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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket completes 50th orbital launch of 2022
SpaceX has successfully launched French satellite communications provider Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13G satellite, chipping away at a jam-packed November manifest and completing Falcon 9’s 50th launch of 2022.
The company’s workhorse rocket lifted off from its Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad with the 4.5-ton (~9,900 lb) geostationary communications satellite in tow at 1:22 am EDT on November 3rd – 116 minutes later than originally planned to leave more time “to complete pre-flight checkouts.” But Falcon 9 performed flawlessly, growing a record-breaking streak with its 160th consecutively-successful launch.
Flying for the seventh time since it debuted in June 2021 and just 45 days after its sixth flight, Falcon 9 booster B1067 completed a nominal ascent, separation, descent, reentry, and landing. The booster touched down on SpaceX drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) about nine minutes after liftoff and will be prepared for an eighth launch in the near future – possibly as early as next month. In addition to its well-known booster reuse, SpaceX’s webcast host noted that Falcon 9’s payload fairing – a carbon fiber composite nosecone made up of two separable halves – had halves flying for the fourth and sixth time.
Speaking in 2017, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once likened each Falcon fairing half to a pallet of $3 million that falls into the ocean after every launch. Around the same time, SpaceX decided to try to recover that pallet of cash, kicking off its fairing recovery and reuse program. Five years later, Falcon fairing reuse – while far less visible and famous than booster reuse – has become extremely reliable. At its current rate of one launch every six days, recovering and reusing fairings likely saves SpaceX tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars annually and limits the need for major manufacturing expansions that would otherwise be necessary.
Even though SpaceX fishes fairing halves out of the ocean before every flight, the company’s cleaning and refurbishment processes have improved to the point that even paying customers have started to accept flight-proven fairings on their launches. Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13G satellite is the first customer payload to use a Falcon fairing half for the sixth time, further raising the bar of acceptance.
About half an hour after liftoff, Falcon 9’s expendable upper stage separated from Hotbird 13G. On October 15th, a different Falcon 9 rocket launched its twin, Hotbird 13F, into a supersynchronous transfer orbit measuring around 400 kilometers (~245 mi) by 56,000 kilometers (~34,800 mi). Launching a satellite to a transfer orbit with an apogee higher than its destination makes reaching a circular orbit at that target altitude (35,800 km, in this case) faster and easier. Having to do less work to raise its orbit will leave Hotbird 13F and 13G with more fuel than they would otherwise have, effectively extending their theoretical lifespans by preserving more propellant for orbit maintenance after it reaches GEO.
Hotbird 13G was SpaceX’s 51st launch of 2022 and 59th launch in 365 days. If SpaceX sustains the average pace it has set in the last ten months through the last two months of 2022, it could end the year having launched more than 60 times. The mission was also Falcon 9’s 50th launch of 2022, solidifying its spot as the most-launched rocket in a calendar year. The record for the most successful launches (61) of the same rocket family in one year, however, was set by the Soviet Union and has stood for more than four decades.
SpaceX has at least five more Falcon 9 launches tentatively scheduled this month. Intelsat Galaxy 31 & 32 satellites are up next and could launch from the same pad as Hotbird 13G as early as November 8th, followed by Eutelsat 10B in mid-November, and Japanese startup ispace’s first Moon lander no earlier than November 22nd. An uncrewed Dragon spacecraft is set to launch NASA cargo to the the International Space Station (ISS) on November 20th. Finally, while tentative and contingent upon three other launches going smoothly, SpaceX could squeeze in Starlink 4-37 in late November.
Tesla has reportedly pushed the unveiling of the Roadster once again, but there are also evidently new details about the event that the company plans to show off.
The Information reported this morning that Tesla will now unveil, for the second time, the next-generation Roadster in August, a further delay from the multiple timeline that the company had previously stated.
The report has not been confirmed or denied by Tesla at any capacity.
It also states the unveiling event will take place in Texas, the same place that Tesla executives revealed in May would be the place of manufacture for the company’s highly-anticipated supercar, which boasts a top speed of over 250 MPH and 650 miles of range, according to its website.
Tesla is also expected to showcase the SpaceX package, which will be used for faster acceleration and potentially hovering capabilities, at the unveiling event, the report states. Musk has always planned for this to happen, but now it seems it is more realistic than ever
The report also states the Roadster unveiling is planned for August pic.twitter.com/By26XZIJzU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
The Roadster has had its unveiling date and manufacturing date pushed back on many occasions. It was set to start production in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic crippled supply chain operations, forcing Tesla to push its timeline back considerably.
However, COVID has been over for some time, and Tesla has still not managed to successfully schedule and execute an unveiling event, which is something fans and enthusiasts, as well as those who have put down a $50,000 deposit, have been waiting for.
The vehicle was close to completion last year, but Musk truly wanted Lars Moravy and Franz von Holzhausen to push the limits of the Roadster. In July of last year, Moravy said:
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”
It is important to note two things: Tesla has not confirmed these details, and the company has regularly pushed these dates back. Until Tesla sends out formal invitations with a concrete date, taking any unveiling event reports with a grain of salt is a good idea.
Tesla is offering a tasty Supercharging incentive on certain Model 3 trims, but the company has officially put a concrete end date on it, so those interested should act fast.
Tesla is offering Free Supercharging for One Year on the Model 3 Premium and Performance trims, the top two offerings of the all-electric sedan. There are three trims of the Model 3 that will have the Free Supercharging offer attached:
- Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive – $42,490
- Premium All-Wheel-Drive – $47,490
- Performance – $54,990
Tesla has now announced that this offer will expire on June 15, giving potential buyers about ten days to take advantage of the incentive.
This could be an additional incentive for car buyers to transition to electric vehicles. Many states are showing gas prices well over $4 per gallon, with the national average currently sitting at $4.22, according to AAA.
A free year of Supercharging miles would allow people to charge and travel for free, other than routine maintenance, which is already incredibly cheap compared to a gas car.
🚨 Tesla is now showing that it’s Free Supercharging offer for Model 3 Premium and Performance trims ends June 15 pic.twitter.com/VCLeddNSj8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
At Tesla Superchargers, peak rates, meaning prices between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., average between $0.45 and $0.60. One year of driving at an average of 12,000 miles would cost between $1,000 and $1,500 at $0.50 per kWh. It’s a pretty good deal.
Supercharging prices have also increased recently:
Many of the Superchargers in my area just had their peak rates increased from $0.44 per kWh to $0.49, $0.52, and $0.54 per kWh
If you’re looking to save on your commute/travel for the next year, this Model 3 Free Supercharging incentive might not be a bad idea https://t.co/YDwwl4xxHk pic.twitter.com/DleURW7eqa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
Tesla has used Free Supercharging to move units in the past, and it’s a great strategy for those who plan to use the car for longer commutes, cross-country drives, or do not have reliable access to home charging.
It should be noted that Tesla recommends that Supercharging be used at a minimum to preserve the life of the battery, as fast-charging is more stressful on the cells.
However, some people might not have an option, so the Free Supercharging incentive could truly be a great reason for many people to charge their cars.
The Supercharging incentive is short-term, and it is pretty rare that Tesla utilizes it, so once this offer is gone, we probably will not see it on the Model 3 for some time.
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna revealed that the Italian automaker’s future will not involve self-driving, a point that echoes that of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s — sort of.
You might be thinking, “Are you insane? Musk has been so incredibly hellbent on delivering self-driving vehicles to the public, so much so that he has even hinted that Tesla won’t need the ever-popular and widely-requested Model Y L in the U.S.”
However, when it comes to electric supercars with high-performance specs and lofty price tags, Vigna’s stance is exactly what Musk wants for Tesla’s own hypercar project, the Tesla Roadster.
🚨 Tesla Roadster vs. Ferrari Luce
Price – $250,000 vs. $640,000
Horsepower – 1,000+ vs. 1,035
0-60 MPH – 1.1s OR 1.9s vs. 2.4s
Top Speed – 250+ MPH vs. 194 MPH
Range – 620 miles vs. 280 miles https://t.co/uEgswwVLeD pic.twitter.com/XcP58ZRO6Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
In a new interview with Australian media outlet Drive, Vigna made it clear that Ferrari’s ambitions for the future do not involve autonomy, simply because the company’s cars are not designed for anything but manual, spirited driving.
He said:
“We will not make fully autonomous cars — loud and clear. We want the people to have fun, not the [computer] chips. We want to have a steering wheel and a man or a woman behind the steering wheel. Otherwise, why do you buy a Ferrari?”
This seems to be a reasonable assertion. Ferraris are not made for daily commutes, cross-country road trips, or bumper-to-bumper traffic. They’re made for fast, spirited driving, and many of their buyers will only put a few thousand miles on them throughout their lifetime. True, exciting, fun driving is meant to be done manually.
That is not to say Full Self-Driving or other semi-autonomous suites are not “fun,” but they are meant to take the stress out of driving. They are made for the daily commutes, the rush hour traffic, and the parking lots and garages. It’s made to take the stress out of driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving attempts 150-mile stress test: the good and the bad
Musk had stated in an interview in early 2026 that the Roadster would also be geared toward fun, manually-controlled driving. On the Moonshots podcast with Peter Diamandis, Musk said about the Roadster:
“This is not a…safety is not the main goal. If you buy a Ferrari, safety is not the number one goal. I say, if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster…We’ll aspire not to kill anyone in this car. It’ll be the best of the last of the human-driven cars. The best of the last.”
There are cars out there that simply are meant to be driven by humans, and Ferraris and Roadsters are a few of them. Ferrari has no true advantage in developing self-driving; their cars sell at low volumes with high price tags, and their performance specs and engineering are all geared toward spirited driving.
Tesla Roadster unveiling gets pushed again, but new event details emerge
Tesla Model 3 has a tasty Supercharging incentive, but it’s ending soon
