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SpaceX Falcon 9 fires up ahead of second to last 2019 launch and landing
SpaceX has successfully static fired a Falcon 9’s booster engines ahead of its second to last launch and landing of 2019, on track to make December the company’s busiest month of the year.
About a month after successfully lofting 60 Starlink satellites and 11 days after sending Cargo Dragon on its way to the ISS for CRS-19, SpaceX has two more launch scheduled in 2019: Kacific-1 no earlier than (NET) December 16th and Starlink-2 NET December 30th.
For SpaceX, the turn of the decade will mark the end of an historic year – let alone decade – of milestones for the intrepid commercial space company, including achievements like’s Crew Dragon flawless orbital launch debut, the fourth flight of a refurbished Falcon 9 booster, the first-ever reuse of a flight-proven payload fairing, and a duo of spectacular Starhopper flight tests to name just a few.
First up, SpaceX will fly twice-flown Falcon 9 booster B1056.3 for the third time. B1056.3 previously supported CRS-17 and CRS-18, back to back Cargo Dragon space station resupply missions for NASA. Currently targeting a Monday, December 16th launch, SpaceX is set to place the jointly-owned JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 broadband communication satellite for Japan’s Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. and Singapore’s self-proclaimed “next-generation broadband satellite operator”, Kacific Broadband Satellites.
According to a Kacific, after deploying from Falcon 9 and circularizing into a geostationary orbit some 22,000 miles (36,000km) over the Asia-Pacific region, the JCSAT-18/Kaficic-1 satellite “will stream broadband to 25 nations in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands via 56 spot beams.” All told, the satellite will offer a maximum bandwidth of 70 gigabits per second (Gbps) with each spot beam serving up to 1.25 Gbps.
Kacific was founded in 2013 by CEO Christian Patouraux to provide desperately needed communication services to the Asia Pacific region, “where high prices and unsuitable technology were prohibiting access.” Kacific looks to “provide high speed, affordable and accessible internet to extra-urban, rural, and remote users” with Kacific-1, the company’s first (partially) dedicated satellite.
Ahead of Monday’s launch attempt, the JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 satellite was fully encapsulated inside Falcon 9’s payload fairing, both halves of which SpaceX will try to catch with recovery vessels GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief in what will be the company’s first simultaneous catch attempt ever. Meanwhile, B1056 has its own recovery attempt penciled in and drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) departed Port Canaveral on December 12th, headed ~650 km (400 mi) downrange. OCISLY arrived at its recovery zone earlier today, as did Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief, now stationed about 140 km (90 mi) further East.
As per usual, Falcon 9 B1056.3 and its expendable upper stage performed a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) and static fire, identical to launch operations minus the rocket actually lifting off. The Kacific-1 mission’s December 16th launch trajectory allows for an 88-minute window from 7:10 pm – 8:38 pm EST (0010-0138 UTC, December 17) and weather forecasts are currently 90% go.
As mentioned, twin fairing recovery vessels GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief departed Port Canaveral on December 13th in a bid to attempt their first simultaneous Falcon fairing recovery, meaning that each ship will attempt to catch one parasailing fairing half. This mission is technically the second time both ships have port left together for a recovery, but their first whole-airing catch attempt was called off before it could start due to rough seas and high winds in the Atlantic Ocean. Prior to being rechristened Ms. Tree, Mr. Steven suffered severe damage during a planned February 2019 catch attempt, losing its net and two of four arms after the ship was caught in high seas.
Following Kacific-1, SpaceX’s final launch of 2019 – barring delays – will likely be the company’s second dedicated Starlink v1.0 mission, a 60-satellite payload that will almost certainly make SpaceX the world’s largest commercial satellite operator. Starlink-2 is scheduled to launch NET December 30th.
SpaceX will stream Falcon 9’s Kacific-1 launch and landing and the webcast will kick off some 15 minutes before liftoff, NET 6:55 pm ET (23:55 UTC), December 16th.
Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.
Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”
Twork said:
$LCID The rumors are completely false. The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today. Our focus is…
— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 14, 2026
Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.
Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.
Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.
A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.
The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.
🚨 The first Tesla Model S Signature Edition is up for sale for $260,490
Tesla placed a no-resale clause on the Model S and X Signature, so it will be interesting to see if the company takes any action. https://t.co/N9rKGHnbD6 pic.twitter.com/6FZhDL1KNR
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 14, 2026
To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.
Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.
It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:
- Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
- Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
- Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
- Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
- Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range
Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”
The company continues:
“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”
Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.
Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.
Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance
The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.
Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.
We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.
FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 takes a wide turn as flagger crews set up signage for the day https://t.co/3v0PL9qhlI pic.twitter.com/i4CKqxE16c
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:
🚨 Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 backs up for an oncoming tractor trailer taking a wide turn https://t.co/0WuAqNMpRR pic.twitter.com/s6yZGVm5Te
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:
“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:
Rapidfire epic moments on FSD V14.3.5
1) FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.2) Insane speed to vehicle cues. As FSD approaches… pic.twitter.com/bSnySSlFHR
— Mike P (@mikepat711) July 13, 2026
It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.
Terrible Parking
Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:
Yeah it seems like FSD v14.3.5 is having some issues with parking early on https://t.co/Bw5ULfVmDq pic.twitter.com/RHdpjOEpIo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:
Horrible first impression v14.3.5 on my 2025 Tesla Model 3 LR RWD Premium 😭
3 terrible parking jobs in 23 min including parking on a ramp in a business park & parking perpendicular out in the road on street only parking situation.Wish I had a better drive but I still believe… pic.twitter.com/TtyhRHAFG7
— David Moss (@DavidMoss) July 13, 2026
New Features
Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:
🚨 Here’s the new Camera Preview feature on FSD v14.3.5 pic.twitter.com/OodfZgDppy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 13, 2026
Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.
Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop
Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k
