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SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy reaches milestone as third booster arrives in FL
A new SpaceX rocket was spotted traveling into Florida yesterday on its way to one of the company’s several Cape Canaveral booster storage and processing hangars. More likely than not, this particular booster is the second Falcon Heavy center core ever built, a heavily modified variant of Falcon 9’s first stage.
With the presumed center core’s arrival, all three Falcon Heavy boosters are now at or near SpaceX Launch Complex 39A, a major step forward for the second flight of the super heavy-lift launch vehicle, currently NET March 2019. Aside from the first stage, it appears that Falcon Heavy Flight 2’s payload fairing may have also arrived at Cape Canaveral around the end of January.
Captured by SpaceX Facebook group member Joshua Murrah on the morning of February 11th, the shrinkwrapped Falcon booster and truck were stopped at a weigh station on the border of Alabama and Florida, a now-common location for core spottings thanks to its adjacency to Mr. Murrah’s daily commute. No more than an 8-10 hour drive from Florida’s East Coast and Kennedy Space Center, the rocket likely arrived at its destination sometime within the last 12 or so hours.
While Falcon Heavy hardware would normally be expected to head straight for SpaceX’s hangar at Pad 39A, the only facility currently capable of launching the triple-booster rocket, the company faces a mild logistical challenge thanks to the terminally delayed launch debut of Crew Dragon. As of now, Crew Dragon, Falcon 9, and 39A’s transporter/erector (T/E) are integrated inside the pad’s hangar, leaving very little space for additional rocket processing as a result of the sheer scale of the T/E. Past photos of SpaceX’s 39A hangar illustrate that it can nominally house 4 or 5 Falcon boosters with ease, but space becomes far more limited once the T/E is rolled inside.
there might actually be juuuust enough room to literally fit them per FH Flight 1 processing pics, but only enough for Falcon Heavy integration if the TE remains outside. Will be very curious to see how SpaceX handles this, it's one hell of a logistical puzzle 😅 pic.twitter.com/D5BFXQnQ3V
— Eric Ralph (@13ericralph31) January 30, 2019
In essence, Falcon Heavy Flight 2 will likely have to wait until Crew Dragon has completed its launch debut before SpaceX technicians and engineers can begin integrating its three boosters and verifying that all is healthy, only the second time SpaceX will have performed those procedures. Crew Dragon’s uncrewed demonstration mission (DM-1) is currently scheduled for NET March 2nd, although there is a high probability that it will slip at least a few more days into March, if not further. Prior to its latest March 2nd launch target, Crew Dragon was expected to launch sometime in mid-to-late January as of December 2018, a date that has effectively remained 30+ days away ever since.
It’s ambiguous what the causes of those delays are and SpaceX and NASA clearly have no interest in directly tackling an explanation, but the most likely reason can be found in a painfully mundane reality: paperwork, worsened by a record-length US goverment shutdown. While both partners are likely culpable in some way, the fact remains that SpaceX has a long history of doing difficult things faster and cheaper than the old guard perceives as possible, while NASA has its own decades-long history of doing difficult things with extreme caution (for better or for worse).
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- The second (and third) flight of Falcon Heavy is even closer to reality as the first new side booster heads to Florida after finishing static fire tests in Texas. (Reddit /u/e32revelry)
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- SpaceX Facebook group member Joshua Murrah captured two great photos of the second Falcon Heavy side booster to arrive in Florida in the last month. (Joshua Murrah, 01/17/19)
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- SpaceX Facebook group member Joshua Murrah also captured what is likely the third Falcon Heavy booster’s Florida arrival. (Joshua Murrah, 02/11/19)
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- Falcon Heavy ahead of its inaugural launch. (SpaceX)
With any luck, Crew Dragon will successfully launch into orbit for the first time in the first several days of March, leaving enough buffer for SpaceX to rapidly integrate, checkout, and static-fire Falcon Heavy for an operational launch debut – carrying communications satellite Arabsat 6A – near the end of March. If all goes well, Falcon Heavy’s third launch – the USAF’s second Space Test Program mission (STP-2) – could occur as early as April 2019, potentially just a month after Flight 2.
Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”
Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.
For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.
The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):
“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”
Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.
Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.
The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.
Tesla confirmed this morning that it has sent the first production units, manufactured with no steering wheel or pedals, to on-road testing in Austin, sharing video of the first rides with no human controls.
The lack of steering wheels and pedals in the Cybercab aligns with Tesla’s self-certification of Robotaxi as Level 4 SAE, a platform it plans to make widespread through internal vehicles and customer-owned cars that will operate and generate revenue for individuals.
The start of these engineering tests is a major signal for Tesla, which plans to bring driverless, wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercabs to market in the coming months. With production already well underway at Gigafactory Texas, where the Cybercab is built, there is some inclination to believe the first public rides could happen sooner rather than later.
Engineering tests of the first production Cybercab have begun in Austin pic.twitter.com/fk3KQvcE8a
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 30, 2026
Tesla’s engineering tests will put the Cybercab in real-world scenarios, testing not only the hardware, but more importantly, the software that drives the car around Austin with nobody supervising it within the car.
This is perhaps the biggest part of the internal testing process, especially prior to allowing regular, everyday people to hail the Cybercab for an autonomous ride. These early rides serve as a true benchmark for Tesla: How many rides can it achieve safely? How many miles did it travel consecutively without needing an intervention? What scenarios challenge the Full Self-Driving suite the most?
The proper precautions have already been put into place as well, as Tesla released the First Responders Guide to Cybercab over the weekend, ensuring that emergency services have 24/7 access to Robotaxi Assistance, as well as other boundaries, such as Geofencing features that can be used to redirect autonomous vehicle traffic due to accidents, road closures, construction, or maintenance.
Cybercab seems genuinely close to being added to the Robotaxi fleet in Austin, but Tesla has prioritized safety throughout this entire process. Therefore, we think it could be months before it truly starts giving rides to the public. People have been frustrated with this, but Robotaxi in Austin has a tremendous safety record so far, so the slow rollout has kept people safe and accidents to a minimum.
The most important thing is that Tesla continues to show consistent progress in the Cybercab’s ramp-up toward fleet addition. A few weeks back, we saw the EPA reward the Cybercab a Certificate of Conformity, allowing it to enter the stream of commerce. Then, we saw Tesla add decals, signaling that it was likely about to start testing it publicly. That has now happened.
The next big move will be the announcement of the first rides, so this Summer should be filled with anticipation.
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla expands massive safety feature worldwide in latest update
Tesla sends production Cybercab with no steering wheel, pedals to on-road testing
