News
SpaceX to fly ‘hybrid’ Falcon 9 with Block 4 and 5 stages on June 4 launch
According to SES chief technical officer Martin Halliwell, SpaceX intends to “thread the needle” with a unique hybrid Falcon 9 launch of his company’s SES-12 communications satellite on June 4th.
In the case of this launch, Halliwell’s “needle” refers to unsavory weather conditions present at Florida’s Cape Canaveral launch facilities, although weather appears to be improving significantly over the next few days. Originally scheduled for launch on May 24, SES-12 was pushed to May 31, June 1st, and finally June 4th, according to a tweet from SpaceX earlier this morning. Minor difficulties with hardware in the Falcon 9’s Block 5 upper stage required additional troubleshooting and were ultimately magnified by the fact that Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s range is technically supposed to be closed for launches at the moment, a shutdown of two or so weeks meant to allow the station’s range to conduct routine maintenance and install upgraded hardware (radar, meteorology, helicopter maintenance, avionics, software, etc).
https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/1002217744421609474
As such, it’s unlikely that the minor upper stage hardware issues referenced by SpaceX literally entailed a 72 hour delay. In fact, it’s fairly unique for the Eastern Range to go so out of their way to accommodate launches well within a closure period – May 28 to June 9 – scheduled months in advance. Once SpaceX’s SES-12 mission is completed, the range will likely try to complete necessary maintenance ops.
Falcon 9 B1040 returns to Landing Zone-1 after launching the X-37B spaceplane. It’s second and final flight will be with the SES-12 communications satellite. (SpaceX)
In a press conference hosted by the satellite operator SES, CTO Martin Halliwell further discussed some of the more technical aspects of the imminent SpaceX launch, waxing poetic about the particular flight-proven rocket’s fusion of a Block 4 Falcon 9 first stage and a Block 5 upper stage. With its “monster” Block 5 Merlin Vacuum engine, Halliwell noted that the extra performance provided by the upgraded second stage’s higher thrust, the expendable first stage launch profile, and the removal of its grid fins and landing legs could enable as much as seven years of additional operational life for the massive communications satellite.
Although the CTO did not explicitly confirm it, his comments indicate that this launch of the Block 5 upper stage – likely the third after Falcon 9 Block 5’s May 11 debut – may operate at 5% higher thrust for the first time, something briefly discussed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in a press call before the Block 5 debut. In that call, the CEO stated that the upgraded vacuum version of Merlin would fly with its thrust downrated by 5% to avoid risking a customer’s payload while ensuring that the hardware and software upgrades were functioning as intended. It appears that the data and experience provided by the Bangabandhu-1 mission’s downrated thrust profile was extremely encouraging, leading SpaceX to open the throttle a bit more with the SES-12 mission, so to speak.
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- Falcon 9 1046’s Block 5 upper stage shown on its May 11 debut launch with Bangabandhu-1. SpaceX’s rockets already provide rich telemetry live to the company’s launch controllers. (SpaceX)
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- Falcon 9 Block 5 completed its first launch on May 11, carrying the Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. (Tom Cross)
Falcon 9 B1040, the reused booster tasked with launching the second stage and satellite above Earth’s atmosphere, previously flew on September 7, 2017, launching the USAF’s secretive X-37B spaceplane into low Earth orbit. Teslarati photographer Tom Cross will capture the booster’s last flight around 12:30am on June 4th.
Tesla Cybercab units finally got a definitive date for when they will be able to be purchased by consumers, ending speculation regarding whether the fully autonomous vehicle would be available in the near term.
During Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 21, Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to begin delivering its purpose-built Cybercab robotaxi to customers before year-end.
🚨 In short, Cybercabs are slated to go to customers by end of the year. All units are going into Robotaxi fleet currently, per @larsmoravy
Cybercab will be “transport-as-a-service,” but vast majority of Cybercab will be “Tesla-owned,” @elonmusk says https://t.co/R8Qu8QWdmp
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
“We’re trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026,” Moravy said. He added that production is underway on the line at Gigafactory Texas, but “all of those are currently going to our own internal Robotaxi fleet.”
Moravy explained that as operations scale, Tesla will “mainly deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to our customers,” with the Cybercab as the first such vehicle. Initial customer deliveries will start small while the company gains experience with delivery logistics, ownership models, fleet management, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.
CEO Elon Musk reinforced the limited nature of private sales, describing the Cybercab primarily as a “transport-as-a-service” offering rather than a personal ownership vehicle like the Model 3, Model Y, or upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said.
The Cybercab is a two-seater vehicle developed by Tesla without a steering wheel or pedals. It relies completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite and has been in production since February. Early units have been put in Tesla’s Robotaxi service as of early September, when the company launched rides to the public. Tesla previously indicated it would aim to sell Cybercabs for about $30,000.
Unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to ship to consumer cars during Q2 2027, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI, indicated during the call. Early buyers or fleet operators may receive vehicles whose autonomous operation remains geographically restricted due to lagging regulatory agencies. There are some hurdles that remain ahead of Cybercab deliveries.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.
Here’s where Earnings came in:
- Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
- Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
- Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
- Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected
Tesla $TSLA Earnings Results:
Revenues: $28.046B
Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48
Operating Margin: 2.6%
Operating Income: $718M
FCF: $1.531B— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
Major Takeaways
Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”
Tesla Semi
“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”
SI Compute
“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”
Robotaxi
“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reports its earnings for Q3 today. Here’s what to expect, as the company will reveal its balance sheet after the market closes on Wednesday.
Tesla already reported deliveries just after Q3 ended, and it demolished Wall Street consensus estimates of roughly 462,000 vehicles. Tesla delivered 486,532 cars in the third quarter, which was a big beat, but was down 2.1 percent from the same quarter last year. Energy storage deployments were 13.7 GWh, up year-over-year.
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
For the quarter, analysts have already compiled their predictions for what Tesla will report this afternoon:
- Total Revenues: $28.34B
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.43
- Operating Margin: 2.5%
- Operating Income: $721M
- Free Cash Flow: ~-$4.51B
Here are a few things we are looking forward to hearing about on the call:
Automotive Gross Margin and Overall Profitability
This was 16.3 percent in Q2, down from 19.2 percent in Q1, and was impacted by warranty charges and some fading regulatory credits. Consensus implies overall gross margin near 18 percent, but a miss here would potentially reinforce concerns about pricing pressure on its vehicles.
Pay attention to energy storage margins as well, especially since Tesla missed GWh expectations, although it was still a strong quarter.
Robotaxi/Cybercab, Unsupervised FSD, and Optimus Progress
The Say questions from retail investors usually focus on these types of projects, and this quarter is no different. Scaling the Cybercab fleet beyond Austin amid the open NHTSA safety review, timeline for Unsupervised FSD in customer cars, Robotaxi unit economics, and Optimus cost per unit plus when it could start generating revenue, are all things to be looking for.
Any concrete timelines or regulatory path details will likely move the stock more than the near-term numbers. SpaceX merger speculation, which was detailed during SpaceX’s earnings call last night, may also surface, although the key details were shared last night.
Elon Musk just confirmed the Tesla and SpaceX merger step everyone was waiting for
Say Investor Questions
- How does the Cybercab fleet scale past Austin, and what’s the regulatory path outside Texas given NHTSA’s open safety review?
- When can we anticipate FSD unsupervised in customer cars?
- When will the CyberCab be available for customer purchase/ownership?
- What’s the unit economics per paid robotaxi mile, and how does it compare to the thirty-cent target?
- Tesla has acknowledged that HW3 vehicles cannot support unsupervised FSD. When will owners know whether they can upgrade their hardware for free, and when will Tesla provide a clear plan?
The full Earnings Call will be streamed this evening after market close around 5 p.m. this evening.
Tesla Cybercab gets a for sale date at last
Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS
