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SpaceX nails first rocket landing by sea in half a year, sends exoplanet probe beyond the Moon

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8 years ago

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SpaceX has successfully completed the first drone ship recovery of a Falcon 9 booster in nearly six months, bringing to an end a what will likely be the final drought of by-sea rocket landings in the company’s history.

B1045’s landing was a particularly stunning example of just how far SpaceX has come. By all appearances, the recovery was easily the smoothest yet achieved by the company, with nary a hint of reentry heating visible in the near-flawless live coverage from a camera aboard the booster. Perhaps of even more interest, the landing itself appeared to be exceptionally luxurious, with the booster gently floating down to its final resting perch aboard the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.

Falcon 9 1045 soars to the sky, the final new Block 4 flight ever. (Tom Cross)

This return-to-landing, so to speak, is SpaceX’s 24th successful Falcon booster recovery in just over three years of true recovery efforts. The last several months have featured an unfamiliar number of intentionally expendable launches, in which SpaceX chose to preclude any attempt at recovery, instead typically gently landing the boosters in the ocean to gather additional flight-test data and to explore the envelope of Falcon 9’s recovery capabilities. In all cases but one (Hispasat 30W-6), these intentionally expended boosters were older, flight-proven versions of the rocket, versions that hadn’t been designed to economically fly more than once or twice.

B1045, however, has just one flight under its belt, and is already pegged for a second launch with CRS-15, giving the booster as few as 50 days to be refurbished and prepped for its second pre-launch static fire (likely the first week of June). This would be an exceptionally fitting case of foreshadowing for SpaceX’s upcoming Block 5 iteration of Falcon 9. If a Block 4 booster can be launched, landed, and refurbished in well under two months, one can only imagine what a Falcon 9 explicitly upgraded for ease of reuse will be capable of.

Over the past six months, SpaceX has aggressively expanded their program of orbital rocket reuse, leaping from just three operational reflights of Falcon 9 boosters in the process’ first half-year (Mar-Oct ’17) to seven operational reflights between the following months of December and April. Today, April 18, the successful launch of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) marks the final launch of a new Block 4 Falcon 9 booster (B1045) – although we can expect as many as three additional reflights of recovery Block 4 boosters in 2018, all new Falcon 9 boosters from here on out will be Block 5s, a final upgrade to the rocket designed to significantly optimize reliability and reusability. The first Falcon 9 Block 5 is expected to debut sometime in May, currently No Earlier Than (NET) May 4.

Impressively, despite the fairly extensive modifications and upgrades – both for reliability and reusability – included in Falcon 9 Block 5, SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann stated that the lengthy test campaign in Texas went well and was in fact “faster than we’ve ever had on new Block upgrades [of Falcon 9].” SpaceX themselves have not yet given a specific date for the debut of Block 5, but Hans did partially confirm recent reports that it is now targeting a debut in “early May” with the launch of Bangabandhu-1. Put simply, so long as things go more or less according to plan, 2018 will in every conceivable way usher in the real future of orbital-class reusable rockets – perhaps enabling the sort of responsive, cheap, and reliable access to space long ago promised by CEO Elon Musk.

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Science galore

Despite its diminutive size and 350 kg mass, TESS is expected to dramatically expand the number of detected exoplanets in the universe, and is tasked with surveying the remaining 95% of the sky left unscanned after Kepler’s famous mission. Ultimately, conservative estimates from astronomers expect TESS to add thousands of new exoplanets to humanity’s current catalog, with perhaps as many as 10% of those discovered likely to be Earth-sized, and thus potential candidates for the first habitable planets to be observed beyond the cozy bounds of our own Solar System.

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To give a sense of just how far electronics and satellite technology have improved in the decade since the Kepler observatory was launched (2009), that 1050kg spacecraft was designed to stare specifically at one small segment of the sky (0.25%), scanning it ceaselessly for exoplanets. Despite complex technical difficulties, Kepler managed to discover nearly 1100 confirmed exoplanets, with more than 3000 additional candidates waiting to be confirmed by other spacecraft or telescopes.

On the other hand, the 350kg TESS, has been designed to sca the entire sky and may well double, triple, or quadruple the number of known exoplanets in the universe. Falcon 9 may undoubtedly be a bit like using a dump truck when a shovel would do, but the tiny size of the payload can be thanked for the exceptionally gentle booster recovery and the equally (relatively) easy refurbishment soon to follow.

Follow us for live updates, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and a sea of beautiful photos from our East and West coast photographers.

Teslarati   –   Instagram – Twitter

Tom Cross – Twitter

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Pauline Acalin – Twitter

Eric Ralph – Twitter

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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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Tesla analyst breaks down delivery report: ‘A step in the right direction’

“This will be viewed as better than feared deliveries and a step in the right direction for the Tesla story heading into 2026,” Ives wrote.

Published

34 minutes ago

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January 2, 2026

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush released a new note on Friday morning just after the company released production and delivery figures for Q4 and the full year of 2025, stating that the numbers, while slightly underwhelming, are “better than feared” and as “a step in the right direction.”

Tesla reported production of 434,358 and deliveries of 418,227 for the fourth quarter, while 1,654,667 vehicles were produced and 1,636,129 cars were delivered for the full year.

Tesla releases Q4 and FY 2025 vehicle delivery and production report

Interestingly, the company posted its own consensus figures that were compiled from various firms on its website a few days ago, where expectations were set at 1,640,752 cars for the year. Tesla fell about 4,000 units short of that. One of the areas where Tesla excelled was energy deployments, which totaled 46.7 GWh for the year.

In terms of vehicle deliveries, Ives writes that Tesla certainly has some things to work through if it wants to return to growth in that aspect, especially with the loss of the $7,500 tax credit in the U.S. and “continuous headwinds” for the company in Europe.

However, Ives also believes that, given the delivery numbers, which were on par with expectations, Tesla is positioned well for a strong 2026, especially with its AI focus, Robotaxi and Cybercab development, and energy:

“This will be viewed as better than feared deliveries and a step in the right direction for the Tesla story heading into 2026. We look forward to hearing more at the company’s 4Q25 call on January 28th. AI Valuation – The Focus Throughout 2026. We believe Tesla could reach a $2 trillion market cap over the coming year and, in a bull case scenario, $3 trillion by the end of 2026…as full-scale volume production begins with the autonomous and robotics roadmap…The company has started to test the all-important Cybercab in Austin over the past few weeks, which is an incremental step towards launching in 2026 with important volume production of Cybercabs starting in April/May, which remains the golden goose in unlocking TSLA’s AI valuation.”

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It’s no secret that for the past several years, Tesla’s vehicle delivery numbers have been the main focus of investors and analysts have looked at them as an indicator of company health to a certain extent. The problem with that narrative in 2025 and 2026 is that Tesla is now focusing more on the deployment of Full Self-Driving, its Optimus project, AI development, and Cybercab.

While vehicle deliveries still hold importance, it is more crucial to note that Tesla’s overall environment as a business relies on much more than just how many cars are purchased. That metric, to a certain extent, is fading in importance in the grand scheme of things, but it will never totally disappear.

Ives and Wedbush maintained their $600 price target and an ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla releases Q4 and FY 2025 vehicle delivery and production report

Deliveries stood at 406,585 Model 3/Y and 11,642 other models, for a total of 418,227 vehicles.

Published

2 hours ago

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January 2, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has reported its Q4 2025 production and deliveries, with 418,227 vehicles delivered and 434,358 produced worldwide. Energy storage deployments hit a quarterly record at 14.2 GWh. 

Tesla’s Q4 and FY 2025 results were posted on Friday, January 2, 2026. 

Q4 2025 production and deliveries

In Q4 2025, Tesla produced 422,652 Model 3/Y units and 11,706 other models, which are comprised of the Model S, Model X, and the Cybertruck, for a total of 434,358 vehicles. Deliveries stood at 406,585 Model 3/Y and 11,642 other models, for a total of 418,227 vehicles.

Energy deployments reached 14.2 GWh, a new record. Similar to other reports, Tesla posted a company thanked customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and supporters for its fourth quarter results.

In comparison, analysts included in Tesla’s company-compiled consensus estimate that Tesla would deliver 422,850 vehicles and deploy 13.4 GWh of battery storage systems in Q4 2025. 

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Tesla’s Full Year 2025 results

For the full year, Tesla produced a total of 1,654,667 vehicles, comprised of 1,600,767 Model Y/3 and 53,900 other models. Tesla also delivered 1,636,129 vehicles in FY 2025, comprised of 1,585,279 Model Y/3 and 50,850 other models. Energy deployments totaled 46.7 GWh over the year.

In comparison, analysts included in Tesla’s company-compiled consensus expected the company to deliver a total of 1,640,752 vehicles for full year 2025. Analysts also expected Tesla’s energy division to deploy a total of 45.9 GWh during the year. 

Tesla will post its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025 after market close on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. The company’s Q4 and FY 2025 earnings call is expected to be held on the same day at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. 

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Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report

Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.

Published

1 day ago

on

December 31, 2025

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Credit: Starlink/X

Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.

SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.

Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress

Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.

Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.

Starlink Direct to Cell

Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.

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“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.

starlinkProgressReport_2025 by Simon Alvarez

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