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SpaceX launches the second Integrated Flight Test of Starship

Starship launches from Starbase, Texas (Credit SpaceX)

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2 years ago

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Following a brief hold at t minus 40 seconds, Starship took to the morning skies just after 7 a.m. CT from Starbase, Texas.

The countdown flowed smoothly as the SpaceX team filled the gigantic rocket in the pre-dawn hours, working no issues outside, making sure there were no wayward boats downrange.

After the hold was lifted, the clock counted down. Once t-minus 3 seconds, the 33 Raptor engines roared to life and began ramping their thrust levels up, and at t+ 2 seconds, Booster 9 and Ship 25 thundered away from the orbital launch mount, clearing the launch tower in a matter of seconds.

The first phase of flight was perfect, with all 33 Raptor engines performing nominally, a marked improvement over the first test flight. Ship 25 and Booster 9 cleared Max Q just over a minute into the flight per the call out on the SpaceX launch stream.

At t+ 2 minutes and 50 seconds, 30 Raptor engines shut down on Booster 9, and Starship lit all 6 Raptor engines to pull away, the first-ever successful hot staging for SpaceX.

Booster 9 then began its flip to prepare for the boost backburn, but based on the stream, it appeared to possibly over-rotate, and the flight termination system destroyed the rocket.

For just over the next 5 minutes, all 6 Raptor engines on Ship 25 were firing nominally until SpaceX seemingly lost signal with the vehicle, possibly being the reason the automated flight termination system activated. This has yet to be confirmed by SpaceX. Based on the stream, engine shutdown appears to occur t+ 8 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by flight termination at t+ 8 minutes and 7 seconds.

Overall, this was a huge improvement over the first test flight. SpaceX showed much greater reliability in the Raptor engines, with none of the 33 Raptor engines malfunctioning during the first stage burn, a flawless hot stage, and a very smooth Ship 25 burn until SpaceX lost signal.

The launch pad seemingly faired much better this time around as well. Various live streams from the launch pad did not show giant chunks of debris flying after lift-off, which can help set SpaceX up for a much faster return to flight for Starship following their mishap investigation.

How do you think SpaceX did the 2nd time around? Vast improvements, or do you think they need a lot more work first?

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Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.

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Launch journalist, specializing in launch photography. Based on the Space Coast, a short drive from Cape Canaveral and the SpaceX launch pads.

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Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state

This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.

Published

19 hours ago

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September 11, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has landed a regulatory green light to test its Robotaxi platform in a new state, less than three months after the ride-hailing service launched in Texas.

Tesla first launched its driverless Robotaxi suite in Austin, Texas, back on June 22. Initially offering rides to a small group of people, Tesla kept things limited, but this was not to be the mentality for very long.

It continued to expand the rider population, the service area, and the vehicle fleet in Austin.

The company also launched rides in the Bay Area, but it does use a person in the driver’s seat to maintain safety. In Austin, the “Safety Monitor” is present in the passenger’s seat during local rides, and in the driver’s seat for routes that involve highway driving.

Tesla is currently testing the Robotaxi platform in other states. We reported that it was testing in Tempe, Arizona, as validation vehicles are traveling around the city in preparation for Robotaxi.

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Tesla looks to make a big splash with Robotaxi in a new market

Tesla is also hoping to launch in Florida and New York, as job postings have shown the company’s intention to operate there.

However, it appears it will launch in Nevada before those states, as the company submitted its application to obtain a Testing Registry certification on September 3. It was processed by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles Office of Business Licensing on September 10.

It will then need to self-certify for operations, essentially meaning they will need to comply with various state requirements.

This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.

CEO Elon Musk has stated that he believes Robotaxi will be available to at least half of the U.S. population by the end of the year. Geographically, Tesla will need to make incredible strides over the final four months of the year to achieve this.

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Tesla is improving this critical feature in older vehicles

Published

21 hours ago

on

September 11, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is set to improve a critical feature that has not been present in older vehicles with a new update.

Tesla vehicles feature a comprehensive suite of driver assistance features, some of which aid in driving itself, while others support the vehicle’s surroundings.

One of those features is that of Driver Visualization, and with the rollout of a new update, owners of Intel-based Tesla vehicles are receiving an upgrade that will come with a simple software update.

Tesla plans to use Unreal Engine for driver visualization with crazy upgrade

The update will provide new visualizations while Intel-based vehicles are in reverse, a feature that was not previously available, but will be with Software Update 2025.32.2.

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The improvement was spotted by Not a Tesla App via TheBeatYT_evil:

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Previously, vehicles Tesla built were equipped with Intel-based processors, but newer cars feature the AMD chip, which is capable of rendering these visualizations as they happen. They were capable of visualizations when driving forward, but not in reverse, which is what this change resolves.

It is a good sign for those with Intel-based vehicles, as Tesla seems to be paying attention to what those cars are not capable of and improving them.

This was an undocumented improvement associated with this particular update, so you will not find any mention of it in the release notes that Tesla distributes with each update.

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Tesla looks to make a big splash with Robotaxi in a new market

Tesla has been transparent that it is prioritizing safety, but it believes it can expand to basically any geographical location within the United States and find success with its Robotaxi suite. CEO Elon Musk said it could be available to half of the U.S. population by the end of the year.

Published

23 hours ago

on

September 11, 2025

By

Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla is looking to make a big splash with Robotaxi in a new market, as the company was spotted testing validation vehicles in one region where it has not yet launched its ride-hailing service.

After launching Robotaxi in Austin in late June, Tesla followed up with a relatively quick expansion to the Bay Area of California. Both service areas are operating with a geofence that is expansive: In Texas, it is 173 square miles, while in the Bay Area, it is roughly 400 square miles.

Tesla has been transparent that it is prioritizing safety, but it believes it can expand to basically any geographical location within the United States and find success with its Robotaxi suite. CEO Elon Musk said it could be available to half of the U.S. population by the end of the year.

There have been plenty of reports out there that have speculated as to where Tesla would land next to test Robotaxi, and Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and New York have all been in the realm of possibility. These regions will need to approve Tesla for regulatory purposes before Robotaxi can officially operate.

Tesla is still testing and performing validation in several regions, and in Tempe, Arizona, things are moving forward as a Model Y with a LiDAR rig was spotted performing ground truth for the platform:

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With the LiDAR unit, many followers of the self-driving and autonomy space might wonder why Tesla uses these apparatuses during validation, especially considering the company’s stance and vision-based approach.

LiDAR is used for “ground truth,” which is basically a solidification or confirmation of what the cameras on the car are seeing. It is a great way to essentially confirm the accuracy of the vision-based suite, and will not be used on Robotaxi units used within the ride-hailing suite.

The Robotaxi platform was made available to the public earlier this month, as Tesla launched its app for iOS users.

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Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs

Downloading the app allows you to join a waitlist, giving you the opportunity to utilize and test the Robotaxi platform in either Austin or the Bay Area.

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