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SpaceX simulates lifting Starship with launch tower ‘arms’

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SpaceX has taken Starbase’s rocket-catching launch tower ‘arms’ to new heights during the latest series of proof tests.

That process began in earnest on January 4th, when SpaceX lifted, opened, and swung the tower’s building-sized arms for the first time. Four days later, SpaceX performed a variation on the first round of tests, again slowly lifting the assembly up the side of the launch tower and opening and closing the arms. The most notable difference was the addition of several tandem swing tests, which hinted at more applied tests that were soon to come. SpaceX also performed some basic tests with a third Starship fueling arm higher up on the tower, very slowly swinging it towards where Starship would be standing.

On Sunday afternoon, a third major round of testing kicked off. This set of tests was considerably more focused than the prior two, suggesting that it was more of a simulation of the main purpose of the arms.

Instead of lifting a few dozen feet and performing basic actuation and coordination tests, SpaceX simply lifted the arm assembly up along the tower’s exterior and didn’t stop. There were a few temporary pauses but the arms ultimately reached the approximate height they’d need to reach to stack a Starship on top of a Super Heavy booster. In fact, despite being (in)famous for being partially designed to catch boosters and ships out of mid-air, the main purpose of the arms – and likely the only reason they exist at all – is to safely, accurately, and precisely lift, install, and stack Starships and Super Heavy boosters.

SpaceX could obviously use a giant crawler or tower crane to accomplish a similar feat but cranes – especially large and tall ones – are extremely sensitive to wind conditions and effectively become very unsafe to operate in anything more than a brisk breeze. To put it lightly, even the average weather on the South Texas Gulf Coast is anything but conducive to the routine and reliable operation of giant cranes, which is exactly what SpaceX would need to avoid near-future Starship launch and recovery operations being constantly delayed by weather.

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Super Heavy B5 demonstrates one of its hardpoints’ uses. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

On January 9th, SpaceX appeared to test exactly that function. Before the day’s testing began, workers installed a large steel bar believed to be a weight simulator between the arms. Just like a booster would, the simulator sat – one end resting on both arms – on two small steel appendages identical to those present on all recent Super Heavy prototypes. On top of serving as a hardpoint for cranes, the downward-facing end of the L-shaped structures are capped with a small steel tip designed to take the whole weight of a Super Heavy. Those two minuscule steel caps – each no more than a foot wide – are what SpaceX (or at least CEO Elon Musk) wants Super Heavy to ‘land’ on to be “caught” by the launch tower’s arms.

More importantly, those caps – covering heavy-duty bearings – are also what the arms will ‘grab’ and manipulate to carefully position Super Heavy boosters for launch mount installation. To do so, each arm has a pair of parallel screw rods that can move together to shift the booster closer to or further away from the launch tower or move in opposite directions to slightly rotate it.

Once the arms reached the top of the tower, SpaceX performed several swing tests, mirroring the kind of movements they would use to carefully lift Starship, swing it over top of Super Heavy, and mate the two stages. Ultimately, the tower seemed to complete the simulation without any showstopping issues. Up next, it’s possible that SpaceX will add weights to the simulator bar to fully simulate the 100-200 ton masses of Starship and Super Heavy. Eventually, SpaceX may also use Starship S20 and Super Heavy B4 to fully qualify the arms by actually lifting, stacking, and removing both stages.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Analyst: Elon Musk’s $1 trillion Tesla pay deal modest against robot market potential

Jonas highlighted Tesla’s longer-term ambitions in robotics as a key factor in his assessment.

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Credit: Tesla

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, one of Wall Street’s most ardent Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) bulls today, has described Elon Musk’s newly proposed $1 trillion performance-based compensation package as a “good deal” for investors. 

In a note shared this week, Jonas argued that the package helps align the interests of Musk and Tesla’s minority shareholders, despite its shockingly high headline number.

Future market opportunities

Jonas highlighted Tesla’s longer-term ambitions in robotics as a key factor in his assessment. “Yes, a trillion bucks is a big number, but (it) is rather modest compared to the size of the market opportunity,” Jonas wrote. He added that the humanoid robot market could ultimately surpass the size of today’s global labor market “by a significant multiple.”

“We have entertained scenarios where the humanoid robot market can exceed the size of today’s global labor market… by a significant multiple,” Jonas wrote, as shared on X by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt.

The analyst likened the arrival of AI-powered robotics to the transformative effect of electricity, noting that “contemplating future global GDP before AI robots is like contemplating global GDP before electricity.” The Morgan Stanley analyst’s insights align with the idea that as much as 80% of Tesla’s future valuation could be tied to its Optimus humanoid robot program.

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Elon Musk’s pay package

Tesla’s board has tied Elon Musk’s proposed compensation package to some of the most ambitious targets in corporate history. The 2025 CEO Performance Award requires the automaker’s valuation to soar from roughly $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next decade, a level that would make Tesla the most valuable company in existence.

The plan also demands a leap in Tesla’s operating profit, from $17 billion in 2024 to $400 billion annually. It also ties the CEO’s compensation to a number of product milestones, including the delivery of 20 million vehicles in total, 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, 1 million Tesla Bots, and 1 million Robotaxis in operation. Tesla’s board emphasized that Musk’s leadership was fundamental to achieving such ambitious goals, with Chair Robyn Denholm noting the award would align the CEO’s incentives with long-term shareholder value.

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Tesla China posts strongest registrations of Q3 so far with first Model Y L deliveries

Tesla posted 14,300 insurance registrations in China during the week of September 1–7.

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla posted 14,300 insurance registrations in China during the week of September 1–7, a 14.4% increase from the previous week’s 12,500 units. 

The figure marks Tesla’s highest weekly performance so far this quarter so far, despite the company’s year-over-year figures still being below 2024’s numbers.

Weekly registrations

The week’s registrations broke down to 5,000 Model 3s and 8,400 Model Ys, including the first 900 units of the newly launched Model Y L variant, as per estimates from industry watchers. On a quarterly basis, Tesla China is tracking 41.3% growth compared to the previous quarter, which bodes well for the company’s results this Q3 2025.

For the month of August, Tesla sold 57,152 vehicles in China, down 9.93% from the same period in 2024 but up 40.7% from July’s 40,617 units, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Year-to-date, Tesla’s China sales are 7.2% lower compared to the previous year.

Model Y L first deliveries

The week ending September 7 was the first week that included the newly released Model Y L, a six-seat extended wheelbase version of the company’s best-selling all-electric crossover. Industry watchers estimate that last week, the first 900 units of the Model Y L have been registered, though this number is expected to increase in the coming weeks as deliveries of the vehicle hit their pace.

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Citing information from a Tesla store in Beijing, Chinese media outlet Cailianshe stated that the Model Y L has been seeing a lot of interest among car buyers. “(The Model Y L) is selling very well. Since its launch, 120,000 orders have been received, with nearly 10,000 orders placed every day. The first batch of customers began receiving deliveries in the past two days,” a Tesla representative stated.

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Tesla launches MultiPass to simplify charging at non-Tesla stations

With the new service, Tesla owners can activate charging either through the Tesla app or by using their existing Tesla key card.

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tesla nacs charger
(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has introduced MultiPass, a new feature that allows owners to use their Tesla account to charge at non-Tesla charging stations. 

The service launched this week in the Netherlands, giving drivers the ability to find chargers, start sessions, and view charging history directly within the Tesla app.

Streamlining third-party charging

With MultiPass, Tesla owners can activate charging either through the Tesla app or by using their existing Tesla key card. This eliminates the need for separate accounts or additional cards from third-party networks. Tesla Charging highlighted the convenience of managing charging sessions in one location in a post on X, while Max de Zegher, Tesla’s Director of Charging for North America, emphasized that the update removes unnecessary friction.

“Nobody likes creating more accounts with payment details and passwords. For charging, this can even mean needing a third-party charging card mailed to your house. Starting in the Netherlands today, your Tesla App and your existing (!) Tesla keycard can start charging at third-party chargers. We’ll expand this to more countries quickly if customers love it. To make ownership effortless, the Tesla App should really be the only thing you need,” the Tesla executive wrote in a post on X.

Third-party payments and a familiar name

Tesla owners could pay for their third-party charging session with their Tesla accounts, as per the electric vehicle maker on its official website. Payments are drafted from users’ default payment method in the Tesla App, though charging costs will still vary depending on the third-party charger that is used.

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Interestingly, the MultiPass name also echoes a pop culture reference. In the 1997 sci-fi film The Fifth Element, Leeloo Dallas-505 carried a futuristic “Multipass” smart card that functioned as her ID, passport, and ticket to space travel. Her accented repetition of “Multipass!” became one of the film’s most memorable lines, and it highlighted the card’s all-in-one convenience.

Tesla has not provided a timeline for Multipass’ U.S. rollout, though the service could become an important addition to the growing but often fragmented landscape of DC fast charging.

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