Lifestyle
A journey to capture SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy static fire test
As a launch photographer that has a work schedule as volatile as the rocket fuel being used by the very same subject matter that I’m trying to capture on film, having a plan-B in place comes with the territory. For hours, everything can appear routine, as I cycle through my usual list of photo preparations. But in the blink of an eye, the launch team could discover an issue that disrupts the entire day. That couldn’t be truer than my recent attempts to cover the highly anticipated SpaceX Falcon Heavy static fire test.
In those instances when unexpected circumstances can change long-prepared plans, any work that has been conducted up to that point has to be repeated at the next launch attempt. It happens often and it’s part of the gig. Needless to say, this profession takes immense passion and patience. It also helps to have a home life that’s equally patient and supportive.
The whirlwind of excitement began in early January when SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy was scheduled for its first test fire from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Checking Twitter in the pre-dawn hours of an overcast Cape Canaveral day, I quickly learned that any opportunity to hear the deafening roar of Falcon Heavy’s 27 Merlin engines ignite would have to wait until the next day. The weather was unpleasant; the skies were saturated in a thick haze of dreary gray, and the birds were eerily silent around Kennedy Space Center’s neighboring Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.
Falcon Heavy’s test wasn’t meant to be that day. Or in the days following.
Nasa’s VAB visible in the background from Black Point Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. (Photo/TomCross)
The nature preserve surrounding the Kennedy Space Center has well-maintained gravel roads, pathways, boardwalks, and pull-offs, each with gorgeous views of an untouched Florida landscape. It’s a popular location for birdwatchers and wildlife photographers.
An alligator crosses the gravel road at Black Point Wildlife Drive. (Photo/TomCross)
My journey to this location involves an hour-long drive through suburbs and rural areas, and a $10 entrance fee to the nature preserve. Gone are any signs of civilization, drowned in the silence of a peaceful Floridian backdrop of marshland and the occasional alligator making its way across gravel roads.
The weather ahead of Falcon Heavy’s second attempt at a test launch couldn’t be more perfect. Being one of the first to arrive on the scene, I had ample time to claim stake to a perfect vantage point for the perfect Falcon Heavy shot from the rooftop of my vehicle. Five Instagram stories into my stay and admittedly a few shameless selfies, the rest of the photojournalists began to arrive. It wasn’t long before a group of vacationers and sea of photographers arrived with cameras in tow and sights set on the Falcon Heavy launch pads.
To get a better view of the rocket engines during the static fire, I posted on top of my vehicle. (Photo/ Marcus Cote, @marcuscote_photo)
Through a thick haze, Falcon Heavy can be seen venting LOX (Liquid Oxygen). (Photo/TomCross)
As Falcon Heavy began venting LOX (Liquid Oxygen), a frenzy of rapid-fire shots immediately followed. The beast was breathing and would soon fire, so we thought.
A comment from one of the people in the crowd suggested that the large plume of LOX coming from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy was a normal occurrence. The rumors began trickling in: ‘Falcon Heavy scrubbed for the day’ came first. Then, ‘dynamic loads’ cited in the next rumor.
Call it optimism or denial, every ounce of me rejected the notion that Falcon Heavy would not be firing today. Afterall, we saw the rocket venting and there was no confirmation of any sort that was making its way out of Cape Canaveral.
It wasn’t until we received word that a bug related to the hold-down clamp was the root cause for the cancellation. These clamps serve the critical function of firmly holding the rocket to the launch pad during static fire testing. If this component malfunctions, the rocket could potentially leave the pad. The attempt was scrubbed and rescheduled for another day.
My journey home had me pondering what I’d change for the next attempt.
The day had come for yet another Falcon Heavy static fire attempt. This time, I was armed with a mental image of the exact location of where to park and the exact steps needed for set up. I remembered to frame the image in a way that allows me to crop-out SpaceX’s competitor – United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) launch facilities. While we’re granted press access to SpaceX launches, we are prohibited from taking images of other companies’ launch facilities from the location of SpaceX’s launch pads. The same is true while we are in ULA locations: we can’t take images of SpaceX. So I maintain this unspoken rule while photographing Falcon Heavy out of respect for SpaceX and their brand. In some cases, it’s fitting to have the additional launch facilities in the image, but for my purposes of covering Falcon Heavy, it’s not.
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- Part of my planning is to make sure that I can crop out ULA launch facilities. (Photo/TomCross)
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- Falcon Heavy vertical at SpaceX Launch Complex 39A with ULA launch facility in the background. (Photo/TomCross)
Approximately 40 minutes into my drive to Cape Canaveral, or 15 miles from my setup location, I received a tweet that informed me of Falcon Heavy’s cancellation. I made a quick U-turn and hurried back home, where I signed up for SpaceX’s upcoming HispaSat launch that’s slated for mid-February. SpaceX is still serving customers regardless of Falcon Heavy’s delay and the rumor of Zuma’s failure.
The same sequence of extreme excitement that quickly translated to disappointment occurred in the days following. After a few more cancellations, I was in much need of a visit to the happiest place on Earth – Disney World.
If you ever get the opportunity to visit the Disney World theme parks in Orlando, Florida, a ride on Mission Space at Epcot is a must, especially if you’re a space nut. The ride is a launch simulator that takes you around the Earth and Moon, as you awake from a hypersleep state and find yourself inside an asteroid field. The ride is incredible. In fact, local astronauts along with NASA helped Disney’s Imagineering team develop the ride. Most notably, Story Musgrave who I had the pleasure of having coffee with in the past, was commissioned to help with the ride’s theme.
As Falcon Heavy’s schedule continued to drift further into the future, United Launch Alliance (ULA), SpaceX’s competitor, was launching a missile-detecting satellite to geostationary orbit about 23,000 miles in altitude. I hadn’t planned on attending this launch but the weather was beautiful and I was long overdue for some photography fun.
I gathered my gear, drove over to the coast to try out a new public location called Parrish Park / Max A. Brewer bridge. I made sure to explain who ULA was to our Instagram followers after a poll suggested that the majority of our fans did not know who the ULA was.
As I arrived at my new location, there were already rows of vehicles lined up along the shoreline of the river. I drove across the bridge on several occasions to find the perfect spot for stationing my cameras. I got in position 45 minutes before launch, unloaded my gear, attached my Miops Mobile Remote for a streak image, and tested the camera exposure setting. My fingertips were becoming increasingly more numb from prolonged exposure to the cold nighttime air, yet I still managed to attach my other camera to the tripod.
A couple walking past complimented me on my setup. After a few shots with my zoom-camera, the couple began walking toward me and asked if I heard about the launch scrub.
“Come on, it’s been too much lately!” immediately sounded off from my mouth. I was in disbelief. Sure enough, word soon got out that the launch would be rescheduled.
I heard the shutter of my long-exposure camera slam shut, as if it too was in utter disbelief of the recent events taking place, or lack thereof. I packed up and drove home, left only with the images in my mind of what that evening’s image could have looked like. And a life lesson that can only be attained through experience.
Bring hand warmers next time.
A streak image of a ULA launch in December 2016. (Photo/TomCross)
Elon Musk
The Boring Company just doubled its tunneling power in Nashville
The Boring Company’s Prufrock MB2 is commissioned and ready to mine beneath Nashville’s streets.
The Boring Company’s second tunnel boring machine, Prufrock MB2, is officially ready to dig in Nashville. The company confirmed the news on X, posting: “Prufrock-MB2 is ready to mine in Nashville! MB2 commissioning is complete, including the brief 11 rpm rotation shown here. Will MB2 catch up to MB1, who had quite the head start? And Prufrock-MB3 ships in August!”
MB2 arrives with meaningful improvements over its predecessor. Lessons learned from the launch and operation of MB1 have already been applied to MB2 to improve efficiency and prepare the machine for launch.
Traditional tunnel boring machines operate in a stop-and-go cycle, digging roughly five feet, halt, erect precast concrete segments to line the tunnel wall, then resume. That repeated interruption is one of the main reasons conventional tunneling is slow and expensive. Prufrock is designed to install the tunnel liner simultaneously with mining, eliminating the need to stop every five feet. The machine also skips the need for excavated launch pits. Prufrock arrives on a truck, tilts down, and launches into the ground within 24 hours. And when the tunnel is complete, it emerges from the ground and drives to its next launch site on a trailer, eliminating the need for expensive cranes or pit excavation. The machine is also fully electric and runs with zero people in the tunnel during normal operations, controlled remotely from a surface operations center.
Prufrock-MB2 is ready to mine in Nashville! MB2 commissioning is complete, including the brief 11 rpm rotation shown here.
Will MB2 catch up to MB1, who had quite the head start?
And Prufrock-MB3 ships in August! pic.twitter.com/TTrMql2aRg
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) June 17, 2026
It won’t be long before we hear of another major update on The Boring Company’s Music City Loop project – a planned underground transit network beneath Nashville that would move passengers in electric vehicles through a series of tunnels at highway speeds, and bypassing surface traffic entirely. Nashville was selected in part because of its strong rock conditions that suits the Prufrock machines well, and relatively less regulatory hurdles.
Progress has been steady on multiple fronts. All 37 permits and approvals required ahead of tunneling have been obtained, out of 45 total. Key wins include a fully executed TDOT tunnel permit authorizing 25 miles of tunnel, unanimous airport authority approval for a Nashville International Airport station, and the city’s first residential station agreement serving downtown tower residents.
With MB1 already tunneling, MB2 now commissioned, and MB3 shipping in August, Nashville is becoming something of a live proving ground for scaled tunnel boring. The broader ambition is not limited to one city. The Boring Company’s stated goal is to make underground transportation a practical alternative to surface roads across major metro areas. Nashville is one of many cities, including a successful Las Vegas tunnel system, where that idea is being put to the test at real speed.
Investor's Corner
Tesla unfolded its first European “folding Supercharger”
Tesla’s folding Supercharger just arrived in Europe and it changes how fast charging expands.
Tesla’s Folding Unit Supercharger has officially landed in Europe, with the company teasing a new installation in its effort for a broader rollout targeting major motorway rest stops across the European continent in Q3 2026. The arrival marks a notable shift in how Tesla is thinking about network expansion, moving from hardware performance alone to engineering the logistics chain itself.
While Tesla did not reveal the exact location for the new folding Supercharger in Europe, the photo shared on X heavily suggests that this maybe somewhere in Norway. Historically, whenever Tesla rolls out an entirely new infrastructure architecture in Europe, whether it was the original Supercharger stalls years ago or these brand-new modular V4 “Folding Units”, Norway is almost always the designated launch pad because of its unmatched EV adoption rate and supportive infrastructure
The Folding Unit, introduced in March 2026, is a factory pre-assembled V4 charging station built on an industrial hinge system mounted to a heavy-duty concrete base. The entire assembly arrives on site ready to unfold and connect. Tesla confirmed the units feature telescopic light poles specifically designed for easy transportation and fast on-site deployment, a detail that signals how carefully the logistics chain has been engineered alongside the hardware itself. The design allows 33% more stalls per delivery truck, cuts installation time roughly in half, and reduces overall deployment costs by more than 20% compared to traditional installations.
Tesla’s newest “Folding V4 Superchargers” are key to its most aggressive expansion yet
Tesla also noted telescopic light poles which provide benefits over traditional Supercharger installations that require fixed-height poles that are awkward to ship, slow to position on site, and often require separate crews and equipment to erect before charging hardware can even be staged. By engineering poles that compress for transit and extend on arrival, Tesla has removed one of the quieter bottlenecks in the physical deployment process. Every hour saved on a light pole installation is an hour redirected toward getting stalls energized. At scale, across dozens of new sites per quarter, those hours add up to a meaningful acceleration in how quickly a location goes from approved permit to serving its first customer.
Each Folding Unit pairs a single V4 power cabinet with eight charging posts. The V4 cabinet delivers up to 500 kW per stall for passenger vehicles and up to 1.2 MW for the Tesla Semi, supporting twice the stalls per cabinet at three times the power density of its predecessor. Longer cables make every new station immediately usable by non-Tesla vehicles, a priority as Tesla continues opening its network to Ford, GM, Rivian, Hyundai, Stellantis, and others.
As Teslarati reported when the Folding Unit was first unveiled, Tesla’s Gigafactory New York produced its final V3 Supercharger cabinet in March 2026 after more than seven years and 15,000 units, completing a full pivot to V4 production. The European arrival of the folding design is the next chapter in that transition.
Faster and cheaper deployment means Tesla can justify building in markets and corridors that were previously too expensive to serve, filling the coverage gaps that have slowed EV adoption outside major urban centers.
First Folding Unit Superchargers in Europe 🇪🇺 https://t.co/KNfYWJukkL pic.twitter.com/YR1udIpH1i
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) June 10, 2026
Elon Musk
SpaceXAI just launched into your kitchen with their new app
SpaceXAI just powered its first consumer app and it predicts what you want to buy.
SpaceXAI just made its first move into consumer AI, and it involves your grocery cart. On June 3, 2026, Gopuff and SpaceXAI announced the launch of Go, a Grok-powered shopping assistant built directly into the Gopuff app that predicts what you need before you even start searching for it.
Gopuff is an instant delivery platform that operates more than 400 micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S., delivering everyday essentials, snacks, drinks, and household items in as little as 15 minutes. It is not a restaurant delivery app or a marketplace. It owns its inventory, controls its warehouses, and handles its own logistics, which means it has built one of the most detailed consumer behavior datasets in retail over its 13-year history.
Go combines SpaceXAI’s advanced reasoning, voice, and image generation models with Gopuff’s dataset of hundreds of millions of orders and real-time cultural signals from X to prepare a suggested cart the moment a customer opens the app. It learns each shopper’s habits and automatically builds a personalized cart based on time of day, location, order history, and real-time indicators. Returning customers can check out with a single tap.
Rather than searching for specific items, users can describe a situation like a game-day party or the desire for a healthy breakfast and Go will assemble a cart automatically. It can also predict when shoppers are running low on items like coffee or paper towels and have them packed and delivered in under 15 minutes. Grok voice integration lets users talk to the app in plain conversational language and check out completely hands-free.
Gopuff co-founder and co-CEO Yakir Gola said: “Today, we believe the greatest friction left in commerce is not delivery or instantaneous access to the essentials customers need. It’s the moment before: the thinking, the deciding, the remembering. We’re combining Gopuff’s demand intelligence with xAI’s frontier reasoning to create an everyday shopping experience that feels like a true extension of you.”
Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO
The timing carries context beyond the product launch. SpaceXAI was formed after SpaceX completed an all-stock merger with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, folding one of the most advanced AI labs in the world into the same corporate structure as the company preparing what could be the largest IPO in history. SpaceXAI is dipping into consumer-focused AI just as it prepares for its public debut, and while Musk has openly discussed building an everything app, this launch uses Grok to power another company’s product rather than launching a standalone consumer platform. Every consumer-facing deployment of Grok ahead of the IPO roadshow adds tangible evidence that SpaceXAI is not just an infrastructure play but a direct competitor in the AI application layer where OpenAI and Google are already fighting for dominance.
Tesla Cybercab launch is imminent after latest sighting at Giga Texas
Elon Musk says this part of Tesla ‘makes no sense’
