News
SpaceX’s orbital Florida Starship yard suffers damage after catching fire
Documented on Twitch and covered by several local reporters and photographers, an accident at SpaceX’s Florida Starship campus led to a minor fire that reportedly caused $50K-$100K of damage.
Per information disclosed by the Cocoa Fire Department after quickly responding to the fire, this may actually be SpaceX’s second fire at its Florida Starship facilities in recent months, potentially adding up to more than $650,000 in damages. Indicative of scrappy development program skirting the edges of safety, sustainability, and efficiency, SpaceX – as described by company executives – is pushing to get its next-gen Starship/Super Heavy rocket orbital as quickly as possible. These fire(s) serve as a reminder that – especially for something as complex as orbital-class rocket production – that speedy rocket development is a major challenge.
“This afternoon, a small fire occurred at a SpaceX facility in Cocoa, Florida. The fire was contained to a sea van (shipping container) on site and extinguished thanks to the Cocoa Fire Department, which responded within minutes. There were no injuries as a result of the fire, and the cause is under investigation.” – SpaceX, July 8th
Most importantly, just based on a handful of Twitch streams that happened to capture the fire, it was relegated to an on-site shipping container that also appeared to contain the fire. Anything inside the container has likely been rendered into scrap, but SpaceX’s Florida Starship segments have likely escaped without a scratch. It’s unclear what started the fire but the combination of Florida’s extreme heat and humidity, the serious power requirements of steel welding, plasma cutting, and other industrial work, and the scrappy and speed-focused nature of SpaceX’s Starship program are an excellent start.
In a generic example scenario, some miscellaneous packing/construction materials or welding supplies could have been ignited by an electrical short inside the container. Whatever the cause, it can likely be traced back one way or another to human error. In heavy industry, the most common failure modes can be found as managers rush employees and employees have to find ways (often corner-cutting and/or lax safety) to meet unrealistic timelines with a finite workforce and only so many hours in a day. Regardless, the Starship prototype is safe and SpaceX will hopefully learn from this minor mishap and prevent it from reoccurring.
Simultaneously, SpaceX is building a similar but different orbital Starship prototype and operating a lower-fidelity Starhopper test article at its companion Boca Chica, Texas facilities. Any safety-related knowledge learned in Florida will almost certainly be transmitted to Texas, theoretically preventing the same failure mode from reoccurring at any SpaceX facility – not just the one that suffered damage. Each campus is technically competing to build the better orbital Starship prototype as fast as possible, but information will inevitably be shared between the teams if major breakthroughs or safety-critical discoveries are made on the path to orbit.
Ultimately, July 8th’s fire is just a minor setback along the path to the first flights of one or both of SpaceX’s orbital Starship prototypes, hopefully culminating in high-speed, suborbital tests fairly soon and the first Super Heavy-boosted orbital launches in 2020. Stumbles are inevitable for such a complex, envelope-pushing development program – all that matters is that those mistakes are learned from and preempted in the future.
Check out Teslarati’s Marketplace! We offer Tesla accessories, including for the Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Model 3.
News
Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.
The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.
Here’s what they look like in action:
-
- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
-
- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.
There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:
🚨 Tesla is quietly upgrading Matrix headlights.
Software https://t.co/pXEklQiXSq reveals a hidden feature:
matrix_two_stage_reflection_dip
This is a major step beyond current adaptive high beams.
What it means:
• The car detects highly reflective objects
Road signs,… pic.twitter.com/m5UpQJFA2n— BERKANT (@Tesla_NL_TR) February 24, 2026
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.
Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.
This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.
Elon Musk
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.
Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards.
Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD.
Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible.
The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Elon Musk has pushed back on claims that Starlink’s recent price reductions are tied to Amazon’s Kuiper project.
In a post on X, Musk responded directly to a report suggesting that Starlink was cutting prices and offering free hardware to partners ahead of a planned IPO and increased competition from Kuiper.
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “The lower the cost, the more Starlink can be used by people who don’t have much money, especially in the developing world.”
The speculation originated from a post summarizing a report from The Information, which ran with the headline “SpaceX’s Starlink Makes Land Grab as Amazon Threat Looms.” The report stated that SpaceX is aggressively cutting prices and giving free hardware to distribution partners, which was interpreted as a reaction to Amazon’s Kuiper’s upcoming rollout and possible IPO.
In a way, Musk’s comments could be quite accurate considering Starlink’s current scale. The constellation currently has more than 9,700 satellites in operation today, making it by far the largest satellite broadband network in operation. It has also managed to grow its user base to 10 million active customers across more than 150 countries worldwide.
Amazon’s Kuiper, by comparison, has launched approximately 211 satellites to date, as per data from SatelliteMap.Space, some of which were launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Starlink surpassed that number in early January 2020, during the early buildout of its first-generation network.
Lower pricing also aligns with Starlink’s broader expansion strategy. SpaceX continues to deploy satellites at a rapid pace using Falcon 9, and future launches aboard Starship are expected to significantly accelerate the constellation’s growth. A larger network improves capacity and global coverage, which can support a broader customer base.
In that context, price reductions can be viewed as a way to match expanding supply with growing demand. Musk’s companies have historically used aggressive pricing strategies to drive adoption at scale, particularly when vertical integration allows costs to decline over time.
Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
