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SpaceX Falcon 9 returns to port after flawless Starlink mission [photos]
SpaceX has successfully recovered its first Falcon 9 rocket by sea-going drone ship in more than 12 weeks and the company’s next launch and (attempted) landing is already just a week or two away.
Four days after completing a flawless 60-satellite Starlink launch on April 22nd, Falcon 9 booster B1051 sailed into Port Canaveral aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) on April 26th. The SpaceX rocket’s fourth launch since March 2019, it’s the first booster to successfully land at sea after two consecutive ocean recovery failures saw SpaceX lose boosters B1056 and B1048 in February and March 2020.
Although both failures were technically unrelated, explained by a combination of software errors and high landing area winds (B1056) and an improper Merlin 1D engine cleaning procedure, their back-to-back occurrence certainly raised some concerns. Thankfully, B1051’s successful Wednesday launch and landing and Sunday return to port have assuaged at least some of those concerns and several more Starlink launches are planned over the next month or two – all opportunities to verify that technical and organizational issues have been dealt with.
Carrying some 16 metric tons (~35,000 lb) of Starlink internet satellites, Falcon 9 B1051 lifted off on April 22nd and landed some 400 miles (650 km) downrange just eight minutes later. The Starlink-6 mission continued a recent practice where Falcon 9’s upper (second) stage performs a single burn to take Starlink satellites from booster separation to deployment orbit, part of the reason why booster B1051 landed so far downrange for a mission to low Earth orbit (LEO)
Baring a new layer of reentry soot and looking scarcely worse for wear, booster B1051 is now one of six Falcon 9 boosters to successfully launch and land four or more times or more. Unfortunately, B1048 and B1056 were two of those six boosters before they were lost in landing failures, while B1046 and B1047 were intentionally expended on their fourth launches.
Now B1049 and B1051 are the last operational SpaceX boosters to have completed four launches. Due to a slowed booster production rate, SpaceX will likely have to rely heavily on both four-flight boosters and B1059 to achieve its ambitious 2020 Starlink launch manifest. Three new boosters should be available for their second launches by June, September, and December, give or take, and additional new boosters could debut between now and the end of the year. In other words, SpaceX will effectively be forced to push its existing fleet of Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters to their limits (~10 flights each) to end 2020 with Starlink in a strong position.
Given that SpaceX has at least 10-20 more launches nominally planned this year, it would be no surprise at all if – assuming no more landing failures occur – boosters B1049 and B1051 reach 8+ launches each, if not 10. For now, though, it’s just nice to see a SpaceX rocket return to port by drone ship after an unintentional ~12-week hiatus. If all goes according to plan over the next week or two, SpaceX also has yet another Starlink launch – its eighth overall – scheduled as soon as early May and the ninth Starlink mission planned just a week or two later, according to photographer Ben Cooper.
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Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand.
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Extended FSD demonstrations
Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.
He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”
Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Building momentum for European approval
Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.
Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads.
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Tesla’s six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L sold out for January 2026
Estimated delivery dates for new Tesla Model Y L orders now extend all the way into February 2026.
The Tesla Model Y L seems to be in high demand in China, with estimated delivery dates for new orders now extending all the way into February 2026.
This suggests that the Model Y L has been officially sold out from the rest of 2025 to January 2026.
Model Y L estimated delivery dates
The Model Y L’s updated delivery dates mark an extension from the vehicle’s previous 4-8 week estimated wait time. A detailed chart shared by Tesla data tracker @Tslachan on X shows the progressions of the Model Y L’s estimated delivery dates since its launch earlier this year.
Following its launch in September, the vehicle was given an initial October 2025 estimated delivery date. The wait times for the vehicle were continually updated over the years, until the middle of November, when the Model Y L had an estimated delivery date of 4-8 weeks. This remained until now, when Tesla China simply listed February 2026 as the estimated delivery date for new Model Y L orders.
Model Y demand in China
Tesla Model Y demand in China seems to be very healthy, even beyond the Model Y L. New delivery dates show the company has already sold out its allocation of the all-electric crossover for 2025. The Model Y has been the most popular vehicle in the world in both of the last two years, outpacing incredibly popular vehicles like the Toyota RAV4. In China, the EV market is substantially more saturated, with more competitors than in any other market.
Tesla has been particularly kind to the Chinese market, as it has launched trim levels for the Model Y in the country that are not available anywhere else, such as the Model Y L. Demand has been strong for the Model Y in China, with the vehicle ranking among the country’s top 5 New Energy Vehicles. Interestingly enough, vehicles that beat the Model Y in volume like the BYD Seagull are notably more affordable. Compared to vehicles that are comparably priced, the Model Y remains a strong seller in China.
Elon Musk
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang commends Tesla’s Elon Musk for early belief
“And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.”
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday and commended Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his early belief in what is now the most valuable company in the world.
Huang and Musk are widely regarded as two of the greatest tech entrepreneurs of the modern era, with the two working in conjunction as NVIDIA’s chips are present in Tesla vehicles, particularly utilized for self-driving technology and data collection.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang regrets not investing more in Elon Musk’s xAI
Both CEOs defied all odds and created companies from virtually nothing. Musk joined Tesla in the early 2000s before the company had even established any plans to build a vehicle. Jensen created NVIDIA in the booth of a Denny’s restaurant, which has been memorialized with a plaque.
On the JRE episode, Rogan asked about Jensen’s relationship with Elon, to which the NVIDIA CEO said that Musk was there when nobody else was:
“I was lucky because I had known Elon Musk, and I helped him build the first computer for Model 3, the Model S, and when he wanted to start working on an autonomous vehicle. I helped him build the computer that went into the Model S AV system, his full self-driving system. We were basically the FSD computer version 1, and so we were already working together.
And when I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders, not one. Nobody wanted to buy it. Nobody wanted to be part of it, except for Elon.
He goes ‘You know what, I have a company that could really use this.’ I said, Wow, my first customer. And he goes, it’s an AI company, and it’s a nonprofit and and we could really use one of these supercomputers. I boxed one up, I drove it up to San Francisco, and I delivered it to the Elon in 2016.”
The first DGX-1 AI supercomputer was delivered personally to Musk when he was with OpenAI, which provided crucial early compute power for AI research, accelerating breakthroughs in machine learning that underpin modern tools like ChatGPT.
Tesla’s Nvidia purchases could reach $4 billion this year: Musk
The long-term alliance between NVIDIA and Tesla has driven over $2 trillion in the company’s market value since 2016.
Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months
Tesla’s six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L sold out for January 2026
