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SpaceX almost loses Falcon 9 booster at sea
After more than a week at sea, the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster responsible for the company’s 100th successful landing finally returned to port on Wednesday, revealing that it nearly toppled into the sea during the recovery process.
Falcon 9 B1069 completed its first launch without issue early on December 21st, carrying a reused Cargo Dragon capsule into space and sending it on its way towards orbit and the International Space Station (ISS). Nine minutes after liftoff, it touched down on drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) without any apparent issue, more or less hitting the platform’s painted bullseye. While it’s difficult to determine with certainty, B1069 appeared to be in fine condition after landing, standing roughly straight up with all nine Merlin 1D engines well above the drone ship’s deck.
That was decidedly not the case when the once-flown Falcon 9 booster finally sailed into Port Canaveral eight and a half days later.
There remains plenty of ambiguity about how exactly things transpired after the landing but when B1069 was finally within eyeshot, the booster was significantly damaged, riding low on all four legs, inches away from falling off the drone ship’s deck, and only partially attached to the “Octagrabber” robot tasked with securing it. Based on photos of the damaged rocket taken by Teslarati photographer Richard Angle, most or all of B1069’s nine Merlin 1D (M1D) engines suffered likely irreparable damage to their fragile bell nozzles.
From the ragged nature of the damage to those nozzles, it appears that B1069 somehow fell on top of the drone ship’s Octagrabber robot during or after its recovery attempt, as the creases would be far cleaner if the booster had merely landed hard and pressed its M1D nozzles against the deck. But a very short fall onto Octagrabber still doesn’t quite explain the apparent damage to one of the booster’s landing legs or the fact that it’s sitting lower to the deck than usual – both potentially indicative of a hard landing.
What is clear, though, is that SpaceX struggled to secure the rocket shortly after its first landing. Per the CRS-24 webcast, B1069 landed just shy of dead center. Likely as a result of poor sea conditions, SpaceX was unable to quickly grab the booster with Octagrabber, which uses giant clamps and its own weight to hold Falcon first stages in place. B1069 then clearly slid around drone ship JRTI’s deck at the whim of the ocean. Before SpaceX could secure it, the booster slammed into the side of the drone ship hard enough to partially flatten a steel safety barrier that runs along its port and starboard beams – a barrier specifically put in place to prevent wayward boosters from sliding off the deck.
Thankfully, above all else, there is no obvious reason that SpaceX won’t be able to repair the damage that was wrought. Replacing all nine of B1069’s engines will heavily delay the booster’s return to flight and probably singlehandedly cost SpaceX at least $5-10 million, but that cost is still far less than scrapping it and building a new booster. Aside from that, it’s possible that B1069’s fall will preclude strict customers like NASA or the US military from reusing the booster to launch their payloads, which the booster would have otherwise been a shoo-in for with just a single NASA launch on its record.
While CRS-24 and B1069’s dramatic return was SpaceX’s last launch and booster recovery of the year, the company did safely recovery several other boosters sans damage in the days and weeks prior. On December 14th, Falcon 9 B1061 was spotted being craned onto dry land after its fifth launch – NASA’s tiny IXPE X-ray space telescope.
Falcon 9 booster B1067 arrived at Port Canaveral not long after but spent most of the winter holiday sitting on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) as many SpaceX employees took a well-deserved break. The thrice-flown booster was ultimately lifted onto the dock and broken over a few days before B1069 finally sailed into port, setting it up for a fourth launch in the very near future.
Ultimately, while the damage B1069 and JRTI’s Octagrabber seemingly suffered are a significant annoyance and will take a good deal of time and money to fix, SpaceX still has ten other operational Falcon 9 boosters ready to support a potentially record-breaking 2022 launch manifest.
Tesla Cybercab is the company’s autonomy-geared automobile that will eventually begin the phase-out of human drivers. In recent days, however, there has been speculation regarding the vehicle’s equipment and whether it would be fitted with a typical steering wheel and pedals.
CEO Elon Musk put an end to this discussion, at least for now, as he maintains the vehicle will not have anything that would remotely resemble any possibility of any sort of manual operation.
The problem is, there is a flaw in his logic, and his justification for the reasoning is an opinion. But Musk has a special ability; he has the final say on what goes on at Tesla, and if he does or doesn’t want manual controls in the new vehicle, he’ll get his way.
On the All In Podcast on Friday, Musk gave his final answer to whether the Cybercab would have a steering wheel or pedals by stating it would not when the production units start rolling off lines in Q2 2026.
He provided a further explanation:
“The reality is, people may think they want to drive their car, but the reality is that they don’t. How many times have you been in an Uber or Lyft and said ‘I wish I could take over for the driver, get off my phone, and drive to my destination? 0.0 times.”
🚨 Elon Musk says Tesla will NOT put a steering wheel in the Cybercab (via All In Podcast):
“The reality is, people may think they want to drive their car, but the reality is that they don’t. How many times have you been in an Uber or Lyft and said ‘I wish I could take over for… pic.twitter.com/SGu3to5anA
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 31, 2025
Although the units that have been spotted on public roads in recent days are equipped with a steering wheel and pedals, it is because Tesla is testing the vehicle in real-world situations, and manual controls are required for it.
Tesla Cybercab spotted testing on public roads for the first time
Some Tesla fans in the community have said that the car seems more geared toward being suitable for manual operation as opposed to a fully autonomous vehicle primed for driverless ride-hailing.
Earlier this week, Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm said that if the company had to put a steering wheel or pedals into the Cybercab, it would.
News
SpaceX sets the record straight on Jim Bridenstine and Artemis 3
SpaceX argued that Bridenstine’s comments should be taken with a grain of salt as he is working as a paid lobbyist for companies that are competing for NASA contracts.
SpaceX pushed back firmly against former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine after he questioned the agency’s reliance on Starship for the Artemis 3 Moon mission.
In a detailed thread on X, SpaceX argued that Bridenstine’s comments should be taken with a grain of salt as he is working as a paid lobbyist for companies that are competing for NASA contracts.
Bridenstine’s comments on Starship and Artemis 3
Bridenstine and fellow former NASA chief Charlie Bolden noted during a recent symposium that NASA’s current Artemis strategy is approaching zero chance of beating China to the Moon. Bridenstine expressed skepticism that NASA’s current architecture, which is expected to use Starship to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface, could succeed in time.
“Starship is a tremendously important vehicle for the future,” Bridenstine said, as per Space News. “It’s going to deliver large mass to low Earth orbit for a long time, and it’s going to drive down costs and increase access. But if you need a moon lander, it’s going to take time.”
SpaceX responds to the former NASA administrator’s comments
In a series of posts on X, SpaceX noted that while the company is very thankful to the former NASA administrator for helping create the Artemis Program, his comments about Starship might not necessarily be coming from a place of objectivity.
SpaceX’s comments are as follows: “Like many Americans, we are thankful for Mr. Bridenstine’s service leading NASA at one point. He deserves credit for spearheading the creation of the Artemis Program. After departing NASA, he created a lobbying firm called the Artemis Group, representing a host of aerospace companies vying for NASA business.
“Mr. Bridenstine’s current campaign against Starship is either misguided or intentionally misleading. SpaceX was selected to design and develop a Human Landing System for Artemis along with Blue Origin and Dynetics during Mr. Bridenstine’s tenure as NASA Administrator.
“Starship was then selected by NASA for the Artemis III mission through fair and open competition after being identified as the best and lowest risk technical option – and the lowest price by a wide margin – by the civil servant team appointed to lead the agency’s exploration mission by Mr. Bridenstine himself.
“The decision to select Starship was confirmed repeatedly following protest and litigation from the companies not selected which delayed the start of work on the contract for many months. Mr. Bridenstine’s recent musings promoting a new landing system – going so far as to invoke the Defense Production Act – are being misreported as though they were the unbiased thoughts of a former NASA Administrator. They are not.
“To be clear, he is a paid lobbyist. He is representing his clients’ interests, and his comments should be seen for what they are – a paid lobbyist’s effort to secure billions more in government funding for his clients who are already years late and billions of dollars overbudget,” SpaceX wrote.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk just dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster
“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one.”
Elon Musk dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster on his latest appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
Tesla has been teasing the Roadster for years. The company has constantly delayed the vehicle, hoping to push its limits past anything that is even imaginable by the human mind.
Earlier this year, the company said it would put on a “most epic demo” for the Roadster, displaying and unveiling all its capabilities, some new, some previously talked about. However, nobody really knows what to expect.
On the JRE Podcast, Musk joined Rogan for an over three-hour conversation about a variety of topics, but Tesla was something that was evidently on the agenda.
One of the parts of the Tesla conversation that is getting a lot of attention is Musk’s new teasing of the Roadster, saying it has “crazy technology” that might not even qualify as an automobile in the classic sense.
Musk confirmed that Tesla is “getting close to demonstrating the prototype,” and said he can guarantee the demo “will be unforgettable.”
He continued:
“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one.”
Musk went on to say, with a smile, that Joe would have to “wait and see” what Tesla had come up with.
He went on:
“I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”
Tesla has said for years that the Roadster would be able to at least hover, thanks to a SpaceX package that would feature cold gas thrusters that would help the vehicle get in the air.
Musk seemed very confident in his answers and very excited to show off what the Tesla Roadster is capable of. The real question is: how long will it take Tesla to get the car to market after the launch and unveiling? How many units will it manufacture? How much will it cost?
All of those things are details we will have to wait for Tesla to reveal at the Roadster event.
Tesla Cybercab steering wheel dilemma gets final answer from Elon Musk
SpaceX sets the record straight on Jim Bridenstine and Artemis 3
Elon Musk just dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster
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