In a statement issued to Bloomberg, the US Space Force says that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket could still conduct its first operational launch for the military before the end of the year.
That’s a large downgrade from late 2021 and early 2022, when – lacking any new information from the US military – it appeared that SpaceX could launch up to three Falcon Heavy rockets for military customers over the course of the year. Around eight months later, the world’s most powerful and capable operational rocket – backed by a strong manifest of 11 firm launch contracts – hasn’t flown once since June 2019. At that time, the rocket’s next launch was already expected no earlier than late 2020 – a roughly 18-month gap.
Instead, thanks to largely unspecified problems that have relentlessly delayed the completion of the satellites Falcon Heavy is supposed to launch, the rocket’s fourth flight is now unlikely to occur less than ~40 months after its third. Thankfully, a new Space Force decision should at least dull the pain caused by the endless shuffling of Falcon Heavy’s near-term launch manifest.
Alongside a slight schedule update stating that SpaceX’s first operational Falcon Heavy launch for the US military could still happen sometime from “October to December” 2022, the Space Force statement issued to Bloomberg mainly revealed the military branch’s June decision to permit SpaceX’s use of reused Falcon Heavy boosters on upcoming launches. While Bloomberg did not publish the statement in full or explain what the decision truly entails, the implication is that the Space Force will now let SpaceX assign flight-proven Falcon boosters – with US military oversight – to its military missions.
The US military will likely retain the ability to veto or modify SpaceX’s booster assignments and reuse sequencing, but the Space Force told Bloomberg that it’s confident that the “recovery, refurbishment, and launch of SpaceX boosters utilizes well-established processes.” In fact, the US military has already approved the use of flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters, several launches of which have since occurred, and even allowed SpaceX to fly two reused Falcon Heavy side booster’s on the rocket’s first (test) launch for the military.
It’s no surprise that that acceptance would eventually grow to include Falcon Heavy, which is similar to Falcon 9 in many ways. That it took the USSF until June 2022, three full years after STP-2 demonstrated the successful reuse of two Falcon Heavy boosters at once, to fully approve it is arguably far more surprising.
SpaceX will likely be able to plan for future Falcon Heavy launches more easily knowing that the US military should – in theory – be okay with the company reusing boosters on upcoming launches. That would be especially true if the military is comfortable with SpaceX reusing Falcon Heavy boosters that have supported non-military launches. After numerous delays, only one non-military mission – ViaSat’s first ViaSat-3 geostationary communications satellite – still claims to have a shot at a 2022 launch, but that target has slipped from spring, late-summer, and September 2022 to Q4 2022 since late 2021.
At one point, the US military’s USSF-44, USSF-52, and USSF-67 missions were all scheduled to launch on Falcon Heavy in 2022. Now, one reliable source states that USSF-44 and USSF-52 are indefinitely delayed, while another indicates that USSF-44 has slipped to December 2022 and USSF-52 to April 2023. Meanwhile, EchoStar’s Jupiter-3 commsat recently slipped to Q1 2023 and NASA’s Psyche asteroid explorer ran into software issues that delayed its Falcon Heavy launch from August/September 2022 to July or September 2023.
That leaves ViaSat-3 and USSF-67, both of which could launch in Q4 2022. But given just how delay-ridden ViaSat-3 has been and how temperamental all military Falcon Heavy payloads have been, the most likely outcome may already be zero Falcon Heavy launches in 2022.
Tesla’s Automatic Collision Evasion feature can be seen in one of the first owner videos of it in action.
Tesla owner Spencer (@scotsrule08) posted on Monday that the feature “worked flawlessly,” saying FSD reengaged itself just as he was about to hit a curb. Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s AI team, shared the clip and wrote, “A guardian angel always looking out for you.”
The video arrives in the middle of a staged rollout. Tesla first shipped Automatic Collision Evasion with FSD (Supervised) v14.3.9 in software update 2026.27.6 earlier this month, which Teslarati covered as it reached cars. Update 2026.27.10, which began going out on September 19, carried the feature improvements with FSD v14.3.10, according to release notes tracked by Not a Tesla App. The newer 2026.27.11 build is now reaching another wave of vehicles.
The new Automatic Collision Evasion feature worked flawlessly! FSD reengaged itself just as I was about to hit a curb.
Kudos @Tesla_AI team! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Fbp15HhpL2
— Spencer (@scotsrule08) September 28, 2026
The feature only runs on HW4 vehicles, and it requires an active FSD purchase or subscription with both FSD (Supervised) and Automatic Emergency Braking enabled. HW3 owners receive FSD v14.2 Lite in the same updates, but that build does not include collision evasion.
Tesla’s release notes describe two triggers. The first is an imminent frontal collision that braking alone may not prevent, in which case the car can activate FSD to steer, brake or accelerate around the hazard. That scenario is limited to highways below 85 mph, with no pedestrians or cyclists detected and no slippery road surface. The second covers a driver who appears inattentive, such as reaching into the back seat, or who seems to have switched off FSD by accident. Spencer’s curb clip appears to fall into that second category.
Tesla plans big safety improvements for Full Self-Driving v15
Once the system takes over, the accelerator is muted and light brake input will not cancel the maneuver. Drivers need to apply firm, deliberate steering force to take back control, and the car chimes to hand control back once the danger has passed.
Elluswamy recently noted that earlier hazard prediction, faster reaction time and better collision avoidance would arrive with FSD v15, the next major version.
Tesla is delaying its event for the Roadster, moving it from this Thursday, October 1, to Thursday, October 15, due to unfavorable weather.
The company has said it has been tracking the weather for this Thursday closely with local meteorologists, and because the event can only be held outside, Tesla is making the call to delay it:
“We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule. New date is October 15. Additional details to follow.”
Roadster event update
We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule.
New date is October 15. Additional details to…
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 28, 2026
We are sure that this is bringing back PTSD for some Tesla fans, and we know it is not ideal, but this also reveals some things about the event. Tesla said that this can only be held outdoors, meaning it bodes well for the rumors that the vehicle could potentially hover.
Some believe that this was essentially confirmed by the FAA airspace restriction they were granted, but this could have been for a drone show or to keep drones from spying on the event.
Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold
The Roadster event has been long-awaited, and it is unfortunate that the weather is going to keep us all waiting a little bit longer.
The Tesla Roadster will be unveiled in Waco, Texas.
Elon Musk
SpaceX turned a heralding moment for Starship into its greatest
Starship reached orbit despite losing an engine, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Flight 14.
SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, and for a few nail-biting minutes it looked like it wouldn’t. During ascent on Flight 14, one of Ship 41’s six Raptor engines shut down early, and SpaceX’s livestream host Dan Huot told viewers the team had decided not to commit to orbit. Minutes later, after what Huot described as a lot of conversation in the control room, the final poll came back in favor, and a roughly 19 second burn of a single Raptor pushed the ship into orbit about 170 miles up.
The reversal matters because SpaceX had written the exit ramp into the mission plan. The company said it would only fire the orbital insertion burn if flight controllers confirmed enough backup hardware remained for the deorbit burn, a condition Teslarati laid out ahead of the flight. Losing an engine was exactly the scenario that rule was built for.
Pressing forward fits Elon Musk’s history. Falcon 1 failed three straight times before its fourth launch reached orbit in 2008, with SpaceX nearly out of money, and Starship was developed by flying prototypes until they broke. What changed this year SpaceX going public, and with $SPCX sliding below its IPO price in July when Flight 13 slipped, the short interest climbed significantly, as Teslarati reported at the time. A Starship potentially lost today with revenue generating next-gen Starlink satellites aboard would have landed directly on shareholders.
Splashdown confirmed. Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the first orbital flight of Starship! pic.twitter.com/urjmiwnvNl
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 28, 2026
That pressure showed up after orbit. SpaceX cut a flight planned to last nearly 10 hours to about three, moving splashdown from west of Chile to the North Pacific near Hawaii. SpaceX gave no reason, though Musk said this month the company was being extremely cautious about debris risk. The single Raptor for deorbit worked, and Ship 41 completed its flip and landing burn before breaking apart in the water, an outcome SpaceX expected. Musk has structured SpaceX’s governance to shield long term bets from market pressure.
The payload is the bigger business story. Musk posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and are “operating nominally.” Each V3 is rated for about 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink, so this single launch adds roughly 26 Tbps, about 10 times what a Falcon 9 load of V2 Mini satellites adds. The V3 is too large for Falcon 9, making Starship the only vehicle that can build out the planned 100,000 satellite constellation, at up to 60 per flight once it reaches routine service. Unlike the 20 V3 units on Flight 13, which reentered on a suborbital path, these will raise their orbits and could begin serving customers within weeks and bring in hundreds of millions of additional dollars in projected Starlink revenue.
SpaceX has already begun winding down Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Florida in favor of Starship. Reported targets put Flight 15 as early as October 19, leaving about three weeks to diagnose Monday’s engine shutdown before the next orbital attempt.
Starship’s 14th flight is set to launch on Monday, Sept 28. The 75-minute launch window opens at 7:15 a.m. CT. Live coverage of the mission starts ~35 minutes before launch → https://t.co/uQKQvgaTmJ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 27, 2026
Watch Tesla’s “guardian angel” FSD feature take over for collision evasion
Tesla Roadster event gets delayed due to unfavorable weather
