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SpaceX set for second Falcon 9 launch in 60 hours

Two boosters, two drone ships, three days - round #2. (Richard Angle)

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Update: After successfully docking Cargo Dragon to the ISS on June 5th, SpaceX is on track to complete its second Falcon 9 launch from the East Coast – this time carrying a commercial geostationary communications satellite – in less than 60 hours.

SiriusXM radio satellite SXM-8 is scheduled to liftoff on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than 12:26 am EDT (04:26 UTC) on Sunday, June 6. SpaceX’s official webcast will begin around 15 minutes prior.

For the third time ever, both of SpaceX’s East Coast drone ships have departed Port Canaveral to support two Falcon 9 launches and landings scheduled just a few days apart.

Originally scheduled to launch on June 1st and June 3rd, SpaceX’s SiriusXM SXM-8 and CRS-22 Cargo Dragon missions recently swapped positions after unknown issues delayed SiriusXM’s newest geostationary radio satellite. SpaceX’s second upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft is now scheduled to launch more than 3300 kg (7300 lb) of cargo – including new solar arrays – to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than (NET) 1:29 pm EDT (17:29 UTC) on Thursday, June 3rd.

If all goes to plan, another Falcon 9 rocket will then launch SiriusXM’s seven-ton (~15,500 lb) SXM-8 communications satellite at 12:26 am EDT (04:26 UTC) on Sunday, June 6th.

SpaceX drone ships Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) and Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) departed Port Canaveral four days apart on May 29th and June 2nd for the back-to-back launches and booster recoveries. CRS-22 and SXM-8 will be the fourth time ever that two SpaceX drone ships have needed to depart Port Canaveral less than four days apart.

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After a nine-month journey of canal-crossing, inspections, and upgrades, drone ship JRTI joined OCISLY in Florida and supported its first East Coast recovery in June 2020. It took SpaceX around half a year to find its pace but the company used both drone ships for near-simultaneously launches and landings for the first time in January 2021, recovering two Falcon 9 boosters at sea in a little over four days.

(Richard Angle)

The same process was repeated in March when SpaceX launched two batches of 60 Starlink satellites in the space of 74 hours, recovering both boosters without issue. That particular success also marked the first time that two recovered Falcon 9 boosters simultaneously stood vertical in Port Canaveral. Barring launch delays or an extremely quick turnaround for CRS-22 booster B1067, CRS-22 and SXM-8 could easily precipitate the second appearance of two vertical SpaceX rockets in port.

Beyond the spectacle of simultaneous recoveries and their demonstration of just how aggressively SpaceX is pursuing its ambitious launch cadence goals in 2021, CRS-22 and SXM-8 will also set a new record for time between two SpaceX launches from the East Coast. If they fly on time, the missions will launch less than 59 hours – two and a half days – apart, beating the previous 74-hour record by 25%.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla buyers are buying for Full Self-Driving and not for the car, data shows

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) showed a record attach rate at delivery for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2026.

75 percent of new vehicle deliveries in North America included a subscription to FSD software, up from 55 percent in the prior quarter, a 20-percentage-point sequential gain in the company’s most mature market.

Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

Tesla shed light on the Q3 Shareholder Deck that 75 percent of new deliveries came with an FSD subscription:

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets. “

The higher attach rate accompanied strong growth in the overall FSD consumer base, as active subscriptions rose to 1.75 million, a 67 percent year-over-year increase. For the first time, more than half of paid customers are on the monthly subscription, which is priced at $99 per month in the U.S.

The transition to subscriptions has accelerated since Tesla discontinued the one-time purchase option in most markets earlier this year. The recurring model improves revenue visibility and margins compared with large upfront payments. With three-quarters of North American deliveries now including FSD, the software is now an evidently large contributor to Tesla’s economics and ancillary revenue.

Geographic expansion remains important for further gains. FSD is now available in nine countries in the EU, and more than 100,000 customers have driven over 160 million kilometers. Tesla is pursuing broader EU-wide approval, with a related vote expected in December. Similar progress in additional markets could support higher attach rates beyond North America.

These results came as Tesla had a strong quarterly delivery performance of 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, which came with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. Battery supply continued to limit volume, but the company has pointed to FSD as a clear difference-maker that is helping sustain demand. As supervised capabilities improve, the attach rate will likely continue to improve.

At face value, it is a key measure of how Tesla is converting sales into autonomy progress.

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Tesla Cybercab gets a for sale date at last

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Credit: Tesla

Update: 10/22 10:51a – Para 1 consumers changed to “customers” for accuracy.

Tesla Cybercab units finally got a definitive date for when they will be able to be purchased by customers, ending speculation regarding whether the fully autonomous vehicle would be available in the near term.

During Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 21, Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to begin delivering its purpose-built Cybercab robotaxi to customers before year-end.

“We’re trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026,” Moravy said. He added that production is underway on the line at Gigafactory Texas, but “all of those are currently going to our own internal Robotaxi fleet.”

Moravy explained that as operations scale, Tesla will “mainly deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to our customers,” with the Cybercab as the first such vehicle. Initial customer deliveries will start small while the company gains experience with delivery logistics, ownership models, fleet management, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.

CEO Elon Musk reinforced the limited nature of private sales, describing the Cybercab primarily as a “transport-as-a-service” offering rather than a personal ownership vehicle like the Model 3, Model Y, or upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said.

The Cybercab is a two-seater vehicle developed by Tesla without a steering wheel or pedals. It relies completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite and has been in production since February. Early units have been put in Tesla’s Robotaxi service as of early September, when the company launched rides to the public. Tesla previously indicated it would aim to sell Cybercabs for about $30,000.

Unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to ship to consumer cars during Q2 2027, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI, indicated during the call. Early buyers or fleet operators may receive vehicles whose autonomous operation remains geographically restricted due to lagging regulatory agencies. There are some hurdles that remain ahead of Cybercab deliveries.

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Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.

Here’s where Earnings came in:

  • Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
  • Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
  • Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
  • Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
  • Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected

Major Takeaways

Full Self-Driving (Supervised)

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”

Tesla Semi

“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”

SI Compute

“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”

Robotaxi

“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”

Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.

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