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SpaceX rocket boosters line up in port for the first time after back-to-back launches

For the first time ever, two flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters have met in port after back-to-back launches and landings. (Richard Angle)

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5 years ago

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For the first time ever, two SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters – fresh off of two successful Starlink launches and landings – have met back at Port Canaveral, creating the first rocket ‘traffic jam’ of its kind.

On March 11th, Falcon 9 booster B1058 stuck its sixth launch and landing after supporting SpaceX’s sixth dedicated Starlink launch (Starlink-20) this year. 74 hours later, a separate Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s second East Coast launch pad, successfully sending another batch of 60 Starlink satellites (Starlink-21) on their way to orbit. For its role in the mission, booster B1051 became the first Falcon first stage to launch and land nine times – just one shy of a ten-flight rocket reusability goal SpaceX has been chasing for years.

Now, aside from setting the new standard for Falcon reusability, placing 120 satellites into orbit in three days, and breaking SpaceX’s record for the shortest turnaround between two East Coast launches, the back-to-back Starlink launches have left both Falcon 9 boosters in the right place and right time to cross paths as they prepare for future flights.

Two boosters, one port. (Richard Angle)

As SpaceX began to ramp up its orbital launch cadence – largely thanks to Starlink – throughout 2020, it become clear that the company would eventually start to find new pressure points as it pushed its fleet of reusable rockets and their recovery assets to new limits. In 2021, that intentional exertion of stress across the broader SpaceX launch ‘pipeline’ has become even clearer.

A mere 10 weeks into 2021, SpaceX has already completed eight orbital launches, averaging one mission every nine days or 40 launches per year if extrapolated through the end of 2021. Just two days prior to Falcon 9 booster B1058’s arrival back at Port Canaveral after its successful Starlink-20 launch, Falcon 9 booster B1049 – last tasked with launching Starlink-17 on March 4th – wrapped up its port processing and was transported by road back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) or Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to prepare for its ninth flight.

At that point, it became clear it was just a matter of time before two boosters would simultaneously occupy SpaceX’s Port Canaveral berths. Two days later, record-breaking Falcon 9 booster B1051 arrived back in port and was greeted by booster B1058 – legs retracted, standing vertical, and waiting to be ‘broken over’ (brought horizontal) for transport.

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It’s hard to imagine a better or (pardon the buzzword) more synergistic pair of boosters to appear in port together. On their separate launch debuts, Falcon 9 B1051 supported Crew Dragon’s spectacularly flawless uncrewed launch debut, while Falcon 9 B1058 became the first private rocket in history to launch US astronauts 14 months later. Known as Demo-1 and Demo-2, those two missions collectively mark arguably the most significant milestone in the history of modern US spaceflight, ending a decade-long period where the US was unable to launch its own astronauts.

B1058 returned to port aboard drone ship Just Read The Instructions on March 14th. (Richard Angle)
B1058 awaits B1051’s arrival on March 16th. (Richard Angle)

Just a week after the rocket’s 2019 Demo-1 launch debut, Falcon 9 B1051 is SpaceX’s new booster fleet ‘life leader’ (the most-flown rocket) after averaging one launch ever 11 weeks for the last two years. Aside from supporting Cargo Dragon 2’s launch debut last December, Falcon 9 B1058 has flown six times, averaging an even more impressive one launch every eight weeks. Together, the two boosters have aced 15 orbital-class launches roughly 190 metric tons of satellites and Dragon spacecraft into orbit in their two-year career, significantly more than the maximum payload of Saturn V – the largest rocket to successfully launch.

Falcon 9 B1051 could reportedly fly for the tenth time as early as April 2021.

B1051 arrived back in port aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You on March 16th. (Richard Angle)
B1051 (left) and B1058 (right). (Richard Angle)
SpaceX could flip B1058 horizontal as early as March 16th. B1051 will likely take its place on the dockside stand for landing leg retraction later this week. (Richard Angle)
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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 Optimus is learning martial arts in new video teasing capabilities

For the past few months, Tesla has been refining its capabilities and making some serious progress on what Optimus is capable of. This morning, Musk released a new video showing Optimus learning Kung Fu, perhaps its most impressive feat yet.

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11 hours ago

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October 4, 2025

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Tesla Optimus is learning martial arts, a new video released by CEO Elon Musk shows, a crazy development and advancement in the robotics project the company has been working on for a few years.

Optimus has been a major focus of Tesla for the past several years, especially as Musk has said he believes it will be the biggest product of all time and could be the biggest contributor to the company’s valuation.

For the past few months, Tesla has been refining its capabilities and making some serious progress on what Optimus is capable of. This morning, Musk released a new video showing Optimus learning Kung Fu, perhaps its most impressive feat yet:

The video shows Optimus working with a Kung Fu teacher, known as a Shifu, going through what appears to be some sort of routine of combinations. It’s quite impressive to see the fluidity of the movements and Optimus’s ability to keep up with Shifu.

Tesla has been “working hard” to scale Optimus production, Musk said last week, a project that has obviously confronted both AI and manufacturing teams with a variety of challenges.

The plan is to have an annual production run-rate of one million units by 2030, and there were plans to build 5,000 units this year.

Elon Musk gives update on Tesla Optimus progress

Musk still believes Optimus will make up roughly 80 percent of Tesla’s value. In January, he said it would be “overwhelmingly the value of the company.”

Tesla plans to launch the Gen 3 version of Optimus soon, and although a video of a new-look prototype was released by Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, the company’s frontman stated that this was not what the next-generation prototype would look like.

Elon Musk confirms Tesla has never shown Optimus V3 design yet

This video seems to show there is still significant progress being made on the Optimus project, and it will be perhaps one of the most impressive humanoid robots available to consumers in the coming years.

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Elon Musk

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 gets new release date, Elon Musk details

“Last minute bug cropped up with V14. Released is pushed to Monday, but that gives us time to add a few more features.”

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19 hours ago

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October 4, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving version 14 has gotten a new release date after new details from CEO Elon Musk opened up some new perspectives on the suite.

Originally slated for an “early wide release” of v14 this past week, then a launch of v14.1 and v14.2 this week and next week, respectively, delays arose after Tesla’s Autopilot team found some issues within the software.

Tesla FSD V14 set for early wide release next week: Elon Musk

Musk detailed on X this morning that a “last minute bug” appeared before release, which has now pushed FSD v14’s release back to this Monday:

Musk also said the delay would give Tesla the ability to “add a few more features,” which seems like an added advantage, although he did not provide any additional details on what these features could be.

In classic Musk fashion, he has teased the capabilities of this version of the FSD suite since it became public knowledge that Tesla was working on it. He said that it is the second most important update for the AI/Autopilot team since FSD v12.

V14 will have a parameter count that is ten times what previous iterations were, which should provide more accuracy and a more human-like operation.

Musk has said v14 “feels alive” and has used the word “sentient” to describe its performance. The goal with the new FSD rollouts is to eliminate as many interventions as possible, making it as close to human driving as possible.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla just got a weird price target boost from a notable bear

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2 days ago

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October 3, 2025

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Credit: Tesla Manufacturing

Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) just got a weird price target boost from a notable bear just a day after it announced its strongest quarter in terms of vehicle deliveries and energy deployments.

JPMorgan raised its price target on Tesla shares from $115 to $150. It maintained its ‘Underweight’ rating on the stock.

Despite Tesla reporting 497,099 deliveries, about 12 percent above the 443,000 anticipated from the consensus, JPMorgan is still skeptical that the company can keep up its momentum, stating most of its Q3 strength came from leaning on the removal of the $7,500 EV tax credit, which expired on September 30.

Tesla hits record vehicle deliveries and energy deployments in Q3 2025

The firm said Tesla benefited from a “temporary stronger-than-expected industry-wide pull-forward” as the tax credit expired. It is no secret that consumers flocked to the company this past quarter to take advantage of the credit.

The bump will need to be solidified as the start of a continuing trend of strong vehicle deliveries, the firm said in a note to investors. Analysts said that one quarter of strength was “too soon to declare Tesla as having sustainably returned to growth in its core business.”

JPMorgan does not anticipate Tesla having strong showings with vehicle deliveries after Q4.

There are two distinct things that stick out with this note: the first is the lack of recognition of other parts of Tesla’s business, and the confusion that surrounds future quarters.

JPMorgan did not identify Tesla’s strength in autonomy, energy storage, or robotics, with autonomy and robotics being the main focuses of the company’s future. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and Robotaxi efforts are incredibly relevant and drive more impact moving forward than vehicle deliveries.

Additionally, the confusion surrounding future delivery numbers in quarters past Q3 is evident.

Will Tesla thrive without the EV tax credit? Five reasons why they might

Tesla will receive some assistance from deliveries of vehicles that will reach customers in Q4, but will still qualify for the credit under the IRS’s revised rules. It will also likely introduce an affordable model this quarter, which should have a drastic impact on deliveries depending on pricing.

Tesla shares are trading at $422.40 at 2:35 p.m. on the East Coast.

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