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SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 Block 5 returns to port in pristine condition

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SpaceX’s first launched and landed Falcon 9 Block 5 booster has returned to port after a handful of days at sea, hopefully marking the beginning of a long and storied future of commercial missions. The booster – numbered B1046 – appears to be in extraordinarily good shape, more or less unscathed after a relatively high-energy reentry. Photographer Tom Cross documented the historic return in person at Port Canaveral.

B1046 arrives at Port Canaveral after an eventful inaugural launch and landing. (Tom Cross)

After detaching from the rocket’s second stage, which went on to successfully inject Bangladesh’s first communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit, B1046 reached a peak of around 110 km before reentering Earth’s atmosphere. Traveling 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) per second, Block 5 eventually completed a soft landing 500 miles off the Florida coast on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. The 25th successful Falcon 9 booster recovery, B1046 marked that historic achievement in proper style, dressed with large, black sections of the new SpaceX-developed thermal protection system, among dozens of other major improvements included in the launch vehicle’s “Block” upgrade.

While not visible, the most significant improvements are likely to be found at the base of the first stage’s octaweb – now assembled with bolts instead of welds – in the form of a dramatically improved heat shield around its nine Merlin 1D engines (also upgraded, of course). One of the Falcon recovery technicians showed some exceptional interest in the shield and Merlins, likely documenting their condition in extreme detail to inform engineering reviews of the pathfinder rocket after its first flight test. Per CEO Elon Musk’s pre-launch phone call with members of the press, SpaceX means to do an extremely thorough disassembly and analysis of B1046 in order to (hopefully) validate many thousands of hours of design, engineering, modeling, and testing. If those reviews are promising, it’s extremely likely that B1046 will be reassembled and flown many more times, perhaps one day becoming another historic monument to SpaceX’s reusability program and Block 5 upgrade.

Meanwhile, this mission also marked another routine operation for SpaceX’s robotic stage-securing robot, unofficially nicknamed Roomba or Octagrabber. This custom-built robot is used to better ensure the safety of SpaceX’s recovery crew by allowing them to remain on an accompanying vessel while securing the booster robotically, significantly lowering the chances of it sliding around or tipping over in high sea states.

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 sees explosive sales growth in UK, Spain, and Netherlands in June

In countries like the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands, Tesla’s June sales surged significantly compared to May.

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

After months of declining deliveries and market pressure, Tesla appears to be regaining its footing in Europe. Tesla saw a significant spike in electric vehicle registrations across several key markets in June, signaling renewed momentum for the EV maker.

In countries like the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands, Tesla’s June sales surged significantly compared to May.

Explosive growth in the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands

Tesla’s most notable performance came in the United Kingdom, where June registrations jumped 224% month-over-month, and Spain, where registrations more than tripled. This made Tesla the top-selling electric car brand for the month in both countries, as per a CarUp report.

The Netherlands saw Tesla become the best-selling car brand in June across all vehicle segments. Tesla’s continued success in Norway also appears to be holding steady, though full figures for the market have not yet been finalized.

These numbers suggest Tesla’s European sales slump may have been temporary, with strong demand returning amid the ramp of the new Model Y, which was largely unavailable in the first quarter. 

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Mixed results in Sweden but signs of progress

In Sweden, Tesla’s performance remained mixed in June. While year-over-year registrations dropped over 70% in June, the company’s market share jumped 72% compared to May. Tesla now holds an 8.6% market share in the Swedish EV market, which means that one in every twelve new electric vehicles registered in the country last month was a Tesla, as per data compiled by eu-evs.com.

So far in 2025, Tesla ranks as the fourth-largest EV brand in Sweden, with 3,461 vehicles registered, trailing Volkswagen, Volvo, and Kia. The Tesla Model Y has remained a strong seller, ranking as the third most registered electric vehicle this year, behind the Volkswagen ID.7 and Volvo XC40, despite being largely absent in Q1 2025.

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Xiaomi CEO congratulates Tesla on first FSD delivery: “We have to continue learning!”

Xiaomi has become one of Tesla’s strongest rivals in China.

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Credit: Tesla/X

Just days after unveiling the Xiaomi YU7, a vehicle that is considered as the Model Y’s strongest competitor yet, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun gave a nod of respect to Tesla and its Full Self-Driving (FSD) program. 

In a post on Weibo, Lei Jun highlighted the remarkable nature of Tesla’s first autonomous delivery. He also acknowledged that Xiaomi still has much to learn in the electric vehicle industry.

Xiaomi CEO’s Nod of Respect

Lei Jun’s comments about Tesla’s FSD delivery were shared as a response to Tesla VP Grace Tao’s post about the recent feat. The Tesla VP shared several key aspects of the delivery, from the fact that there was no driver in the Model Y to the vehicle reaching over 70 mph as it drove to its owner. 

“For the first time in history, the vehicle was delivered to the owner by itself. There was no driver or remote control throughout the journey, and the maximum speed reached 115 kilometers per hour, and it arrived safely at the customer’s door. This is a brand new Model Y. Tesla always surpasses imagination with disruptive innovation. A new era, exciting!” Tao wrote in her post.

In his response, the Xiaomi CEO acknowledged Tesla’s incredible feat. “Tesla is indeed amazing, leading the industry trends in many areas, especially FSD. We still have to continue learning!” he wrote.

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Xiaomi’s Recent Tesla Competitor

The Xiaomi CEO’s comments show that Tesla’s projects and leadership garner a lot of respect in the global electric vehicle sector. While Tesla and Elon Musk tend to be media punching bags in the United States and Europe, the company and its CEO seem to be taken very seriously in China. This was despite China being the world’s most competitive electric vehicle market.

Xiaomi itself has become one of Tesla’s strongest rivals in China, with its first car, the SU7, bringing the fight to the Tesla Model 3. Its most recent vehicle, the YU7, could very well be the Model Y’s most legitimate rival yet, as it is more affordable, bigger, and more feature-laden than Tesla’s best-selling crossover. The YU7 has garnered quite a lot of attention, with Xiaomi receiving 200,000 firm orders for the vehicle within the first three minutes of its launch.

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Tesla silences FSD critics by posting full video of Model Y delivering itself to customer

When Elon Musk posted that the first Tesla had delivered itself to its owner, critics were quick to question his statement.

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Credit: Tesla/X

It is no secret that Tesla still has ardent critics today, many of whom remain convinced that the company and its leadership are lying about Full Self-Driving (FSD) and its capabilities. It was then no surprise that when Elon Musk announced that the first Tesla had successfully delivered itself to its owner, critics were quick to question the CEO’s statement.

Videos of the all-electric crossover’s solo drive to its owner soon silenced Tesla critics and their claims.

Tesla Posts FSD Video Proof—Twice

While Musk’s post on X about a Tesla delivering itself to a consumer was a notable update, his claims were not accompanied by any video. This was taken by some Tesla critics as a hint that the CEO’s claims were false, and that the feat probably did not happen. Musk, for his part, noted that Tesla would soon be posting a video of the self-driving car’s drive to its owner.

The electric vehicle community did not have to wait very long. Tesla later posted a video of its first autonomous vehicle delivery ever on X, much to the shock of social media users. As could be seen in the video, a Tesla Model Y was able to travel about 30 minutes on its own, from the end of Giga Texas’ production line to the home of its owner, several miles away. Tesla even posted the vehicle’s full 30-minute drive on its official X account later on. 

Critics Are Still Skeptical, But It’s Cope at this Point

Of course, Tesla skeptics remained unconvinced that the feat was legitimate, with some pointing out that the Model Y customer seems to have had an X account for years but never posted, at least until his car was delivered. Others also claimed that the whole setup seemed suspicious since the Model Y looked like it had manufacturer plates as it navigated Austin’s streets.

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These concerns, however, do not seem like very strong arguments, especially at this point. Based on the evidence, it seems like Tesla really has figured out autonomous driving, and its cars are now able to operate safely on real-world roads on their own. Many have also become silent in their criticisms of Tesla’s FSD feat, especially after the company posted the full video of the Model Y’s autonomous drive. Overall, Tesla critics may remain doubtful about the company and Musk’s claims, but these concerns seem to have become forced at best.

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