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SpaceX crushes commercial Falcon 9 reuse record with radio satellite launch
SpaceX has crushed its commercial Falcon 9 reuse record with the successful December 13th launch of Sirius XM’s newest radio satellite while simultaneously debuting fairing reuse on customer missions.
Weighing around 7 metric tons (~15,400 lb) at liftoff, the SXM-7 spacecraft was carried aloft by Falcon 9 booster B1051, marking the rocket’s seventh successful launch and landing and the first time SpaceX has used a four-flight, five-flight, or six-flight booster on a non-Starlink mission.
The willingness of customers Maxar and Sirius XM exemplify a major secondary benefit of SpaceX’s internal Starlink satellite constellation launches, 14 of which the company has completed in 2020 alone. With such a huge number of largely 100%-internal launches, SpaceX has been able to rapidly push the envelope of Falcon 9 reuse, flying boosters on their sixth and seventh missions for the first time. In 2020, despite debuting four new boosters, that wealth of Starlink opportunities has meant that the average booster supporting each of SpaceX’s 25 launches (thus) far completed 3.5 flights.
Thanks to the sheer number of internal launch opportunities SpaceX has available, the company has been able to extensively demonstrate the reliability of new levels of Falcon 9 reuse. In other words, while Sirius XM and Maxar are the first commercial customers to fly a payload on a Falcon 9 booster’s seventh launch, SpaceX had already successfully launched and landed several Falcon 9 boosters for the fifth and sixth time – and one for the seventh time just weeks prior – before the commercial debut.
The same is even more true with fairing reuse, as SXM-7 marked SpaceX’s first commercial Falcon fairing half reuse ever despite the fact that the SXM-7 was also the company’s 14th fairing half reuse overall. At this point in time, SpaceX is unequivocally the only company on Earth performing what amount to operational orbital-class flight tests. With such extensive full-fidelity flight test data available, convincing commercial customers of the viability of flight-proven hardware is likely a dramatically easier task.
That foreknowledge also likely allows SpaceX to confidently offer or negotiate discounts with customers willing to be the first non-Starlink payload to use an nth-flight booster or fairing. For example for the reuse of a single fairing half alone, costing around $2.5 million for SpaceX to replace, the company probably offering Sirus XM and Maxar a discount of $500,000-$1,000,000+ and had the flight data on hand to prove that reusing a fairing half caught at sea wouldn’t add an appreciable risk of mission failure or satellite contamination.
For being the first customer to launch on a six-flight Falcon 9 booster, Sirius XM likely received an even more substantial discount of $5-10 million. SpaceX – believed to have an internal Starlink launch cost of $15M or less excluding satellite production – almost certainly still secured a profit despite offering what is likely the lowest launch cost in the world for a multi-ton geostationary satellite by a large margin.
Meanwhile, thanks to B1051’s seventh successful landing, SpaceX has two seven-flight Falcon boosters it can use to push the envelope even further into eight, nine, ten, and possibly even more launches in 2021.
Elon Musk
Musk bankers looking to trim xAI debt after SpaceX merger: report
xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. A new financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year.
Elon Musk’s bankers are looking to trim the debt that xAI has taken on over the past few years, following the company’s merger with SpaceX, a new report from Bloomberg says.
xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. Bankers are trying to create some kind of financing plan that would trim “some of the heavy interest costs” that come with the debt.
The financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year. Musk has essentially confirmed that SpaceX would be heading toward an IPO last month.
The report indicates that Morgan Stanley is expected to take the leading role in any financing plan, citing people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley, along with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are all expected to be in the lineup of banks leading SpaceX’s potential IPO.
Since Musk acquired X, he has also had what Bloomberg says is a “mixed track record with debt markets.” Since purchasing X a few years ago with a $12.5 billion financing package, X pays “tens of millions in interest payments every month.”
That debt is held by Bank of America, Barclays, Mitsubishi, UFJ Financial, BNP Paribas SA, Mizuho, and Société Générale SA.
X merged with xAI last March, which brought the valuation to $45 billion, including the debt.
SpaceX announced the merger with xAI earlier this month, a major move in Musk’s plan to alleviate Earth of necessary data centers and replace them with orbital options that will be lower cost:
“In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale. To harness even a millionth of our Sun’s energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilization currently uses! The only logical solution, therefore, is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space. I mean, space is called “space” for a reason.”
The merger has many advantages, but one of the most crucial is that it positions the now-merged companies to fund broader goals, fueled by revenue from the Starlink expansion, potential IPO, and AI-driven applications that could accelerate the development of lunar bases.
News
Tesla pushes Full Self-Driving outright purchasing option back in one market
Tesla announced last month that it would eliminate the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving software outright, instead opting for a subscription-only program, which will require users to pay monthly.
Tesla has pushed the opportunity to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright in one market: Australia.
The date remains February 14 in North America, but Tesla has pushed the date back to March 31, 2026, in Australia.
NEWS: Tesla is ending the option to buy FSD as a one-time outright purchase in Australia on March 31, 2026.
It still ends on Feb 14th in North America. https://t.co/qZBOztExVT pic.twitter.com/wmKRZPTf3r
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 13, 2026
Tesla announced last month that it would eliminate the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving software outright, instead opting for a subscription-only program, which will require users to pay monthly.
If you have already purchased the suite outright, you will not be required to subscribe once again, but once the outright purchase option is gone, drivers will be required to pay the monthly fee.
The reason for the adjustment is likely due to the short period of time the Full Self-Driving suite has been available in the country. In North America, it has been available for years.
Tesla hits major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions
However, Tesla just launched it just last year in Australia.
Full Self-Driving is currently available in seven countries: the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The company has worked extensively for the past few years to launch the suite in Europe. It has not made it quite yet, but Tesla hopes to get it launched by the end of this year.
In North America, Tesla is only giving customers one more day to buy the suite outright before they will be committed to the subscription-based option for good.
The price is expected to go up as the capabilities improve, but there are no indications as to when Tesla will be doing that, nor what type of offering it plans to roll out for owners.
Elon Musk
Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran amid protest crackdown: report
Roughly 6,000 units were delivered following January’s unrest.
The United States quietly moved thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran after authorities imposed internet shutdowns as part of its crackdown on protests, as per information shared by U.S. officials to The Wall Street Journal.
Roughly 6,000 units were delivered following January’s unrest, marking the first known instance of Washington directly supplying the satellite systems inside the country.
Iran’s government significantly restricted online access as demonstrations spread across the country earlier this year. In response, the U.S. purchased nearly 7,000 Starlink terminals in recent months, with most acquisitions occurring in January. Officials stated that funding was reallocated from other internet access initiatives to support the satellite deployment.
President Donald Trump was aware of the effort, though it remains unclear whether he personally authorized it. The White House has not issued a comment about the matter publicly.
Possession of a Starlink terminal is illegal under Iranian law and can result in significant prison time. Despite this, the WSJ estimated that tens of thousands of residents still rely on the satellite service to bypass state controls. Authorities have reportedly conducted inspections of private homes and rooftops to locate unauthorized equipment.
Earlier this year, Trump and Elon Musk discussed maintaining Starlink access for Iranians during the unrest. Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of encouraging dissent, though U.S. officials have mostly denied the allegations.
The decision to prioritize Starlink sparked internal debate within U.S. agencies. Some officials argued that shifting resources away from Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) could weaken broader internet access efforts. VPNs had previously played a major role in keeping Iranians connected during earlier protest waves, though VPNs are not effective when the actual internet gets cut.
According to State Department figures, about 30 million Iranians used U.S.-funded VPN services during demonstrations in 2022. During a near-total blackout in June 2025, roughly one-fifth of users were still able to access limited connectivity through VPN tools.
Critics have argued that satellite access without VPN protection may expose users to geolocation risks. After funds were redirected to acquire Starlink equipment, support reportedly lapsed for two of five VPN providers operating in Iran.
A State Department official has stated that the U.S. continues to back multiple technologies, including VPNs alongside Starlink, to sustain people’s internet access amidst the government’s shutdowns.
Musk bankers looking to trim xAI debt after SpaceX merger: report
SpaceX launches Crew-12 on Falcon 9, lands first booster at new LZ-40 pad
