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SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 booster sails into port aboard OCISLY after launch #2
SpaceX’s second Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, core B1047, has returned once more to Port Canaveral, Florida aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) after a successful flight-proven launch, placing commercial communications satellite Es’hail-2 into a healthy, high-energy orbit.
SpaceX’s third reuse of a Block 5 booster since the upgraded Falcon 9 version’s May 2018 debut, the November 15 launch marks the company’s 11th mission to launch on a flight-proven rocket in 2018 alone, more than 60% of the 18 missions completed thus far.
As seen from Exploration Tower, #SpaceX #Falcon9 B1047.2 begins docking at Port Canaveral. pic.twitter.com/bDB83Va9Lg
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) November 19, 2018
Prior to launching Es’hailsat’s Es’hail-2 satellite, Falcon 9 B1047 placed the massive ~7000 kg (15,500 lb) Telstar 19V communications satellite into orbit while also marking the second successful launch of Falcon 9’s Block 5 iteration. Nearly a new rocket, Block 5 focused on dramatically improving the reliability and reusability of the workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, ultimately translating into the total redesign and replacement of a large number of major subsystems.
The changes range from a totally new octaweb thrust structure (bolted, rather than welded, together), a clean-sweep upgrade of first and second stage avionics, new helium and nitrogen pressure vessels (COPVs), a total revamp of thermal protection for the interstage, legs, and octaweb, significantly refined Merlin 1D sea level and vacuum engines, Fairing 2.0, and much, much more. With the extensive changes brought by Block 5, SpaceX engineers strove to fully eradicate or at least cushion several unlikely but possible failure modes while also increasing the overall usable lifespan of particularly flight-critical, wear-intensive systems and components.
How many layers of soot?
Although it’s clear that some distance must still be covered before the specific goals of Block 5 can be realized, the aspiration of the design is to enable as many as 10 booster reuses with little more than thorough inspections between launches, and perhaps 100 or more launches per booster with more extensive maintenance and repairs every 10 or so launches.
The first unprecedented step in that direction – for Falcon 9 Block 5, at least – will be the third launch of a specific booster, a feat SpaceX was not willing to attempt before Block 5’s introduction. That milestone third launch was actually meant to occur on Monday, November 19 but has since been delayed to give SpaceX time to perform additional preflight inspections of Falcon 9, be it the twice-flown booster, the upper stage, the payload fairing, or all of the above.
The #SpaceX booster being moved into place at the dock in #PortCanaveral #Falcon9 pic.twitter.com/wdbwIRWeyh
— Tom (@Cygnusx112) November 19, 2018
Given just how critical a step the launch will be for SpaceX’s long-term goal of fielding rockets with aircraft-like reusability, caution is particularly key in this case, as any partial or total failure will almost instantly soil multi-flight Falcon 9 boosters in the eyes of a number of launch customers, potentially leading customers to request launches on boosters that have previously flown less than twice. Even then, a 5-7 day delay can be extremely unsavory for many customers, as time is very frequently money for satellite operators – a satellite on the ground is essentially a black hole that devours capital and generates zero revenue, sort of like a nuclear reactor that hasn’t been connected to the grid.
B1047’s successful return to port after a second operational launch will serve as another valuable wealth of data that can be used to further optimize SpaceX’s understanding of Falcon 9 Block 5 and its capabilities.
Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”
Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.
However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.
Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech
It then planned for a 2028 launch with “limited autonomous driving.” But it seemed to be a bit of a concession at that point; Apple was not prepared to take on industry giants like Tesla.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives noted in a communication to investors that, “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”
Apple did all it could to develop a competitive EV that would attract car buyers, including attempting to poach top talent from Tesla.
In a new podcast interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it was revealed that Apple had been calling Tesla engineers nonstop during its development of the now-defunct project. Musk said the engineers “just unplugged their phones.”
Musk said in full:
“They were carpet bombing Tesla with recruiting calls. Engineers just unplugged their phones. Their opening offer without any interview would be double the compensation at Tesla.”
Interestingly, Apple had acquired some ex-Tesla employees for its project, like Senior Director of Engineering Dr. Michael Schwekutsch, who eventually left for Archer Aviation.
Tesla took no legal action against Apple for attempting to poach its employees, as it has with other companies. It came after EV rival Rivian in mid-2020, after stating an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees was noticed.
There are a lot of Tesla bulls out there who have astronomical expectations for the company, especially as its arm of reach has gone well past automotive and energy and entered artificial intelligence and robotics.
However, some of the most bullish Tesla investors believe the company could become worth $100 trillion, and CEO Elon Musk does not believe that number is completely out of the question, even if it sounds almost ridiculous.
To put that number into perspective, the top ten most valuable companies in the world — NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, TSMC, Meta, Saudi Aramco, Broadcom, and Tesla — are worth roughly $26 trillion.
Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI
Cathie Wood of ARK Invest believes the number is reasonable considering Tesla’s long-reaching industry ambitions:
“…in the world of AI, what do you have to have to win? You have to have proprietary data, and think about all the proprietary data he has, different kinds of proprietary data. Tesla, the language of the road; Neuralink, multiomics data; nobody else has that data. X, nobody else has that data either. I could see $100 trillion. I think it’s going to happen because of convergence. I think Tesla is the leading candidate [for $100 trillion] for the reason I just said.”
Musk said late last year that all of his companies seem to be “heading toward convergence,” and it’s started to come to fruition. Tesla invested in xAI, as revealed in its Q4 Earnings Shareholder Deck, and SpaceX recently acquired xAI, marking the first step in the potential for a massive umbrella of companies under Musk’s watch.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
Now that it is happening, it seems Musk is even more enthusiastic about a massive valuation that would swell to nearly four-times the value of the top ten most valuable companies in the world currently, as he said on X, the idea of a $100 trillion valuation is “not impossible.”
It’s not impossible
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2026
Tesla is not just a car company. With its many projects, including the launch of Robotaxi, the progress of the Optimus robot, and its AI ambitions, it has the potential to continue gaining value at an accelerating rate.
Musk’s comments show his confidence in Tesla’s numerous projects, especially as some begin to mature and some head toward their initial stages.
Elon Musk
Celebrating SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Tesla Roadster launch, seven years later (Op-Ed)
Seven years later, the question is no longer “What if this works?” It’s “How far does this go?”
When Falcon Heavy lifted off in February 2018 with Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster as its payload, SpaceX was at a much different place. So was Tesla. It was unclear whether Falcon Heavy was feasible at all, and Tesla was in the depths of Model 3 production hell.
At the time, Tesla’s market capitalization hovered around $55–60 billion, an amount critics argued was already grossly overvalued. SpaceX, on the other hand, was an aggressive private launch provider known for taking risks that traditional aerospace companies avoided.
The Roadster launch was bold by design. Falcon Heavy’s maiden mission carried no paying payload, no government satellite, just a car drifting past Earth with David Bowie playing in the background. To many, it looked like a stunt. For Elon Musk and the SpaceX team, it was a bold statement: there should be some things in the world that simply inspire people.
Inspire it did, and seven years later, SpaceX and Tesla’s results speak for themselves.
Today, Tesla is the world’s most valuable automaker, with a market capitalization of roughly $1.54 trillion. The Model Y has become the best-selling car in the world by volume for three consecutive years, a scenario that would have sounded insane in 2018. Tesla has also pushed autonomy to a point where its vehicles can navigate complex real-world environments using vision alone.
And then there is Optimus. What began as a literal man in a suit has evolved into a humanoid robot program that Musk now describes as potential Von Neumann machines: systems capable of building civilizations beyond Earth. Whether that vision takes decades or less, one thing is evident: Tesla is no longer just a car company. It is positioning itself at the intersection of AI, robotics, and manufacturing.
SpaceX’s trajectory has been just as dramatic.
The Falcon 9 has become the undisputed workhorse of the global launch industry, having completed more than 600 missions to date. Of those, SpaceX has successfully landed a Falcon booster more than 560 times. The Falcon 9 flies more often than all other active launch vehicles combined, routinely lifting off multiple times per week.
Falcon 9 has ferried astronauts to and from the International Space Station via Crew Dragon, restored U.S. human spaceflight capability, and even stepped in to safely return NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams when circumstances demanded it.
Starlink, once a controversial idea, now dominates the satellite communications industry, providing broadband connectivity across the globe and reshaping how space-based networks are deployed. SpaceX itself, following its merger with xAI, is now valued at roughly $1.25 trillion and is widely expected to pursue what could become the largest IPO in history.
And then there is Starship, Elon Musk’s fully reusable launch system designed not just to reach orbit, but to make humans multiplanetary. In 2018, the idea was still aspirational. Today, it is under active development, flight-tested in public view, and central to NASA’s future lunar plans.
In hindsight, Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight with Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster was never really about a car in space. It was a signal that SpaceX and Tesla were willing to think bigger, move faster, and accept risks others wouldn’t.
The Roadster is still out there, orbiting the Sun. Seven years later, the question is no longer “What if this works?” It’s “How far does this go?”
Tesla engineers deflected calls from this tech giant’s now-defunct EV project
Tesla to a $100T market cap? Elon Musk’s response may shock you
