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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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SpaceX reveals what Anthropic will pay for massive compute deal

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Rendering of Elon Musk overlooking a Starship fleet (Credit: Grok)
Rendering of Elon Musk overlooking a Starship fleet (Credit: Grok)

SpaceX has disclosed the full financial details of its groundbreaking agreement with Anthropic, confirming that the AI company will pay $1.25 billion per month for dedicated high-performance computing resources.

The revelation came through SpaceX’s latest securities filing in preparation for its initial public offering, shedding light on one of the largest compute deals in the artificial intelligence sector to date. The prospectus was released last night, as SpaceX is heading toward its IPO.

This arrangement underscores the fierce demand for specialized infrastructure as frontier AI models require unprecedented levels of processing power to train and operate effectively. Industry analysts see the disclosure as a significant milestone, highlighting how top AI labs are locking in massive capacity to stay ahead in a rapidly accelerating field.

For SpaceX, it feels like a massive move that pushes its perception as a company from space exploration to artificial intelligence.

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SpaceX is following in Tesla’s footsteps in a way nobody expected

The comprehensive deal grants Anthropic exclusive access to SpaceX’s Colossus clusters, encompassing Colossus I and the substantially expanded Colossus II, which together deliver hundreds of megawatts of power along with more than 200,000 NVIDIA GPUs.

Payments extend through May 2029, totaling nearly $45 billion overall; capacity is scheduled to ramp up during May and June 2026 at an initial discounted rate to facilitate seamless integration. Both companies retain the option to terminate the agreement with ninety days’ notice, so there is definitely some flexibility for both.

This pact not only enhances Anthropic’s ability to scale usage limits for Claude users but also injects substantial recurring revenue into SpaceX, bolstering its expansion into advanced data center operations and future orbital computing initiatives.

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Observers describe the collaboration between the two companies as strategically advantageous because it gives Anthropic cutting-edge AI development the opportunity to collaborate with SpaceX’s expertise in rapid, large-scale infrastructure deployment.

This disclosure arrives at a pivotal moment when computing resources have become the primary bottleneck for AI progress.

As leading organizations compete to build more powerful systems, securing reliable, high-density facilities has emerged as a key differentiator.

SpaceX’s sites, such as those in Memphis, offer superior power availability and advanced cooling solutions that set them apart from conventional providers. For Anthropic, the added capacity is expected to deliver tangible improvements, including extended context windows, quicker inference times, and innovative features that appeal to both enterprise clients and individual users.

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Looking ahead, the partnership paves the way for ambitious joint projects, including potential space-based AI compute platforms designed to overcome terrestrial limitations on energy and thermal management. Such efforts could redefine sustainable computing at massive scales.

Financially, the deal solidifies SpaceX’s diverse revenue profile ahead of its public market debut, extending beyond traditional aerospace activities. The massive check SpaceX will cash each month opens up the idea that additional

While some experts question the sustainability of these enormous expenditures given ongoing efficiency gains in AI architectures, the commitment reflects a strong belief in sustained demand growth.

The agreement also exemplifies productive synergies across sectors, with aerospace engineering insights optimizing AI hardware performance. As global attention on technology concentration increases, arrangements of this nature may help shape equitable access to critical resources.

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SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for

SpaceX filed its public S-1, revealing $18.7 billion in revenue and billions in losses.

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SpaceX publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026, making its financial details available to the public for the first time ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.

An S-1 is the formal document a company must submit to the SEC before going public. It includes audited financials, risk factors, business descriptions, and how the company plans to use the money it raises. Companies are required to file one before selling shares to the public, and it must be published at least 15 days before the investor roadshow begins. SpaceX had already submitted a confidential draft to the SEC in April, which allowed regulators to review the filing privately before it went public.

The S-1 reveals that SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven largely by its Starlink satellite internet division, which posted $11.4 billion in revenue, growing nearly 50% year over year. Despite that growth, the company lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and has burned through more than $37 billion since its founding.

SpaceX just forced Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to team up for the first time in history

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A significant portion of those losses trace back to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, which was recently merged into SpaceX. SpaceX directed roughly 60% of its capital spending in 2025 to its AI division, totaling around $20 billion, yet that division lost billions and grew revenue by only about 22%.

SpaceX plans to list its Class A common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading the offering. The dual-class share structure means going public will not meaningfully reduce Musk’s control, as Class B shares he holds carry 10 votes per share compared to one vote for public Class A shares.

The company is targeting a raise of around $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The investor roadshow is reportedly planned for June 5.

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Tesla scales back driver monitoring with latest Full Self-Driving release

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tesla cabin facing camera
Tesla's Cabin-facing camera is used to monitor driver attentiveness. (Credit: Andy Slye/YouTube)

Tesla has scaled back driver monitoring to be less naggy with the latest version of the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite, which is version 14.3.3.

The latest version is already earning praise from owners, who are reporting that the suite is far less invasive when it comes to keeping drivers from taking their eyes off the road. The first to mention it was notable Tesla community member on X known as Zack, or BLKMDL3.

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Musk confirmed that v14.3.3 was made to nag drivers significantly less, something that Tesla has worked toward in the past and has said with previous versions that it is less likely to push drivers to look ahead, at least after looking away for a few seconds.

This refinement aligns with Tesla’s ongoing push toward unsupervised FSD. The update also brings faster Actual Smart Summon (now up to 8 mph), reliable “Hey Grok” voice commands, richer visualizations, smoother Mad Max acceleration, and an intervention streak counter that rewards consistent use. Reviewers describe the drive as more human-like and confident, with fewer twitches or unnecessary maneuvers.

Musk has repeatedly signaled this direction. In late 2025, he stated that FSD would allow phone use “depending on context of surrounding traffic,” noting safety data would justify relaxing rules so drivers could text in low-risk scenarios like stop-and-go traffic.

We tested this, and even still, the cell phone monitoring really seems to be less active in terms of alerting drivers:

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 texting and driving: we tested it

Earlier, ahead of v14, Musk promised the system would “nag the driver much less” once safety metrics improved.

In 2023, he confirmed the steering wheel torque nag would be “gradually reduced, proportionate to improved safety,” shifting reliance to the cabin camera. Subsequent updates like v13.2.9 and v12.4 further loosened monitoring, cracking down on workarounds while easing legitimate distractions.

These steps reflect Tesla’s data-driven approach: FSD’s safety record—reportedly averaging millions of miles per crash—now outpaces human drivers in many scenarios, giving the company confidence to dial back interventions. Reduced nags improve usability and trust, encouraging more drivers to rely on the system rather than disengaging out of frustration.

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However, there are certainly still some concerns. In many states, it is illegal to handle a cell phone in any way, requiring the use of hands-free devices. In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to use your cell phone at stop lights, which is definitely a step further than using it while the car is actively in motion.

v14.3.3 represents tangible progress. Making FSD less adversarial and more seamless is definitely a step forward, but drivers need to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. FSD is extremely capable, but it is in no way fully autonomous, nor does its performance warrant owners to take their attention off the road.

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