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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.
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- Falcon 9 B1046 stands proud and sooty after its third successful launch. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Goodbye, grid fin! (Pauline Acalin)
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- Falcon 9 is lifted from drone ship JRTI to SpaceX’s Port of LA dock space. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Shiny(ish)! (Pauline Acalin)
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- 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.
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- Falcon 9 B1046’s flight-proven titanium grid fins are carefully removed. (Pauline Acalin)
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- Legs, too! (Pauline Acalin)
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- With any luck, B1046’s nine Merlin 1D engines may well see another orbital-class launch in the near future. (Pauline Acalin)
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- 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!
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.
🚨 The NHTSA denied a petition from Tesla that would have thrown out concerns regarding its door handles.
NHTSA said Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect warranting an investigation. The agency said a rulemaking process would be a better strategy. pic.twitter.com/j6PzUBM1mT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 24, 2026
NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.
Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.
The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.
It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
