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SpaceX’s first Starship booster a step closer as custom parts arrive
While SpaceX remains focused on Starship flight testing as the dust settles from SN8’s launch debut, the company continues to make slow but steady progress building the first Super Heavy booster prototype.
For the most part, SpaceX has learned from trial and error and developed a decent stainless steel rocket manufacturing process by building a dozen Starship prototypes over the last ~12 months, ranging from a lone nosecone tip to stout test tanks and Starship SN8, which launched to 12.5 km (~7.8 mi) earlier this month. Practically identical below the nose, Super Heavy directly benefits from that maturity and is more or less an extended Starship tank section with more engines and bigger legs.
In many ways, Super Heavy can be much simpler than Starship, as a suborbital booster has no need for header tanks, flaps, or a nosecone, and can be much stronger and heavier in all aspects. However, carrying three or more times as propellant as Starship (and carrying Starship itself), Super Heavy also needs to be stronger. All those changes – requiring new design work and new fabrication – take time. In a great sign that most of that work is complete, some of that custom hardware needed to strengthen and power Super Heavy has begun to arrive over the last several weeks.
SpaceX began stacking the first Super Heavy booster (BN1) on November 8th and appears to have more or less paused integration operations after joining eight rings. Production continued apace, however, and no less than five ring sections destined for Super Heavy appeared over the next several weeks. Why assembly slowed down is unclear but it’s reasonable to assume that SpaceX was trying to keep its focus primarily on Starship SN8’s launch debut and the preparation of several other full-scale ships, where early work on Super Heavy could ultimately be for naught if Starship flight tests uncover major design flaws.
Regardless of the reason, BN1 remains eight rings (14.5m/48ft) tall as of December 14th, representing one-fifth of Super Heavy’s full 70-meter (~230 ft) height.
On December 17th, one of the parts unique to Super Heavy unexpectedly appeared in SpaceX’s South Texas shipyard, labeled “B1 FWD PIPE DOME”. The dome was quickly sleeved with a stack of three steel rings with labels confirming that the assembly was Super Heavy BN1’s common tank dome – “common” because it’s shared by both booster propellant tanks. The new dome is unique to all previous Starship domes, featuring a smaller, more reinforced cutout – likely because Super Heavy doesn’t need header tanks.
It also appears to borrow from Starship’s forward dome design, using the same rougher steel normally used to cap off Starship methane tanks.
Unlike Starship common domes, which place a spherical methane header tank at the bottom, Super Heavy’s common dome will have a transfer tube welded directly to its nozzle-like opening. As it turns out, what could be the first Super Heavy methane transfer tube was delivered to Boca Chica late last month.
Unlike Starship transfer tubes, the new plumbing appeared to have a much wider diameter and was delivered in four sections, meshing well with the fact that Super Heavy tanks are roughly twice as tall as Starship’s. Able to support as many as 28 Raptors compared to Starship’s 6, Super Heavy transfer tubes will also need to pump more than five times as much methane per second at full thrust, which could explain the larger diameter.
Finally and perhaps most significantly, aerial photos from RGV Photography appeared to capture the first glimpse of what might be the hardest custom part required by Super Heavy – a thrust structure designed to support up to 28 Raptor engines. On December 10th, casually sitting between Starship Mk1’s remains (on the white concrete mount) and a tent, a flat ring with clear eightfold symmetry and a donut-like cutout large enough to fit a Starship thrust puck with room to spare was easily visible.
The hexagonal symmetry was the main giveaway, matching comments from CEO Elon Musk that Super Heavy’s thrust structure will feature a central ring of eight engines surrounded by an outer ring of up to 20 more Raptors. Assuming the first Super Heavy booster only flies with a few Raptor engines, that sole eight-engine ‘puck’ may be all that SpaceX needs to complete BN1.
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Tesla Model 3 hits quarter million miles with original battery and motor
The Model 3’s Battery Management System (BMS) shows a State of Health between 88% and 90%.
A Western Australian Tesla Model 3 has captured global attention after racking up an impressive 410,000 kilometers (254,000 miles) on its original battery and motor, while still retaining around 90% of its original battery health.
Long-term Model 3
The 2021 Model 3 Standard Plus, equipped with a 60 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, has been in constant use as an Uber rideshare vehicle. According to Port Kennedy EV specialist EV Workz, the car’s Battery Management System (BMS) shows a State of Health between 88% and 90%.
EV Workz owner Edi Gutmanis shared the findings on Facebook’s Electric Vehicles For Australia page on August 8, and the post quickly went viral. As per Gutmanis, the Model 3’s charging history shows 15,556 kWh delivered via DC fast charging (29% of the total) and 38,012 kWh via AC charging (71% of the total).
Gutmanis also broke down the fuel savings for the Model 3. A petrol car covering the same 410,000 km at 7L/100km and $1.70 per liter would cost an estimated AU$50,000 in fuel. By comparison, charging the Tesla using average commercial rates would be about AU$20,737 and just AU$13,000 if using Western Australia’s EV tariff. That’s a potential refueling saving of roughly $37,000, not including the avoided maintenance costs of an internal combustion engine.
Simple fix
The car came into EV Workz for a driveline “judder” issue, as per a report form EV Central Australia. Gutmanis found the real cause was simply worn motor mount bushes. After seven hours of labor and $130 in parts, “the car drives just as good as the first day it left the dealership,” Gutmanis said.
Gutmanis, whose business also performs EV conversions on classics and 4x4s, says the results aren’t surprising. “We expect this sort of longevity with EV batteries,” he explained, though this is the highest-mileage Model 3 he has encountered in Australia.
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Mysterious covered Tesla Model Y fleet spotted in Giga Berlin
The vehicles were sighted during a recent drone flyover of the Germany-based Model Y production site.
A fleet of mysterious covered Model Y units has been spotted at the Giga Berlin complex. The vehicles were sighted during a recent drone flyover of the Germany-based Model Y production site.
A mysterious fleet
The mysterious Model Y fleet was sighted by longtime Giga Berlin watcher Tobias Lindh, who has been chronicling the progress and activities of Tesla’s German factory complex for years. During his flyover on August 12, 2025, Lindh noted that he was able to spot a fleet of fully covered Model Y units being gathered in one section of the Giga Berlin site.
The presence of the covered Model Y units caught a lot of attention online, with numerous Tesla watchers speculating if the vehicles were the Model Y L or the yet-to-be-released Model Y Performance. Giga Berlin only produces Model Y units, after all, and both the Model Y L and Model Y Performance are yet to be rolled out by the electric vehicle maker.
Tesla Model Y Performance the Model Y L
The Model Y is Tesla’s best-selling vehicle by a mile, selling so well that it was able to become the world’s best-selling car by volume in 2023. With the changeover to the new Model Y this year, Tesla has only released the vehicle’s updated RWD and AWD versions. The updated Model Y Performance is yet to be released as of writing, though sightings of apparent Model Y Performance units have been reported on social media.
In recent weeks, however, the Model Y news cycle has been dominated by the upcoming release of the Model Y L, an extended wheelbase, six-seat version of the best-selling all-electric crossover. The Model Y L is expected to be produced in Giga Shanghai initially, though Giga Berlin, the Fremont Factory, and Giga Texas are also expected to produce the variant in the near future.
Check out Giga Berlin’s mysterious Model Y fleet in the video below.
News
Ukraine completes first Starlink direct-to-cell test in Eastern Europe
The trial was announced by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Kyivstar’s parent company Veon, in a press release.
Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, has completed its first test of Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellite technology, enabling text messages to be sent directly from 4G smartphones without extra hardware.
The trial was announced by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Kyivstar’s parent company Veon in a press release.
First Eastern Europe field test
The Zhytomyr region hosted the pilot, where Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov exchanged texts and even made a brief video call via Starlink’s satellite link in northern Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region.
Veon stated that the test marked Eastern Europe’s first field trial of the technology, which will allow Kyivstar’s 23 million subscribers to stay connected in areas without cellular coverage. The service will debut in fall 2025 with free text messaging during its testing phase.
“Our partnership with Starlink integrates terrestrial networks with satellite platforms, ensuring that nothing stands between our customers and connectivity – not power outages, deserts, mountains, floods, earthquakes, or even landmines,” Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu stated.
Starlink in Ukraine
Kyivstar signed its Direct to Cell agreement with Starlink in December 2024, about a year after a major cyberattack disrupted service and caused nearly $100 million in damages, as noted in a report from the Kyiv Independent. Starlink technology has been a pivotal part of Ukraine’s defense against Russia in the ongoing conflict.
“Despite all the challenges of wartime, we continue to develop innovative solutions, because reliable communication under any circumstances and in any location is one of our key priorities. Therefore, this Kyivstar project is an example of effective partnership between the state, business, and technology companies, which opens the way to the future of communication without borders,” Mykhailo Fedorov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, said.
Tesla Model 3 hits quarter million miles with original battery and motor
Mysterious covered Tesla Model Y fleet spotted in Giga Berlin
Ukraine completes first Starlink direct-to-cell test in Eastern Europe
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