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SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket still on track for two launches this year
Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX’s next two Falcon Heavy rockets – both under contract with the US military – are scheduled to launch as early as July and October 2021.
Known as USSF-44 and USSF-52, both missions will see Falcon Heavy rockets launch unknown US military satellites – one directly to a circular geostationary orbit (GEO) and the other to an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The nature and purpose of those satellites will likely remain a mystery up to and after both launches, though their target and destination orbits may allow independent satellite tracking fans to loosely speculate, at minimum.
SpaceX has already shipped all three of USSF-44’s new Falcon Heavy boosters from its Hawthorne, California factory to McGregor, Texas test facilities. At least one of those boosters has also completed static fire acceptance testing in Texas and been delivered to SpaceX’s Florida facilities. Outfitted with a telltale nosecone, that side booster will likely be joined by its twin within the next few weeks – if it hasn’t already.
According to a US military spokesperson that responded to Spaceflight Now’s inquiries, Falcon Heavy’s USSF-44 launch has apparently slipped from a target of “late spring” to no earlier than (NET) July 2021 – a delay of a few weeks to one or two months. Although SpaceX still has two twice-flown Falcon Heavy Block 5 side boosters on hand from the rocket’s back-to-back April and June 2019 launches, the US military requested all new boosters for USSF-44.
Notably, the same official revealed that SpaceX and the US military are targeting October 2021 for Falcon Heavy’s USSF-52, just three months after USSF-44. USSF-44 will be Falcon Heavy’s first launch in an expendable-center-core configuration, meaning that one of the rocket’s three boosters will be intentionally expended. That means that SpaceX will need to complete, test, and deliver another new Falcon Heavy center core before USSF-52 can launch.
SpaceX has spent at least 2-3 months testing each new Falcon booster in McGregor over the last year or so, meaning that it would require a major boost in processing cadence to deliver six new boosters in just 6-8 months. In other words, barring several months of delays, it’s likely that SpaceX and the USSF are currently planning for USSF-52 under the assumption that it will reuse the Falcon Heavy side boosters from USSF-44 or from the rocket’s second and third launches.
Regardless, tentative July and October launch targets make it more likely than not that SpaceX will be able to launch Falcon Heavy twice this year even if booster production, testing, or processing take a bit longer than expected and both missions run into minor delays on the launch pad. USSF-44 will be Falcon Heavy’s first launch in more than two years, a lengthy delay between flights that appears to be unlikely to happen again as SpaceX continues to fill the rocket’s manifest with no fewer than eight launches between now and the end of 2024.
Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.
The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.
Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.
The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:
NEWS: Tesla no longer allows buyers to purchase FSD outright in the U.S. when ordering a pre-owned vehicle directly from inventory. Tesla now gives you the option to either subscribe for $99/month, or purchase FSD outright after taking delivery (available until February 14th). pic.twitter.com/1xZ0BVG4JB
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 23, 2026
This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.
It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.
In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.
There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.
Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.
News
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.
After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.
BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor
Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.
With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.
In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
Rear Camera Washer on Tesla Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/P9hgGStHmV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 24, 2026
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.
However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.
Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward.
With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers.
On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later:
🚨 Check out the change Tesla made to its Online Design Studio:
It now lists the Monthly Subscription as an option for Full Self-Driving
It also shows the outright purchase option as expiring on February 14 pic.twitter.com/pM6Svmyy8d
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively.
However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed.
The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000.
This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company.
Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.
Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
