News
SpaceX Falcon Heavy payload arrives in Florida for the first time in years
For the first time in almost three years, a spacecraft meant to launch on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida and begun to prepare for flight.
Known as Psyche, the scientific mission is designed to venture hundreds of millions of miles from Earth to explore a namesake asteroid that’s believed to be almost entirely metallic. Psyche will also mark NASA’s first operational use of Falcon Heavy, which offers performance far superior to other existing and soon-to-be-retired rockets and at a fraction of their cost.
However, even though Psyche is now the first payload (officially confirmed) to have arrived in Florida for a Falcon Heavy launch since May or June 2019, that doesn’t guarantee that it will be first to launch.
That uncertainty is the result of multiple chronically delayed US military payloads that were both supposed to launch on different Falcon Heavy rockets as early as late 2020. In June 2018, just four months after Falcon Heavy’s iconic launch debut, the US military purchased its first operational launch on the rocket. Known as AFSPC-52 and later renamed USSF-52 after the US government cobbled together a few loosely-related military groups and rebadged them as the “Space Force,” the mission was expected to launch as early as September 2020. In February 2019, the military announced that another Falcon Heavy rocket had been chosen to launch AFSPC-44 (USSF-44) as early as late 2020 or early 2021.
About a year ago, for unknown reasons, USSF-44 took USSF-52’s place as the US military’s first operational Falcon Heavy launch. Now, between three and four years after their initial launch targets, USSF-44 is scheduled to launch NET late June 2022 (a delay of ~18 months) and USSF-52 is set to follow as soon as October 2022 (a delay of ~25 months).
On April 29th, NASA’s Launch Service Program (LSP) revealed that the ~2600-kilogram (~5700 lb) Psyche spacecraft had completed the journey from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Pasadena, California assembly facilities to Kennedy Space Center, Florida. After several years of work spent designing, manufacturing, and assembling Psyche, the spacecraft ultimately arrived at on time, leaving it on track to launch on Falcon Heavy as early as August 1st, 2022.
At the moment, that makes Psyche’s launch far more likely to happen before USSF-44, which has repeatedly gotten within a few months of a purported launch target before the US military acknowledged additional delays. Like USSF-44, Psyche’s Falcon Heavy rocket – three boosters, an upper stage, and a fairing – will be entirely new. Due to the high performance required for each mission and the fact that both will be the first operational use of the rocket for NASA and the USSF, each brand-new Falcon Heavy center core will be intentionally expended.
If it launches more or less on time, USSF-44 will be SpaceX and Falcon Heavy’s first direct launch to geostationary orbit (GEO), requiring the rocket’s upper stage to survive a roughly six-hour-long coast and perform a lengthy orbit circularization burn around ~42,500 kilometers (~26,400 mi) above Earth’s surface. With a payload that weighs around four tons (~8800 lb), it’s little surprise that Falcon Heavy’s center core will be expended. Psyche, on the other hand, is headed into deep space on a trajectory that NASA’s own ELVPerf calculator – supplied with official performance data from SpaceX – says Falcon Heavy can launch more than four tons (~8800 lb) to while still recovering all three boosters. It’s unclear why NASA would need a 50-70% safety margin.
Regardless, the second half of 2022 could be quite the spectacle of Falcon Heavy launches after a more than three-year hiatus. On top of USSF-44, Psyche, and USSF-52, Falcon Heavy is tentatively scheduled to launch a ViaSat-3 communications satellite directly to GEO in Q3 2022 and, even more tentatively, the Space Force’s USSF-67 mission in November 2022.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck just won a rare and elusive crash safety honor
Only the most outstanding of performances in crash tests can warrant an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award, as vehicles listed with that ranking must achieve “Good” ratings in the small overlap front, updated side, and updated moderate overlap front tests, along with “Acceptable” or “Good” headlights standard on all trims.
Tesla Cybertruck landed a rare and elusive safety honor from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). It was the only pickup truck in the U.S. market to do so.
The IIHS rewarded the Cybertruck with the Top Safety Pick+ honors, the highest marks a vehicle can receive from the agency.
Only the most outstanding of performances in crash tests can warrant an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award, as vehicles listed with that ranking must achieve “Good” ratings in the small overlap front, updated side, and updated moderate overlap front tests, along with “Acceptable” or “Good” headlights standard on all trims.
🚨 Absolutely insane.
Tesla Cybertruck was the ONLY pickup on the market to be awarded a Top Safety Pick+ rating by the IIHS
The safest rating out there belongs to Cybertruck 📐 pic.twitter.com/Y8gLOqaL0d
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 24, 2026
Cybertruck was the only truck to also win an NHTSA Five-Star Safety rating, making it the only pickup available on the market to be recognized with top marks from both agencies.
There are a multitude of options for pickups in the U.S. market, as it is one of the most popular vehicle types for consumers in the country. Pickups are great vehicles for anyone who does any sort of hauling or is just looking for extra space for any variety of reasons.
Pickups are also inherently safer than other body types on the road, mostly because they are larger and heavier, making them more favorable against other vehicle types in the event of a collision. However, Tesla has a significant advantage in safety with its vehicles because it engineers them to not only be safer in collisions, but also easier to repair.
The Cybertruck managed to achieve “Good” ratings, the highest marks available by the IIHS, in all three Crashworthiness categories, as well as “Good” ratings in both Crash Avoidance and Mitigation assessments.
It also received “Good” ratings across all driver and pedestrian crash-test performance metrics, except for one, where it earned an “Acceptable” rating for rear passengers in the Chest category.
The Cybertruck’s outstanding crash test performance has won it this incredible mark as the pickup still tends to be one of the more polarizing vehicle designs on the market.
It is no secret that Tesla has struggled with demand of the Cybertruck due to pricing, but the recent rollout of a trim that was temporarily priced at just $59,990 showed plenty of people want the all-electric pickup.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Tunnel Vision Challenge ends with a surprise for Louisiana, Maryland and Dallas
The Boring Company stunned three cities today, awarding New Orleans, Baltimore, and Dallas free underground Loop tunnels.
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company (TBC) announced today that it is building free underground Loop tunnels in three American cities: New Orleans, Louisiana; Baltimore, Maryland; and Dallas, Texas. The company had promised one winner when it launched the Tunnel Vision Challenge in January. After receiving 487 submissions, it selected three, committing to fund and construct all of them pending a feasibility review, entirely at its own expense. For a company that has faced years of skepticism over the gap between its promises and its delivered projects, choosing to expand its commitment rather than narrow it is a notable shift in both scale and accountability.
All three projects will now enter a rigorous, fully funded diligence phase that includes meetings with elected officials, regulators, community and business leaders, geotechnical borings, and a complete investigation of subsurface utilities and infrastructure. TBC confirmed that all costs associated with this diligence process are 100% funded by the company. If all three projects pass feasibility, all three get built. If only one clears the bar, that one gets built. The company’s willingness to fund the due diligence regardless of outcome removes one of the most common early-stage barriers that kills promising infrastructure proposals before they leave a spreadsheet.
Beyond the three winners, TBC announced it will continue working with two additional entrants it found compelling enough to pursue independently: the Hendersonville Utility Tunnel in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and the Morgan’s Wonderland Tunnel in San Antonio, Texas, which would notably serve one of the nation’s premier theme parks built specifically for guests with special needs.
The challenge also coincides with TBC’s most active construction period to date. The company recently began drilling on the Music City Loop near the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, and in February it broke ground on a Loop in Dubai. Musk has long argued that the fundamental problem with urban infrastructure is cost and bureaucratic inertia, not engineering. “The key to solving traffic is making going 3D either up or down,” he said in 2018, a conviction now reflected in a company structure built to absorb the financial risk that typically stalls public projects for years.
Music City Loop could highlight The Boring Company’s real disruption
The Tunnel Vision Challenge’s most underappreciated element may be what it produced beyond three winners. Submissions came from individuals, companies, and governments across states including Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, and Texas, as well as from international entrants. Musk captured the underlying logic years ago when he said, “Traffic is driving me nuts. I’m going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging.” Today, three American cities are counting on exactly that.
Tunnel Vision Challenge results!
We’ve been overwhelmed with the amazing submissions…so we are announcing three winners!
The Thrilling Three are:
– NOLA Loop (New Orleans, LA)
– Ravens Loop (Baltimore, MD)
– University Hills Loop (Dallas, TX)What happens next? TBC and the… https://t.co/cY2ULftfiK
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) March 24, 2026
News
Tesla launches first ‘true’ East Coast V4 Supercharger: here’s what that means
What truly distinguishes this installation from the hundreds of “V4” stalls already scattered across the network? Most existing V4 dispensers, rolled out since 2023, feature welcome upgrades like longer cables, built-in touchscreen displays, integrated credit-card readers for non-Tesla users, and improved ergonomics.
Tesla has launched its first “true” V4 Supercharger on the East Coast, and while that may be sort of confusing, here’s what we mean by that.
Tesla has opened its first true V4 Supercharging station on the East Coast in Kissimmee, Florida, just south of Orlando.
The eight-stall site, powered by an advanced 1.2 MW V4 power cabinet, is capable of delivering up to 500 kW, making it one of only four fully operational 500 kW-capable V4 stations in the United States.
Pricing is dynamic and competitive, as Tesla owners pay $0.40 per kWh during peak hours (8 a.m. to midnight), dropping to an attractive $0.20/kWh off-peak (midnight to 8 a.m.).
Non-Tesla EVs, which can now plug directly into the NACS ports thanks to the open standard, are charged a premium—$0.56/kWh peak and $0.28/kWh off-peak—reflecting Tesla’s strategy to monetize network access while rewarding its own customers.
What’s Makes This a “True” V4 Supercharger
What truly distinguishes this installation from the hundreds of “V4” stalls already scattered across the network? Most existing V4 dispensers, rolled out since 2023, feature welcome upgrades like longer cables, built-in touchscreen displays, integrated credit-card readers for non-Tesla users, and improved ergonomics.
However, nearly all of these have been paired with legacy V3 power cabinets. These hybrid setups, sometimes informally called V3.5, deliver charging curves virtually identical to standard V3 stations, typically topping out at 250-325 kW depending on the vehicle and site conditions.
In contrast, Kissimmee’s true V4 architecture incorporates next-generation 1.2 MW power cabinets. These support battery voltages up to 1,000 V (double the 500 V of V3 systems) and can push up to 500 kW per stall.
NEWS: Tesla has opened its first true V4 Supercharging station on the East Coast, capable of delivering up to 500 kW charging speeds.
• Location: Kissimmee, Florida (near Orlando)
• 8 charging stalls
• Fees for Tesla owners: $0.40/kWh ($0.20/kWh off-peak)
• Fees for all… pic.twitter.com/E8AkaibWsC— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 19, 2026
One compact cabinet efficiently powers all eight stalls, slashing the physical footprint and reportedly keeping deployment costs under $40,000 per stall, far cheaper than earlier designs.
Right now, the primary beneficiary is the Cybertruck, which can achieve dramatically faster charging at low states of charge.
Everyday models like the Model 3 and Model Y see little immediate difference in peak speeds, but the hardware lays the groundwork for future vehicles with higher-voltage batteries.
Tesla launches faster Cybertruck charging at all V4 Superchargers
This milestone signals Tesla’s accelerating push toward a high-power, future-proof Supercharger network.
As true V4 sites multiply, charging times will shrink, grid efficiency will improve, and the entire EV ecosystem, Tesla and non-Tesla alike, will benefit from the infrastructure lead Tesla continues to expand. For drivers in central Florida, the Kissimmee station is more than just another charging stop; it’s a glimpse of the faster, smarter charging era that’s finally arriving.
Tesla Cybertruck just won a rare and elusive crash safety honor
Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Tunnel Vision Challenge ends with a surprise for Louisiana, Maryland and Dallas
