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SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket’s drone ship return captured in stunning detail [gallery]

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Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin has captured SpaceX’s first West Coast Falcon 9 Block 5 booster recovery in the best detail yet seen of the rocket upgrade, well-worn after its first successful launch of Iridium NEXT-7, July 25.

Iridium-7 marked a number of important debuts for SpaceX: Falcon 9 Block 5 (Booster 1048, in this case) completed its first West Coast launch from SpaceX’s Vandenberg pad, drone ship Just Read The Instructions’ (JRTI) first rocket recovery attempt and success in nearly ten months, and recovery vessel Mr Steven’s first (albeit unsuccessful) attempt at catching a Falcon fairing with a dramatically enlarged net and arms.

Although inclement wind conditions foiled Mr Steven’s fairing catch effort and put pressure on Falcon 9 B1048’s journey to JRTI, Iridium-7 was flawlessly placed in orbit and Falcon 9 managed a slightly off-center but still thoroughly successful landing on the drone ship off the coast of California. With that launch and land debut on the West Coast and a second successful East Coast launch of a Block 5 rocket to the East just a few days prior, SpaceX has effectively demonstrated the basic functionality and reliability of the upgrade’s many far-reaching changes to the underlying Falcon 9 architecture.

Just Read The Instructions recovers a rocket

After nearly ten months largely spent berthed at SpaceX’s original Port of San Pedro dock space, drone ship JRTI has at long last returned to sea and successfully recovered a Falcon 9 booster, this time marking the West Coast launch and landing debut of the Block 5 rocket. Photos of the drone ship and rocket’s return to port were some of the best ever seen, thanks largely to the port’s layout and narrow mouth, which allowed Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin to put giant telephoto lenses and a unique top-down perspective to good use.

Iridium NEXT-7 thankfully brought an end to the understandable but still-painful practice of intentionally expending twice-flown Falcon 9 boosters in the ocean after launch. Thanks to Iridium-7’s new Block 5 booster, B1048, expending the rocket was out of the question, as it likely will be for most Block 5 launches in the future. A combination of several expendable missions and an unfortunate duo of recovery anomalies (a small fire after Koreasat 5A and the Falcon Heavy center core landing failure) led to JRTI sitting on the sidelines since October 2017, as a considerable subset of its critical thruster hardware had to be stripped in order to keep East Coast sister ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) operational for a handful of attempts in 2018.

Many of the months JRTI spent at berth were thus without the pod thrusters the drone ship needs to keep itself at the proper landing point once at sea. Still, JRTI departed the port with a full complement of four blue thrusters on the evening of July 22 and had a highly successful return-to-action. Sadly, it’s unclear how much SpaceX will need the vessel within just a month or two from today – after the final Iridium launch (NEXT-8) in November or December, perhaps all of SpaceX’s future Vandenberg launches will be lofting lightweight payloads that should allow the company to rely almost entirely on its brand-new rocket landing zone – conveniently colocated barely 1000 feet from the pad – for CA rocket recoveries.

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F9 Block 5 shows off its upgraded exterior

Falcon 9 Block 5 booster (B1048) arrived at Port of Los Angeles on July 27 after landing at sea aboard drone ship JRTI. Photos captured by Pauline arguably show the best details yet seen of the rocket upgrade, ranging from titanium grid fins to extraordinary shots of its sooty-but-still-sorta-shiny Merlin 1D engines.

 

Myriad others provide an amazing sense of place with SpaceX technicians conducting thorough post-landing checkouts, carefully documenting the booster’s condition, and generally wrenching on a massive, orbital-class rocket that completed a suborbital jaunt to space just days prior.

Of particular note are detailed views of the silky black “highly flame-resistant felt” now covering Falcon 9’s interstage (the top segment), landing legs, octaweb section, and raceways (the black lines traveling up and down the rocket). Compared to beat-up, older Falcon 9s, B1048’s shielded components look barely worse for wear, and it would genuinely be difficult to determine if the rocket had flown before without the telltale soot fingerprint present after every Falcon 9 recovery.

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The only mystery that still remains is what exactly Falcon 9 Block 5’s octaweb heat-shielding looks like, reportedly one of the most critical and research-intensive upgrades necessary for true rapid reusability and reliability through many, many flights. Now built largely of titanium bolted to the octaweb, among a number of other extremely heat-tolerant metals and materials and even active water-cooling in spots, the new heat-shield was designed to carry the brunt of the reentry heating Falcon 9 experiences with ease.

Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of that yet-unseen heat-shield over the next few weeks and months. Many, many more launches to come, so stay tuned!


For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet (including fairing catcher Mr Steven) check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!

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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 X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

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Credit: Tesla Asia | X

The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.

iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms

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Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.

Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.

Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”

Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.

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Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.

Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:

“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”

Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.

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Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.

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Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

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Credit: Tesla

After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.

The NHTSA document states:

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“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”

Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.

Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.

Tesla brings closure to head-scratching Cybertruck trim

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For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.

Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.

Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.

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Cybertruck RWD Recall by Joey Klender

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Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched Semi production at what will be a mind-boggling rate of approximately 50,000 units per year.

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

The company finally announced on April 29 that the first Tesla Semi truck has rolled off its new high-volume production line at the factory. This marks the transition from limited pilot builds to scaled manufacturing for the Class 8 all-electric heavy-duty truck, nearly nine years after its dramatic 2017 unveiling.

Tesla initially promised high-volume deliveries by 2019–2020, but battery supply constraints and prioritization for passenger vehicles delayed progress. The new 1.7-million-square-foot factory, purpose-built next to Gigafactory Nevada’s 4680 cell production lines, resolves those bottlenecks through deep vertical integration.

The Semi uses Tesla’s structural battery packs with cylindrical 4680 cells manufactured on-site. This integration enables efficient supply, reduced logistics costs, and the potential for high output. The factory is designed for an eventual annual capacity of approximately 50,000 trucks, positioning Tesla to address growing demand in long-haul freight electrification.

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Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges

Operating economics favor the Semi through dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional diesel rigs, and companies involved in a pilot program for the Semi with Tesla have shown that.

Electricity is far cheaper than diesel on a per-mile basis, while the electric powertrain features fewer moving parts, reducing service intervals and lifetime expenses. Early deployments with customers like PepsiCo and others have validated these advantages in real-world service.

The Nevada factory’s ramp-up is targeted for full volume output before the end of June 2026, aligning with broader Tesla production goals for 2026. This includes parallel efforts on other new vehicles while expanding the Megacharger infrastructure to support widespread adoption.

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By localizing battery and truck production, Tesla gains advantages in cost, quality control, and scalability that many competitors sourcing cells externally lack. The start of high-volume Semi production represents a pivotal step in Tesla’s strategy to electrify heavy transportation, potentially accelerating the shift toward zero-emission freight across North America and beyond.

As output increases, the Semi could reshape long-haul logistics with its combination of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.

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