Connect with us

News

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster to launch for the 10th time on Wednesday

Falcon 9 B1058 is ready for its 10th launch. (Richard Angle)

Published

on

Update: SpaceX has confirmed reports that Falcon 9 B1058 will launch for the 10th time on Transporter-3, a rideshare mission carrying 100+ small satellites. Transporter-3’s 29-minute launch window opens at 10:25 am EST (15:25 UTC) on Wednesday, January 13th.

Barring delays, it will be both SpaceX and the world’s second orbital launch of the year – indicative of the company’s exceptionally busy 2022 launch manifest, which includes five Falcon launches in January alone.

(SpaceX)
(Richard Angle)

After a minor issue forced startup Virgin Orbit to delay an upcoming mission by 24 hours, SpaceX is now on track to conduct both the first and second orbital launches of 2022.

Earlier this week, Virgin Orbit was on track to attempt its fourth LauncherOne mission no earlier than (NET) Wednesday, January 12th – the world’s second orbital launch attempt of the year after SpaceX kicked off 2022 with a Starlink mission on January 6th. However, Virgin announced plans to take an extra day to ensure launch readiness, pushing the air-launched rocket’s next flight to the afternoon of Thursday, January 13th. It’s possible that SpaceX’s next launch will also be delayed, causing another schedule flip-flop, but the company’s third dedicated rideshare mission remains on track to lift off NET 10:25 am EST (15:25 UTC) on January 13th as of Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/VirginOrbit/status/1481043526221803532

According to the military branch responsible for operating the Cape Canaveral launch range, weather conditions for Falcon 9’s Transporter-3 launch were predicted to be 70% favorable on Thursday and 90% favorable for a backup window on Friday as of January 11th, boding well for the mission. Transporter-3 will be SpaceX’s first truly polar launch from Florida since Falcon 9 launched Transporter-2 on an almost identical trajectory in June 2021.

As a result, the rocket will hug the Florida coast for several minutes after liftoff, with the morning sun almost directly behind it to the east. Several minutes later, Falcon 9’s upper stage will overfly central Cuba – hopefully not hitting any beloved cows with rocket debris. Falcon 9’s payload fairing will splash down as few as ~50 miles off the coast of the island, where SpaceX ship Bob will fish both halves out of the ocean for reuse.

Advertisement
B1058 last launched on November 13th. Transporter-3 will be its second launch in two months. (Richard Angle)

According to SpaceExplored, booster B1058 will support the mission, making it the third Falcon 9 first stage to fly for the tenth time. The pool of competitors may be tiny but it’s still noteworthy that Falcon 9 B1058 will handily beat B1049 and B1051 when it launches for the tenth time in ~19 months. By comparison, B1049 and B1051 passed the same milestone 36 months and 26 months after their respective debuts.

Thanks to Transporter-3’s relatively light payload of approximately 80-100 small satellites, Falcon 9 B1058 will have the propellant margins needed to boost back to the Florida coast for a convenient landing at one of SpaceX’s Landing Zone pads, which sit less than six miles south of Launch Complex 40.

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.

Advertisement
Comments

Energy

Tesla Powerwall distribution expands in Australia

Inventory is expected to arrive in late February and official sales are expected to start mid-March 2026.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Supply Partners Group has secured a distribution agreement for the Tesla Powerwall in Australia, with inventory expected to arrive in late February and official sales beginning in mid-March 2026.

Under the new agreement, Supply Partners will distribute Tesla Powerwall units and related accessories across its national footprint, as noted in an ecogeneration report. The company said the addition strengthens its position as a distributor focused on premium, established brands.

“We are proud to officially welcome Tesla Powerwall into the Supply Partners portfolio,” Lliam Ricketts, Co-Founder and Director of Innovation at Supply Partners Group, stated.

“Tesla sets a high bar, and we’ve worked hard to earn the opportunity to represent a brand that customers actively ask for. This partnership reflects the strength of our logistics, technical services and customer experience, and it’s a win for installers who want premium options they can trust.”

Advertisement

Supply Partners noted that initial Tesla Powerwall stock will be warehoused locally before full commercial rollout in March. The distributor stated that the timing aligns with renewed growth momentum for the Powerwall, supported by competitive installer pricing, consumer rebates, and continued product and software updates.

“Powerwall is already a category-defining product, and what’s ahead makes it even more compelling,” Ricketts stated. “As pricing sharpens and capability expands, we see a clear runway for installers to confidently spec Powerwall for premium residential installs, backed by Supply Partners’ national distribution footprint and service model.”

Supply Partners noted that a joint go-to-market launch is planned, including Tesla-led training for its sales and technical teams to support installers during the home battery system’s domestic rollout.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla Giga Berlin growth could stall if not “free from external influences”: Elon Musk

The comments were delivered in a pre-recorded video discussion.

Published

on

Credit: Andre Thierig/X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly warned that future expansion of Gigafactory Berlin could be jeopardized if the site does not remain “free from external influences.”

Musk’s comments were delivered in a pre-recorded video discussion with employees and came at a sensitive moment for the facility, where union representation has been a recurring issue.

According to reports from Handelsblatt and Der Spiegel, citing participants at the event, Musk suggested that if Giga Berlin is no longer “free from external influences,” further expansion would become unlikely. He did not, however, hint that the plant would shut down.

While Musk did not name IG Metall directly, his remarks were widely interpreted as referencing the union, which is currently the largest faction on the works council but does not hold a majority, as noted in an electrive report. 

Advertisement

The video conversation was conducted between Musk in Austin and Grünheide plant manager André Thierig, then played back to the workforce in Germany. Works council elections are scheduled for early March, heightening the tension between management and organized labor.

The CEO has previously voiced concerns that stronger union influence could limit Tesla’s operational flexibility and long-term strategy in Germany.

Despite the warning on expansion, Musk praised the Giga Berlin site during the same address, describing it as one of the most advanced factories worldwide and highlighting its cleanliness and team culture.

The discussion also reportedly touched on battery cell production. According to attendees cited in German media, Musk indicated that Tesla has begun ramping cell production at the site. That would mark a notable shift from earlier expectations that large-scale cell manufacturing in Brandenburg would not begin until 2027.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla Full Self-Driving’s newest behavior is the perfect answer to aggressive cars

According to a recent video, it now appears the suite will automatically pull over if there is a tailgater on your bumper, the most ideal solution for when a driver is riding your bumper.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Full Self-Driving appears to have a new behavior that is the perfect answer to aggressive drivers.

According to a recent video, it now appears the suite will automatically pull over if there is a tailgater on your bumper, the most ideal solution for when a driver is riding your bumper.

With FSD’s constantly-changing Speed Profiles, it seems as if this solution could help eliminate the need to tinker with driving modes from the person in the driver’s seat. This tends to be one of my biggest complaints from FSD at times.

A video posted on X shows a Tesla on Full Self-Driving pulling over to the shoulder on windy, wet roads after another car seemed to be following it quite aggressively. The car looks to have automatically sensed that the vehicle behind it was in a bit of a hurry, so FSD determined that pulling over and letting it by was the best idea:

We can see from the clip that there was no human intervention to pull over to the side, as the driver’s hands are stationary and never interfere with the turn signal stalk.

This can be used to override some of the decisions FSD makes, and is a great way to get things back on track if the semi-autonomous functionality tries to do something that is either unneeded or not included in the routing on the in-car Nav.

FSD tends to move over for faster traffic on the interstate when there are multiple lanes. On two-lane highways, it will pass slower cars using the left lane. When faster traffic is behind a Tesla on FSD, the vehicle will move back over to the right lane, the correct behavior in a scenario like this.

Perhaps one of my biggest complaints at times with Full Self-Driving, especially from version to version, is how much tinkering Tesla does with Speed Profiles. One minute, they’re suitable for driving on local roads, the next, they’re either too fast or too slow.

When they are too slow, most of us just shift up into a faster setting, but at times, even that’s not enough, see below:

There are times when it feels like it would be suitable for the car to just pull over and let the vehicle that is traveling behind pass. This, at least up until this point, it appears, was something that required human intervention.

Now, it looks like Tesla is trying to get FSD to a point where it just knows that it should probably get out of the way.

Continue Reading