News
SpaceX’s next two Falcon 9 launch dates set in late September
SpaceX’s next Starlink launch has a firm date after stormy seas delayed its last attempt, placing the mission just two days before another crucial Falcon 9 launch and ~36 hours after ULA’s third scheduled NROL-44 launch attempt.
Launch photographer Ben Cooper and Spaceflight Now both confirm that SpaceX has rescheduled Starlink-12 to launch no earlier than (NET) 10:43 am EDT (UTC-4) on September 27th. Originally expected to launch on September 17th, a sequential pair of hurricanes forced SpaceX to delay the launch indefinitely until ocean conditions in the booster recovery zone improved.
While Starlink-12 floundered, the September 30th launch target for SpaceX’s third US military GPS III mission (SV04) has remained firmly in place for more than a month. Unexpectedly, satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin revealed that SpaceX and the US military have actually moved the launch 24 hours forward. GPS III SV04 is now scheduled to lift off as early as 9:55 pm EDT (UTC-4) on September 29th, less than two days after Starlink.
For the third time, SpaceX is scheduled to fly a brand new Falcon 9 booster on a GPS III mission. According to US Launch Report’s Mike Wagner, Falcon 9 booster B1062 likely arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 11th, marking the official end of a month or two of acceptance testing – including a full static fire – at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas facilities.
Following in the footsteps of Falcon 9 B1060’s flawless June 30th GPS III SV03 launch, booster B1062 will attempt to land after sending GPS III SV04 on its way to orbit. If successful, it will be the second orbital-class booster to land after an operational US military launch, slowly but surely paving the way towards the military’s first operational launch on a flight-proven rocket.
Meanwhile, as previously discussed on Teslarati, SpaceX’s Starlink-12 launch was scrubbed on September 17th by bad sea conditions at and around drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI).
“In drone ship JRTI’s defense, the Eastern seaboard is still feeling the remnants of Hurricane Sally at the same time as Hurricane Teddy is just a day or two away. Just ~48 hours from now, Starlink-12’s Falcon 9 booster landing zone will be subject to 30-40 mph (50-70 km/h) winds and peak wave heights of 15 feet (~4.5m) in the shadow of Teddy. The seas in that region will likely remain untenable for booster landings until September 24th or 25th at the earliest without major changes in current forecasts.”
Teslarati.com — September 18th, 2020
Unable to best fast ocean currents in the remnants of Hurricane Sally, SpaceX called off the launch and landing attempt as forecasts predicted even worse conditions – lead by Hurricane Teddy – to be just ~36 hours away. Ultimately, that proved to be a smart decision and NOAA’s Atlantic Ocean forecasting was fairly accurate. Calm seas and winds are now expected to arrive by the evening of September 24th and last at least several days.
Starlink-12 will be SpaceX’s 12th operational v1.0 satellite launch and 13th mission overall, potentially leaving the company just two missions away from kicking off the first public beta tests of Starlink internet. As of today, two more Starlink missions are already scheduled to launch in October.
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Tesla is about to make parking in busy parking lots at businesses and other points of interest less stressful than ever by allowing drivers more control over where they park and how, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
Tesla has been working to improve the parking performance of vehicles utilizing the Full Self-Driving suite, but now it is looking to add more customization, allowing drivers to choose the specific space they park in, but also potentially the orientation the car pulls into the spot:
It’s coming soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2026
Musk has reiterated on X twice over the past several weeks that Tesla is working to make things with the FSD suite based more on the driver’s specific preferences and behaviors that were seen in past drives.
Essentially, it sounds like if you tend to park away from a business to avoid other vehicles, Tesla FSD will soon recognize that preference of yours and start parking further away as well. Additionally, the prospect of assigned parking spaces has been something many owners have voiced concerns about.
Living in a community with assigned parking spaces makes using FSD incredibly difficult as it will rarely park in the correct spot when there are so many to choose from. This is also pertinent in work settings where there are sometimes assigned parking spaces.
The updates to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite in terms of listening to driver preferences with parking are also extending to routing. Tesla announced yesterday that with the release of its 2026 Summer Update, it was adding Automatic Navigation and Preferred Routes:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla has always maintained the idea that any human input is bad input, and that, ideally, Tesla Full Self-Driving will always make the right decision. Of course, this is all in theory, but the issue is that so many of Tesla’s interventions have come because it does something that is not necessarily wrong, but perhaps not what the driver would prefer.
Taking these preferences into account will help Tesla alleviate some of the potentially unnecessary interventions that drivers perform.
Tesla is starting to prepare for the launch of the Optimus robot in its smartphone app, new coding strings show. Elon Musk has referred to Optimus as what will be the greatest-selling product of any kind of all time, and now, Tesla is getting ready for its launch.
Tesla’s smartphone app had several first-time mentions of the Optimus program, according to Tesla App Updates, who intially reported on the appearance. Here’s what they found:
A Dedicated “Robot” Phone Key Authentication
Tesla is working on a Bluetooth Low Energy, or BLE, authentication that is specifically for robots. This does not only apply to Optimus, though, as Robotaxi, which is Tesla’s autonomous ride-hailing platform, might also identify vehicles within the fleet as robots as well.
Tesla shows rapid teardown of Model S and X lines, paving the way for Optimus at Fremont
Essentially, pairing your phone as a key to anything Tesla identifies as a robot to a “whitelist” of authorized devices. Optimus, Robotaxi, or other products that fall into this category will only respond if the device trying to communicate with it is authorized.
This is a great security feature that will eliminate at least face-value and low-level threats.
Home Data Collection and System Alerts
This appears to be somewhat of a neural network for Optimus within your house. There will be a dedicated screen that asks for consent to collect both video and spatial data while Optimus performs in-home tasks. Everything from vacuuming, washing dishes, dusting, and other activities will be tracked.
There will also be a comprehensive alert system that will track everything from low battery to mechanical issues.
Other Changes
Most of the changes tracked in this particular app update are related to Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, and include things such as image assets for new features, a preview of the new custom wraps feature, and other unique features.
You can check out our coverage on what is included with the 2026 Summer Update here:
Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will report its earnings for the second quarter of 2026 this evening after market close, and investors and analysts are waiting anxiously to see what the company will report for the second three-month span of the year.
Analysts have already put out their expectations from a financial standpoint for the company’s second quarter, but what’s unknown is what Tesla plans to discuss during the call.
Financial Expectations
Wall Street consensus expectations put Tesla’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) at $0.53, while revenues are expected to come in around $26.4 billion.
This would compare to an EPS of $0.39 and $22.19 billion compared to Tesla’s Q2 2025. Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.41 on $22.387 billion of revenue. Additionally in Q1, Tesla beat analyst expectations, but shares dropped over 3 percent the following trading day.
What We Expect
In terms of discussions, Tesla earnings are pretty sporadic and depend on a handful of things, including current events, investor questions, and more.
Tesla uses a platform called Say to field questions from investors and analysts. These questions are what will be used during the call. Here are the top 5 from the Retail side and top 3 from the Institutional side:
Retail:
“Tesla has missed short-term guidance on robotaxi 3 earnings reports in a row, from 50% coverage of USA by end of 2025 to most recently 7 new cities in 1H26. What is keeping Tesla back from accomplishing these short term goals that they’ve set for themselves?”
“What are the main constraints to expanding robotaxi operations faster, and how do you see that lining up with Cybercab production?”
“What’s the current status of Optimus Gen 3 production ramp, initial deployment in factories, and external sales timeline/volume for 2027? What tasks can we expect the Optimus to perform by end of 2027?”
“To reward long-term Tesla retail shareholders for their loyalty, can you commit to achieving at least half of the goals outlined in your 2025 compensation plan before considering any offers to acquire or merge Tesla?”
“Why has growth of robotaxi vehicles stalled? When will we see cybercab start customer rides?”
Institutional
“Previously, you’ve said Tesla would lead the R&D while SpaceX would lead production for Terafab. Can you provide an update on how that division of responsibilities is evolving, and any additional clarity on the expected capital contributions from Tesla and SpaceX?”
“For autonomous driving, Tesla’s fleet created a huge data advantage by collecting billions of real-world miles. That advantage doesn’t yet exist for Optimus. How should we think about data availability and its impact on Optimus development?”
“Why is it necessary to limit robotaxi operations within specific zones within cities to start? Will every city have to be rolled out this way?”
Tesla will report earnings for Q2 this evening with the Shareholder Deck at 4 p.m. ET, with the call starting around 5:30 p.m. ET.
Tesla is about to make parking in busy lots less stressful than ever
Tesla starts preparing for Optimus in its smartphone app
