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SpaceX launches third Falcon 9 rocket in 72 hours, breaks fairing reuse record
In one fell swoop, SpaceX has successfully launched the third Falcon 9 rocket in less than 72 hours, broken payload fairing reusability record, and placed the 2000th operational Starlink satellite in orbit.
After a string of delays from January 29th to February 2nd, Falcon 9 finally lifted off at 1:13 pm EST (18:13 UTC), February 3rd with the seventh batch of Starlink V1.5 satellites on a mission coincidentally known as Starlink 4-7. Falcon 9 booster B1061 completed its sixth spaceflight and orbital-class launch without issue, successfully sending an expendable Falcon upper stage and Starlink payload on their way to orbit and touching down on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) about nine minutes after liftoff.
While one of the rocket’s two fairing (nosecone) halves flew for the fourth time, the other half completed its sixth launch – a new record for fairing reusability approximately 27 months after SpaceX’s first fairing reuse. The record-breaking half likely last supported Starlink V1 L28 in May 2021. A separate half also flew for the fifth time and was recovered in January 2022. In comparison, it took SpaceX 32 months after the first Falcon booster reuse (March 2017) to launch the same booster for the fourth time and 41 months for the sixth time, highlighting both SpaceX’s growing expertise and how much easier reusing a fairing is relative to a rocket’s entire first stage.
With any luck, both Starlink 4-7 fairing halves will have successfully reentered Earth’s atmosphere, deployed GPS-guided parafoils, gently splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, and been fished out of the water by a SpaceX recovery ship. SpaceX has never discussed its fairing reusability goals, so it’s unknown how many flights each half is nominally designed to support.
Inside that record-breaking fairing was the latest batch of 49 Starlink V1.5 satellites, which weigh about 30-40 kg (65-90 lb) heavier than Starlink V1 satellites and are mainly set apart by the addition of several laser links. Once enough laser-linked satellites are launched, SpaceX will be able to route user communications through space, precluding the need for a ground station to always be within line of sight of each satellite node. Aside from allowing Starlink to serve exceptionally remote users, laser links will also allow Starlink to break into the multi-billion-dollar aviation and maritime communications markets.
With Starlink 4-7, SpaceX has now launched 351 Starlink V1.5 satellites, 349 of which are likely functional and about 50 of which have already reached operational orbits. The mission also included the 2000th operational Starlink satellite launched by SpaceX since November 2019, likely raising the number of working Starlink satellites in orbit to just shy of 1900 (of 2016 total).
Starlink 4-7 was SpaceX’s sixth launch of 2022 less than five weeks into the year and the third successful Falcon 9 launch in 67 hours – a feat of launch cadence that only one other rocket family in history (Russia’s R-7 family) has achieved. SpaceX may have as many as 46 more Falcon launches planned this year.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk confirms xAI’s purchase of five 380 MW natural gas turbines
The deal, which was confirmed by Musk on X, highlights xAI’s effort to aggressively scale its operations.
xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, has purchased five additional 380 MW natural gas turbines from South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility to power its growing supercomputer clusters.
The deal, which was confirmed by Musk on X, highlights xAI’s effort to aggressively scale its operations.
xAI’s turbine deal details
News of xAI’s new turbines was shared on social media platform X, with user @SemiAnalysis_ stating that the turbines were produced by South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility. As noted in an Asian Business Daily report, Doosan Enerbility announced last October that it signed a contract to supply two 380 MW gas turbines for a major U.S. tech company. Doosan later noted in December that it secured an order for three more 380 MW gas turbines.
As per the X user, the gas turbines would power an additional 600,000+ GB200 NVL72 equivalent size cluster. This should make xAI’s facilities among the largest in the world. In a reply, Elon Musk confirmed that xAI did purchase the turbines. “True,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
xAI’s ambitions
Recent reports have indicated that xAI closed an upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, exceeding the initial $15 billion target to fuel rapid infrastructure scaling and AI product development. The funding, as per the AI startup, “will accelerate our world-leading infrastructure buildout, enable the rapid development and deployment of transformative AI products.”
The company also teased the rollout of its upcoming frontier AI model. “Looking ahead, Grok 5 is currently in training, and we are focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products that harness the power of Grok, Colossus, and 𝕏 to transform how we live, work, and play,” xAI wrote in a post on its website.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI closes upsized $20B Series E funding round
xAI announced the investment round in a post on its official website.
xAI has closed an upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, exceeding the initial $15 billion target to fuel rapid infrastructure scaling and AI product development.
xAI announced the investment round in a post on its official website.
A $20 billion Series E round
As noted by the artificial intelligence startup in its post, the Series E funding round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group, among others.
Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco Investments also continued support for building the world’s largest GPU clusters.
As xAI stated, “This financing will accelerate our world-leading infrastructure buildout, enable the rapid development and deployment of transformative AI products reaching billions of users, and fuel groundbreaking research advancing xAI’s core mission: Understanding the Universe.”
xAI’s core mission
Th Series E funding builds on xAI’s previous rounds, powering Grok advancements and massive compute expansions like the Memphis supercluster. The upsized demand reflects growing recognition of xAI’s potential in frontier AI.
xAI also highlighted several of its breakthroughs in 2025, from the buildout of Colossus I and II, which ended with over 1 million H100 GPU equivalents, and the rollout of the Grok 4 Series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine, among others. The company also confirmed that work is already underway to train the flagship large language model’s next iteration, Grok 5.
“Looking ahead, Grok 5 is currently in training, and we are focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products that harness the power of Grok, Colossus, and 𝕏 to transform how we live, work, and play,” xAI wrote.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock received a price target update from Pierre Ferragu of Wall Street firm New Street Research, citing the company’s growing lead in self-driving and autonomy.
On Tuesday, Ferragu bumped his price target from $520 to $600, stating that the consensus from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was that Tesla’s lead in autonomy has been sustained, is growing, and sits at a multiple-year lead over its competitors.
CES 2026 validates Tesla’s FSD strategy, but there’s a big lag for rivals: analyst
“The signal from Vegas is loud and clear,” the analyst writes. “The industry isn’t catching up to Tesla; it is actively validating Tesla’s strategy…just with a 12-year lag.”
The note shows that the company’s prowess in vehicle autonomy is being solidified by lagging competitors that claim to have the best method. The only problem is that Tesla’s Vision-based approach, which it adopted back in 2022 with the Model 3 and Model Y initially, has been proven to be more effective than competitors’ approach, which utilizes other technology, such as LiDAR and sensors.
Currently, Tesla shares are sitting at around $433, as the company’s stock price closed at $432.96 on Tuesday afternoon.
Ferragu’s consensus on Tesla shares echoes that of other Wall Street analysts who are bullish on the company’s stock and position within the AI, autonomy, and robotics sector.
Dan Ives of Wedbush wrote in a note in mid-December that he anticipates Tesla having a massive 2026, and could reach a $3 trillion valuation this year, especially with the “AI chapter” taking hold of the narrative at the company.
Ives also said that the big step in the right direction for Tesla will be initiating production of the Cybercab, as well as expanding on the Robotaxi program through the next 12 months:
“…as full-scale volume production begins with the autonomous and robotics roadmap…The company has started to test the all-important Cybercab in Austin over the past few weeks, which is an incremental step towards launching in 2026 with important volume production of Cybercabs starting in April/May, which remains the golden goose in unlocking TSLA’s AI valuation.”
Tesla analyst breaks down delivery report: ‘A step in the right direction’
Tesla has transitioned from an automaker to a full-fledged AI company, and its Robotaxi and Cybercab programs, fueled by the Full Self-Driving suite, are leading the charge moving forward. In 2026, there are major goals the company has outlined. The first is removing Safety Drivers from vehicles in Austin, Texas, one of the areas where it operates a ride-hailing service within the U.S.
Ultimately, Tesla will aim to launch a Level 5 autonomy suite to the public in the coming years.
Elon Musk confirms xAI’s purchase of five 380 MW natural gas turbines
Elon Musk’s xAI closes upsized $20B Series E funding round
