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SpaceX targets back-to-back Falcon 9 Block 5 launch and landing in July

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As the end of June fast approaches, SpaceX’s July launch manifest has begun to coalesce around at least one pair of launches on July 18 and 20, a schedule that might see the company’s next two new Block 5 Falcon 9 boosters fly from West and East coasts with just 30 hours between them.

While not exactly the 24-hour reuse CEO Elon Musk set the company to by end of 2019, two back-to-back launches of new Block 5 boosters would seem to signify an increasing level of operational confidence in the rocket’s new, upgraded configuration, as well as a return to form in factory production of the complex Falcon 9 boosters, only four of which have shipped in the last seven months.

The first Block 5 Falcon 9 lifts off on May 4, 2018. Cheaper launches as a result of reusable rockets may not necessarily increase demand for satellite launches. (Tom Cross)

As it stands today, SpaceX’s West Coast customer Iridium confirmed on June 15th that the company’s 7th contracted Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for early morning on July 20, and Iridium CEO Matt Desch noted that such an early launch just before sunrise holds the potential to create another scare like that from Iridium-4 in December 2017 that had Los Angeles suspecting an alien invasion.

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It has yet to be explicitly confirmed, but the booster set to launch that mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base all but has to be B1048, SpaceX’s third full Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. Barring delays, B1047 – the second Block 5 booster, spotted near Cape Canaveral, FL last week –  will launch the Telstar 19V geostationary communications satellite a bit more than a day before – July 18th – from SpaceX’s LC-40 pad in Florida. Aside from being the foundational second and third launches of Falcon 9 Block 5, the missions will also feature two drone ship landings in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans aboard Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) and Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY).

Putting their titanium grid fins, upgraded heat shields, uprated Merlin engines, and myriad improvements and optimizations to good use, both B1047 and B1048 will – with a little luck – complete their first recoveries of anywhere from ten to a hundred before being secured on the autonomous vessels and carried back to their respective ports within roughly 24 hours of each other. Once there, B1048 (Iridium-7) will likely be shipped a few miles north to SpaceX’s Hawthorne factory, while B1047 will be driven on a purpose-built rocket carrier to one of SpaceX’s several Floridan facilities outfitted for rocket refurbishment.

 

Time will be of the essence more than ever before for those refurbishments, as the combined fleet of B1047 and B1048 will have to suffice for any additional launches scheduled for late July or early August, the only alternatives being the rapid shipment and testing of B1049 or simply delaying those launches until boosters can be (safely) made available. Block 5’s purpose-built reusability and reliability-focused upgrades will thus be subjected to a near-immediate trial by fire if SpaceX’s engineers and technicians are happy with the first Block 5 rocket’s teardown analysis and the company is up for the challenge.

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Up next, fittingly, is the final orbital launch of a (flight-proven) Block 4 version of Falcon 9, itself likely to smash SpaceX’s previous record for time between two flights of the same booster. The mission, CRS-15, will see another flight-proven orbital Cargo Dragon capsule sent to the International Space Station aboard a flight-proven rocket booster, a veritable tip of the hat at SpaceX’s future ambitions with BFR. CRS-15 is scheduled to launch at 5:41am EDT, June 28.

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 Twitter

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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Elon Musk

Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily

“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet,” Musk said.

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Credit: Grok

Elon Musk recently hinted that he believes Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily if they continue to hold onto their shares, and he reiterated that in a new interview that the company released on its social accounts this week.

Musk is one of the most successful CEOs in the modern era and has mammothed competitors on the Forbes Net Worth List over the past year as his holdings in his various companies have continued to swell.

Tesla investors, especially those who have been holding shares for several years, have also felt substantial gains in their portfolios. Over the past five years, the stock is up over 78 percent. Since February 2019, nearly seven years ago to the day, the stock is up over 1,800 percent.

Musk said in the interview:

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“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.”

It’s no secret Musk has been extremely bullish on his own companies, but Tesla in particular, because it is publicly traded.

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However, the company has so many amazing projects that have an opportunity to revolutionize their respective industries. There is certainly a path to major growth on Wall Street for Tesla through its various future projects, including Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, and Unsupervised FSD.

  • Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot): Musk has discussed its potential for tasks like childcare, walking dogs, or assisting elderly parents, positioning it as a massive long-term driver of company value.
  • Cybercab (Tesla’s robotaxi/autonomous ride-hailing vehicle): a fully autonomous vehicle geared specifically for Tesla’s ride-sharing ambitions.
  • Semi (Tesla’s electric truck, with mentions of expansion, like in Europe): brings Tesla into the commercial logistics sector.
  • Unsupervised FSD (Full Self-Driving software achieving full autonomy without human supervision): turns every Tesla owner’s vehicle into a fully-autonomous vehicle upon release

These projects specifically are some of the highest-growth pillars Tesla has ever attempted to develop, especially in Musk’s eyes, as he has said Optimus will be the best-selling product of all-time.

Many analysts agree, but the bullish ones, like Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, are perhaps the one who believes Tesla has incredible potential on Wall Street, predicting a $2,600 price target for 2030, but this is not even including Optimus.

She told Bloomberg last March that she believes that the project will present a potential additive if Tesla can scale faster than anticipated.

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Cybertruck

Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.

According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:

Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.

The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.

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Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.

That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.

Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says

Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.

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It features:

  • Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
  • Powered tonneau cover
  • Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
  • Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
  • Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
  • Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
  • 6’ x 4’ composite bed
  • Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
  • Powered frunk

Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt

Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.

Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.

“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.

In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms. 

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“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified. 

His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.

SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable. 

Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight. 

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The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars. 

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