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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.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.
🚨 The NHTSA denied a petition from Tesla that would have thrown out concerns regarding its door handles.
NHTSA said Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect warranting an investigation. The agency said a rulemaking process would be a better strategy. pic.twitter.com/j6PzUBM1mT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 24, 2026
NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.
Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.
The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.
It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
