News
SpaceX’s Starship to grow in height as workers prepare to stack its top section
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has teased new details and posted several new photos of Starship Mk1, taken on September 25th as employees worked to lift the spacecraft’s lower half onto a mobile transporter. Up next: stacking the rocket’s two halves to reach its final 50m (160 ft) height.
The company is currently working around the clock to complete Starship Mk1’s assembly and integration ahead of Elon Musk’s planned September 28th presentation, meant to provide a detailed update on the state of the next-generation rocket’s design and development. A huge amount of work clearly remains but SpaceX is making major, visible progress almost every single day along the path to Starship’s first flight tests.
On the transporter pic.twitter.com/CGNj1MlKAU— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 26, 2019
Taken yesterday afternoon, Musk’s photos show scenes before and after technicians placed Starship Mk1’s lower half – its tank and propulsion section – on a ‘Roll-Lift’, a small transporter. It’s unclear why exactly this was done, but SpaceX moved the spacecraft prototype about 100m and then removed it from the transporter.
The most recent movement happened just a few hours ago – technicians used a crane delivered on September 24th to lift the half-Starship onto what looked like half a dozen steel blocks on the ground, all captured live on LabPadre’s 24/7 livestream. In order to install Starship Mk1’s separate landing legs, believed to attach somewhere inside the vehicle’s aft circumference, SpaceX likely needed to lift the aft section off the concrete mount that had been its home for the past several months.
Elon Musk also confirmed that Starship Mk1 will have six landing legs, another strong indicator that the ongoing Thursday morning work is focused on preparing Starship Mk1 for leg installation. According to Musk, Starship Mk1 will weigh as much as 200 metric tons (440,000 lb) empty, which is probably why the rocket prototype’s aft – and heaviest – half had to be loaded onto a Roll-Lift and could not simply be moved by the crane itself.
Starship’s updated design remains a bit of a mystery just two days before Elon Musk is scheduled to present an update, likely including new renders from SpaceX itself. It remains to be seen if Starship’s six landing legs will be fixed (versus retractable) or if the legs on the windward side of the ship will jut out into the airstream. To ensure stability when landing on unprepared terrain, as Musk described, six legs are certainly better than three, but the actual span of those legs is a more relevant determinant of stability. Wide, Falcon 9-style legs would be optimal, indicating that the final ship will likely lean towards legs that can be retracted or at least angled behind Starship’s reentry ‘shadow’.
Still a prototype (and possibly meant solely for suborbital operation), Starship Mk1 (and Mk2) may feature simplified legs and mechanisms to speed things along, serving as more of a rough draft while Starhopper was akin to a Starship abstract or prospectus. At this rate, we won’t have to wait very long at all to find out.
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Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck undergoes interior mod that many owners wanted
Tesla Cybertruck is significantly different from traditional pickups on the market in a lot of ways. However, one feature that was recently modified with its interior was a highly requested characteristic that is present in other trucks, but was void from Cybertruck.
Tesla went with a five-seat configuration with Cybertruck: two in the front and three in the back. The spacious interior is matched with plenty of storage, especially up front, as a pass-through, center console, and other storage options, but some Tesla fans wanted something different: bench seating.
Bench seating is popular in many full-size pickups and allows three passengers to sit up front. The middle seat is usually accompanied by a fold-down storage unit with cupholders.
Tesla decided to opt for no bench seating up front, despite the fact that it equipped bench seating in the unveiling in 2019. Interior photos from the unveiling event from nearly six-and-a-half years ago show Tesla had originally planned to have a six-seat configuration.
This was adjusted after the company refined the design:

(Tesla Cybertruck interior configuration in 2019)
Despite Tesla abandoning this design, it does not mean owners were willing to accept it. One owner decided to modify their Tesla Cybertruck interior to equip that third seat between the driver’s and passenger’s thrones.
The fit is snug, and while it looks great, it is important to remember that this does not abide byregulations, as it would require an airbag to be technically legal. Please do not do this at home with your own Cybertruck:
- Credit: @blueskykites
- Credit: @blueskykites
- Credit: @blueskykites
The Cybertruck is a popular vehicle in terms of publicity, but its sales have been underwhelming since first delivered to customers back in 2023. It’s hard to believe it’s been out for two-and-a-half years, but despite this, Tesla has not been able to come through on its extensive order sheet.
This is mostly due to price, as Cybertruck was simply not as affordable as Tesla originally planned. Its three configurations were initially priced at $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990. At release, Cybertruck was priced above $100,000.
This priced out many of those who had placed orders, which is the main reason Cybertruck has not lived up to its expectations in terms of sales. The adjustments to the specific features, like the removal of the bench seat, likely did not impact sales as much as pricing did.
This modification shows some creativity by Tesla owners, but also shows that the Cybertruck could always be the subject of a potential refresh to include some of these features. Tesla routinely adjusts its vehicle designs every few years, so maybe the Cybertruck could get something like this if it chooses to refresh its all-electric pickup.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk drops massive bomb about Cybercab
“And there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface,” Musk said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a massive bomb about the Cybercab, which is the company’s fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle that will enter production later this year.
The Cybercab was unveiled back in October 2024 at the company’s “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles, and is among the major catalysts for the company’s growth in the coming years. It is expected to push Tesla into a major growth phase, especially as the automaker is transitioning into more of an AI and Robotics company than anything else.
The Cybercab will enable completely autonomous ride-hailing for Tesla, and although its other vehicles will also be capable of this technology, the Cybercab is slightly different. It will have no steering wheel or pedals, and will allow two occupants to travel from Point A to Point B with zero responsibilities within the car.
Tesla shares epic 2025 recap video, confirms start of Cybercab production
Details on the Cybercab are pretty face value at this point: we know Tesla is enabling 1-2 passengers to ride in it at a time, and this strategy was based on statistics that show most ride-hailing trips have no more than two occupants. It will also have in-vehicle entertainment options accessible from the center touchscreen.
It will also have wireless charging capabilities, which were displayed at “We, Robot,” and there could be more features that will be highly beneficial to riders, offering a full-fledged autonomous experience.
Musk dropped a big hint that there is much more to the Cybercab than what we know, as a post on X said that “there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface.”
And there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2026
As the Cybercab is expected to enter production later this year, Tesla is surely going to include a handful of things they have not yet revealed to the public.
Musk seems to be indicating that some of the features will make it even more groundbreaking, and the idea is to enable a truly autonomous experience from start to finish for riders. Everything from climate control to emergency systems, and more, should be included with the car.
It seems more likely than not that Tesla will make the Cybercab its smartest vehicle so far, as if its current lineup is not already extremely intelligent, user-friendly, and intuitive.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Q4 delivery numbers are better than they initially look: analyst
The Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner shared his thoughts in a post on his website.
Longtime Tesla analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster has shared his insights on Tesla’s Q4 2025 deliveries. As per the analyst, Tesla’s numbers are actually better than they first appear.
Munster shared his thoughts in a post on his website.
Normalized December Deliveries
Munster noted that Tesla delivered 418k vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025, slightly below Street expectations of 420k but above the whisper number of 415k. Tesla’s reported 16% year-over-year decline, compared to +7% in September, is largely distorted by the timing of the tax credit expiration, which pulled forward demand.
“Taking a step back, we believe September deliveries pulled forward approximately 55k units that would have otherwise occurred in December or March. For simplicity, we assume the entire pull-forward impacted the December quarter. Under this assumption, September growth would have been down ~5% absent the 55k pull-forward, a Deepwater estimate tied to the credit’s expiration.
“For December deliveries to have declined ~5% year over year would imply total deliveries of roughly 470k. Subtracting the 55k units pulled into September results in an implied December delivery figure of approximately 415k. The reported 418k suggests that, when normalizing for the tax credit timing, quarter-over-quarter growth has been consistently down ~5%. Importantly, this ~5% decline represents an improvement from the ~13% declines seen in both the March and June 2025 quarters.“
Tesla’s United States market share
Munster also estimated that Q4 as a whole might very well show a notable improvement in Tesla’s market share in the United States.
“Over the past couple of years, based on data from Cox Automotive, Tesla has been losing U.S. EV market share, declining to just under 50%. Based on data for October and November, Cox estimates that total U.S. EV sales were down approximately 35%, compared to Tesla’s just reported down 16% for the full quarter. For the first two months of the quarter, Cox reported Tesla market share of roughly a 65% share, up from under 50% in the September quarter.
“While this data excludes December, the quarter as a whole is likely to show a material improvement in Tesla’s U.S. EV market share.“


