SpaceX’s latest launch webcast offered exceptionally clear views of the company’s 88th successful Falcon booster landing minutes after the rocket helped the US military cross a major reusability milestone.
In November 2020, Falcon 9 booster B1062 lifted off for the first time, successfully supporting the launch of the US military’s fourth upgraded GPS III satellite (SV04). As usual, the rocket stuck the landing, opening the door for what could be the last major customer-side reuse milestone for SpaceX. A few months prior, the US military Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) had announced contract modifications that would permit “national security” payloads to fly on flight-proven boosters for the first time ever.
On June 17th, outfitted with a new recoverable payload fairing and expendable second stage, Falcon 9 B1062 lifted off on its second mission for the US military and sent another GPS III satellite (SV05) on its way towards orbit without issue. Eight and a half minutes after launch, the booster safely landed on drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI), potentially setting the stage for SpaceX to reuse the same booster again on a future ‘national security’ launch.
To some extent, the US military’s certification of flight-proven Falcon boosters for high-value “national security” launches effectively means that SpaceX’s reusability efforts have now been officially validated by every major American customer and institution. Logically beginning with satellites, SpaceX’s first booster reuse ever launched a commercial geostationary communications satellite for SES in March 2017. Three more commercial satellite operators joined the flight-proven fray later that same year, as did NASA with an uncrewed Cargo Dragon space station resupply mission.
Coming as a bit of a surprise, the next major validation of SpaceX reusability came when NASA gave the company permission to launch astronauts with flight-proven Falcon boosters and Dragon capsules almost immediately after Demo-2, SpaceX’s inaugural human spaceflight. Ten months after NASA opened the doors, SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts – riding in a flight-proven Crew Dragon capsule – to the International Space Station (ISS) on a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster.
Given just how aggressively NASA has prioritized safety in the Commercial Crew Program, the space agency’s willingness to simultaneously launch astronauts – for the first time ever – on a flight-proven booster and spacecraft was the most resounding validation of the technology and system SpaceX could have ever received. That it came before the US Air/Space Force certified flight-proven SpaceX rockets to launch satellites simply served to emphasize how the US military is led more by dogma than data – not particularly surprising after decades and trillions of dollars of procurement boondoggles.
Regardless, more than four years, 91 consecutively successful launches, and 66 successful booster reuses after Falcon 9’s first operational reuse, the US military has finally cleared SpaceX to launch ‘national security’ satellites on flight-proven boosters. Wholly unsurprisingly, Falcon 9 aced its first operational military reuse, stuck the landing, and successfully delivered a fourth GPS III satellite to orbit. SpaceX has one more GPS III contract on the books and could potentially launch Falcon 9 B1062 a third time in support of that mission sometime next year. In the meantime, several more Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites are approaching completion, suggesting that the US military will award several more GPS III launch contracts in the near future.
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Tesla all but confirms that affordable Model Y is coming Tuesday
It does appear that October 7 would be the date when the world sees Tesla’s actual idea of what an affordable vehicle would be like.
Tesla has released a cryptic teaser of a product that would be announced on Tuesday, October 7, 2025. Based on the company’s hint, it does appear that the product would be the affordable Model Y that has been spotted doing road tests across the country over the past months.
Affordable Model Y sightings
Last week, news emerged that a number of key Tesla influencers visited Gigafactory Texas for a private event. These included veteran Tesla YouTubers, car reviewers, influencers on X, and even a teardown expert who provided the initial insights on how to improve the original Model 3 sedan. At the same time, an uncovered unit of the apparent affordable Model Y was posted online. The vehicle was reportedly sighted close to Giga Texas.
The new Model Y variant had some notable changes from the standard Model Y. Its fascia seemed inspired by the Model 3 sedan instead of the Cybertruck, and its roof seemed blacked out. Overall, it looked like a simpler Model Y designed to be offered at an affordable price.
The weekend teasers
Teasers about an upcoming product were posted by Tesla’s official account on social media platform X, though the electric vehicle maker made it a point to keep things very vague. Initially, a closeup video of what appeared to be an aero wheel was posted, though it was vague enough that some speculated that it could be Elon Musk’s long-announced HVAC system instead.
On Sunday, another teaser video was posted featuring the headlights of a new car. This brought speculations that the new Roadster might finally be announced. Inasmuch as a new Roadster unveiling would be exciting, however, it was evident that the headlights in the new teaser were a match to the uncovered affordable Model Y unit that was spotted close to Giga Texas a few days ago. With this in mind, it does appear that October 7 would be the date when the world sees Tesla’s actual idea of what an affordable vehicle would be like.
Elon Musk
Tesla releases cryptic teaser for something massive and it’s coming this week
On Sunday morning, Tesla released a nine-second teaser video of what appears to be either a vehicle wheel, fan, or some sort of propeller, but there are no real clues as to what it could be exactly.
Tesla has released a cryptic teaser for something massive, and it will release details on it this week. With many different projects in the works, there is a lot of speculation going on about what it could potentially be, but we have a few ideas.
On Sunday morning, Tesla released a nine-second teaser video of what appears to be either a vehicle wheel, fan, or some sort of propeller, but there are no real clues as to what it could be exactly.
It then ends with “10/7,” meaning it will announce something on October 7, which is this Tuesday:
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 5, 2025
Given that Tesla has been working on a handful of pretty notable projects that are set for unveiling at the end of this year, and there are some clues that seem to point in their direction with this short teaser video.
There are two projects that come to mind almost immediately: the Tesla Roadster is one, and the “E41” or affordable model is the other. Here’s what we know about both:
Tesla Roadster Demo Event
Tesla said earlier this year that it would have a demo event for the Roadster to unveil some new technologies and show off what it has been working on over the past few years.
There have been a lot of crazy things in the works for the Roadster, including a SpaceX package that would use cold-gas thrusters for an insane 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate. This package was also supposed to help it hover, something CEO Elon Musk has teased for the past few years.
The Roadster was ready for release earlier this year, but after Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and VP of Powertrain Lars Moravy showed Musk what they had come up with, he wanted more.
Moravy said on the Ride the Lightning podcast earlier this year:
“What we had come up with exceeded what we originally planned. So, Elon was like, ‘Wow, great. Let’s do more!'”
The Roadster event was coined as “the most epic demo,” and since it was planned for the end of 2025, it is totally feasible to believe this could be it.
Tesla ‘E41’ Affordable Model
Some believe the teaser could be the official launch of Tesla’s affordable model, which Musk said earlier this year is simply a stripped down Model Y.
There have been some sightings of this vehicle in the past few weeks, including one on Friday that showed the vehicle completely uncovered for the first time:
🚨 It looks like the new affordable Tesla Model Y was spotted near Giga Texas
Model Y body with the Model 3 fascia, no glass roof, and looks as if there is a front bumper camera!
Should be coming soon! https://t.co/UAXQMHjM23 pic.twitter.com/9lC5te9GnW
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 3, 2025
The launch of the affordable model makes sense, especially from a timing perspective. With the $7,500 EV tax credit officially coming to a close on September 30, many are wondering how Tesla will spark growth in its deliveries. A more affordable EV would be the perfect response, and it is something that Tesla has been working on for some time.
Other Potential Ideas
There are some pretty interesting ideas as to what the teaser could be apart from the Roadster or affordable model. Some believe it could be a cooling fan for a GPU cluster, which would make sense considering Tesla’s prowess in data.
Grok also made an interesting guess, stating it could be a propeller for a secret air taxi Tesla is developing. This seems sort of our of left field.
We do know Tesla hosted a handful of influencers at Gigafactory Texas this past week, so whatever the company showed them is likely what will be unveiled on Tuesday.
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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.
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:
Tesla Optimus learning Kung Fu pic.twitter.com/ziEuiiKWn7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2025
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.
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.
Tesla all but confirms that affordable Model Y is coming Tuesday
Tesla releases cryptic teaser for something massive and it’s coming this week
Tesla Optimus is learning martial arts in new video teasing capabilities
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