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SpaceX caps major Falcon 9 Block 5 reuse with spectacular Port of LA recovery
SpaceX has completed what might be its most important Falcon 9 reuse yet after successfully launching and recovering booster B1046 for the third time in just six months. Prior to this launch, the company had never before flown a reused Falcon 9 booster more than once.
Making way for a probable fourth launch in the near future, B1046’s Port of Los Angeles return was marked by a stream of spectacular visuals as seasoned SpaceX recovery technicians transferred the booster from drone ship to land, performed initial inspections, and prepared it for transport back to Hawthorne, where it will undergo (hopefully minimal) refurbishment.
Falcon 9 B1046.3 went horizontal this afternoon after spending 6 days at port of LA. #spacex @Teslarati pic.twitter.com/QqTpMFvl0F
— Pauline Acalin (@w00ki33) December 11, 2018
Displaying inspiring dedication, Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin managed to stick with B1046 for a major portion of the six days it spent on the docks, despite a rare spate of rainy and downright stormy days in Los Angeles. Her patience was awarded with a number of beautiful photos documenting nearly every significant aspect of any given Falcon 9 booster recovery, ranging from the lift from drone ship to dockside and the removal of all four titanium grid fins to the rocket’s flip from a vertical to a horizontal orientation ahead of road transport back to SpaceX’s Hawthorne factory.
Above all else, the most noteworthy aspect of Falcon 9 B1046’s third return to port is just how unharmed the rocket appears, at least from an external perspective. The booster has grown a fairly healthy triple coating of kerosene soot from its three reentry and landing burns, thick enough that Falcon 9’s mirror-shiny white skin is barely visible on the lower (RP-1) propellant tank. At this point, it seems that SpaceX has concluded that any possible performance loss from those soot layers are small enough to be negligible.
- Falcon 9 B1046 stands proud and sooty after its third successful launch. (Pauline Acalin)
- Goodbye, grid fin! (Pauline Acalin)
- Falcon 9 is lifted from drone ship JRTI to SpaceX’s Port of LA dock space. (Pauline Acalin)
- Shiny(ish)! (Pauline Acalin)
- It’s unclear what exactly causes it, but Falcon 9 Block 5’s newly heat-shielded legs turn a rather bright white after being scorched during booster landings. (Pauline Acalin)
In an operational sense, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 recovery procedures and the technicians that perform the actual task of recovery seem to be approaching the work with an attitude that fits better in the realm of commercial aviation than in what is perceived as modern rocketry (clean rooms, surgical precision, etc.). Both the procedures and technicians seem to have been refined into what now runs like a well-oiled machine, wrapping up the complex and pathfinding task of recovering a thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster in less than a week from its drone ship landing to Hawthorne arrival.
The condition of B1046 could well make or break the future of the Falcon 9 family, as any significant departure from Block 5’s design intentions could cut the operational lifetime of the ~10 boosters already produced by dozens of fleet-wide flights.
- Falcon 9 B1046’s flight-proven titanium grid fins are carefully removed. (Pauline Acalin)
- Legs, too! (Pauline Acalin)
- With any luck, B1046’s nine Merlin 1D engines may well see another orbital-class launch in the near future. (Pauline Acalin)
- Never forget your aerospace-grade pool noodles, kids. (Pauline Acalin)
On the other hand, a rapid and relatively painless post-recovery inspection and a general bill of nominal health could – pending customer comfort and SpaceX pricing it right – open the floodgates for the company’s fleet of (optimally) reusable rocket boosters. Even if it turns on that Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters almost invariably demand $10M+ in extensive refurbishment after every launch and can only manage a max of 10 launches before heading to the scrapyard, SpaceX could quite literally become untouchable on the global launch market and remain so for a minimum of 5+ years.
First grid fin has been removed from the 3x flown Falcon 9 standing at port of LA. Been wanting to see this happen for years. So NEAT! #spacex @Teslarati pic.twitter.com/iICf7Pypn8
— Pauline Acalin (@w00ki33) December 8, 2018
So long as the company can preserve the Falcon family’s impressive and ever-growing heritage of reliability alongside industry-leading reusability, there isn’t a company or country in the world that could beat SpaceX’s business model if it ever came down to a contract competition death-match, so to speak, not for another 5-10 years. It may never come to that, but that capability will – at the bare minimum – give SpaceX a nearly unbeatable upper hand for launching its own global constellation of internet satellites, known as Starlink.
For prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet check out our brand new LaunchPad and LandingZone newsletters!
News
Tesla finally brings a Robotaxi update that Android users will love
The breakdown of the software version shows that Tesla is actively developing an Android-compatible version of the Robotaxi app, and the company is developing Live Activities for Android.
Tesla is finally bringing an update of its Robotaxi platform that Android users will love — mostly because it seems like they will finally be able to use the ride-hailing platform that the company has had active since last June.
Based on a decompile of software version 26.2.0 of the Robotaxi app, Tesla looks to be ready to roll out access to Android users.
According to the breakdown, performed by Tesla App Updates, the company is preparing to roll out an Android version of the app as it is developing several features for that operating system.
🚨 It looks like Tesla is preparing to launch the Robotaxi app for Android users at last!
A decompile of v26.2.0 of the Robotaxi app shows some progress on the Android side for Robotaxi 🤖 🚗 https://t.co/mThmoYuVLy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 13, 2026
The breakdown of the software version shows that Tesla is actively developing an Android-compatible version of the Robotaxi app, and the company is developing Live Activities for Android:
“Strings like notification_channel_robotaxid_trip_name and android_native_alicorn_eta_text show exactly how Tesla plans to replicate the iOS Live Activities experience. Instead of standard push alerts, Android users are getting a persistent, dynamically updating notification channel.”
This is a big step forward for several reasons. From a face-value perspective, Tesla is finally ready to offer Robotaxi to Android users.
The company has routinely prioritized Apple releases because there is a higher concentration of iPhone users in its ownership base. Additionally, the development process for Apple is simply less laborious.
Tesla is working to increase Android capabilities in its vehicles
Secondly, the Robotaxi rollout has been a typical example of “slowly then all at once.”
Tesla initially released Robotaxi access to a handful of media members and influencers. Eventually, it was expanded to more users, so that anyone using an iOS device could download the app and hail a semi-autonomous ride in Austin or the Bay Area.
Opening up the user base to Android users may show that Tesla is preparing to allow even more users to utilize its Robotaxi platform, and although it seems to be a few months away from only offering fully autonomous rides to anyone with app access, the expansion of the user base to an entirely different user base definitely seems like its a step in the right direction.
News
Lucid unveils Lunar Robotaxi in bid to challenge Tesla’s Cybercab in the autonomous ride hailing race
Lucid’s Lunar robotaxi is gunning for Tesla’s Cybercab in the autonomous ride hailing race
Lucid Group pulled back the curtain on its purpose-built autonomous robotaxi platform dubbed the Lunar Concept. Announced at its New York investor day event, Lunar is arguably the company’s most ambitious concept yet, and a direct line of sight toward the autonomous ride haling market that Tesla looks to control.

At Lucid Investor Day 2026, the company introduced Lunar, a purpose-built robotaxi concept based on the Midsize platform.
A comparison to Tesla’s Cybercab is unavoidable. The concept of a Tesla robotaxi was first introduced by Elon Musk back in April 2019 during an event dubbed “Autonomy Day,” where he envisioned a network of self-driving Tesla vehicles transporting passengers while not in use by their owners. That vision took another major step in October 2024 when, Musk unveiled the Cybercab at the Tesla “We, Robot” event held at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, where 20 concept Cybercabs autonomously drove around the studio lot giving rides to attendees.
Fast forward to today, and Tesla’s ambitions are finally materializing, but not without friction. As we recently reported, the Cybercab is being spotted with increasing frequency on public roads and across the grounds of Gigafactory Texas, suggesting that the company’s road testing and validation program is ramping meaningfully ahead of mass production. Tesla already operates a small scale robotaxi service in Austin using supervised Model Ys, but the Cybercab is designed from the ground up for high-volume, low-cost production, with Musk stating an eventual goal of producing one vehicle every 10 seconds.

At Lucid Investor Day 2026, the company introduced Lunar, a purpose-built robotaxi concept based on the Midsize platform.
Into this landscape steps Lucid’s Lunar. Built on the company’s all-new Midsize EV platform, which will also underpin consumer SUVs starting below $50,000. The Lunar mirrors the Cybercab’s core philosophy of having two seats, no driver controls, and a focus on fleet economics. The platform introduces Lucid’s redesigned Atlas electric drive unit, engineered to be smaller, lighter, and cheaper to manufacture at scale.
Unlike Tesla’s strategy of building its own ride hailing network from scratch, Lucid is partnering with Uber. The companies are said to be in advanced discussions to deploy Midsize platform vehicles at large scale, with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi publicly backing Lucid’s engineering credentials and autonomous-ready architecture.
In the investor day event, Lucid also outlined a recurring software revenue model, with an in-vehicle AI assistant and monthly autonomous driving subscriptions priced between $69 and $199. This can be seen as a nod to the software revenue stream that Tesla has long championed with its Full Self-Driving subscription.
Tesla’s Cybercab is targeting a price point below $30k and with operating costs as low as 20 cents per mile. But with regulatory hurdles still ahead, the window for competition is open. Lucid’s Lunar may not have a launch date yet, but it arrives at a pivotal moment, and when the robotaxi race is no longer viewed as hypothetical. Rather, every serious EV player needs to come to bat on the same plate that Tesla has had countless practice swings on over the last seven years.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.








