News
SpaceX pushes boundaries of fairing recovery with breathtaking sunrise launch [photos]
SpaceX has soared past the halfway point of completion for Iridium’s next-generation NEXT constellation with the successful launch of satellites 41-50 earlier this morning. SpaceX has three additional launches contracted with Iridium for a total of eight. Despite intentionally ditching the flight-proven first stage booster in the Pacific Ocean, SpaceX attempted to recover one half of the payload fairing; an effort acknowledged to be predominately experimental at this point.
- F9 B1041 gives one final swan song with the successful launch of 10 more Iridium NEXT satellites. (Pauline Acalin)
- Although fog and camera difficulties slightly marred the shot, note the details in Falcon 9’s normally white-hot exhaust. (Pauline Acalin)
- Falcon 9 1041 rises above a sea of fog for one last mission to orbit. Half of its fairing made a surprise appearance in port on Saturday. (Pauline Acalin)
Iridium-5 continues a recent trend of monthly launches out of SpaceX’s Vandenberg Air Force Base launch facilities – the company’s SLC-4E pad is known to take a bit longer than its East coast brethren for refurbishment and repairs between launches, typically maxing out approximately one launch per month. This launch also marks another flight-proven booster intentionally expended, likely in part because the West Coast drone ship Just Read The Instructions is currently out of commission, awaiting the delivery of critical subsystems stripped to repair the Eastern OCISLY.
As of posting, all 10 Iridium NEXT satellites have been successfully deployed into low Earth orbit, marking the successful completion of this mission. On the recovery side of the mission, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had initially teased Mr Steven’s upcoming fairing catch attempt – his silence since providing a T-0 around 7:44 am PST presumably speaks to the experimental nature of these fairing recovery efforts, and hints that this attempt may not have been successful.
GPS guided parafoil twisted, so fairing impacted water at high speed. Air wake from fairing messing w parafoil steering. Doing helo drop tests in next few weeks to solve.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2018
A couple hours after launch, Musk took to Twitter to confirm that this fairing recovery effort had failed, largely due to the complexity of safely parafoiling such a large, fast, and ungainly object. “[Helicopter] drop tests” are planned for coming weeks in order to put to bed the problems ailing fairing recovery. As SpaceX announcer and materials engineer Michael Hammersley noted, “the ultimate goal is full recovery and reuse of the entire vehicle,” and experimental fairing recovery efforts push SpaceX one step closer to that ambition.
- F9 B1041 arrives in port after its first successful mission, Iridium-3, in October 2017. (Pauline Acalin)
- 1041 flew for its second and final time earlier this morning, sans any landing aboard JRTI. (Pauline Acalin)
- B1041 presumably soft-landed in the Pacific, as did its fairing. (Pauline Acalin)
- RIP. (Pauline Acalin)
Space (regulation) oddity
Perhaps the most unusual feature of this launch was an announcement soon after the webcast began that NOAA (the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) apparently restricted SpaceX’s ability to provide live coverage of Falcon 9’s upper stage once in orbit, and the webcast thus ended moments after the second stage Merlin Vacuum engine shut off. By all appearances, this is fairly unprecedented: NOAA is tasked with “licensing…operations of private space-based remote sensing systems” with their Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) branch, but they’ve been quite inept and heavy-handed in their implementation of Earth imaging regulation. Nominally, the purpose of that regulation is to protect sensitive US security facilities and activities from the unblinking eyes of private, orbital imaging satellites, but NOAA has quite transparently exploited its power in ways that create extreme uncertainty and near-insurmountable barriers to entry for prospective commercial Earth-imaging enterprises.
What an absolutely beautiful launch at Vandenberg this morning. Congratulations to SpaceX on another successful mission accomplished! #SpaceX #Iridium5 @Teslarati pic.twitter.com/hsp7H5bv8J
— Pauline Acalin (@w00ki33) March 30, 2018
Presumably, this protects their (and their prime contractors’) vested interest in NOAA’s continuing quasi-monopoly over Earth sciences and weather-related satellite production and operations, a segment of the agency’s budget known to aggressively devour as much of NOAA’s budget as practicable. In this sense, something as arbitrary as preventing a launch provider like SpaceX from showing live, low-resolution (functionally useless) video feeds from orbit would be thoroughly disappointing, but in no way surprising. In this case, the restriction is comically transparent in its blatant inconsistency: SpaceX has flown more than 50 launches over more than a decade, all of which featured some form of live coverage of the upper stage once in orbit, and none of which NOAA objected to. Fingers crossed that this absurd restriction can be lifted sooner than later.
- No fairing snack for Mr Steven this time around. (Pauline Acalin)
- PAZ’s recovered fairing half sadly cracked beyond repair while being hauled aboard Mr Steven. (Pauline Acalin)
Follow us for live updates, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and a sea of beautiful photos from our East and West coast photographers.
Teslarati – Instagram – Twitter
Tom Cross – Twitter
Pauline Acalin – Twitter
Eric Ralph – Twitter
News
Tesla gets a massive order for the Semi: 370 units and $100M
WattEV, a leading provider of electric freight operations and charging infrastructure in the United States, has announced one of the largest deployments of electric Class 8 trucks in California history: an order for 370 Tesla Semi vehicles.
Tesla just got a massive order for the Semi, and it is its largest by a long shot.
WattEV, a leading provider of electric freight operations and charging infrastructure in the United States, has announced one of the largest deployments of electric Class 8 trucks in California history: an order for 370 Tesla Semis.
Valued at approximately $100 million, this marks the state’s biggest single electric truck order to date and signals accelerating momentum for zero-emission long-haul freight.

Credit: Tesla
Deliveries are set to begin with the first 50 Tesla Semis in 2026, with the full fleet operational by the end of 2027. More than 300 of these trucks will support a joint program with the Port of Oakland, helping electrify drayage and regional freight routes. The initiative aligns with California’s ambitious goals to transition to carbon-neutral freight operations.
Salim Youssefzadeh, CEO of WattEV, said at the annual ACT Expo industry event that the Semi was the easiest choice:
“We selected the Tesla Semi based on cost, performance, and availability after issuing a public request for proposals…With the Tesla Semi now entering mass production and drawing strong reviews from fleet operators nationwide, WattEV’s vertically integrated model – combining vehicle deployment, megawatt-class charging infrastructure, and full-service leasing – offers a turn-key path for carriers without any capital risk.”
Critical to the rollout are new Megawatt Charging System (MCS) hubs in Oakland, Fresno, Stockton, and Sacramento. These stations will deliver up to 300 miles of range in roughly 30 minutes—comparable to a traditional diesel fill-up. The Oakland depot, where WattEV recently broke ground, will serve as a cornerstone for northern and central California corridors, connecting ports to inland hubs and beyond.
This deployment builds on WattEV’s existing experience. The company has already logged millions of electric miles in Southern California, including early Tesla Semi deployments at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. By combining high-efficiency electric trucks with strategically placed fast-charging depots, WattEV aims to prove that battery-electric long-haul trucking can match—or exceed—diesel economics while slashing emissions.
The order arrives as Tesla ramps up Semi production at its Nevada factory, targeting higher volumes in 2026. Fleet operators nationwide have praised the Semi’s real-world performance, including strong torque, low operating costs, and advanced safety features. For California, the project supports air quality improvements around ports and highways while demonstrating scalable infrastructure for heavy-duty electrification.
Industry observers see this as a pivotal step toward broader adoption. With diesel trucks facing rising fuel and regulatory costs, turnkey electric solutions like WattEV’s could accelerate the shift. As the first 50 Semis hit the road in 2026, they will not only move freight but also help build the charging network that paves the way for even larger fleets.
This landmark order underscores Tesla’s growing footprint in commercial trucking and California’s leadership in sustainable transportation. For WattEV and its partners, it’s more than a vehicle purchase—it’s the foundation of a zero-emission freight network connecting Northern and Central California.
News
Tesla begins factoring international designs in Full Self-Driving visualization
Tesla has begun incorporating region-specific vehicle designs into its Full Self-Driving (FSD) visualization system, marking a quiet but meaningful step toward global readiness. In software update 2026.14, released as part of the Spring Update, European Tesla owners are now seeing flat-fronted, cab-over European-style semi-trucks rendered accurately on their center displays.
Tesla has begun factoring international designs into its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) visualizations, marking a tremendous step in how the company plans to roll out its driver assistance tech in areas outside North America.
Tesla has begun incorporating region-specific vehicle designs into its Full Self-Driving (FSD) visualization system, marking a quiet but meaningful step toward global readiness. In software update 2026.14, released as part of the Spring Update, European Tesla owners are now seeing flat-fronted, cab-over European-style semi-trucks rendered accurately on their center displays.
The change, first spotted by Not a Tesla App, adds a second 3D model alongside the traditional North American long-nose semi-trucks that have been standard until now. Vehicles can detect and display both styles depending on what’s in front of them, and the feature requires no FSD subscription—every Tesla owner in Europe sees it immediately.
The European semi-truck visualization was actually added to the vehicle software back in October alongside roughly fifteen new visual assets.
Tesla held it in reserve, activating it only once fleet data confirmed the AI could recognize these trucks with high confidence. This mirrors recent rollouts for horses and golf carts, where Tesla similarly waited for reliable detection before enabling the graphics. The result is a more realistic on-screen representation tailored to local roads, where cab-over designs dominate heavy transport.
The significance of this update extends far beyond a simple graphics tweak, which is really what people need to be paying attention to. These small, incremental steps forward continue to show Tesla’s intent for global expansion.
For the first time, Tesla is explicitly factoring international vehicle designs into its visualization engine, signaling a deliberate push to make FSD feel native in international markets.
In Europe, where cab-over semis are commonplace, seeing an accurate rendering builds immediate driver trust—the critical bridge between the car’s AI perception and the human behind the wheel. Accurate visualizations reinforce that the system truly understands its surroundings, reducing range anxiety and skepticism that have slowed autonomous adoption abroad.
Regulators in the EU have repeatedly emphasized human-AI transparency; by customizing visuals to match local reality, Tesla strengthens its case for broader FSD approvals and smoother regulatory reviews.
This move also highlights Tesla’s data-driven engineering philosophy. Rather than rushing generic models worldwide, the company is leveraging its global fleet to learn regional nuances before flipping the switch.
It accelerates FSD’s international expansion while improving safety—misidentified vehicles could erode confidence or, in edge cases, affect decision-making. For a company aiming to deploy robotaxis and unsupervised FSD globally, tailoring visualizations to European, Asian, or other markets is no longer optional; it’s foundational.
Early European owners report the change feels more intuitive, making the car’s “mind” easier to read in daily traffic.
As Tesla continues enabling the remaining visual assets added last year, the pattern is clear: localization is now baked into the FSD roadmap. What began as a small graphics update in Europe could soon appear in other regions, turning the visualization display into a truly worldwide language of autonomy.
With this step, Tesla isn’t just showing trucks differently—it’s proving it’s serious about making FSD work everywhere, one culturally accurate pixel at a time.
News
Tesla adds new in-app feature to solve the used EV market’s biggest headache
Tesla has quietly rolled out one of its most practical software updates yet — and it could add real dollars to every used Model 3, Y, S, and X on the road.
Starting with the latest Tesla app version, owners now receive an official “Certification of Repaired HV Battery” whenever Tesla performs a major high-voltage battery repair or full replacement. The digital certificate appears directly in the vehicle’s Service History tab inside the Tesla app.
It’s permanent, verifiable, and downloadable as a PDF, so sellers can hand it over to buyers in seconds.
For years, the used EV market has suffered from one glaring problem: nobody could prove what happened to the battery.
Service invoices often vanish when a car changes hands. Third-party battery-health scans are expensive and inconsistent. Buyers, staring at a car with 80,000 miles and an 8-year warranty ticking down, would negotiate hard — or walk away entirely — because the battery is the single most expensive part of any Tesla.
That uncertainty routinely shaved thousands off resale values and slowed the entire secondhand market.
Now Tesla has eliminated the guesswork. The new certificate, which was spotted by Tesla App Updates, logs exactly what work was done, when, and by whom. It lives inside the car’s digital profile forever, exactly where any future owner will look. No more digging through old emails or hoping the previous owner kept paperwork.
— Tesla App Updates (iOS) (@Tesla_App_iOS) May 5, 2026
The outlet describes why the update is so important:
-
Official Digital Certificates: The string “Certification of Repaired HV Battery” confirms that if your vehicle undergoes a major battery repair or replacement, Tesla will now issue an official, verifiable digital certificate documenting the work.
-
Service History Integration: Strings such as viewRepairedBatteryCert and repairedBatteryCertId indicate that this document won’t be lost in an old email thread. It will be permanently anchored to your vehicle’s profile inside the app’s Service History tab.
-
Easy Exporting: The service_history_repaired_battery_cert_download_fail error state indicates you will be able to download this certificate directly to your phone as a file (likely a PDF) to share with others.
Sellers who have already replaced packs under warranty are especially excited; they can now prove the vehicle received a fresh Tesla battery without any gray-area questions.
The timing couldn’t be better. As more Teslas roll off 8-year/100,000- or 120,000-mile battery warranties, the used market is exploding. Lenders, insurers, and even auction houses have quietly asked for better battery documentation for years. Tesla’s certificate hands it to them on a silver platter.
For current owners, the feature adds peace of mind and protects long-term value. For buyers, it removes the single biggest risk in any used EV purchase. And for Tesla itself, it quietly strengthens the entire ownership ecosystem — making vehicles more liquid, more desirable, and more valuable over time.
In an industry obsessed with range numbers and 0-60 times, Tesla just proved that sometimes the biggest innovation is a simple line in the Service History tab. One small certificate, one giant step for used-EV confidence.








