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SpaceX spotted hot-fire testing Falcon 9 Block 5 ahead of its first reflight on August 7
Less than three months after SpaceX debuted its upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, the company is set for an unexpectedly sudden inaugural reuse of the first highly reliable and reusable rocket to roll off of the Hawthorne, CA assembly line. Falcon 9 booster 1046 (B1046) is now targeting 1:18 AM EDT, August 7 for its second launch.
Confirmed by visual observation of a sooty Block 5 booster vertical on Cape Canaveral’s Pad 40, this reuse will be just two weeks away from beating SpaceX’s booster turnaround record of 72 days.
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting August 7 launch of Merah Putih from Pad 40 in Florida.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 2, 2018
On the ground to visually confirm plans for the historic reuse, Teslarati photographer Tom Cross also managed to capture an intriguing propellant loading and abort test, where SpaceX appeared to intentionally abort a ‘launch’ attempt after rapidly loading a full complement of liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1).
While not 100% clear why this testing was done today, an extensive understanding of Falcon 9 Block 5’s behavior during propellant late-load and launch abort scenarios are both critical for the reliable operation of the upgraded rockets and invaluable for the first Crew Dragon launches later this year and early next, the latter with astronauts on board. With humans atop the rocket, a deep understanding of the vehicle’s behavior during a wide range of off-nominal scenarios is more critical than ever, be it required by NASA or simply a side effect of due diligence on behalf of SpaceX.
https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/1025074341040533504
A new era of reusable rockets
Regardless, the main focus of this mission is to launch a payload for Indonesian operator PT Telkom Indonesia, in this case a ~5800 kg (12800 lb) geostationary communications satellite known as Merah Putih (formerly Telkom 4). On the SpaceX side of things, this mission is absolutely critical for the company’s future – it will mark the (hopefully) successful inaugural reuse of a Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, the first of many dozens or even hundreds to come over the next several years if SpaceX’s can make good on its aspirations.
While not immensely impressive in the sense that B1046’s refurbishment took ~85 days to Block 4’s record 72-day turnaround, that cursory conclusion is far from accurate. The record turnaround with Block 4 booster B1045 was essentially the culmination of more than a year of experience with nearly a dozen Block 3 and Block 4 Falcon 9 reuses. While that experience definitely transferred in part to SpaceX’s first attempt at reusing Falcon 9 Block 5 (and especially so with the actual design of its reusability-focused upgrades), it’s worth noting that the first reuses of Falcon 9s averaged booster turnaround times of 180-250 days, nearly double or triple the time between Block 5’s first-ever launch and that same booster’s first reflight.
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- Falcon 9 B1046 vents during a launch abort test just before its successful static fire, August 2nd. (Tom Cross)
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- Drone ship OCISLY preps for its second Falcon 9 recovery in less than three weeks. (Tom Cross)
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- A new vessel – GO Navigator – joined SpaceX’s fleet on July 31st, taking the place of fairing recovery stand-in GO Pursuit. (Tom Cross)
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- Merah Putih (formerly Telkom 4) seen preparing for launch in Florida. (SSL)
Even still, B1046’s debut launch, landing, and refurbishment were wholly unique considering that SpaceX – according to Elon Musk – conducted an extensive “teardown” analysis of the pathfinder rocket after it was transported from the drone ship back to one of the company’s Cape Canaveral refurbishment facilities. It’s very likely the case that that teardown was one of the most extensive SpaceX has done with a recovered rocket, couched on the fact that the company’s future is wholly balanced on Falcon 9 Block 5’s success and ease/efficiency of reusability.
That critical teardown process likely took anywhere from 30-60 days, if not simply as long as needed to do it right, after which the rocket was fully reassembled and transported to SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 (LC-40). Roughly eight days after it arrived at LC-40, B1046 rolled out to the pad’s launch mount, went vertical, and completed a series of tests (including static fire) on Thursday (8/2) afternoon. The static fire was confirmed by a few observers, while Tom Cross captured the first unequivocal proof that the rocket is sooty (and thus B1046).
This moment may seem small on the scale of SpaceX’s many towering achievements, but it will very likely become a fundamental keystone in the future history of affordable access to space.
prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet (including fairing catcher Mr Steven) check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X will start using a Tesla-like software update strategy
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
Elon Musk’s social media platform X will adopt a Tesla-esque approach to software updates for its algorithm.
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
X’s updates to its updates
As per Musk in a post on X, the social media company will be making a new algorithm to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users. These updates would then be repeated every four weeks.
“We will make the new 𝕏 algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days. This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed,” Musk wrote in his post.
The initiative somewhat mirrors Tesla’s over-the-air update model, where vehicle software is regularly refined and pushed to users with detailed release notes. This should allow users to better understand the details of X’s every update and foster a healthy feedback loop for the social media platform.
xAI and X
X, formerly Twitter, has been acquired by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI last year. Since then, xAI has seen a rapid rise in valuation. Following the company’s the company’s upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, estimates now suggest that xAI is worth tens about $230 to $235 billion. That’s several times larger than Tesla when Elon Musk received his controversial 2018 CEO Performance Award.
As per xAI, the Series E funding round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group, among others. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco Investments also continued support for building the world’s largest GPU clusters.
News
Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has been named the best driver-assistance technology on the market, earning top honors at the 2026 MotorTrend Best Tech Awards.
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system. And it wasn’t even close.
MotorTrend reverses course
MotorTrend awarded Tesla FSD (Supervised) its 2026 Best Tech Driver Assistance title after extensive testing of the latest v14 software. The publication acknowledged that it had previously criticized earlier versions of FSD for erratic behavior and near-miss incidents, ultimately favoring rivals such as GM’s Super Cruise in earlier evaluations.
According to MotorTrend, the newest iteration of FSD resolved many of those shortcomings. Testers said v14 showed far smoother behavior in complex urban scenarios, including unprotected left turns, traffic circles, emergency vehicles, and dense city streets. While the system still requires constant driver supervision, judges concluded that no other advanced driver-assistance system currently matches its breadth of capability.
Unlike rival systems that rely on combinations of cameras, radar, lidar, and mapped highways, Tesla’s FSD operates using a camera-only approach and is capable of driving on city streets, rural roads, and freeways. MotorTrend stated that pure utility, the ability to handle nearly all road types, ultimately separated FSD from competitors like Ford BlueCruise, GM Super Cruise, and BMW’s Highway Assistant.
High cost and high capability
MotorTrend also addressed FSD’s pricing, which remains significantly higher than rival systems. Tesla currently charges $8,000 for a one-time purchase or $99 per month for a subscription, compared with far lower upfront and subscription costs from other automakers. The publication noted that the premium is justified given FSD’s unmatched scope and continuous software evolution.
Safety remained a central focus of the evaluation. While testers reported collision-free operation over thousands of miles, they noted ongoing concerns around FSD’s configurable driving modes, including options that allow aggressive driving and speeds beyond posted limits. MotorTrend emphasized that, like all Level 2 systems, FSD still depends on a fully attentive human driver at all times.
Despite those caveats, the publication concluded that Tesla’s rapid software progress fundamentally reshaped the competitive landscape. For drivers seeking the most capable hands-on driver-assistance system available today, MotorTrend concluded Tesla FSD (Supervised) now stands alone at the top.
News
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia surges to 5.6M articles, almost 79% of English Wikipedia
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago.
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia has grown to an impressive 5,615,201 articles as of today, closing in on 79% of the English Wikipedia’s current total of 7,119,376 articles.
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago. Needless to say, it would only be a matter of time before Grokipedia exceeds English Wikipedia in sheer volume.
Grokipedia’s rapid growth
xAI’s vision for Grokipedia emphasizes neutrality, while Grok’s reasoning capabilities allow for fast drafting and fact-checking. When Elon Musk announced the initiative in late September 2025, he noted that Grokipedia would be an improvement to Wikipedia because it would be designed to avoid bias.
At the time, Musk noted that Grokipedia “is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.”
Grokipedia was launched in late October, and while xAI was careful to list it only as Version 0.1 at the time, the online encyclopedia immediately earned praise. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger highlighted the project’s innovative approach, noting how it leverages AI to fill knowledge gaps and enable rapid updates. Netizens also observed how Grokipedia tends to present articles in a more objective manner compared to Wikipedia, which is edited by humans.
Elon Musk’s ambitious plans
With 5,615,201 total articles, Grokipedia has now grown to almost 79% of English Wikipedia’s article base. This is incredibly quick, though Grokipedia remains text-only for now. xAI, for its part, has now updated the online encyclopedia’s iteration to v0.2.
Elon Musk has shared bold ideas for Grokipedia, including sending a record of the entire knowledge base to space as part of xAI’s mission to preserve and expand human understanding. At some point, Musk stated that Grokipedia will be renamed to Encyclopedia Galactica, and it will be sent to the cosmos.
“When Grokipedia is good enough (long way to go), we will change the name to Encyclopedia Galactica. It will be an open source distillation of all knowledge, including audio, images and video. Join xAI to help build the sci-fi version of the Library of Alexandria!” Musk wrote, adding in a later post that “Copies will be etched in stone and sent to the Moon, Mars and beyond. This time, it will not be lost.”
Elon Musk’s X will start using a Tesla-like software update strategy
Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
