News
SpaceX to ring in Falcon 9 Block 5 future with record-speed Block 4 reuse
SpaceX is days away from effectively bringing to a close an era of moderately reusable Falcon 9s that paved the way for the company’s Block 5 rocket upgrade, designed to dramatically improve reliability and reusability. As if foreshadowing the future its culmination will ring in, the CRS-15 mission will beat SpaceX’s previous record for back-to-back Falcon 9 booster launches by nearly a factor of two.
Scheduled to launch at 5:42 am EDT June 29, the CRS-15 Cargo Dragon mission will be SpaceX’s fourth launch of an orbital, flight-proven spacecraft, and will also cut almost two months off of the Falcon 9 booster refurbishment process. The particular booster, number B1045, launched just two months ago on April 18 before landing aboard SpaceX’s Atlantic drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). After returning to shore, the rocket was transported by road the short few miles from Port Canaveral to Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX’s LC-39A integration facilities, where it is believed to have spent the last nine weeks undergoing moderate repairs, part replacements, and checkouts. Just yesterday, the once-flown booster took to Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) for the second time to complete a preflight static fire, intended to ensure that the rocket is healthy before launch.
Rocket and spacecraft for CRS-15 are flight-proven. Falcon 9’s first stage previously launched @NASA_TESS two months ago, and Dragon flew to the @Space_Station in support of our ninth resupply mission in 2016.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 23, 2018
In reality, the actual time available for B1045’s refurbishment was thus several days less than two months – the only other routinely reusable rocket, the Space Shuttle, lays claim to a fairly staggering record of just 26 days of actual refurbishment, although it’s worth considering the fact that a single one of the Shuttle’s 3 RS-25 rocket engines have been estimated to cost as much as $60 million, considerably more than two thirds of the price of an entire SpaceX mission for NASA.
The first Block 5 Falcon 9 lifts off on May 4, 2018. (Tom Cross)
Although CRS-15 will likely see its venerable Block 4 Falcon 9 booster expended in the ocean without a recovery attempt, the speed of Falcon 9 B1045’s refurbishment is thrilling for another, more abstract reason: if the design functions largely as intended, a Falcon 9 Block 5 booster should be able to handily crush that already impressive record with ease, and one will perhaps do just that within a handful of months of this launch.
Currently scheduled for no earlier than (NET) July 19 and late July to early August, the Telstar 19V and 18V communications satellites will require their own Block 5 launches roughly a month from today, and July 20’s Iridium NEXT-7 mission will further require its own Falcon 9 Block 5 booster for a mission from California. It remains to be seen what boosters will launch those three missions, as well as an additional two SpaceX missions tentatively scheduled for August and September.
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- After launching in April 2018, B1045 landed on OCISLY and is being refurbished for a second launch in just 5 days, on June 29. (Tom Cross)
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- Falcon 9 B1045 spied in transport from Port Canaveral to LC-39A, April 24. (Instagram /u/xxxtreme81)
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- B1045 enters SpaceX’s 39A integration and refurbishment facilities, April 24. (Reddit /u/NewRage)
Of note, those upcoming July launches will see both of SpaceX’s drone ships – Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) on the Pacific, OCISLY in the Atlantic – return to action, with JRTI’s return bringing to an end nearly a full year of inactivity. With a heavy summer and fall manifest of all Block 5 Falcon 9s just around the corner, both drone ships are likely to be busier than ever before. Teslarati photographers Tom Cross (Florida) and Pauline Acalin (California) will be there to document the flurry of launches and recoveries on both coasts over the busy second half of 2018.
The drone ship Of Course I Still Love You spotted in Port Canaveral, FL last December. (Instagram /u/ johnabc123)
Follow us for live updates, peeks behind the scenes, and photos from Teslarati’s East and West Coast photographers.
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Tom Cross – Twitter
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News
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
Tesla has rolled out a price incentive in Norway, effectively offsetting a notable VAT increase that hit electric vehicle buyers at the start of 2026.
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
A “Tesla bonus”
Once the VAT increase kicked in at the start of 2026, Tesla Norway’s sales cooled almost immediately, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla’s response was swift, with the electric vehicle maker rolling out what it calls a “Tesla bonus.”
This bonus effectively cuts prices by up to 50,000 kronor across eight model variants. All versions of the Tesla Model Y qualify for the incentive, along with most Tesla Model 3 trims, save for the base entry-level model.
This means that for Tesla Norway’s best-selling vehicles, the bonus effectively restores pricing to pre-VAT levels. This blunts the impact of the new tax and makes Tesla’s vehicle offerings competitive again in Europe’s most EV-saturated market.
Stabilizing demand
In addition to the “Tesla bonus,” the electric car maker is also offering a promotional interest rate for up to three years, with terms varying by model. The incentive applies to orders placed between January 9 and March 31, 2026, with delivery required by the end of the first quarter.
The stakes are high in Norway, where electric vehicles dominate new-car registrations. From the vehicles that were sold in 2025, 96% of new cars sold were fully electric. And from this number, Tesla and its Model Y made their dominance felt. This was highlighted by Geir Inge Stokke, director of OFV, who noted that Tesla was able to achieve its stellar results despite its small vehicle lineup.
“Taking almost 20% market share during a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact on the Norwegian market,” Stokke stated.
Elon Musk
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
SpaceX emerged as a clear beneficiary of the Trump administration’s renewed push to accelerate military innovation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth openly praised Elon Musk’s private space enterprise during a visit to the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
Hegseth embraces Elon Musk’s pace
Speaking at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth criticized what he described as a “risk-averse culture” among traditional defense contractors and called for faster innovation modeled after Musk’s approach. He confirmed that the Department of Defense plans to integrate Musk’s Grok AI platform into Pentagon systems, which is part of the administration’s efforts to make the U.S. military an “AI-first warfighting force.”
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon intends to deploy AI models across both classified and unclassified networks, signaling a willingness to push past earlier efforts to limit military use of artificial intelligence. His comments aligned closely with President Donald Trump’s recent call for a $500 billion increase in defense spending, Bloomberg News noted. Trump has also warned major contractors that slower production and shareholder-focused practices could put future contracts at risk.
While Hegseth criticized legacy defense firms, SpaceX was held up as an example of how aggressive timelines, vertical integration, and iterative development could reshape defense strategies. “We need to be blunt here; we can no longer afford to wait a decade for our legacy prime contractors to deliver a perfect system. Winning requires a new playbook. Elon wrote it with his algorithm: question every requirement, delete the dumb ones and accelerate like hell,” Hegseth said.
SpaceX’s expanding defense role comes into focus
SpaceX has become one of the U.S. government’s most important aerospace partners. The company holds roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts to develop Starship into a lunar lander, while also serving as a key launch provider for sensitive national security payloads using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
During the visit, Musk highlighted that his ambitions extend beyond defense contracts, reiterating long-term goals of interplanetary travel and eventual exploration beyond the solar system. Still, the optics of the event reinforced how closely SpaceX’s capabilities now align with U.S. strategic priorities.
The appearance also marked another step in Musk’s political rehabilitation after a public falling-out with the White House last year. Since leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has gradually reengaged with the administration, reconnecting with U.S. President Donald Trump during slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s tribute and attending events at the White House. Trump’s also recently suggested that Starlink could help restore internet access in Iran.
Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
