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SpaceX drone ship heads to The Bahamas for Falcon 9’s next polar launch

Drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) is headed south towards the Bahamas for SpaceX's second East Coast polar launch ever. (Pauline Acalin)

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SpaceX is in the midst of preparing for back-to-back Falcon 9 launches from its two Florida pads, a feat that will also require two drone ships for each rocket booster to land on.

Drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) is already on station off the coast of North Carolina for SpaceX’s first Starlink launch of 2021 and is accompanied by crew support ship GO Quest, as well as twin fairing recovery ships GO Ms Tree and GO Ms Chief a bit further downrange. The setup is extremely familiar – practically identical to 5-10 prior Starlink missions completed in 2020.

Drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), however, departed Port Canaveral heading in almost the exact opposite direction as its sister ship – nearly straight south towards a region southwest of the main island of the Bahamas.

Known as Transporter-1, the mission OCISLY is tasked with supporting is significant for several reasons. Transporter-1 will be SpaceX’s first dedicated rideshare launch under its circa 2019 “Smallsat Rideshare Program” and will likely carry anywhere from 50 to 100+ spacecraft to orbit. More specifically, the mission is headed to a nearly polar sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), technically making it SpaceX and the United States’ second East Coast polar launch in roughly half a century.

In a last-second change, SpaceX also received shockingly rapid FCC approval to add ten of its own Starlink satellites to the commercial rideshare. If successful, Transporter-1 will thus also mark SpaceX’s first polar launch of operational Starlink satellites. Of the first phase of SpaceX’s ~4400-satellite Starlink constellation, some 520 are expected to be sent to strictly polar orbits

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Notably, with drone ship OCISLY and support ship GO Searcher’s recent departure for Transporter-1, SpaceX is in the unique position of having deployed almost the entirety of its substantial rocket recovery fleet. Only GO Navigator (effectively the twin of GO Searcher) is currently in port and even that ship was out at sea supporting the first Cargo Dragon 2 recovery on January 17th. Altogether, six of SpaceX’s seven recovery ships are currently hard at work supporting two separate Falcon 9 launches – a rare but probably increasingly common sight as SpaceX works to complete as many as 48 launches in 2021.

Starlink-16 is scheduled to launch no earlier than 8:23 am EST (13:23 UTC), Tuesday, January 19th and will be broadcast live by SpaceX, as usual. Transporter-1 will follow as few as ~49 hours later, launching NET 9:24 am EST (14:24 UTC) on Thursday, January 21st.

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.

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Tariff reprieve might be ‘Tesla-friendly,’ but it’s also an encouragement to others

Tesla stands to benefit from the tariff reprieve, but it has some work cut out for it as well.

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tesla employee
(Photo: Tesla)

After Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick made adjustments to the automotive tariff program that was initially announced, many quickly pointed to the reprieve as “Tesla-friendly.”

While that may be the case right now, it was also a nudge of encouragement to other companies, Tesla included, to source parts from the U.S. in an effort to strengthen domestic manufacturing. Many companies are close, and it will only take a handful of improvements to save themselves from tariffs on their cars as well.

Yesterday, Sec. Lutnick confirmed that cars manufactured with at least 85 percent of domestic content will face zero tariffs. Additionally, U.S. automakers would receive credit up to 15 percent of the value of vehicles to offset the cost of imported parts.

Big Tesla win? Sec Lutnick says cars with 85% domestic content will face zero tariffs

“This is ‘finish your cars in America and you win’,” Lutnick said.

Many were quick to point out that only three vehicles currently qualify for this zero-tariff threshold: all three are Teslas.

However, according to Kelley Blue Book’s most recent study that revealed who makes the most American cars, there are a lot of vehicles that are extremely close to also qualifying for these tariff reductions.

Tesla has three vehicles that are within five percent, while Ford, Honda, Jeep, Chevrolet, GMC, and Volkswagen have many within just ten percent of the threshold.

Tesla completely dominates Kogod School’s 2024 Made in America Auto Index

It is within reach for many.

Right now, it is easy to see why some people might think this is a benefit for Tesla and Tesla only.

But it’s not, because Tesla has its Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X just a few percentage points outside of that 85 percent cutoff. They, too, will feel the effects of the broader strategy that the Trump administration is using to prioritize domestic manufacturing and employment. More building in America means more jobs for Americans.

Credit: Tesla

However, other companies that are very close to the 85 percent cutoff are only a few components away from also saving themselves the hassle of the tariffs.

Ford has the following vehicles within just five percent of the 85 percent threshold:

  • Ford Mustang GT automatic (80%)
  • Ford Mustang GT 5.0 (80%)
  • Ford Mustang GT Coupe Premium (80%)

Honda has several within ten percent:

  • Honda Passport All-Wheel-Drive (76.5%)
  • Honda Passport Trailsport (76.5)

Jeep has two cars:

  • Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (76%)
  • Jeep Wrangler Sahara (76%)

Volkswagen has one with the ID.4 AWD 82-kWh (75.5%). GMC has two at 75.5% with the Canyon AT4 Crew Cab 4WD and the Canyon Denali Crew Cab 4WD.

Chevrolet has several:

  • Chevrolet Colorado 2.7-liter (75.5%)
  • Chevrolet Colorado LT Crew Cab 2WD 2.7-liter (75.5%)
  • Chevrolet Colorado Z71 Crew Cab 4WD 2.7-liter (75.5%)

These companies are close to reaching the 85% threshold, but adjustments need to be made to work toward that number.

Anything from seats to fabric to glass can be swapped out for American-made products, making these cars more domestically sourced and thus qualifying them for the zero-tariff boundary.

Frank DuBois of American University said that manufacturers like to see stability in their relationships with suppliers and major trade partners. He said that Trump’s tariff plan could cause “a period of real instability,” but it will only be temporary.

Now is the time to push American manufacturing forward, solidifying a future with more U.S.-made vehicles and creating more domestic jobs. Tesla will also need to scramble to make adjustments to its vehicles that are below 85%.

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Tesla Cybertruck RWD production in full swing at Giga Texas

Videos of several freshly produced Cybertruck LR RWD units were shared on social media platform X.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/X

It appears that Tesla is indeed ramping the production of the Cybertruck Long Range Rear Wheel Drive (LR RWD), the most affordable variant of the brutalist all-electric pickup truck.

Videos of several freshly produced Cybertruck LR RWD units were shared on social media platform X.

Giga Texas Footage

As per longtime Tesla watcher Joe Tegtmeyer, Giga, Texas, was a hotbed of activity when he conducted his recent drone flyover. Apart from what seemed to be Cybercab castings being gathered in the complex, a good number of Cybertruck LR RWD units could also be seen in the facility’s staging area. The Cybertruck LR RWD units are quite easy to spot since they are not equipped with the motorized tonneau cover that is standard on the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast.

The presence of the Cybertruck LR RWD units in Giga Texas’ staging area suggests that Tesla is ramping the production of the base all-electric pickup truck. This bodes well for the vehicle, which is still premium priced despite missing a good number of features that are standard in the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast.

Cybertruck Long Range RWD Specs

The Cybertruck LR RWD is priced at $69,990 before incentives, making it $10,000 more affordable than the Cybertruck AWD. For its price, the Cybertruck Long Range RWD offers a range of 350 miles per charge if equipped with its 18” standard Wheels. It can also add up to 147 miles of range in 15 minutes using a Tesla Supercharger.

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Much of the cost-cutting measures taken by Tesla are evident in the cabin of the Cybertruck LR RWD. This could be seen in its textile seats, standard console, seven-speaker audio system with no active noise cancellation, and lack of a 9.4” second-row display. It is also missing the motorized tonneau cover, the 2x 120V and 1x 240V power outlets on the bed, and the 2x 120V power outlets in the cabin. It is also equipped with an adaptive coil spring suspension instead of the adaptive air suspension in the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast.

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Tesla preps for a Cybercab takeover of the Robotaxi platform after pilot program

Tesla looks to be preparing the Cybercab for Robotaxi operation as castings pile up at Gigafactory Texas.

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(Credit: Teslarati)

Tesla is evidently preparing for the Cybercab to take over the Robotaxi platform after the pilot program in Austin, Texas, is launched.

That claim is made based on new drone footage from Gigafactory Texas captured by Joe Tegtmeyer, who found hundreds of Cybercab castings that have accumulated on property in Austin.

The Cybercab is Tesla’s dedicated Robotaxi vehicle that was unveiled last October. It features just two seats and is minimalistic, aimed toward allowing the Full Self-Driving suite to chauffeur passengers from Point A to Point B without ever having to deal with human interaction or any responsibilities within the vehicle.

In June, Tesla plans to launch its first Robotaxi rides in Texas. Although employees in Austin and in the Bay Area of San Francisco have already had access to over 1,500 trips and 15,000 miles of autonomous (but supervised) travel, Tesla plans to launch a driverless version in a limited fashion in June.

However, this initial pilot program, while presumably operating on an Unsupervised version of the FSD, will only utilize Model Ys, at least at first.

The drone footage captured by Tegtmeyer today seems to tell a story of a quick transition to the Cybercab for the Robotaxi responsibilities, especially as Tesla gets its feet wet with the early Unsupervised FSD rides and gains confidence in the fleet’s ability to navigate passengers:

It appears that between 400 and 500 Cybercab castings can be seen in the images Joe captured, a very respectable number considering the company said it will not launch the Robotaxi with the initial rides it gives in Austin.

The images seem to paint a picture that Tesla is truly ready to get things moving in terms of the Cybercab project. While it does not plan to use the vehicle initially, its manufacturing efforts for the car are being prepared by stacking these castings so they’re ready to be expanded upon into the real thing.

On the most recent Earnings Call, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, said the Cybercab’s engineering has progressed over the last several months to “derisk things like corrosion, the ceiling across the seams of the vehicle, and when you marry several components,” and even things like early crash testing have already taken place.

Moravy continued, “As with all that combined, we kind of go into the builds that we have in this quarter for the Cybercab product, and that’s the next real big test of full-scale integration with the unboxed process. And that’s kind of where we are. So you’ll see them on the test roads in a couple of months.”

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