News
SpaceX plans huge expansion for Floridan Falcon refurbishment facilities
According to an environmental assessment published in April 2018, SpaceX aims to build a dedicated facility for storing, refurbishing and decommissioning Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters and payload fairings “immediately” after construction approvals are granted.
New Falcon 9 and Heavy refurbishment/storage center will be built in Florida
This facility would give SpaceX some 50 acres of land and 130,000 square feet (12,300 m^2) of floor space for the sole purpose of refurbishing and storing flight-proven Falcon 9 and Heavy boosters, as well as the rockets’ payload fairings after successful recoveries begin. If additional storage space proved necessary (and it probably will), another 100,000 ft^2 (9300 m^2) building would be constructed.
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- Falcon Heavy rolls out from SpaceX’s largest current booster storage and preparation facility, LC-39A. (SpaceX)
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- The first-ever Falcon Heavy (sans payload and fairing) shown inside Pad 39A’s horizontal integration facility (HIF). (SpaceX)
As of today, SpaceX likely has room to store 6-8 Falcon boosters at or near their Florida launch pads, with the bulk of that storage coming from the company’s 50,000 ft^2 (4500 m^2) LC-39A horizontal integration facility (HIF), capable of housing four rocket boosters. As such, an additional 150,000+ ft^2 could nearly quadruple SpaceX’s booster storage and refurbishment capabilities, all while locating that expansion on a single, easily-accessible lot within close reach of both LC-40 and LC-39A launch pads.
Put more simply, the addition of this new Kennedy Space Center facility would hugely benefit SpaceX’s ability to launch, land, and re-launch its reusable rockets as rapidly as possible, and would enable the simultaneous storage and refurbishment of as many as 16-20 Falcon 9/Heavy boosters and at least a dozen payload fairing halves. If even more capacity is required, nearly half of lot SpaceX wants to lease would be untouched and give the company another 30 acres of land to expand into as launch cadence ramps or BFR prepares for its first launches from Florida.
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- An overview of SpaceX’s prospective KSC facility and nearby landmarks. (SpaceX)
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- A SpaceX render of what the complex might look like once completed. (SpaceX)
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- As described in the environmental assessment, more than half of the lot would be free for future expansion. (SpaceX)
60+ annual launches, rocket ‘gardens’, and a wacky control tower
According to comments in the April 2018 assessment, the readiness of these new storage and refurbishment facilities could potentially pave the way for – as early as 2020 – more than 60 annual Falcon 9 and Heavy launches from the company’s two Florida launch pads a number which doesn’t even include SpaceX’s California launch site, nor its prospective Texas launch facilities. In order to support ambitious Florida-specific launch rates, SpaceX also intends to construct a 300-foot tall Launch and Landing Control Center (LLCC) pulled straight from a Bond villain’s lair on the new property.
The [LLCC] is envisioned to be world-class, architecturally distinctive, and equipped for satellite, cargo, and crew missions.
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- SpaceX’s proposed Launch and Landing Control Center (LLCC). The Bond villain is strong with this one… (SpaceX)
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- Satellite imagery from Google Maps shows the currently-abandoned site of SpaceX’s prospective Florida expansion. (Google Maps)
Distinctive is certainly a good way to describe the proposed control center. Not to be outdone, SpaceX also included plans for its own private rocket garden, essentially an elegant graveyard for decommissioned or uniquely historic Falcon 9 and Heavy rocket boosters and fairings, as well as Dragon spacecraft. Perhaps there will be room for pathfinder Mars rockets and spaceships in the future… With any luck, both the control center and proposed rocket garden are intended to be at least partially open to the public, something that would undoubtedly be a huge hit while also awkwardly competing with Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Center, which features its own rocket garden less than a mile away.
Although BFR and Mars were never mentioned specifically, something SpaceX appears to have been quite stringent about over the last several months, the environmental assessment also briefly mentioned future uses for the same facility that might include “new launch vehicle” developments, perhaps requiring a four-lane expansion of the adjacent Robert’s Road somewhere down the line.
BFR heads to orbit in an updated overview of the Mars rocket. (SpaceX)
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s surprise addition to the X Takeover lineup has fans talking
Elon Musk will join Saturday’s X Takeover at Giga Texas for a live virtual interview.
Elon Musk will join X Takeover at Giga Texas on Saturday for a live virtual interview, according to Sawyer Merritt, who shared the news late Thursday. Musk will not be on stage in Austin. The conversation is set to stream for free on the @teslaownersSV account on X.
Organizers had kept expectations in check. In a September update, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley said Musk had appeared at the event twice before but was not promising a third appearance, even as fans hoped he would walk the Giga Texas grounds in person. A virtual spot matches 2024, when Musk gave a surprise interview of about an hour to the crowd in San Luis Obispo, as Teslarati reported at the time.
Wasn’t expecting this 🫡
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 9, 2026
This year’s edition is a first in several ways. It is the first X Takeover held outside California and the first at a Tesla facility, with tickets selling out in eight days. Tesla provides the venue, but the event is produced independently by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley. The main event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, followed by a drone and light show at 9 p.m. Maye Musk is the keynote speaker, Franz von Holzhausen is set for a virtual keynote, and Nicki Minaj is the special guest. Joe Tegtmeyer, whose drone footage Teslarati used to track the Optimus factory steel frame at Giga Texas, is also on the speaker list.
Musk’s interview topics have not been revealed, but the backdrop is busy. Tesla doubled its Cybercab fleet in Austin in late September, and last week Musk explained why Robotaxi hours only moved from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.. Merritt also reported Thursday that Texas DMV records now show 319 registered Cybercabs, up from 169. NHTSA’s deadline for Tesla’s sworn answers on Cybercab certification is October 30, and Tesla reports third quarter earnings on October 21.
Fans who cannot make it to Austin can watch the livestream on X. Musk tends to say more in unscripted settings than he does in prepared remarks, which is the reason this one is worth having open on Saturday.
News
It’s official: SpaceX takes aim at Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile
SpaceX is buying 800 MHz spectrum from Grain to turn Starlink Mobile into a carrier.
SpaceX has agreed to buy a nationwide block of low band wireless spectrum, a deal the company says will let Starlink Mobile operate as a full US carrier rather than a satellite add-on for someone else’s network.
The company announced the agreement on X on Thursday afternoon, saying it will “pave the way for @Starlink to become a major mobile carrier in the US.” The seller is Grain Management, a private investment firm that confirmed in a statement that SpaceX will acquire 100% of its nationwide 800 MHz portfolio. That covers up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 817 to 824 MHz and 862 to 869 MHz bands. Neither side disclosed a price, and the deal still needs FCC approval.
We announced an agreement to acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum license portfolio that will pave the way for @Starlink to become a major mobile carrier in the US.
With this new spectrum and our Gen2 constellation, Starlink Mobile can ensure Americans have access to high-speed mobile broadband no matter where they are → https://t.co/1Uaf48v5pm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 8, 2026
Grain only recently picked up the licenses itself. It bought the portfolio from T-Mobile in a transaction that closed in August, paying cash plus its own 600 MHz spectrum. Rival AST SpaceMobile had been testing satellites on the same bands before SpaceX stepped in.
SpaceX said its 2 GHz spectrum will handle high bandwidth capacity, while the new 800 MHz layer “ensures Starlink Mobile’s signal penetrates through obstacles, such as walls, and can provide service to customers’ devices even when they are in buildings.” The company added that most existing phones already support the band, so customers would not need new hardware to use it.
That 2 GHz spectrum came from SpaceX’s EchoStar acquisition last year, which gave the company exclusive S band rights in the US and global Mobile Satellite Service licenses. The Grain spectrum is different in an important way: it is tailored for service from ground towers, not satellites. SpaceX said that combination would make Starlink Mobile “the first network operator to deploy both satellite and terrestrial spectrum.”
The announcement also follows a key regulatory win. Earlier this week, the FCC approved SpaceX’s plan to deploy 15,000 second generation Starlink Mobile satellites, which the company has said will carry up to 100 times the data density of the current system, as Teslarati previously reported.
Shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell in extended trading after the announcement. T-Mobile is currently SpaceX’s launch partner for Starlink Mobile in the US, which makes its position the most complicated of the three.
SpaceX has not been subtle about its plans. During the company’s August earnings call, President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said she expected Starlink Mobile to win over customers from the major carriers. “I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers because I think our service will be better,” she said, pointing to dead zone coverage and resilience during disasters. Shotwell also described plans for low cost cellular base stations that could pair with existing Starlink dishes.
SpaceX has targeted 2027 for deployment of its next generation Starlink Mobile satellites, with upgraded service expected by the end of that year. The FCC review of the Grain deal now determines when the terrestrial half of that network can come online.
Elon Musk
Trump presents Elon Musk with National Medal of Science, calls him “modern-day Thomas Edison”
Trump gave Elon Musk the National Medal of Science and compared him to Thomas Edison.
Elon Musk now has the highest honor the U.S. government gives to scientists and engineers. President Donald Trump presented him with the National Medal of Science on Thursday at the White House’s “Science: A New Golden Age” summit, held at the Institute of Peace in Washington, according to the White House.
Trump called Musk a “national treasure” and “our modern-day Thomas Edison.” “Few Americans in history have done more to advance America’s national interest than Elon in one field after another,” the president said. He also described Musk as an “industrial titan, brilliant engineer and one of the greatest technology founders to ever live.”
The official citation credits Musk “for engineering achievements of extraordinary ambition and scale that have pushed the frontiers of space exploration, intelligent systems, communications, and beyond, renewing American technological leadership and opening a new chapter in American manufacturing.” Tesla is not named in it, but “intelligent systems” and “American manufacturing” cover a lot of ground that Tesla and the Terafab chip project occupy.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su received the same medal. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell were given the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. It was the first time Trump has handed out either award in his two terms. As Teslarati noted when the list was first reported on Wednesday, the National Science Foundation says 529 people have received the Medal of Science since Congress created it in 1959.
🚨 IT’S OFFICIAL: President Trump just PERSONALLY presented Elon Musk the National Medal of Science for his INCREDIBLE contributions to our nation
I can’t think of ANYONE who deserves this honor more 👏🏻
Congratulations, @elonmusk! https://t.co/GkAaVp9wb9
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 8, 2026
The ceremony closes a loop that opened in 2025, when Musk left DOGE and criticized the “Big Beautiful Bill,” sparking a public feud. Al Jazeera noted that Musk was the largest contributor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, and CNBC reported that all of the honorees have given financially to Trump or Republican causes in some form. The reconciliation has moved quickly in recent weeks. Musk sat at Trump’s left at the September 29 White House AI lunch, was named to help lead the Pentagon’s Project Meridian study on the future of warfare, and adopted the administration’s “super intelligence” wording when he said SpaceXAI will become SpaceXSI.
For Tesla and SpaceX shareholders, the practical question is what the closer relationship means for federal approvals. Tesla’s Robotaxi and Cybercab expansion depends on national autonomy rules, and SpaceX’s Starship and Starlink plans run through the FAA, FCC and NASA. Thursday’s ceremony did not change any of that directly.
Elon Musk’s surprise addition to the X Takeover lineup has fans talking
It’s official: SpaceX takes aim at Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile
Trump presents Elon Musk with National Medal of Science, calls him “modern-day Thomas Edison”
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk to design the battlefield of the future
Tesla Roadster’s new patent preps white-knuckle speeds, keeping it grounded
