News
SpaceX to launch Falcon Heavy rocket 3 times in 6 months after latest payload delay
For at least the second time in 2021, unspecified issues with a US military payload have delayed SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch, this time pushing the mission into next year.
Known as USSF-44 (formerly AFSPC-44), the US Air Force (now Space Force) contracted a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2019 to launch the classified payload for roughly $150M in fiscal year 2021 (no earlier than Q4 2020). Gradually, USSF-44 slipped without explanation to Q2 2021, at which point SpaceX had fully qualified and delivered all three new Falcon Heavy boosters and an expendable upper stage for the mission. After two more slips to July and October 2021, a US military official finally offered the first hint of an explanation for what now amounted to a full year of delays, explaining that USSF-44 had been pushed into Q4 “to accommodate payload readiness.”
Translated from US military doublespeak and euphemism, the manufacturer (likely Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, or Boeing) building USSF-44’s classified payload(s) ran into or create issues that caused at least 3-6 months of delays. Now, per official comments obtained from a Space Force spokesperson by Spaceflight Now, USSF-44 has again been delayed several months “to accommodate payload readiness,” pushing Falcon Heavy’s fourth launch ever from October 2021 to no earlier than (NET) Q1 2022.
USSF-44’s latest delay means that SpaceX is now likely to go a full 30 months between Falcon Heavy flights after completing the rocket’s third and most recent launch in June 2019. The slip to “early 2022” also leaves the company with an extremely ambitious launch manifest in the first half of 2022. Barring one or several significant delays, which now seems like the most plausible outcome, SpaceX has four major Falcon Heavy missions – USSF-44, USSF-52, ViaSat-3, and NASA’s Psyche probe – scheduled to launch set to launch by August, with three of the four scheduled in H1 2022. A fifth mission – USSF-67 – is scheduled to launch in Q4 2022 and likely on another Falcon Heavy rocket, though the US military has yet to specify the Falcon variant.
Further, requiring the use of the same Kennedy Space Center (KSC) LC-39A pad, SpaceX also has at least six Crew and Cargo Dragon launches scheduled in February (Ax-1), April (Crew-4), May (CRS-25), Q3 (Ax-2), September (CRS-26), and October 2022 (Crew-5). In other words, in Dragon and Falcon Heavy missions alone, SpaceX already has 10-11 launches scheduled in 2022 – all of which require the use of Pad 39A. If SpaceX manages to pull that off on top of a myriad of other commercial and Starlink launches scheduled next year, it will be a feat to remember.
Barring additional delays, USSF-44 will be SpaceX’s first direct launch to geostationary orbit (GEO), requiring the Falcon upper stage to survive a multi-hour coast through and inside two radiation belts before reigniting for a circularization burn some 35,800 km (22,300 mi) above Earth’s surface. However, a rideshare payload transferred to SpaceX’s ViaSat-3 communications satellite launch recently revealed that SpaceX also intends to send those payloads directly to GEO in Q2 2022, meaning that another few months could force the company to leapfrog USSF-44.
For now, fans of the most powerful operational rocket in the world will have to wait at least another three months for its next launch.
Elon Musk
Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund votes against Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award
The fund is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), and it holds a 1.14% stake in Tesla valued at about $11.6 billion.
														Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund has voted against Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award, which will be ultimately decided at Tesla’s upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
The fund is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), and it holds a 1.14% stake in Tesla valued at about $11.6 billion.
NBIM’s opposition
NBIM confirmed it had already cast its vote against Musk’s pay package, citing concerns over its total size, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk, as noted in a CNBC report. The fund acknowledged Musk’s leadership of the EV maker, and it stated that it will continue to seek dialogue with Tesla about its concerns.
“While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk- consistent with our views on executive compensation. We will continue to seek constructive dialogue with Tesla on this and other topics,” NBIM noted.
The upcoming Tesla annual shareholder meeting will decide whether Musk should receive his proposed 2025 performance award, which would grant him large stock options over the next decade if Tesla hits several ambitious milestones, such as a market cap of $8.5 trillion. The 2025 performance award will also increase Musk’s stake in Tesla to 25%.
Elon Musk and NBIM
Elon Musk’s proposed 2025 CEO performance award has proven polarizing, with large investors split on whether the executive should be given a pay package that, if fully completed, would make him a trillionaire.
Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis have recommended that shareholders vote against the deal, and initiatives such as the “Take Back Tesla” campaign have rallied investors to oppose the proposed performance award. On the other hand, other large investors such as ARK Invest and the State Board of Administration of Florida (SBA) have urged shareholders to approve the compensation plan.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that Musk and NBIM have found themselves on opposing sides. Last year, NBIM voted against reinstating Musk’s 2018 performance award, which had already been fully accomplished but was rescinded by a Delaware judge.
Later reports shared text messages between Musk and NBIM Chief Executive Nicolai Tangen, who was inviting the CEO to a dinner in Oslo. Musk declined the invitation, writing, “When I ask you for a favor, which I very rarely do, and you decline, then you should not ask me for one until you’ve done something to make amends. Friends are as friends do.”
Elon Musk
Tesla begins production of new Model Y trim at Giga Berlin
Tesla announced on Monday that its Model Y Standard configuration was officially being built at Giga Berlin, less than one month after the company officially announced the configuration early last month.
														Tesla has begun production of the new Model Y trim at Gigafactory Berlin, the company’s production plant in Germany.
Tesla announced on Monday that its Model Y Standard configuration was officially being built at Giga Berlin, less than one month after the company officially announced the configuration early last month.
On October 7, Tesla announced the launch of the Model 3 and Model Y Standard trim levels, its answer to the call for affordable EVs within its lineup and its response to the loss of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.
On October 3, Tesla started production of the vehicles in Germany:
Model Y Standard says „Hello World“ – Production at Giga Berlin has started today! pic.twitter.com/p37JIfJDIB
— Tesla Manufacturing (@gigafactories) November 3, 2025
The Standard iteration of the Model Y is void of many of the more premium features that are available in the Rear-Wheel-Drive, All-Wheel-Drive, and Performance trims of the vehicle are equipped with.
A few of the features of the Model Y Standard are:
- Single Motor configuration
 - No rear touchscreen
 - Textile seats with vegan leather, instead of all vegan leather
 - 320-mile range
 - No glass roof
 
The launch of the Model Y Standard was truly a move to help Tesla get vehicles into the sub-$40,000 price point, and although many consumers were hoping to see the company get closer to $30,000 with these cars, this is a great starting point.
Deliveries in the United States have already started, and it seems it will be a vehicle that will do one of two things: either push some consumers to finally make the jump to Tesla, or it will give car buyers another reason to buy the Premium trims, as they may feel the lack of features is not a good enough deal.
This is something we saw with the Cybertruck’s Rear-Wheel-Drive configuration, which launched last year and ended up being more of the latter option listed above.
The Tesla Model Y Standard is actually a great deal in Europe
It was only a $10,000 discount from the All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck, but it also did not have adaptive air suspension, premium interiors, or the powered tonneau cover, which many people felt was too much of a sacrifice.
The Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck was discontinued only a few months later.
It does not seem as if this is the case with the Model Y Standard, which already seems to be an attractive option to some buyers.
Cybertruck
Tesla begins wide rollout of Full Self-Driving v14 to Cybertruck
														Tesla has officially begun the wide rollout of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14 to the Cybertruck about a month after the company started rolling it out to other vehicles in the fleet.
On Monday, Tesla officially started rolling out v14.1.5 to Cybertruck owners, the first FSD v14 rollout for owners of the all-electric pickup.
Owners have been anxiously waiting for Tesla to begin the wide release of v14 to Cybertruck, as the company said it would refine the suite for the vehicle.
Tesla has finally started rolling out to many owners, who are reporting that their Cybertrucks are downloading Software Update 2025.38.8.5, which contains FSD v14.1.5:
Tesla Self-Driving 14.1.5 for Cybertruck rolling out now! Too bad I just left for Austin. pic.twitter.com/WdxvEaK6ma
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) November 3, 2025
So look what I just got on my @cybertruck ! FSD v14.1.5
Believe it or not @teslascope reported it about 5 minutes before it was visible on my app. That new API must be cooking! pic.twitter.com/GIiQrss4q5
— Chuck Cook (@chazman) November 3, 2025
Can confirm – arrived last night 🤝 https://t.co/0knxMK1Gfx pic.twitter.com/rqtU41pRaF
— Wes (@wmorrill3) November 3, 2025
Tesla has to be more cautious with rolling out FSD on the Cybertruck than on other vehicles for a few reasons. Initially, the Cybertruck utilizes an all-wheel steering system that turns differently than the S3XY lineup. This creates a challenge for the Tesla AI team as they have to cater to this specific maneuvering change.
Additionally, the Cybertruck is much larger, and the exterior cameras responsible for seeing the vehicle’s surroundings are placed differently than those of the other vehicles.
This requires additional calibration to ensure safety.
The full release notes for Full Self-Driving v14.1.5 are as follows:
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
 - Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances).
 - Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
 - Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
 - Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
 - Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
 - Improve handling of several scenarios including: unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school buses.
 - Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and recover smoothly from degraded operation for enhanced reliability.
 - Added alerting for residue build-up on interior windshield that may impact front camera visibility. If affected, visit Service for cleaning!
 
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 release notes for Cybertruck pic.twitter.com/fiMnjjTCY9
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
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