News
SpaceX shows off first reused Falcon 9 Block 5 landing on drone ship OCISLY
For the second time in a year (356 days to be exact), SpaceX has published a photo of a Falcon 9 booster recovery aboard one of its autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS), in this case showing the first reused Block 5 rocket just prior to landing on the Florida-based drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” (OCISLY).
SpaceX published the last routine drone ship rocket recovery photos all the way back in August 2017, following the successful West Coast launch of the Formosat-5 imaging satellite. Prior to Formosat-5, SpaceX regularly routinely posted photos from their West and East Coast drone ships alongside the launch photos they have shared after every launch the company has ever conducted, only once skipping landing photos for the slightly off-nominal drone ship recovery after Falcon 9’s launch of BulgariaSat-1.
- After launching SES-10 in March 2017, the Falcon 9 first stage was recovered for a second time aboard the drone ship OCISLY. (SpaceX)
- Iridium-2’s June 2017 launch saw the first Falcon 9 flight debut of titanium grid fins. (SpaceX)
- Falcon 9 lands on drone ship JRTI after launching Formosat-5, August 2017. (SpaceX)
Adding additional intrigue to the abrupt year-long drought of drone ship landing photos, SpaceX continued to publish official launch photos for all missions and posted at least one or two images of booster recovery whenever the mission allowed for a return to launch site (RTLS) landing at the company’s Cape Canaveral Landing Zone-1 (LZ-1). More recently, SpaceX did publish a similar snippet from B1046’s first drone ship landing back in May 2018.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi5AT1mFhDM/
Given the experimental nature of most drone ship booster recoveries in 2016, 2017, and even 2018, there is little doubt that SpaceX has continued to capture extensive video and photos of drone ship landings, just as the company does during launch with arrays of dozens of cameras inside the rocket and throughout their launch facilities. Why official drone ship photos stopped will likely remain a mystery, but there are several obvious possibilities ranging from an internal undercurrent of concern that the camera views might give away too much proprietary detail to potential competitors to a much more mundane conclusion that the company’s energy would be best directed elsewhere.
Falcon 9 lands on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship and returns to port after delivering the Merah Putih satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit. This mission marked the first re-flight of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket booster. https://t.co/dkeXxPZmlq pic.twitter.com/4l3vmIBLyM
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 15, 2018
None of the obvious explanations are very convincing or satisfying. However, the most important thing here is to remember that SpaceX is by no means required to make anything public, including the company’s live launch coverage, official photos, factory and facility information, activity updates, and even providing press access to launches to set up their own remote cameras. Although many of those dramatically improve the company’s public perception and bolster its standing among typically tight-lipped competitors, none of it is guaranteed to last forever.
Regardless, I and (presumably) the entire spaceflight fan community will be crossing our fingers and hoping that the year-long drought of Falcon 9 drone ship landing photos has at long last come to an end.
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!
Cybertruck
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.
The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.
Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.
That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.
Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says
Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.
It features:
- Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
- Powered tonneau cover
- Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
- Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
- Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
- Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
- 6’ x 4’ composite bed
- Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
- Powered frunk
Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.
Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms.
“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified.
His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.
SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable.
Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight.
The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.
“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated.
“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”
Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions.
The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles.
In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.



