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SpaceX Falcon 9 to attempt unusual drone ship landing after space station resupply launch
SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket is ready for the company’s 12th launch this year, set to send a reused Cargo Dragon spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) and conclude with a surprise drone ship landing attempt.
SpaceX is about eight hours out from launching CRS-19, set to become Cargo Dragon’s 20th orbital mission and 19th space station rendezvous and resupply. It will also be the second time a single Cargo Dragon capsule flies its third orbital mission and the eight Dragon reuse overall, continuing proof that SpaceX is by far the leading global expert in launch vehicle and orbital spacecraft recovery and reuse.
Set to lift off no earlier than 12:51 pm ET (16:51 UTC), December 4th, CRS-19 will see flight-proven Cargo Dragon capsule C106 launch atop a new expendable trunk and upper stage, as well as a new Falcon 9 booster – an increasingly unusual sight. After a Falcon Heavy Block 5 launch completed earlier this year, SpaceX passed a threshold where it had recovered more boosters after launch than it had expended, equating to 40+ successful landings. Since Falcon 9 Block 5 – a reusability and reliability-focused upgrade – debuted in May 2018, sooty (i.e. flight-proven) boosters have become an increasingly common sight.
Between Falcon Heavy’s two 2019 launches, four new boosters marked their flight debut, while Falcon 9 missions have only debuted two new boosters – soon to be three after CRS-19. In other words, as of today, 7 of Falcon 9’s 9 2019 launches have involved flight-proven boosters – more than 75%. In fact, Block 5 is proving so robust that SpaceX has actually intentionally slowed down booster production at its Hawthorne, CA factory, hoping to instead treat its currently flightworthy rockets as a true fleet, cycling through them to launch dozens of missions.
Cargo Dragon with a (rare) side of drone ship
Beyond the rarity of a new booster’s launch debut and Cargo Dragon’s increasingly impressive history of reusability, CRS-19 – as discussed at length in earlier articles – will also see Falcon 9 booster B1058 attempt to land aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) some 350 km (200 mi) downrange. Aside from CRS-17’s Crew Dragon explosion-related drone ship landing in May 2019, all CRS mission booster recoveries since April 2016 have landed (or at least attempted to land) at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral-based LZ-1 or LZ-2 landing pads.
Close to shore by average drone ship landing standards but a cross-country jaunt compared to CRS-17’s unusual May 2019 booster landing aboard OCISLY, SpaceX explained the odd booster recovery plans in a routine prelaunch press conference yesterday afternoon.
“[After Dragon is deployed and CRS-19’s launch concludes], SpaceX is going to perform an…ambitious coast test, requiring larger propellant margins that must be withdrawn from Falcon 9’s own landing propellant budget.”
Teslarati — December 3rd, 2019
In short, SpaceX needs to leave more propellant for the upper stage, thus limiting B1058’s ability to boost all the way back to the Florida coast. Instead, it will only partially slow its Eastbound velocity, still leaving enough margin for drone ship OCISLY to station relatively close to the Florida coast compared to more common (and more demanding) booster recovery profiles.
All told, SpaceX says Falcon 9’s upper stage will attempt to perform a six-hour coast (“thermal test”) after CRS-19, concluding with a final Merlin Vacuum engine reignition and deorbit burn, similar to a test performed after CRS-18’s recent July 2019 launch. These tests are meant to satisfy what SpaceX described as the requirements of “other customers”, of which the USAF is by far the best known for its long-duration coast demands. For an upper stage powered by cryogenic liquid fuel, remaining fully functional for hours in orbit is one of the single greatest technical challenges that face modern rocketry.
Tune in around 12:30 pm ET (16:30 UTC) at the webcast below to watch Falcon 9’s CRS-19 launch and landing live.
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Tesla Giga Berlin dispute against IG Metall union leads to investigation
As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon.
German authorities have opened an investigation into an IG Metall union representative following allegations that a confidential works council meeting at Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin was secretly recorded. The probe follows a criminal complaint filed by Tesla management last week.
As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors in Frankfurt (Oder) confirmed that an investigation is underway into a possible unauthorized audio recording of an internal works council meeting.
Under German law, recording a non-public meeting without consent may constitute a criminal offense.
Tesla stated that Gigafactory Berlin employees alerted management after allegedly discovering that an external union representative, who was attending the event as a guest, had recorded the session. Plant manager André Thierig stated in a post on X that the representative was “caught in action,” prompting the company to contact police and file a criminal complaint.
The seized device is now part of the investigation, and authorities will determine whether any unlawful recording had indeed occurred.
IG Metall has denied the accusation. In comments to German media, representatives rejected Tesla’s claim and described the electric vehicle maker’s allegation as an election campaign tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections.
The election at Tesla’s Grünheide plant is scheduled for March 2–4, 2026, with about 11,000 employees being eligible to vote. Regular works council elections in Germany are held every four years between March and May.
The incident comes amid tensions between Tesla and organized labor in Germany. While works councils operate independently from unions, IG Metall has been active at the plant and has previously criticized Tesla’s labor practices. Authorities, for their part, have not yet announced whether charges will be filed, though the investigation remains ongoing.
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Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe
The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.
Tesla is rolling out Grok to vehicles in Europe. The feature will initially launch in nine European territories.
In a post on X, the official Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa account confirmed that Grok is coming to Teslas in Europe. The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain, and additional markets are expected to be added later.
Grok allows drivers to ask questions using real-time information and interact hands-free while driving. According to Tesla’s support documentation, Grok can also initiate navigation commands, enabling users to search for destinations, discover points of interest, and adjust routes without touching the touchscreen, as per the feature’s official webpage.
The system offers selectable personalities, ranging from “Storyteller” to “Unhinged,” and is activated either through the App Launcher or by pressing and holding the steering wheel’s microphone button.
Grok is currently available only on Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck vehicles equipped with an AMD infotainment processor. Vehicles must be running software version 2025.26 or later, with navigation command support requiring version 2025.44.25 or newer.
Drivers must also have Premium Connectivity or a stable Wi-Fi connection to use the feature. Tesla notes that Grok does not currently replace standard voice commands for vehicle controls such as climate or media adjustments.
The company has stated that Grok interactions are processed securely by xAI and are not linked to individual drivers or vehicles. Users do not need a Grok account or subscription to enable the feature at this time as well.
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Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Tesla has officially ended the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that was announced for the United States market in January by CEO Elon Musk.
The driver assistance suite is now exclusively available in the U.S. as a subscription, which is currently priced at $99 per month.
Tesla moved away from the outright purchase option in an effort to move more people to the subscription program, but there are concerns over its current price and the potential for it to rise.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Although Tesla moved back the deadline in other countries, it has now taken effect in the U.S. on Sunday morning. Tesla updated its website to reflect this:
🚨 Tesla has officially moved the outright purchase option for FSD on its website pic.twitter.com/RZt1oIevB3
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 15, 2026
There are still some concerns regarding its price, as $99 per month is not where many consumers are hoping to see the subscription price stay.
Musk has said that as capabilities improve, the price will go up, but it seems unlikely that 10 million drivers will want to pay an extra $100 every month for the capability, even if it is extremely useful.
Instead, many owners and fans of the company are calling for Tesla to offer a different type of pricing platform. This includes a tiered-system that would let owners pick and choose the features they would want for varying prices, or even a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pricing option, which would incentivize longer-term purchasing.
Although Musk and other Tesla are aware of FSD’s capabilities and state is is worth much more than its current price, there could be some merit in the idea of offering a price for Supervised FSD and another price for Unsupervised FSD when it becomes available.
Tesla Giga Berlin dispute against IG Metall union leads to investigation
Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe
