SpaceX has successfully launched 48 more Starlink V1.5 satellites and two rideshare payloads, simultaneously breaking its record for annual launches and making Falcon 9 the most consecutively successfully flown rocket in Western history.
After a small one-day delay, Falcon 9 booster B1060 lifted off for the ninth time at 6:12 pm EST (23:12 UTC), likely missing the opportunity for a spectacular artificial rocket ‘nebula’ but just a few minutes. Nevertheless, Falcon 9 performed flawlessly, acing its ninth landing in 18 months and sending an expendable upper stage and about 14 metric tons (~31,000 lb) of satellites on their way to orbit. The second stage reached an initial parking orbit around nine minutes after launch and coasted for almost an hour before reigniting to insert its Starlink and Blacksky payloads into the correct orbit.
Almost exactly mirroring Blacksky’s first August 2020 Starlink rideshare mission, Falcon 9 first deployed the company’s two ~60 kg (~130 lb) Earth observation satellites around T+1:03. The second stage then gradually spun itself up end over end before releasing all 48 Starlink V1.5 satellites at once ~90 minutes after liftoff, marking the end of Falcon 9’s 101st consecutively successful orbital launch and SpaceX’s 27th launch of the year – new records for western spaceflight and the company, respectively.


As previously discussed on Teslarati, with Starlink 4-3, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 workhorse has become the first western rocket in history to surpass 100 consecutive launch successes, beating out McDonnell Douglas’ (and, later, ULA’s) Delta II rocket.
“As pointed out by a Teslarati reader, Starlink 4-3 could also see Falcon 9 become the first American rocket in history to successfully complete more than 100 orbital launches in a row, narrowly beating out McDonnell Douglas’ retired Delta II rocket for the title. Earlier this year, many outlets already reported that SpaceX’s May 26th Starlink-28 launch was its 100th consecutive launch. While true in a very literal sense, it ignores SpaceX’s infamous Amos-6 Falcon 9 failure, which occurred well before liftoff but still destroyed both the rocket and payload. 
Only Russia’s R-7 (Soyuz) rockets – the most-launched rocket family in history – have successfully launched more times in a row. Since 1966, Soyuz rockets have launched more than 1900 times and the family has repeatedly completed 100 consecutively successful launches over its decades of operation. Eleven years after its debut, Falcon 9 currently stands at 127 fully successful launches – a lifetime away from matching Soyuz but still well on its way to a thoroughly impressive second place.”
Teslarati.com – December 1st, 2021

SpaceX has also beaten its 2020 record of 26 launches completed in one year and still has at least three or four more launches planned in 2021 – potentially pushing the company past the 30-launch mark before the end of the year. Up next, SpaceX is scheduled to launch NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) no earlier than (NET) 1am EST (06:00 UTC), December 9th; Turkey’s Turksat 5B communications satellite NET 10:58 pm EST (3:58 UTC), December 18th; Cargo Dragon 2’s CRS-24 space station resupply mission NET 5:06 am EST (10:06 UTC), December 21st; and (potentially) Starlink 2-2 or 2-3 NET late December.
News
Rivian and Amazon announce huge milestone with EDV
The companies announced today that they had officially launched the EDV in Canada for Amazon, as the first 50 units are out and about in Vancouver, and the company said it was “marking an exciting milestone in our five-year history of operations in Canada.”
 
														Rivian and Amazon have announced a huge milestone with their Electric Delivery Vehicle (EDV), the van that the two companies developed for the e-commerce giant to sustainably deliver packages to customers.
The EDV was first unveiled back in September 2019, when Amazon announced a massive investment in Rivian and placed an order for 100,000 electric vans, aiming to deploy them by 2030 as part of the company’s sustainability goals.
Production started in 2021 in Normal, Illinois, and entered Amazon’s fleet of active delivery vehicles over the Summer of 2022. Amazon kept the initial vehicles in major metropolitan areas and eventually started rolling them out to more delivery hubs across the United States.
In December 2024, the companies announced they had successfully deployed 20,000 EDVs across the U.S. In the first half of this year, 10,000 additional vans were delivered, and Amazon’s fleet had grown to 30,000 EDVs by mid-2025.
Amazon’s fleet of EDVs continues to grow rapidly and has expanded to over 100 cities in the United States. However, it has just reached a new milestone, and it has nothing to do with the size of its fleet.
The companies announced today that they had officially launched the EDV in Canada for Amazon, as the first 50 units are out and about in Vancouver, and the company said it was “marking an exciting milestone in our five-year history of operations in Canada.”
The first Rivian Electric Delivery Vans have arrived in Canada as @amazon announced that 50 vans are hitting the road to serve the Vancouver area – marking an exciting milestone in our five-year history of operations in Canada. 🍁 https://t.co/rc6GvSRX2v pic.twitter.com/0jAQ3ABkYt
— Rivian (@Rivian) October 30, 2025
The EDV is a model that is exclusive to Amazon, but Rivian sells the RCV, or Rivian Commercial Van, openly. It detailed some of the pricing and trim options back in January when it confirmed it had secured orders from various companies, including AT&T.
The RCV starts at $83,000, and is one of the few electric vans on the market that is suitable for package delivery in a commercial setting because of its build and interior features.
Rivian prepares to launch the EDV outside of Amazon as the RCV – Here’s when
However, it also seems to be a great option as a service vehicle for companies, which is likely why AT&T is going to utilize it.
News
Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big profit decline once again
 
														Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big decline in its profitability for the second straight quarter, and a loss of one-third compared to the same quarter last year.
BYD overtook Tesla as the best-selling EV maker in China in the fourth quarter of 2023, finally surpassing the company in terms of sales in the region.
Is Tesla really losing to BYD, or just playing a different game?
The Chinese market is one of the most competitive in the world, especially for EVs, as the industry is healthy with young and scrappy companies looking to sell the best possible tech in their vehicles.
BYD reported its earnings on Thursday and said that its profit had slumped by 33 percent compared to the same quarter last year. For this year’s third quarter, BYD reported a net profit of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a 32.6 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2024.
Its revenue was 195 billion yuan ($27.4 billion), which was only a 3 percent decrease compared to Q3 2024.
The drop in profits and revenue can mostly be attributed to the ongoing growth of competition in the Chinese market. The increased competition in China has pushed companies to turn to overseas markets in response, according to CnEVPost.
BYD is one of those companies, and it is attempting to push sales upward by entering new markets, especially in Europe, where the company sold more than 13,000 units in EU countries in September alone.
This was a 272 percent increase year over year, a major piece of evidence that it has a lot of potential in foreign markets.
The drop in financial figures is likely a short-term issue for BYD, as it has already established itself as a formidable competitor to many companies in many markets. In Q1, it reported an increase in profit by 100 percent compared to the same time span the year prior.
As it works to expand to even more markets in the world, it will continue to build upon its already-solid reputation.
News
GM takes latest step to avoid disaster as EV efforts get derailed
There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.
 
														General Motors has taken its latest step to avoid financial disaster as its electric vehicle efforts have been widely derailed.
GM’s electric vehicle manufacturing efforts started off hot, and CEO Mary Barra seemed to have a real hold on how the industry and consumers were starting to evolve toward sustainable powertrains. Even former President Joe Biden commended her as being a major force in the global transition to EVs.
However, the company’s plans have not gone as they’ve drawn them up. GM has reported some underwhelming delivery figures in recent quarters, and with the loss of the $7,500 tax credit, the company is planning for what is likely a substantial setback in its entire EV division.
Earlier this month, the company reported it would include a $1.6 billion charge in its quarterly earnings results from EV investments. It was the first true sign that things with GM’s EV projects were going to slow down.
There was an even larger step taken this morning, as the Detroit Free Press reported that GM was idling its Factory Zero plant in Michigan until late November, placing about 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff status.
This is in addition to the 280 employees it has already laid off after production cuts that happened earlier this year at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
After November 24, GM will bring back 3,200 people to work until January 5 to operate both shifts. On January 5, GM is expected to keep 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff.
GM is not the only legacy automaker to make a move like this, as Ford has also started to make a move that reflects a cautious tone regarding how far and how committed it can be to its EV efforts.
After the tax credit was lost, it seemed to be a game of who would be able to float their efforts longest without the government’s help. Tesla CEO Elon Musk long said that the loss of these subsidies would help the company and hurt its competitors, and so far, that is what we are seeing.
Elon Musk was right all along about Tesla’s rivals and EV subsidies
However, Tesla still has some things to figure out, including how its delivery numbers will be without the tax credit. Its best quarter came in Q3 as the credit was expiring, but Tesla did roll out some more affordable models after the turn of the quarter.
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