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SpaceX assembles world’s largest rocket with giant robot arms
For the second time ever, SpaceX has fully stacked a two-stage Starship rocket, once again creating the largest launch vehicle prototype ever assembled.
This time around, though, SpaceX used building-sized arms installed on Starbase’s ~145-meter-tall (~480 ft) ‘launch tower’ to lift to grapple Starship, lift massive upper stage more than 80 meters (260 ft) off the ground, and lower on top of a Super Heavy booster. After multiple days of apparent troubleshooting and false-starts and weeks of proof-testing with water bags weighing dozens to hundreds of tons, the giant robot seemed to perform perfectly, pausing only once during the ascent.
After holding Starship S20’s weight for about an hour and attaching two smaller stabilization arms to the side of the rocket, the Mechazilla arms began to lift Starship in earnest around 10:27 pm CST. Around 10:45 pm, with the tip of Starship S20’s nose just shy of the top of the launch tower, the lift reached its apogee – multiple SpaceX drones swarming the rocket to document the milestone.
At their peak, the tower’s arms then swung Starship about 45 degrees until it was directly above Super Heavy Booster 4’s interstage. The launch tower’s Starship quick-disconnect (QD) arm – responsible for connecting the upper stage to ground systems – then swung in, partially deploying and ‘grabbing’ Super Heavy to fully stabilize the booster. Finally, once the booster was secured and SpaceX was confident in the alignment of the two massive rocket stages, the tower arms carefully lowered Starship onto Super Heavy’s interstage, where several clamps grabbed onto the ship to fully mate the pair.
While the actual near-term utility of those arms remains ambiguous at best, their first successful use is an undeniably impressive technical achievement. SpaceX began assembling them less than nine months ago, beginning with the Starship QD arm around May 2021. SpaceX began installing the two main Mechazilla arms in October 2021, three months after assembly began. Just three months after that, all three have come together for the first time to lift and stack the world’s largest rocket.
Perhaps most impressive of all is that on the very first try, lifting Starship and stacking it on top of Super Heavy with the launch and integration tower took just three hours from the start of the lift to a fully mated rocket. Additionally, though SpaceX did get lucky with minimal wind, it’s also impressive just how little uncontrolled movement was visible as Starship hung in the air hundreds of feet above the ground. Virtually no swaying was visible, meaning that the arms were doing their job of stabilizing the massive rockets in a situation where even a gentle breeze could make stacking Starship with a crane far too risky.
CEO Elon Musk will now have one of the most impressive accomplishments in modern spaceflight as a backdrop when he presents an update on the same rocket, hopefully shedding light on Starship’s next steps and the roles Ship 20 and Booster 4 might play in them. Stay tuned for updates on the event, which is scheduled to begin no earlier than 8pm CST, February 10th (02:00 UTC 11 Feb).
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Tesla Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units
Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.
Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.
Recent Cybercab sightings
Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.
The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.
Production design all but finalized?
Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.
There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious.Â
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Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade
As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.Â
Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.
Vision’s decision to pull the blockade
Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week.
As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.
“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”
The SKR’s warning
Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said.Â
Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.
Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.
Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.
Just drove the redesigned Semi. Our customers are going to love it. https://t.co/KZ88sf1CDL
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) December 19, 2025
The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.
Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries
Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.
Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.
Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.
All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”
The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.
Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.
Tesla Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units
Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade
