News
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launches atop pillar of flame and races home on drone ship
After yet another gorgeous and successful night launch and drone ship recovery of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, Of Course I Still Love You and its Block 5 booster passenger have wasted no time at all in a bid to avoid the brunt of Hurricane Florence, currently nipping at the heels of SpaceX’s East Coast recovery fleet.
Last night’s launch of Telstar 18 VANTAGE marked Falcon 9’s 60th successful mission. pic.twitter.com/iKXsnayASz
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 10, 2018
While Florence is now firmly aimed at Virginia and the Carolinas and is at least 24 hours out from actually impacting Falcon 9, its drone ship carrier, and the tugboat towing them back to Port Canaveral, the trio are certainly skirting the edge of the storm in the sense that hurricanes and tropical storms are known to sometimes drastically depart from their forecasted trajectories.
In the case of drone ship OCISLY and Falcon 9 B1049, tugboat Hawk is only capable of safely pulling the duo at around 7 knots (~8 mph), whereas Hurricane Florence is now heading West at a stately 13 mph, likely to accelerate moderately as the storm picks up energy. Ultimately, it’s probably of minor concern to SpaceX, but very little time was nevertheless wasted securing the recovered rocket booster (presumably with a robotic tool known informally as Octagrabber) and reaching a healthy cruising speed scarcely six or seven hours after its post-launch landing.
- SpaceX’s rocket-securing robot, known as Octagrabber, seen on OCISLY after another successful rocket recovery, August 12th. (Tom Cross)
- Falcon 9 B1046 seen landing on OCISLY for the first time, May 2018. (SpaceX)
- B1046 lands on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You for the second time in three months, August 2018. (SpaceX)
- B1049 stands proud after a successful landing aboard drone ship OCISLY. (SpaceX)
With a bit more than 75 miles under its belt half a day after landing, Falcon 9 should crest the horizon East of Port Canaveral as early as Wednesday morning, giving SpaceX technicians maybe 24 hours to attempt to secure the rocket and/or transport it to a hurricane-rated building in the unlikely but possible event that Florence veers South towards Cape Canaveral over the next two days. The risk is undoubtedly quite low, but it’s hard to rationalize not taking all practical precautions when a $30-40 million piece of potentially reusable rocket hardware is set to bear the brunt of any failure on the contrary.
- Falcon 9 B1049 lifts off from SpaceX’s LC-40 pad on September 10, producing more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust.(Tom Cross)
- Falcon 9 B1049 lifts off from SpaceX’s LC-40 pad, September 10. (Tom Cross)
Nevertheless, this stunning launch – SpaceX’s 60th successful Falcon 9 mission and 16th successful rocket launch this year alone – has served as another impressive indication of just how mature a launch vehicle Falcon 9 Block 5 is, marking its fifth wholly uneventful mission – in this case threading the needle through downright bad weather conditions at the launch site and an approaching tempest in the Atlantic.
Captured on liftoff by Teslarati photographer Tom Cross, the successful launch of Telstar 18V will hopefully become the first of many successful missions for the highly reusable Block 5 booster, B1049.
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News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.

Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.





