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SpaceX expends Falcon 9 booster for the first time in almost three years
For the first time since January 2020, SpaceX has intentionally expended a Falcon 9 booster instead of attempting to recover the rocket at sea or on land.
Weighing around 6.6 tons (~14,600 lb) at liftoff, the rare mission sent Intelsat’s twin Maxar-built Galaxy 31 and 32 communications satellites to a high geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) that will allow them to start operating more quickly than a standard GTO would. To launch such a heavy payload to such a high ‘supersynchronous’ transfer orbit, SpaceX – at Intelsat’s request and for a fee – removed all landing-related hardware from Falcon 9 and did not attempt to recover the first stage.
Instead, the rocket put all the propellant that would have otherwise been saved for recovery into its first and only burn, reaching as high a speed as possible before separating from the second stage. Flying for the 14th time since its March 2019 debut, Falcon 9 booster B1051 didn’t perform a controlled flip or attempt to land on a SpaceX drone ship. It’s more likely that the few-dozen-ton rocket – now drained of propellant – reentered Earth’s atmosphere with no control at a speed of roughly 2.7 kilometers per second (~6000 mph), broke apart when it slammed into that atmospheric ‘wall,’ and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean as a cloud of debris.
Having already flown 13 times before its 14th and final mission, it’s safe to say that booster B1051 earned its permanent retirement as an artificial reef. The mission marked the first time a Falcon 9 booster was intentionally discarded since January 2020, when the first Falcon 9 Block 5 booster – B1046 – was destroyed as part of an intentional In-Flight Abort test of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Like B1046, B1051 was another fairly new Falcon 9 Block 5 booster. It’s no coincidence that most of the first five or so boosters have been or will be intentionally expended. B1047 was first in August 2019, followed by B1046 five months later, and B1051 in November 2022. B1048 and B1050 both suffered in-flight anomalies that – while they didn’t impact the success of their primary missions – resulted in failed landing attempts. After B1051’s demise, only B1049 remains. Next Spaceflight reports that SpaceX will also intentionally expend that booster after its 11th launch, which will send the Eutelsat 10B communications satellite to a different geostationary transfer orbit as early as this month..
While SpaceX likely charged its customers a healthy fee to expend B1049 and B1051, the company is likely not complaining about an opportunity to refine its fleet of Falcon boosters. Though no new variant has been officially introduced, SpaceX has learned more about the design over the years, and newer Falcon Block 5 boosters include improvements that make them easier and cheaper to operate and reuse. It’s also added four new Falcon 9 boosters to the fleet in less than a year, easing the burden created by expending two older but flightworthy boosters weeks apart.
Once B1049 is gone, that fleet will still have one unflown Falcon 9 booster, four unflown Falcon Heavy boosters, ten flown Falcon 9 boosters, and four flown Falcon Heavy side boosters – the latter of which can potentially be converted into Falcon 9 boosters during Falcon Heavy lulls. B1051 was the third Falcon 9 booster to complete 14 launches, meaning that SpaceX has gotten so good at routine reusability that it can safely assume that each new Falcon 9 Falcon Heavy side booster can fulfill the roles of more than a dozen expendable boosters.
Ultimately, B1051’s sacrifice left Falcon 9’s expendable upper stage with enough performance to boost Galaxy 31 and 32 into a supersynchronous orbit with an apogee more than 58,400 kilometers (~36,300 miles) above Earth’s surface – almost 1.5 times its circumference. Just last month, two recoverable Falcon 9 boosters helped launch a pair of smaller 4.5-ton (~10,000 lb) satellites to almost identical orbits (~57,500 km vs. ~58,400 km). Expending Falcon 9’s booster thus allowed SpaceX to launch almost 50% more payload to a similar supersynchronous GTO, demonstrating the substantial toll booster reuse incurs on launches to higher orbits.
Galaxy 31/32 was SpaceX’s 52nd launch this year and hit a target set by CEO Elon Musk in January. Musk later raised his goal to 60 launches, but SpaceX has managed an average of one Falcon launch every six days for nearly 12 months and has a strong shot at completing another eight launches before the end of the year.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk hits back at former Tesla employee who disagrees with pay package
Tesla is worth more than all other automotive companies combined. Which of those CEOs would you like to run Tesla?
It won’t be me.
Elon Musk gave a tough response to a former Tesla employee who spoke out on X about the structure of the CEO’s pay package, arguing that it is an overpayment and would not generate enough shareholder value.
Without a doubt, the biggest issue on the bill at this year’s Tesla Shareholder Meeting in November is that of the pay package that was proposed to CEO Elon Musk.
As the Shareholder Meeting approaches, Tesla is urging those investors to vote in support of Musk’s pay package. So far, the community has been overwhelmingly supportive of giving Musk his massive payday, which could give him $1 trillion in additional holdings if he completes each of the outlined performance tranches.
However, there are a handful of institutional and individual shareholders who have pushed back against the package, either because of its value or because they feel it does not benefit shareholders enough.
Last week, we reported that Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) advised voting against Tesla’s pay package for Musk. The firm said the payday would give Musk”extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it would “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm
Additionally, it called the value of the pay package “astronomical.”
On Saturday, a former Tesla employee said on X that Tesla’s proposed pay package for Musk would “barely beat inflation and it would underperform the S&P 500 considerably.” Additionally, he said:
“Sorry, Tesla, some of us (and supposedly, ISS too) simply don’t think that underperforming the S&P 500 this much is worth paying somebody 20 billion dollars worth of company value.
As a fan, I love Tesla, I want it to succeed. As a shareholder, I don’t want Tesla to over-pay for its CEO I strongly believe that the 2025 pay package proposal would over-pay for its CEO, and that other competent CEOs could grow Tesla just as much with way less political drama and cost investors much less that this proposal.”
Musk responded bluntly:
“Tesla is worth more than all other automotive companies combined. Which of those CEOs would you like to run Tesla? It won’t be me.”
Tesla is worth more than all other automotive companies combined. Which of those CEOs would you like to run Tesla?
It won’t be me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2025
It seems the worry about Musk’s potential involvement in politics still looms to many, based on the responses to Musk’s post, which frequently mention that as a downside of his last year as Tesla CEO. However, Tesla’s Board confronted that directly.
In its proxy filing after announcing the pay package, Tesla said that it had three commitments, one of which was that the company would “receive assurances that Musk’s involvement with the political sphere would wind down in a timely manner.”
Tesla Board takes firm stance on Elon Musk’s political involvement in pay package proxy
Musk’s previous pay package was approved by shareholders twice, but it never made it to the CEO because of a lawsuit with the Delaware Chancery Court brought forth by a small-time shareholder.
The response from Musk does seem to show that if this time is no different, he will inevitably step down as CEO in the coming years.
Tesla rivals are lagging behind the company in alarming fashion in this crucial EV necessity: charging.
Tesla has had a long-standing reputation for having the most expansive electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and even as other companies have launched their own as part of the vehicle manufacturing, nobody seems to keep pace with the EV leader.
A report from Paren exhibited this trend in Q3, showing that Tesla overwhelmingly dominated EV charging stall installations over the past three months. This data is based on U.S. installations, where Tesla has long held a dominating position as the leader in overall electric vehicle sales for many years.
In Q3, Tesla installed 1,820 new chargers in the United States, bringing its total presence to 34,328, an all-time market share of 53.2 percent of all charging stalls in the country.
What’s alarming is the fact that all other networks — ChargePoint, Red E, Electrify America, EV Connect, EVgo, Ionna, Blink, Pilot Flying J, and Rivian Adventure — only installed 841 chargers collectively in Q3. That is nearly 1,000 units behind Tesla, despite there being nine companies contributing as competitors.
These nine networks have 10,055 stalls in total, the data from Paren shows, accounting for 15.6 percent of the chargers in the United States.
Tesla added more Superchargers in the US in Q3 than the next nine networks combined. pic.twitter.com/zihhezI6a6
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 20, 2025
EV charging is such a crucial part of the ownership experience, and also a part of the ongoing expansion of EV adoption in the United States.
As more people buy EVs and they become a more prominent form of passenger transportation, more chargers are needed. Many owners charge at home, but charging options in public are important to have for traveling, commuting, and for those who do not have access to residential charging.
With Tesla opening its Supercharger Network to the majority of EV brands over the past two years, things have gotten better.
It has been alarming to see so many companies involved in EV infrastructure essentially accept the gap between Tesla and themselves; not a single company has tried to up its pace to catch up to what Tesla has.
When it comes down to it, as long as there is charging, the manufacturer does not truly matter.
However, it would be nice to see Tesla have some competition in the space, but with its domination and head start in the infrastructure division, it seems the company will have this competitive advantage for years to come.
News
Tesla updates fans on its plans for the Roadster
Earlier in 2025, Musk said Tesla would host the “most epic demo” for the Roadster in late 2025. We’re in Q4, so time is running out, but we finally got the update we’ve been waiting for from von Holzhausen on the Ride the Lightning podcast yesterday.
Tesla has finally updated fans on its plans for the Roadster after stating earlier this year it would host the “most epic demo,” showcasing the vehicle’s capabilities.
The Roadster is amongst the most highly anticipated automotive releases in the entire industry, and was set for release in 2020 initially. However, Tesla got so caught up with scaling up the Model Y and focusing on autonomy that the project took a figurative backseat.
In the years since its planned release, we have not seen much of the vehicle. Company executives like Elon Musk and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen have hinted at things about it and teased us with potential release dates, but each time, it has been delayed.
Last year, Tesla planned to show something, but Musk saw what improvements had been made from the original design unveiled back in 2017 and figured the company could go a step further, only delaying the project another year.
But what’s another year, right?
Earlier in 2025, Musk said Tesla would host the “most epic demo” for the Roadster in late 2025. We’re in Q4, so time is running out, but we finally got the update we’ve been waiting for from von Holzhausen on the Ride the Lightning podcast yesterday.
Confirming the demo was still on for this year, he also teased some new features that the Roadster will have, like new paint options.
Von Holzhausen said:
“I’m excited to showcase the Roadster for a lot of different reasons. The wait will be worth it.”
Additionally, he said the capabilities of the Roadster are truly something, and they have gotten the vehicle to a point that it seems to test the “limits of physics.” Franz added that Tesla has “really gotten to a point where we are going to be achieving that standard that we set out.”
Obviously, the Roadster is not a major contributor to Tesla’s mission or to its future, which mostly leans on artificial intelligence and Robotaxi or autonomy. However, it is still a product that Tesla needs to offer, as many have put massive $250,000 downpayments on the vehicle in an attempt to purchase one.
Tesla has not yet announced a date for its demo of the Roadster, but based on Franz’s interview, it seems the company is still on track to hold that by the end of the year.
The full episode with Franz von Holzhausen on the Ride the Lightning podcast is available here.
Elon Musk hits back at former Tesla employee who disagrees with pay package
Tesla rivals are lagging behind alarmingly in this crucial EV necessity
Tesla updates fans on its plans for the Roadster
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