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SpaceX launches and lands another Falcon 9 booster 12 times

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SpaceX has successfully launched and landed the same Falcon 9 booster a dozen times for the second time in a matter of weeks.

Falcon 9 booster B1051 became the first to cross the 12-flight mark on March 18th, launching a batch of Starlink satellites more than three years after its debut. Now, less than two years after its June 30th, 2020 launch debut, Falcon 9 booster B1060 has successfully completed its own 12th launch and landing.

Falcon 9 B1060 lifted off around 1:51 pm EDT (17:51 UTC) on Thursday, April 23rd and performed almost exactly as expected; lifting an expendable upper stage, payload fairing, and another batch of 53 Starlink V1.5 satellites most of the way out of Earth’s atmosphere before shutting down its nine Merlin 1D engines and separating. While the upper stage ignited its lone Merlin Vacuum engine and loosed its fairing, booster B1060 coasted to an apogee of 116 kilometers (~72 mi) after reaching a maximum speed of 2.2 kilometers per second (Mach 6.4 or ~5000 mph). Eventually, the Falcon 9 first stage began falling back to Earth and ignited three of its Merlin 1D engines for a reentry burn design to both slow the vehicle down and partially protect it with its own exhaust to limit heating.

Falcon 9 B1060 capped off its 12th launch with a nominal landing burn and touched down on drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) – stationed 629 kilometers (390 mi) downrange – about eight minutes after liftoff. The only aspect of the launch that was slightly off was the last second or so of B1060’s landing. Its lone Merlin 1D landing engine appeared to burn for just a little too long, resulting in the booster dropping a few feet onto JRTI’s deck. Falcon boosters are designed to survive far harder landings, however, so the extra stress should be entirely marginal.

B1060 after a less than gentle landing. (SpaceX)

With its 12th mission complete, B1060 has launched an average of once every 55 days over the last 22 months. B1060 also set SpaceX’s current Falcon 9 booster turnaround record of 27 days between launches – fully halving the far more complex Space Shuttle orbiter’s 54-day record. Altogether, out of a total of 21 total flight-proven Falcon 9 Block 5 stages, SpaceX’s four most productive Block 5 boosters have completed 45 orbital-class launches in the last three and a half years – more than half of all Falcon 9 launches conducted in the same period.

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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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LIVE BLOG: Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2025 earnings call updates

The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q2 2025 earnings call.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) earnings call comes on the heels of the company’s Q2 2025 update letter, which was released after the closing bell on July 23, 2025.

Tesla’s Q1 2025 Results: 

Total Revenues: $22.5 billion

Total automotive revenues: $16.7 billion

Total GAAP gross margin: 17.2%

Gross Profit: $3.88 billion

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EPS non-GAAP: $0.40 per share

The following are live updates from Tesla’s Q2 2025 earnings call. I will be updating this article in real time, so please keep refreshing the page to view the latest updates on this story.

16:22 CT – Good day to everyone, and welcome to another Tesla earnings call live blog. Tesla had a pretty big quarter, and while the company’s vehicle deliveries are still down year-over-year, the Robotaxi pilot has been launched in Austin.

Now to see if this earnings call starts on time. Interestingly enough, the EV maker has not posted a link to its Q2 2025 earnings call livestream on its official @Tesla X account yet.

16:26 CT – The earnings call’s livestream on YouTube, however, is up:

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16:28 CT – I wonder which Elon we will get on today’s earnings call? Will be get super locked-in Elon, serious Elon, or lighthearted Elon? Whichever Elon we get, TSLA stock will probably show some reaction in after-hours trading.

16:30 CT – Travis Axelrod of Tesla’s Investor Relations team opens the call. He states that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other executives are present. And, here’s Elon’s opening remarks.

16:33 CT – Elon opens with the launch of Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin, which has gotten “bigger and longer” over the past few weeks. He stated that the service area for Robotaxi services in Austin will get even bigger and longer soon. He mentions the Robotaxi service’s expansion to the Bay Area, Arizona, and Florida in the coming months.

“I think we’ll have Robotaxi in half the population of the US by the end of the year?” Musk said, highlighting that this is subject to regulatory approval. He added that Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi service cautiously.

16:35 CT – Elon noted that the Model Y became the best-selling car in several countries in n Türkiye, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria in June. This was despite the Model Y selling in these countries without its killer feature–FSD. Despite the regulatory challenges, Elon noted that Tesla will get these approvals, and he is hoping that some areas in Europe should experience FSD in the coming months. “It really is the single biggest demand driver,” Musk said.

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16:37 CT – Elon also mentioned the launch of the Tesla Diner. “This is a very special diner,” Musk said, stating that the facility is a “shining beacon of hope.” He joked that it is rare that a diner makes the news, but the newly launched restaurant is quite something.

On the other hand, Elon noted that Tesla is making significant improvements to its FSD software, and that the company could probably 10X the parameter count from what users are currently experiencing.

16:43 CT – The CEO also highlghted the growth of Tesla Energy, which he noted was a “really big deal.” As for Optimus, Musk stated that the humanoid robot is in its current second generation. Its third generation will be “exquisite,” the CEO noted.

“Tesla is by far the best in the world in real-world AI,” Musk said. He threw some shade at Waymo as well, stating that while Google is good at AI, the tech giant is not as good in real-world AI applications. All those years producing and designing cars matter.

“Tesla has the highest intelligence density in AI so far,” Musk said. “Intelligence density will be a very big deal in the future.”

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16:46 CT – Musk stated that Tesla will probably see prototypes of Optimus Version 3 this year, and scale production next year. Tesla will be ramping these initiatives as fast as possible, considering the company’s aspirations to produce millions of Optimus robots per year. Musk believes that a rate of 1 million Optimus robots per year is feasible within five years.

“We’re not always on time, but we get it done,” Musk said, referencing the company’s tendency to make the impossible feel late. He also reiterated the idea that Tesla can be the omst valuable company in the world if it executes very well.

16:50 CT – Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja mentioned the company’s milestone of delivering a car autonomously to a customer for the first time in Q2. He also mentioned the effects of the Trump administration’s regulatory changes for electric vehicles.

He mentioned that Tesla is seeing more test drives, and the company did start the production of more affordable cars in the first half of the year, with volume production planned for the second half of the year.

16:55 CT – Investor questions begin with an inquiry about Tesla Robotaxis. Tesla noted that it expects to 10X its current operation in the coming months. The Bay Area is next, and Tesla is looking to expeedite the service’s approval.

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As for technical and regulatory hurdles for Unsupervised FSD, Elon Musk stated that he believes the feature should be available in a number of cities by the end of the year. Tesla, however, is being extremely paranoid about safety, so Unsupervised FSD’s rollout will be very, very cautious.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2025 earnings results

Tesla posted total revenues of $22.496 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $0.40 per share.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has released its Q2 2025 earnings results in an update letter. The document was posted on the electric vehicle maker’s official Investor Relations website after markets closed today, July 23, 2025. 

Tesla’s Q2 earnings come on the heels of a quarter where the company produced over 410,000 vehicles, delivered over 384,000 vehicles, and deployed 9.6 GWh of energy storage products. The second quarter also saw the launch of the Roboaxi service’s pilot program in Austin, a notable step forward for the company’s self-driving program.

Tesla’s Q2 2025 earnings in a nutshell


As could be seen in Tesla’s Q2 2025 update letter, the company posted GAAP EPS of $0.33 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.40 per share. Tesla also posted total revenues of $22.496 billion.

In comparison, Wall Street expected Tesla to post earnings per share of $0.39, down 25% from a year ago. Tesla’s revenue is forecasted to fall 13% to $22.19 billion, and analysts also expect the electric vehicle maker to post lower margins this quarter.

Tesla’s other Q2 metrics

For the second quarter, Tesla’s total revenue decreased 12% YoY to $22.5B. Operating income also decreased 42% YoY to $0.9B, resulting in a 4.1% operating margin. Tesla still has a strong war chest, as the company’s quarter-end cash, cash equivalents and investments was $36.8B.

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Product Plans

Tesla noted in its Q2 2025 update letter that the company remains focused on “prudently growing our vehicle volumes in a capex efficient manner by using our existing vehicle production capacity before building new lines.” Still, Tesla noted that plans for new vehicles that will launch in 2025 remain on track, including initial production of a more affordable model in 1H25.

Tesla also reiterated that the Cybercab will be produced using the company’s upcoming “Unboxed” manufacturing process. Volume production of the Cybercab is expected to start sometime in 2026.

Below is Tesla’s Q2 2025 update letter:

TSLA-Q2-2025-Update by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

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Elon Musk reveals big plans for Tesla Optimus at the Supercharger Diner

Will Optimus deliver my Tesla Club on roller skates? I’m hopeful.

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Elon Musk revealed on X on Wednesday that Tesla Optimus will soon be getting a job at the Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles, and its role will be right on par with what we believed the humanoid bot would be perfect for.

While Optimus was spotted serving popcorn at the Diner on Monday as it opened for the first time, that’s its only job, at least for now. Musk said Optimus will be getting a promotion in 2026, and it will be a food runner, bringing your order straight to your car, eliminating the need to go inside yourself.

It will complete what Tesla hopes is a full-fledged 50s diner experience, curated by the imagination of the future. In the 1950s, drive-in diners were a common hangout to grab a bite and watch a movie. Tesla opened its Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles earlier this week, but it has a futuristic twist to it.

You can order food directly from your car, sync your center touchscreen and speakers to the two massive projection screens that Tesla is playing movie scenes on at the Diner, and even go inside for a true break from your car.

Next year, Tesla will take it a step further, Musk confirmed:

The Diner features 80 Superchargers that can be used by both Tesla and non-Tesla EVs, provided that the manufacturer of the electric car has access to the company’s robust network. It is also available to non-EV owners, as they can park their cars and stop in for a quick bite to eat.

Tesla’s full menu at the Diner is available here, and its focus for the restaurant was to provide healthier options by sourcing most of its food from local, organic, and humane farms:

Optimus’s capabilities seem to be progressing to a point where Tesla feels confident that the humanoid robot can handle carrying food and delivering it to customers at their cars. Whether it will be put on roller skates is another question, but we’re hopeful Optimus can do it when it gets its promotion next year.

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