SpaceX
SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 Block 5 booster casualty battered but still intact in aerial photos
Shortly after successfully sending a reused Cargo Dragon spacecraft on its way towards the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 booster B1050 experienced an anomaly with its grid fins during a planned landing, resulting in a shockingly soft (but unintentional) landing just off the Florida coast.
By some minor miracle, the drastically off-nominal loads experienced by the booster during its unintended departure from controlled flight somehow did not rise to the bar of structural failure. Nevertheless, now floating a handful of miles east of Port Canaveral’s mouth, B1050 did not make it through the ordeal unscathed.
https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/1070742919986991107
A little more than 24 hours after the booster found itself floating sideways in the Atlantic Ocean, B1050 had floated a solid ten miles south of its original position into waters and airspace that no longer fell under the purview of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, technically a military outpost. As the captains of tugboat Eagle and SpaceX support vessel GO Quest discussed the logistics of returning the booster to port with the local harbormaster and US Coast Guard, Teslarati photographer Tom Cross chartered a local helicopter to get a slightly better view of the waterlogged rocket and its ad-hoc recovery operations.
A casualty of war (with the air)
Second only to the fact that the booster appears to be in disproportionately good shape considering the circumstances, by far the most noteworthy feature of the newest addition to SpaceX’s marine fleet is the sheer damage suffered by B1050’s interstage, the black carbon fiber composite structure that topsFalcon 9 Block 5 boosters and hosts its grid fins and stage separation mechanism.
Revealed from an aerial perspective, it almost looks as if one side of the composite cylinder was smashed with a giant hammer, tearing off at least 20% of the entire interstage – including one of four titanium grid fins – while leaving another large segment hanging on by only partially-figurative carbon fiber threads.
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- Falcon 9 B1050 is seen here shortly before launch with an intact interstage. (Tom Cross)
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- B1050 viewed from Cocoa Beach. (Tom Cross)
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- Falcon 9 B1050’s interstage, or what’s left of it. (Tom Cross)
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- RIP grid fin. (Tom Cross)
It’s not 100% clear why B1050’s interstage was so readily destroyed but a narrative can certainly be drawn from the current public record. After its grid fins lost hydraulic power and became stuck at an extreme angle, B1050 almost immediately lost control and began rapidly and quite brutally spinning and flailing, tossed around as it hurtled through the air at supersonic speeds. Being a predominately smooth cylinder, Falcon 9’s first stage is inherently prone to rotation in the presence of high-velocity air currents, which is why its grid fins are an absolute necessity for maintaining control authority during in-atmosphere “flights”.
Engines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon. pic.twitter.com/O3h8eCgGJ7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2018
In a show that will turn the stomach of anyone familiar with a rocket’s typically narrow load tolerances, Falcon 9 B1050 experienced extreme aerodynamic stresses during the worst of its uncontrolled tumble, to the extent that the entire booster and interstage can be seen visibly twisting at least 5 degrees left and right from the perspective of an onboard camera. In the video above, focus on the center of Falcon 9’s grid fins during the first and last 5-10 seconds to properly visualize the extreme forces at play.
It might look fairly innocent to the untrained eye, but keep in mind that Falcon 9’s interstage is no more than a couple of inches thick and is absolutely massive, stretching 3.7m (~12 ft) in diameter. Perhaps even more importantly, the damage to the interstage has almost without a doubt rendered it unusable from the perspective of SpaceX’s established methods of safely moving and manipulating Falcon 9 boosters.
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- Technicians attach an older interstage-grabber to lift B1046 after its first recovery. (Tom Cross)
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- One of SpaceX’s East Coast interstage jigs is pictured here atop B1049. (Tom Cross)
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- A Falcon 9 Block 5 booster bares its interstage and pusher rod, offering a perfect illustration of its scale. (Bloomberg)
All of those methods rely on adapters that attach to the interstage to lift the rocket vertically or support part of its ~30-ton dry mass horizontally. Lacking a sound interstage, it’s now entirely unclear how SpaceX might go about getting B1050 onto land without damaging it further. In simpler terms, this bodes very, very badly for any plans to safely reuse B1050 in the near (or distant) future. After suffering loads that severely weakened and ultimately tore its interstage to pieces, it’s reasonable to assume that the rest of the rocket’s lithium-aluminum propellant tanks experienced stresses that are at least roughly comparable.
If that’s the case, perhaps the only real hope for B1050’s ‘reuse’ will be the recovery of certain subcomponents and miscellaneous parts that may have made it through the ordeal unscathed or with only minor damage. The three remaining titanium grid fins are a guaranteed recovery, while COPVs, cold gas thrusters, avionics boxes, and maybe even some of its nine Merlin 1D engines could be salvageable with some level of refurbishment.
In the meantime, the tentative plan right now is to two B1050 into Port Canaveral sometime after dawn tomorrow, either ending up at drone ship OCISLY’s berth or another less-developed section of the port.
For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!
SpaceX announced today that it would expand its launch capabilities into a new U.S. state: Louisiana.
Today, SpaceX, in conjunction with the Louisiana Economic Development Office, said that it will establish a new launch facility, which it will call Starbase, Louisiana. It will be located near Vermilion Parish, supporting thousands of launches each year, at least eventually.
CEO Elon Musk commented by stating, “Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day and making it the biggest launch site on Earth!”
Starbase Louisiana will ultimately have over a dozen launch towers, enabling more than 30 Starship flights per day and making it the biggest launch site on Earth!
SpaceX makes sci-fi real. https://t.co/C7Ht0U12ba
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2026
The expansion is SpaceX’s latest move to push its launch cadence to be more frequent than ever. SpaceX said that Starbase, Louisiana, will be built to “support thousands of Starship flights a year,” with the first coming in 2029.
SpaceX announced the new facility in partnership with the Louisiana Economic Development Office as it will bring a major influx of jobs and investments into the area. Currently, it will produce more than 3,000 new jobs in Louisiana, and SpaceX plans to invest at least $100 billion into the entire facility, ensuring that many jobs are created as a result.
Environmental Responsibility
SpaceX acknowledges the impact launches could have on marshlands, local wildlife, and water sources. Here’s how the company plans to help with the issues in Vermilion Parish:
- Restoring the Shoreline: “In Vermilion Parish, the shoreline is eroding between 3.3 and 23 feet per year. We’re partnering with state and federal agencies to expand Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan and Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act projects, including Gulf shoreline protection breakwaters designed to reduce wave energy and slow loss along the Gulf edge.”
- Rebuilding the Marshlands: “In working with the state, we’re planning thousands of acres of marsh creation using beneficial-use placement of dredged material and offshore sediment sources. Restoration will also include interior marsh bank stabilization and rebuilding marsh in remnant canals. These projects can reconnect fragmented wetlands, restore natural buffers against storms, and return habitat that has been lost to erosion and historic canalization.”
- Preserving Coastal Wildlife: “Pecan Island and nearby wetlands are high-value habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and other coastal wildlife. SpaceX is not developing the full footprint of the land and will preserve wetlands and wildlife habitat. At existing launch sites, waterfowl and other birds continue to use nearby habitat during operations. Working with wildlife agencies, landowners, and conservation groups, SpaceX will support monitoring and management so this habitat stays productive and hunting, fishing, birding, and other recreational activities that are part of this coast’s culture can continue.”
SpaceX shares rose about 2.5 percent on the news.
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Elon Musk just set a condition that could end Falcon 9 as we know it
Elon Musk says SpaceX will finally retire Falcon 9 once Starship flies reliably every week.
Elon Musk gave the clearest timeline yet for retiring Falcon 9, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket.
The comment came in a reply on X, where Musk wrote that “once Starship is flying reliably several times per week, it makes sense to shift super scarce SpaceX engineering and production resources to Starship to get launch rate to several times per day, which means winding down Falcon.” He was responding to physicist Casey Handmer, who noted that NASA is reportedly uneasy about SpaceX phasing out Falcon after building what Handmer called the most successful launcher ever, with the fleet nearing 1,000 total launches.
Now @SciGuySpace reports NASA is in a tizzy because after running the most successful launcher ever for more than a decade and nearing 1000 launches, @SpaceX is planning to retire Falcon in favor of Starship in a few years.
Sorry, NASA, you’ve had 15 years to burn down the… https://t.co/uCNoMwK0v9
— Casey Handmer (@CJHandmer) August 22, 2026
Falcon 9 is still SpaceX’s busiest vehicle by far. The company is on pace for roughly 140 to 145 Falcon flights this year, following 165 in 2025, president Gwynne Shotwell told Time earlier in 2026. She has already said Falcon flights would “tail off” as Starship comes online, while reports indicate that SpaceX has stopped booking new Falcon 9 launches past 2028 and halted production of some expendable Falcon hardware, according to Bloomberg.
It’s worth noting that Musk’s post is a condition, and not a countdown on when Falcon will retire. Starship has not yet flown weekly, let alone daily. Its most recent flight in July ended with a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, a milestone Musk pointed to earlier this month when he said the vehicle’s heat shield problem was effectively solved. SpaceX towed that ship to Christmas Island for inspection, and the next flight, Flight 14, is aimed at putting Starship into orbit for the first time. A tower catch attempt for the upper stage has been pushed back to what Musk has called “a few months” away.
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The gap between Falcon’s role today and Starship’s promised role tomorrow matters most to NASA. Falcon and its Dragon capsule remain the only way the agency rotates astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and Starship is not certified to carry NASA crews. Musk’s post did not address how that handoff would work if Falcon winds down before a crew-rated Starship variant exists. The timing lines up with Musk’s other recent Starship comments. Two days before the Falcon post, he told a different X user that SpaceX is aiming for more than 30 Starship launches a day by 2030, or roughly 10,000 a year, a figure tied to the Trump administration’s new push for higher national launch cadence. Falcon, which took over a decade to reach its first 100 launches, was never built to approach that kind of volume.
For now, Falcon 9 keeps flying at a near-record pace while Starship works to prove it can do the job Musk has already picked out for it.
Elon Musk put a number on where he thinks SpaceX’s Starship program is headed by 2030, replying on X a day after President Trump signed a memo pushing the country toward 1,000 space launches and reentries a year.
The exchange started when Aaron Burnett, co-founder of propulsion startup Mach 33, posted that “1,000 launches/reentries is the goal,” quoting White House science adviser Michael Kratsios on the newly signed National Space Transportation Policy. Burnett noted that the FAA’s own bull-case forecast reached only 385 annual launches by 2030, while his firm’s conservative model already put SpaceX alone near 940. Musk responded, “We’re aiming to reach 30+ Starship launches/day in 2030, which is ~10k annualized. Still tiny numbers compared to airplane flights!”
We’re aiming to reach 30+ Starship launches/day in 2030, which is ~10k annualized.
Still tiny numbers compared to airplane flights!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2026
That figure is specific to Starship, the rocket SpaceX is still developing for orbital and lunar missions, not the Falcon 9 fleet that carries most of the company’s current launch volume. Starship has flown twice this year, a slower pace than the four and five flights SpaceX managed in 2024 and 2025. Getting from two flights a year to 30 a day is the scale of jump the new federal policy is meant to clear regulatory room for.
Trump’s memo, signed Thursday, directs agencies to identify new launch and reentry sites on federal land, including a new reentry site within 90 days, and to speed up the permitting and environmental reviews that have long slowed cadence growth. It also sets a goal of returning American astronauts to the moon by 2028 and placing initial lunar base elements by 2030, tying the launch buildout directly to NASA’s Artemis program.
SpaceX has already been pushing the FAA toward higher numbers on its own. The agency approved up to 44 annual Starship launches from Kennedy Space Center in February, on top of a 2024 review that raised the cap at Starbase in Texas to 25 a year. Those approvals cover a fraction of the 10,000 annual flights Musk is now describing, which shows how far current permitting still sits from the administration’s stated target.
The near-term test of all this is more modest. SpaceX cleared a full-duration, six-engine static fire on its next Starship vehicle this week, the last major hardware checkpoint before Flight 14, which is targeting no earlier than August 28 and is expected to attempt the vehicle’s first full orbital mission. Musk said last week that a tower catch of the upper stage is still probably months away, a reminder that the immediate roadmap remains far more incremental than the daily launch numbers he just posted.
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