News
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy tests continue in Texas, possible launch date revealed
After being tracked from Florida to Texas, a local observer near SpaceX’s McGregor, TX facilities spotted Falcon Heavy’s second side booster vertical on one of the area’s static fire test stands.
Posted to Facebook’s SpaceX group by Keith Wallace, a photo clearly shows the core’s distinctive nose cone, which takes the place of the interstage and improves the aerodynamic profile of the side boosters. The booster now on the stand in Texas is believed to be Core 1025, previously flown during the CRS-9 mission. The core has been modified significantly for its new role as a Falcon Heavy booster, largely in the form of strengthening structures, as well as the addition of the iconic nose cone and a connection interface that will allow it to attach to the center core.
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- Falcon Heavy’s refurbished side core, spotted 8/21/17 in Louisiana by an observant fan. (reddit /u/neauxgeaux)
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- Core 1025 spotted at SpaceX’s McGregor, TX facilities. (Facebook/Keith Wallace)
The other side booster, Core 1023, previously launched the Thaicom-8 geostationary communications satellite in 2016 and has since been refurbished, modified, and conducted two full duration static fires at the same facilities as 1025. The center core of Falcon Heavy was manufactured as a new vehicle in SpaceX’s Hawthorne, CA factory due to wide-ranging differences between its structure and the average Falcon 9 first stage.
Elon Musk made headlines when he put a significant damper on expectations for the Falcon Heavy’s inaugural launch, directly stating that he would deem the launch a success if it failed without destroying the launch pad. However, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Hans Koenigsmann, Vice President of Mission Assurance, both have made statements in the months since the conference indicating that SpaceX has considerably more confidence in the vehicle than Musk’s statements might suggest.
Musk talking about Falcon heavy at the ISS R&D conference (Teslarati/Eric Ralph)
Coincidentally, a day before side booster #2 was spotted in Texas, a member of the Facebook group toured Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and noticed a launch calendar that suggested an inaugural launch date of November 28, 2017 for Falcon Heavy. The Visitor Complex is not run by NASA, so this date ought to be taken with many, many grains of salt. Regardless, with the final side booster now actively undergoing static fire testing ahead of being shipped back to Florida, Falcon Heavy is closer than it has ever been to being truly ready for launch. Several other big tasks lie ahead of SpaceX in order to prepare for the inaugural launch, mainly involving the reactivation of the launch pad LC-40 and subsequent modifications to LC-39A. Time will tell if the 28th of November is to become a historic day for the company.
Meanwhile, SpaceX continues to tackle its launch manifest at a seemingly routine pace of one launch every 14 or so days. Ahead of a launch currently scheduled for next Thursday, September 7, SpaceX has conducted static fire of the Falcon 9 first stage, this time the company’s East Coast launch pad, LC-39A. If all goes well, SpaceX will have the honor of sending a reusable spaceplane into orbit aboard its partially reusable Falcon 9, making for a truly appropriate pairing of payload and launch vehicle.
-->Static fire test complete—targeting Falcon 9 launch of OTV-5 from Pad 39A at @NASAKennedy on Thursday, September 7.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 31, 2017
News
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand.
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand. While registrations in some countries such as Sweden have fallen sharply this year, the company’s sales in other key territories have been rising.
Giga Berlin shifts to two shifts
Giga Berlin factory manager André Thierig told the DPA that the facility has been running two shifts since September to manage a surge in global orders. And due to the tariff dispute with the United States, vehicles that are produced at Giga Berlin are now being exported to Canada.
“We deliver to well over 30 markets and definitely see a positive trend there,” Thierig said.
Despite Giga Berlin now having two shifts, the facility’s production still needs to ramp up more. This is partly due to the addition of the Tesla Model Y Performance and Standard, which are also being produced in the Grunheide-based factory. Interestingly enough, Giga Berlin still only produces the Model Y, unlike other factories like Gigafactory Texas, the Fremont Factory, and Gigafactory Shanghai, which produce more than one type of vehicle.
Norway’s momentum
Norway, facing an imminent tax increase on cars, has seen a historic spike in Tesla purchases as buyers rush to secure deliveries before the change takes effect, as noted in a CarUp report. As per recent reports, Tesla has broken Norway’s all-time annual sales record this month, beating Volkswagen’s record that has stood since 2016.
-->What is rather remarkable is the fact that Tesla was able to achieve so much in Norway with one hand practically tied behind its back. This is because the company’s biggest sales draw, FSD, remains unavailable in the country. Fortunately, Tesla is currently hard at work attempting to get FSD approved for Europe, a notable milestone that should spur even more vehicle sales in the region.
Tesla is launching a crazy Full Self-Driving free trial, which will enable owners who have not purchased the suite outright to try it for 30 days.
There are a handful of stipulations that will be needed in order for you to qualify for the free trial, which was announced on Thursday night.
Tesla said the trial is for v14, the company’s latest version of the Full Self-Driving suite, and will be available to new and existing Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck owners, who will have the opportunity to try the latest features, including Speed Profiles, Arrival Options, and other new upgrades.
🚨 Tesla is launching a free 30-day trial of Full Self-Driving in North America for owners.
It includes every model, but you need v14.2 or later, and you cannot have already purchased the suite outright. https://t.co/8CNmxxOkVl
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 27, 2025
You must own one of the five Tesla models, have Full Self-Driving v14.2 or later, and have an eligible vehicle in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Canada.
The company said it is a non-transferable trial, which is not redeemable for cash. Tesla is reaching out to owners via email to give them the opportunity to enable the Full Self-Driving trial.
Those who are subscribed to the monthly Full Self-Driving program are eligible, so they will essentially get a free month of the suite.
Once it is installed, the trial will begin, and the 30-day countdown will begin.
Tesla is making a major push to increase its Full Self-Driving take rate, as it revealed that about 12 percent of owners are users of the program during its recent earnings call.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said during the call:
“We feel that as people experience the supervised FSD at scale, demand for our vehicles, like Elon said, would increase significantly. On the FSD adoption front, we’ve continued to see decent progress. However, note that the total paid FSD customer base is still small, around 12% of our current fleet.”
Earlier today, we reported on Tesla also launching a small-scale advertising campaign on X for the Full Self-Driving suite, hoping to increase adoption.
Tesla Full Self-Driving warrants huge switch-up on essential company strategy
It appears most people are pretty content with the subscription program. It costs just $99 a month, in comparison to the $8,000 fee it is for the outright purchase.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has warranted a huge switch-up on an essential company strategy as the automaker is hoping to increase the take rate of the ADAS suite.
Unlike other automotive companies, Tesla has long been an outlier, as it has famously ditched a traditional advertising strategy in favor of organic buzz, natural word-of-mouth through its production innovation, and utilizing CEO Elon Musk’s huge social media presence to push its products.
Tesla has taken the money that it would normally spend on advertising and utilized it for R&D purposes. For a long time, it yielded great results, and ironically, Tesla saw benefits from other EV makers running ads.
Tesla counters jab at lack of advertising with perfect response
However, in recent years, Tesla has decided to adjust this strategy, showing a need to expand beyond its core enthusiast base, which is large, but does not span over millions and millions as it would need to fend off global EV competitors, which have become more well-rounded and a better threat to the company.
In 2024 and 2025, Tesla started utilizing ads to spread knowledge about its products. This is continuing, as Full Self-Driving ads are now being spotted on social media platforms, most notably, X, which is owned by Musk:
NEWS: Tesla is running paid advertisements on X about FSD (Supervised). Here’s an ad they started running yesterday: pic.twitter.com/IHVywLMyTd
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 25, 2025
Interestingly, Tesla’s strategy on FSD advertising is present in Musk’s new compensation package, as the eleventh tranche describes a goal of achieving 10 million active paid FSD subscriptions.
Full Self-Driving is truly Tesla’s primary focus moving forward, although it could be argued that it also has a special type of dedication toward its Optimus robot project. However, FSD will ultimately become the basis for the Robotaxi, which will enable autonomous ride-sharing across the globe as it is permitted in more locations.
Tesla has been adjusting its advertising strategy over the past couple of years, and it seems it is focused on more ways to spread awareness about its products. It will be interesting to see if the company will expand its spending even further, as it has yet to put on a commercial during live television.
We wouldn’t put it out of the question, at least not yet.
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla launches crazy Full Self-Driving free trial: here’s how you can get it
