stages in Texas before launch. (Aerial Photo/Teslarati)
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- Two weeks after it was spotted on the McGregor static fire stand, B1050 rolled into Orlando, FL on July 31st, headed East to Cape Canaveral. (Reddit – alexbrock57)
It’s likely that B1051’s testing and static fire in McGregor will take much longer than the average booster acceptance testing, meaning that the facility’s Falcon 9 booster test capabilities will likely be saturated for a month or longer, pushing B1052’s commercial launch readiness into late September or early October. In reality, B1048 is the only practical option for an early or mid-September launch in California, and that tentative and unofficial booster reflight would crush the current rocket turnaround record by more than four weeks (42 days vs. 72 days).
Booster B1048 just completed its successful debut with the launch of Iridium NEXT-7 and has been under the watchful care of SpaceX recovery technicians since its July 27th return to Port of San Pedro aboard autonomous spaceport drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI). Of particular note, SpaceX technicians took the extraordinary step of opening up B1048’s Merlin engine service bay panels (one per engine along the circumference of the rocket’s base) for several hours on July 30th.
As far as Falcon recoveries go, SpaceX has never been documented performing a similar procedure while the booster is still dockside – perhaps it’s related to the fact that B1050’s East Coast arrival means B1048 will have to be ready for its second launch faster than any SpaceX rocket before it.
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- A SpaceX recovery technician works beneath Falcon 9 B1048’s massive octaweb and Merlin 1D engines, July 30. (Pauline Acalin)
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- SpaceX technicians examine F9 B1048’s quick-disconnect panel, the interface for much of the vehicle’s fluids and on-pad communications. (Pauline Acalin, 07/30/18)
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- A symphony of rocket wrenching, July 30th. (Pauline Acalin)
For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet (including fairing catcher Mr Steven) check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!
Tesla has added the 15th automaker to the growing list of companies whose EVs can utilize the Supercharger Network this year, as BMW is the latest company to gain access to the largest charging infrastructure in the world.
BMW became the 15th company in 2025 to gain Tesla Supercharger access, after the company confirmed to its EV owners that they could use any of the more than 25,000 Supercharging stalls in North America.
Welcome @BMW owners.
Download the Tesla app to charge → https://t.co/vnu0NHA7Ab
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 10, 2025
Newer BMW all-electric cars, like the i4, i5, i7, and iX, are able to utilize Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. These are the exact model years, via the BMW Blog:
- i4: 2022-2026 model years
- i5: 2024-2025 model years
- 2026 i5 (eDrive40 and xDrive40) after software update in Spring 2026
- i7: 2023-2026 model years
- iX: 2022-2025 model years
- 2026 iX (all versions) after software update in Spring 2026
With the expansion of the companies that gained access in 2025 to the Tesla Supercharger Network, a vast majority of non-Tesla EVs are able to use the charging stalls to gain range in their cars.
So far in 2025, Tesla has enabled Supercharger access to:
- Audi
- BMW
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Polestar
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Drivers with BMW EVs who wish to charge at Tesla Superchargers must use an NACS-to-CCS1 adapter. In Q2 2026, BMW plans to release its official adapter, but there are third-party options available in the meantime.
They will also have to use the Tesla App to enable Supercharging access to determine rates and availability. It is a relatively seamless process.
News
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
Tesla has added a new feature that will be great for crowded parking lots, congested parking garages, or other confusing times when you cannot seem to pinpoint where your car went.
Tesla has added a new Vehicle Locator feature to the Tesla App with App Update v4.51.5.
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
While there are several new features, which we will reveal later in this article, perhaps one of the coolest is that of the Vehicle Locator, which will now point you in the direction of your car using a directional arrow on the home screen. This is similar to what Apple uses to find devices:
Interesting. The location arrow in the Tesla app now points to your car when you’re nearby. pic.twitter.com/b0yjmwwzxN
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) December 7, 2025
In real time, the arrow gives an accurate depiction of which direction you should walk in to find your car. This seems extremely helpful in large parking lots or unfamiliar shopping centers.
Getting to your car after a sporting event is an event all in itself; this feature will undoubtedly help with it:
The nice little touch that Tesla have put in the app – continuous tracking of your vehicle location relative to you.
There’s people reporting dizziness testing this.
To those I say… try spinning your phone instead. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BAYmJ3mzzD
— Some UK Tesla Guy (UnSupervised…) (@SomeUKTeslaGuy) December 8, 2025
Tesla’s previous app versions revealed the address at which you could locate your car, which was great if you parked on the street in a city setting. It was also possible to use the map within the app to locate your car.
However, this new feature gives a more definitive location for your car and helps with the navigation to it, instead of potentially walking randomly.
It also reveals the distance you are from your car, which is a big plus.
Along with this new addition, Tesla added Photobooth features, Dog Mode Live Activity, Custom Wraps and Tints for Colorizer, and Dashcam Clip details.
🚨 Tesla App v4.51.5 looks to be preparing for the Holiday Update pic.twitter.com/ztts8poV82
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 8, 2025
All in all, this App update was pretty robust.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shaded Waymo in a post on X on Wednesday, stating the company “never really had a chance” and that it “will be obvious in hindsight.”
Tesla and Waymo are the two primary contributors to the self-driving efforts in the United States, with both operating driverless ride-hailing services in the country. Tesla does have a Safety Monitor present in its vehicles in Austin, Texas, and someone in the driver’s seat in its Bay Area operation.
Musk says the Austin operation will be completely void of any Safety Monitors by the end of the year.
🚨 Tesla vs. Waymo Geofence in Austin https://t.co/A6ffPtp5xv pic.twitter.com/mrnL0YNSn4
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 10, 2025
With the two companies being the main members of the driverless movement in the U.S., there is certainly a rivalry. The two have sparred back and forth with their geofences, or service areas, in both Austin and the Bay Area.
While that is a metric for comparison now, ultimately, it will not matter in the coming years, as the two companies will likely operate in a similar fashion.
Waymo has geared its business toward larger cities, and Tesla has said that its self-driving efforts will expand to every single one of its vehicles in any location globally. This is where the true difference between the two lies, along with the fact that Tesla uses its own vehicles, while Waymo has several models in its lineup from different manufacturers.
The two also have different ideas on how to solve self-driving, as Tesla uses a vision-only approach. Waymo relies on several things, including LiDAR, which Musk once called “a fool’s errand.”
This is where Tesla sets itself apart from the competition, and Musk highlighted the company’s position against Waymo.
Jeff Dean, the Chief Scientist for Google DeepMind, said on X:
“I don’t think Tesla has anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has (96M for Waymo, as of today). The safety data is quite compelling for Waymo, as well.”
Musk replied:
“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”
Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Tesla stands to have a much larger fleet of vehicles in the coming years if it chooses to activate Robotaxi services with all passenger vehicles. A simple Over-the-Air update will activate this capability, while Waymo would likely be confined to the vehicles it commissions as Robotaxis.
Tesla adds 15th automaker to Supercharger access in 2025
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
