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Cheaper launches as a result of reusable rockets may not necessarily increase demand for satellite launches. Cheaper launches as a result of reusable rockets may not necessarily increase demand for satellite launches.

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Block 5 fleet preps for dual drone ship booster landings

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SpaceX engineers and technicians have just completed the second on-pad static fire of a Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, and another test is scheduled on the opposite coast for a different upgraded booster in roughly two days.

Penciled in on July 22 and July 25, these imminent back to back launches will mark the effective beginning of the highly-reusable Block 5 era now that all older versions have flown for the last time. Crucially, the practice of intentionally expending reused boosters will almost certainly come to an end for the indefinite future, beginning with these next missions. Both new cores will land aboard drone ship pair Just Read The Instructions (JRTI; West Coast) and Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY; East Coast), and both autonomous vessels will be simultaneously stationed at sea for the second time ever.

This rare dual drone ship deployment will likely become a regular occurrence for SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy recoveries over the course of the rest of 2018 and 2019, as higher rates of launch from both East and West coast launch facilities and the unlikelihood of a Block 5 booster being expended will translate to a much greater need for the giant rocket recovery vessels.

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In fact, the 7-10 days it takes drone ships to travel from their ports of call to booster landing points and back to port again will likely be the most insurmountable constraint on launch cadence, at least for the Falcon family – high energy missions could only be completed every ten or so days on the East Coast, at least until a third drone ship is brought online. To be named A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASoG), a third autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is in fact planned as an expansion of SpaceX’s fleet, although it’s unknown if the vessel is under construction now, nor when exactly it’s expected to enter service.

Falcon 9 B1045’s picture-perfect, gentle landing aboard drone ship OCISLY, April 2018. (SpaceX)

SpaceX’s next three missions from its Florida-based LC-40 pad all happen to feature Block 5 Falcon 9 boosters tasked with placing heavy communications satellites in high-energy orbits, and all three launches are currently paced roughly two weeks apart – July 22, August 2, and August 18. That consistent two-week cadence on SpaceX’s launch schedule is for the most part driven equally by launchpad readiness and drone ship availability, both of which require some amount of refurbishment or maintenance after launches/landings.

On the West Coast will be the launch of Iridium NEXT-7 on July 25, carrying ten Iridium NEXT satellites atop a Block 5 booster. That booster – as well as at least two of the three East coast boosters – will be fresh from the factory, conducting (hopefully) the first of many future missions apiece. Excitingly, the planned recovery attempt after Iridium-7 will bring to an end a nearly 10-month drought of rocket landings aboard drone ship JRTI. Further, it looks like chances are good that Iridium-7 will also see recovery vessel Mr Steven break in his massive new net and arms in with an attempted catch of a Falcon 9 fairing half.

Follow us for live updates, peeks behind the scenes, and photos from Teslarati’s East and West Coast photographers.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla Model 3 gets perfect 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today.

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Credit: Tesla Singapore/X

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today. Based on recent findings from the Euro NCAP, the 2025 Model 3 sedan continues this tradition, with the vehicle earning a 5-star overall safety rating from the agency.

Standout Safety Features

As could be seen on the Euro NCAP’s official website, the 2025 Model 3 achieved an overall score of 90% for Adult Occupants, 93% for Child Occupants, 89% for Vulnerable Road Users, and 87% for Safety Assist. This rating, as per the Euro NCAP, applies to the Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range All Wheel Drive, and Performance All Wheel Drive.

The Euro NCAP highlighted a number of the Model 3’s safety features, such as its Active Hood, which automatically lifts during collisions to mitigate injury risks to vulnerable road users, and Automatic Emergency Braking System, which now detects motorcycles through an upgraded algorithm. The Euro NCAP also mentioned the Model 3’s feature that prevents initial door opening if someone is approaching the vehicle’s blind spot.

Standout Safety Features

In a post on its official Tesla Europe & Middle East account, Tesla noted that the company is also introducing new features that make the Model 3 even safer than it is today. These include functions like head-on collision avoidance and crossing traffic AEB, as well as Child Left Alone Detection, among other safety features.

“We also introduced new features to improve Safety Assist functionality even further – like head-on collision avoidance & crossing traffic AEB – to detect & respond to potential hazards faster, helping avoid accidents in the first place. 

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“Lastly, we released Child Left Alone Detection – if an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will turn on HVAC & alert caregivers via phone app & the vehicle itself (flashing lights/audible alert). Because we’re using novel in-cabin radar sensing, your Tesla is able to distinguish between adult vs child – reduced annoyance to adults, yet critical safety feature for kids,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.

Below is the Euro NCAP’s safety report on the 2025 Tesla Model 3 sedan.

Euroncap 2025 Tesla Model 3 Datasheet by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

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USDOT Secretary visits Tesla Giga Texas, hints at national autonomous vehicle standards

The Transportation Secretary also toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk.

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Credit: Elon Musk/X

United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas complex, where he toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk. In a video posted following his Giga Texas visit, Duffy noted that he believes there should be a national standard for autonomous vehicles in the United States.

Duffy’s Giga Texas Visit

As could be seen in videos of his Giga Texas visit, the Transportation Secretary seemed to appreciate the work Tesla has been doing to put the United States in the forefront of innovation. “Tesla is one of the many companies helping our country reach new heights. USDOT will be right there all the way to make sure Americans stay safe,” Duffy wrote in a post on X. 

He also praised Tesla for its autonomous vehicle program, highlighting that “We need American companies to keep innovating so we can outcompete the rest of the world.”

National Standard

While speaking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Transportation Secretary stated that other autonomous ride-hailing companies have been lobbying for a national standard for self-driving cars. Musk shared the sentiment, stating that “It’d be wonderful for the United States to have a national set of rules for autonomous driving as opposed to 50 independent sets of rules on a state-by-state rules basis.”

Duffy agreed with the CEO’s point, stating that, “You can’t have 50 different rules for 50 different states. You need one standard.” He also noted that the Transportation Department has asked autonomous vehicle companies to submit data. By doing so, the USDOT could develop a standard for the entire United States, allowing self-driving cars to operate in a manner that is natural and safe.

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Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.

Optimus’ Newest Demonstration

In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.

What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.

Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight

In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.

“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).

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“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.

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