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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket spied at Pad 39A as December launch quartet aligns

Set to launch NET December 4, SpaceX will soon attempt its first Block 5 RTLS landing on the East Coast. (SpaceX)

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Photographer Tom McCool lucked upon an open hangar door at Pad 39A on November 27, catching a fresh Falcon 9 Block 5 booster in the late stages of pre-launch integration.

Likely to launch one of two particularly important payloads sometime in the next 4-8 weeks, this booster spotting aligns with what is anticipated to be a fairly busy December for SpaceX, marked by four possible launches and preparations for the imminent inaugural test flight of Crew Dragon.

At the moment, SpaceX is the juggling shipment, integration, and preflight checkouts of at least three shiny new Falcon 9 Block 5 rockets ahead of critical US Air Force and NASA launches in December and January. In order of anticipated launch date, those boosters are B1050, B1054, and B1051 for CRS-16 (Cargo Dragon), an upgraded GPS III satellite, and DM-1 (Crew Dragon), respectively.

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CRS-16 

On the East Coast, SpaceX’s next launch is the 16th operational resupply mission for Cargo Dragon, scheduled to deliver several tons of critical supplies to the International Space Station no earlier than (NET) December 4th. Set to launch from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) Launch Complex 40 (LC-40), the new Block 5 booster B1050 is already integrated and at the ready inside the company’s LC-40 hangar, awaiting the arrival and attachment of a flight-proven Cargo Dragon.

A Cargo Dragon nears the ISS. (Oleg Artemyev)

While it’s unknown which Dragon capsule that will be, SpaceX has anywhere from 4-8 recovered spacecraft to choose from, although expendable trunks (a detachable aft section adorned with solar arrays and storage space) must still be built for each future resupply mission. According to CEO Elon Musk and other SpaceX executives, Cargo Dragon was designed from the start to be capable of at least three orbital missions with refurbishment, and it’s possible that CRS-16 could be the third launch for one such capsule.

After sending Cargo Dragon and the upper stage on their way, Falcon 9 B1050 will likely perform the first Block 5 Return To Launch Site (RTLS) recovery, performing a 180 degree flip and burning back towards the Florida coast to land just a few miles away from the launch site.

 

GPS III-01 (the first of many)

Of the five launch contracts thus competed for the first ten GPS III satellite launches, SpaceX has won all five, while ULA’s Delta IV was awarded a launch contract for one of those satellites, leaving four more up for grabs in the next several years. The first ‘Space Vehicle’, GPS III serial number 01 (GPS III-01), is now ready for launch, pending the completion of certain USAF reviews of SpaceX’s recently-debuted Block 5 Falcon 9 upgrade.

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Now targeting NET December 18, perhaps the most curious aspect of Falcon 9’s first GPS launch is the glaring reality that most signs currently point toward an intentionally expendable configuration of the new Falcon 9 Block 5 booster. Given that SpaceX has made it abundantly clear that Block 5 boosters at least aspire to be able to perform 10 launches with little to no refurbishment, expending a fresh booster without even a single reuse would carry a potentially immense opportunity cost.

By all reasonable estimation, Falcon 9 Block 5 should be able to place the ~3900 kg (8600 lb) GPS III satellite into a medium Earth orbit with plenty of margin left over for a drone ship recovery in the Atlantic. Likely to launch aboard Falcon 9 B1054, the only possible explanation for an expendable mission would be a request (or demand) from SpaceX’s customer, the USAF.

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Crew Dragon’s orbital debut (DM-1)

Finally, SpaceX and NASA have – perhaps for the first time in the history of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) – set an actual date for the first orbital launch of a spacecraft developed under the program’s purview, in this case SpaceX’s Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. NET January 7 2019, that date is certainly tenuous, but it effectively indicates that SpaceX is certain the hardware, software, and general operations side of things is all good to go. SpaceX is now more or less waiting on NASA’s dreadfully slow bureaucracy to perform the far more mundane duties of completing paperwork, coordinating ISS schedules to fit Crew Dragon in, and other miscellaneous tasks.

 

Time will tell, but COO and President Gwynne Shotwell stated in October 2018 that she fully expected Falcon 9 and the first orbit-ready Crew Dragon to be vertical at Pad 39A before the month of December is out, basically ready to launch as soon as NASA and ISS scheduling are ready to allow it. It’s nearly impossible to know for sure, but the rocket spotted on Tuesday inside Pad 39A’s hangar could very well be Falcon 9 B1051 and a crew-ready upper stage preparing for Crew Dragon’s first autonomous test flight, or it could be B1054 (unconfirmed) in the late stages of preparation for SpaceX’s imminent GPS III launch.

All will be made clear in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s next launch – SSO-A on the West Coast – has slipped into the first few days of December thanks to some unusually harsh weather conditions above the launch pad.

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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 Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.

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Credit: @JT59052914/X

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.

Recent Cybercab sightings

Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.

The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.

Production design all but finalized?

Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.

There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious. 

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Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade

As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

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Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

Vision’s decision to pull the blockade

Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week. 

As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.

“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”

The SKR’s warning

Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said. 

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Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.

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Tesla Semi program Director teases major improvements

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.

Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.

The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.

Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries

Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.

Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.

Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.

All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”

The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.

Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.

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