

News
SpaceX’s Mr Steven gains upgraded arms to catch its first Falcon 9 fairings
SpaceX’s iconic Falcon 9 payload fairing recovery ship, known as Mr Steven, has been spotted in California’s Port of San Pedro having new arms installed with two cranes and a crew of SpaceX technicians. Aside from the sudden addition of dramatically different arm design, a large inflatable structure also took shape – seemingly overnight – right behind Mr Steven, the purpose of which is entirely unclear.
Incredibly, these massive new arms and their new equally large support struts and base plates have begun installation barely two weeks after Mr Steven took roost and had his old arms removed at SpaceX’s Berth 240 property. While the timeline of the arm and net upgrades – mentioned by CEO Elon Musk several weeks ago – was previously uncertain, the incredibly quick turnaround from old arm removal to new arm install suggests that SpaceX may, in fact, be aiming to have Mr Steven ready for recovery operations as early as Iridium-7, scheduled for launch on July 20th. In all likelihood, the fairing recovery vessel will be held up till the subsequent Vandenberg Air Force Base launch while a net with an area perhaps four times larger is custom-built for SpaceX.

A massive inflatable structure appeared out of nowhere at Berth 240 roughly four days after Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin had last checked up on the facility. (Pauline Acalin)
Nevertheless, SpaceX’s speed rarely fails to surprise, and it’s entirely possible that a new, larger net was already ordered some time ago in preparation for the eventuality that Mr Steven’s first recovery mechanism was unsuccessful. Given the fact that at least two main arms and perhaps eight white, cylindrical struts have apparently been completed and are awaiting installation at Berth 240, it’s probable that the lead time on this new recovery mechanism stretches back at least several months, likely at least a month before Musk mentioned that Mr Steven would have its usable catching area grown “by a factor of [four]” in early June.
Yup, we are extending the net area by a factor of 4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2018
Closing the fairing recovery gap
With four times the net available to catch wayward Falcon 9 payload fairings, SpaceX may be able to finally close the gap between Mr Steven and the successful and routine recovery and reuse of the second of three main Falcon 9 (and Heavy) components. At roughly 10% of the total cost (not price) of a single-booster Falcon 9, the considerable effort being put into the recovery of carbon-composite payload fairings is in a way motivated more by manufacturing bottlenecks than by the money it will save SpaceX (somewhat less than $3m per half).
- Taken on Friday, these two photos show the new arm mounting brackets, installed on Mr Steven the week of July 2nd. (Pauline Acalin)
- Scarcely 48 hours later, an entirely new pear-shaped arm and two huge, circular struts were successfully installed, presumably the first of four sets. (Pauline Acalin)
- (Pauline Acalin)
SpaceX’s team of composite technicians and engineers will need to reliably fabricate as many as ~50 payload fairing halves in 2018, effectively one half each week
By recovering payload fairings before they touch the ocean surface, the company may – in one fell swoop – be able to dramatically reduce the operational expenditure required to sustain the annual production of dozens of Falcon fairings, each of which requires an inescapable and tediously slow stint in a massive autoclave, only a few of which can be squeeze into the company’s Hawthorne factory. As an example, SpaceX’s team of roughly 150 dedicated composite technicians and engineers will need to reliably fabricate as many as ~50 payload fairing halves – nearly a full half each week – to sustain SpaceX’s anticipated 2018 manifest of 24-28 launches, excluding three Cargo Dragon resupply missions that don’t need fairings.
While both Crew and Cargo Dragon spacecraft and trunks contain a large proportion of carbon fiber-composite structures, every composite Falcon 9 interstage that rolled off of the assembly line since February 2018 is part of a Block 5 booster and is thus expected to support a bare minimum of several missions on its own, functionally multiplying the useful output of any given production line even while the amount of work (and thus work-hours) is reduced. While Falcon 9 boosters – making up roughly 70% of the cost of the entire rocket – have been successfully upgraded to support several reuses each, SpaceX still has to produce a new payload fairing and upper stage for each launch. A spectacular Block 4 farewell earlier this month – complete with a recoverable booster expended to make way for Block 5 – simply served to emphasize the company’s desire to mitigate the expandability of both (currently) unreusable segments of Falcon 9.
- Meanwhile, the purpose of this massive inflatable ring is almost entirely unclear, as it would appear to be redundant with the initial installation of Mr Steven’s new recovery mechanism. (Pauline Acalin)
- Arm installation will presumably continue over the course of the week, hopefully reaching completion in time to recovery Iridium-7’s payload fairing. (Pauline Acalin)
If Mr Steven can recover even a small fraction – say 25% – of SpaceX payload fairings launched annually, the exact same level of effort (and thus capital) could support 25% more launches annually or reduce the work hours spent on fairing production by 25%. As it happens, SpaceX’s next-generation rocket (BFR) happens to be built (theoretically) almost entirely out of carbon-composites, from the propellant tanks to the spaceship’s delta wing.
Originally meant to focus on the wholly unexpected appearance of a giant inflatable structure at Berth 240, SpaceX’s breakneck pace of action abruptly recentered it on the equally unexpected installation of one the vessel’s first upgraded arms, meant to support a net that could be as much as four times larger than its predecessor. That symbolism on its own is a worthy representation of some of the best aspects of SpaceX’s world-class team of engineers and technicians, acting as a slightly more on-topic corollary to the equally rapid design, prototyping, fabrication, and testing of ad-hoc ‘submarines’ intended to help a number of Thai children currently trapped in a cave near the country’s border with Myanmar/Burma.

Mr Steven shows off the first of four new arms as a mysterious inflatable ring patiently sits astern. (Pauline Acalin)
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News
Tesla rolling out Robotaxi pilot in SF Bay Area this weekend: report
Similar to the Austin pilot, the Robotaxi rides will reportedly be a paid service.

Tesla is reportedly preparing to launch a Robotaxi pilot program in the Bay Area this weekend, with invites to a select number of customers reportedly being sent out as early as this Friday.
The update was shared in a report from Insider, which cited an internal memo from the electric vehicle maker.
New Robotaxi service launch
According to Insider, the Robotaxi service in the Bay Area is set to launch as soon as Friday. Thus, some Tesla owners in the area should receive invites to use the driverless ride-hailing service. Similar to the Austin pilot, the Robotaxi rides will reportedly be a paid service.
The publication noted that the Robotaxi service’s geofence in its Bay Area launch will be quite large, as it will include Marin, much of the East Bay, San Francisco, and San Jose. This is not surprising as California has long been saturated with Teslas, and it is home to several of the electric vehicle maker’s key facilities.
Unlike the Austin pilot, the Tesla Robotaxi service’s pilot in the Bay Area will use safety drivers seated in the driver’s seat. These drivers will be able to manually take over using the steering wheel and brakes as needed. As per a spokesperson from the California DMV, the agency recently met with Tesla but the company is yet to submit a formal application to operate fully driverless cars.
Tesla Robotaxi expansion
Interestingly enough, Tesla did tease the release of its Robotaxi service to the Bay Area in its second quarter earnings call. While discussing the service, Tesla VP of Autopilot/AI Software Ashok Elluswamy mentioned that the company will initially be rolling out Robotaxis with safety drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area. He did, however, also highlight that the electric vehicle maker is working hard to get government permission to release the service for consumers.
“The next thing to expand would be in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are working with the government to get approval here and, in the meanwhile, launch the service without the person in the driver seat just to expedite and while we wait for regulatory approval,” he stated.
News
Tesla is ready with a perfect counter to the end of US EV tax credits
Tesla executives have mentioned that these more affordable models would resemble the company’s current lineup.

The United States’ electric vehicle tax credit is coming to an end at the end of the third quarter. Tesla, the country’s leading electric vehicle maker, is ready to meet this challenge with a rather simple but clever counter.
Tesla executives outlined this strategy in the recently held Q2 2025 earnings call.
End of the US EV tax credit
While Elon Musk has always maintained that he prefers a market with no EV tax credit, he also emphasized that he supports the rollback of any incentives given to the oil and gas industry. The Trump administration has not done this so far, instead focusing on the expiration of the $7,500 EV tax credit at the end of the third quarter.
Tesla has been going all-in on encouraging customers to purchase their vehicles in Q3 to take advantage of lower prices. The company has also implemented a series of incentives across all its offerings, from the Cybertruck to the Model 3. This, however, is not all, as the company seems to be preparing a longer-term solution to the expiration of the EV tax credit.
Affordable variants
During the Q2 2025 earnings call, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moray stated that Tesla really did start the production of more affordable models in June. Quality builds of these vehicles are being ramped this quarter, with the goal of optimizing production over the remaining months of the year. If Tesla is successful, these models will be available for everyone in Q4.
“We started production in June, and we’re ramping quality builds and things around the quarter. And given that we started in North America and our goal is to maximize production with a higher rate. So starting Q3, we’re going to keep pushing hard on our current models to avoid complexity… We’ll be ready with new, more affordable models available for everyone in Q4.,” Moravy stated.
These comments suggest that Tesla should be able to offer vehicles that are competitively priced even after the EV tax credit has been phased out. Interestingly enough, previous comments from Tesla executives have mentioned that these more affordable models would resemble the company’s current lineup. This suggests that the more affordable models may indeed be variations of the Model Y and Model 3, but offered at a lower price.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reveals Tesla’s next Robotaxi expansion in more ways than one
Tesla Robotaxi is growing in more ways than one. Tesla wants to expand and hopes to reach half the U.S. population by the end of the year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the company’s plans for its next expansion of the Robotaxi in terms of both the geofence in Austin and the platform overall, as it looks to move to new areas outside of Texas.
Tesla launched the Robotaxi platform last month on June 22, and has since expanded both the pool of users and the area that the driverless Model Y vehicles can travel within.
The first expansion of the geofence caught the attention of nearly everyone and became a huge headline as Tesla picked a very interesting shape for the new geofence, resembling male reproductive parts.
🚨 Elon Musk says Tesla’s Robotaxi geofence in Austin will get “even bigger and longer” in “a couple weeks or so” pic.twitter.com/0gLeKfURMi
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 23, 2025
The next expansion will likely absolve this shape. Musk revealed last night that the new geofence will be “well in excess of what competitors are doing,” and it could happen “hopefully in a week or two.”
Musk’s full quote regarding the expansion of the geofence and the timing was:
“As some may have noted, we have already expanded our service area in Austin. It’s bigger and longer, and it’s going to get even bigger and longer. We are expecting to greatly increase the service area to well in excess of what competitors are doing, hopefully in a week or two.”
The expansion will not stop there, either. As Tesla has operated the Robotaxi platform in Austin for the past month, it has been working with regulators in other areas, like California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, to get the driverless ride-hailing system activated in more U.S. states.
Tesla confirmed that they are in talks with each of these states regarding the potential expansion of Robotaxi.
Musk added:
“As we get the approvals and prove out safety, we will be launching the autonomous ride-hailing across most of the country. I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the US by the end of the year.”
We know that Tesla and Musk have been prone to aggressive and sometimes outlandish timelines regarding self-driving technology specifically. Regulatory approvals could happen by the end of the year in several areas, and working on these large metros is the best way to reach half of the U.S. population.
Tesla said its expansion of the geofence in Austin is conservative and controlled due to its obsession with safety, even admitting at one point during the Earnings Call that they are being “paranoid.” Expanding the geofence is necessary, but Tesla realizes any significant mistake by Robotaxi could take it back to square one.
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