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SpaceX prioritizes Starship test flights, pauses plans for floating launch pads
President and COO Gwynne Shotwell says that SpaceX has temporarily abandoned plans for floating Starship launch platforms to ensure it’s fully focused on gaining flight experience with the next-generation rocket.
On February 13th, a NASASpaceflight.com forum member reported that a pair of oil rigs were scheduled to leave a Mississippi port for an unknown destination. At one point, those oil rigs – christened Deimos and Phobos after Mars’ moons – were owned by SpaceX. In mid-2020, SpaceX bought the former half-billion-dollar oil rigs for just $7 million. Around the same time, CEO Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX was “building floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth.”
SpaceX’s oil rig purchase was publicly uncovered in January 2021. Since then, however, the company has done very little to Phobos or Deimos. Phobos’ deck was half-cleared in fitful bursts of work, but Deimos was left almost untouched. Now, according to SpaceNews, SpaceX’s second in command says the company sold Phobos and Deimos and has paused work on offshore Starship launch platforms.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
In August 2021, Musk added some additional insight, revealing that the platforms were not a priority and that the only visible work done was the result of SpaceX hiring third parties to clear Phobos’ deck. Ultimately, the project may have been a false start. Speaking in February 2023, Shotwell told reporters that while SpaceX had sold the rigs, she was still confident that “sea-based [launch] platforms” would become a crucial asset in the future.
Perhaps even exceeding CEO Elon Musk’s infamously lofty ambitions, Shotwell said that SpaceX has “designed Starship to be as much like aircraft operations as we possibly can get” in the hopes of enabling “dozens of launches a day, if not hundreds of launches a day.” No rocket family in history has launched more than 61 times in one calendar year, making Shotwell’s Starship cadence target hundreds or even thousands of times more ambitious than a 1980s rocket record that’s still standing four decades later.
It’s unclear if the FAA’s stringent environmental reviews would ever allow SpaceX to get close to that kind of launch cadence using pads built on US soil. SpaceX fought long and hard to receive approval for up to five orbital Starship launches per year out of Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX has also received approval [PDF] for up to 24 Starship launches per year out of a NASA Kennedy Space Center pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. And SpaceX is permitted to launch [PDF] up to 70 much smaller Falcon rockets per year from its two existing Cape Canaveral pads.
“Dozens” to “hundreds” of Starship launches per day would be two or three orders of magnitude beyond the highest cadences the FAA has ever permitted. Shotwell’s continued interest in floating platforms is thus unsurprising, as they may be the only way SpaceX can realistically achieve airline-like Starship operations while still coexisting with US regulators.
According to SpaceNews, Shotwell said that SpaceX “really need[s] to fly [Starship] to understand it – to get to know this machine – and then we’ll figure out how we’re going to launch it.” That disciplined focus could be just the thing the Starship program needs. More than eighteen months after SpaceX first fully stacked a two-stage Starship, the rocket still hasn’t attempted an orbital launch. SpaceX has, nonetheless, put a vast amount of money and effort into building, expanding, and optimizing factories and launch facilities for Starship, an orbital rocket that has yet to even partially demonstrate itself.
In essence, SpaceX has made huge gambles on the assumption that a version of Starship mostly resembling what the company is building today will be highly successful, reusable, and reliable. SpaceX’s success with Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, and suborbital Starship testing suggests that it will ultimately be successful, in time. Nonetheless, Shotwell’s apparent desire to conduct orbital Starship launches and gather data before making major investments in new infrastructure (and, hopefully, big design changes and “optimizations”) is a welcome change of pace. Shotwell reportedly assumed oversight of Starbase and Starship in late 2022.
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Elon Musk says he’s open to powering Apple’s Siri with xAI’s Grok
Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.
Elon Musk says he’s willing to help Apple overhaul Siri by integrating xAI’s Grok 4.1, igniting widespread excitement and speculations about a potential collaboration between the two tech giants.
Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.
Musk open to an Apple collaboration
Musk’s willingness to team up with Apple surfaced after an X user suggested replacing Siri with Grok 4.1 to modernize the AI assistant. The original post criticized Siri’s limitations and urged Apple to adopt a more advanced AI system. “It’s time for Apple to team up with xAI and actually fix Siri. Replace that outdated, painfully dumb assistant with Grok 4.1. Siri deserves to be Superintelligent,” the X user wrote.
Musk quoted the post, responding with, “I’m down.” Musk’s comment quickly attracted a lot of attention among X’s users, many of whom noted that a Grok update to Siri would be appreciated because Apple’s AI assistant has legitimately become terrible in recent years. Others also noted that Grok, together with Apple’s potential integration of Starlink connectivity, would make iPhones even more compelling.
Grok promises major Siri upgrades
The enthusiasm stems largely from Grok 4.1’s technical strengths, which include stronger reasoning and improved creative output. xAI also designed the model to reduce hallucinations, as noted in a Reality Tea report. Supporters believe these improvements could address Apple’s reported challenges developing its own advanced AI systems, giving Siri the upgrade many users have waited years for.
Reactions ranged from humorous to hopeful, with some users joking that Siri would finally “wake up with a personality” if paired with Grok. Siri, after all, was a trailblazer in voice assistants, but it is currently dominated by rivals in terms of features and capabilities. Grok could change that, provided that Apple is willing to collaborate with Elon Musk’s xAI.
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Tesla’s top-rated Supercharger Network becomes Stellantis’ new key EV asset
The rollout begins in North America early next year before expanding to Japan and South Korea in 2027.
Stellantis will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging System (NACS) across select battery-electric vehicles starting in 2026, giving customers access to more than 28,000 Tesla Superchargers across five countries.
The rollout begins in North America early next year before expanding to Japan and South Korea in 2027, significantly boosting public fast-charging access for Jeep, Dodge, and other Stellantis brands. The move marks one of Stellantis’ largest infrastructure expansions to date.
Stellantis unlocks NACS access
Beginning in early 2026, Stellantis BEVs, including models like the Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona, will gain access to Tesla’s Supercharger network across North America. The integration will extend to Japan and South Korea in 2027, with the 2026 Jeep Recon and additional next-generation BEVs joining the list as compatibility expands. Stellantis stated that details on adapters and network onboarding for current models will be released closer to launch, as noted in a press release.
The company emphasizes that adopting NACS aligns with a broader strategy to give customers greater freedom of choice when charging, especially as infrastructure availability becomes a deciding factor for EV buyers. With access to thousands of high-speed stations, Stellantis aims to reduce range anxiety and improve long-distance travel convenience across its global portfolio.
Tesla Supercharger network proves its value
Stellantis’ move also comes as Tesla’s Supercharger system continues to earn top rankings for reliability and user experience. In the 2025 Zapmap survey, drawn from nearly 4,000 BEV drivers across the UK, Tesla Superchargers were named the Best Large EV Charging Network for the second year in a row. The study measured reliability, ease of use, and payment experience across the country’s public charging landscape.
Tesla’s UK network now includes 1,115 open Supercharger devices at 97 public locations, representing roughly 54% of its total footprint and marking a 40% increase in public availability since late 2024. Zapmap highlighted the Supercharger network’s consistently lower pricing compared to other rapid and ultra-rapid providers, alongside its strong uptime and streamlined user experience. These performance metrics further reinforce the value of Stellantis’ decision to integrate NACS across major markets.
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Tesla FSD and Robotaxis are making people aware how bad human drivers are
These observations really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone.
Tesla FSD and the Robotaxi network are becoming so good in their self-driving performance, they are starting to highlight just how bad humans really are at driving.
This could be seen in several observations from the electric vehicle community.
Robotaxis are better than Uber, actually
Tesla’s Robotaxi service is only available in Austin and the Bay Area for now, but those who have used the service have generally been appreciative of its capabilities and performance. Some Robotaxi customers have observed that the service is simply so much more affordable than Uber, and its driving is actually really good.
One veteran Tesla owner, @BLKMDL3, recently noted that the Robotaxi service has become better than Uber simply because FSD now drives better than some human drivers. Apart from the fact that Robotaxis allow riders to easily sync their phones to the rear display, the vehicles generally provide a significantly more comfortable ride than their manually-driven counterparts from Uber.
FSD is changing the narrative, one ride at a time
It appears that FSD V14 really is something special. The update has received wide acclaim from users since it was released, and the positive reactions are still coming. This was highlighted in a recent post from Tesla owner Travis Nicolette, who shared a recent experience with FSD. As per the Tesla owner, he was quite surprised as his car was able to accomplish a U-turn in a way that exceeded human drivers.
Yet another example of FSD’s smooth and safe driving was showcased in a recent video, which showed a safety monitor of a Bay Area Robotaxi falling asleep in the driver’s seat. In any other car, a driver falling asleep at the wheel could easily result in a grave accident, but thanks to FSD, both the safety monitor and the passengers remained safe.
These observations, if any, really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone. As per the IIHS, there were 40,901 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2023. The NHTSA also estimated that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and 800 deaths. FSD could lower all these tragic statistics by a notable margin.
Elon Musk says he’s open to powering Apple’s Siri with xAI’s Grok
Tesla’s top-rated Supercharger Network becomes Stellantis’ new key EV asset
