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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster nails landing in lead-up to next NASA-sponsored reuse milestone

Falcon 9 B1056 lands at LZ-1, completing its second successful launch and landing in 80 days and marking NASA's first reuse of a Block 5 booster. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX has nailed its 24th Falcon booster reuse and 44th Falcon booster landing with Falcon 9 B1056’s flawless Landing Zone-1 recovery, setting the booster up to become the first SpaceX rocket NASA has flown on three times.

According to NASASpaceflight.com, NASA had already moved from a conservative “maybe” to a much firmer “yes, but…” on the second-reuse question, pending – of course – the successful completion of B1056’s second launch and landing. As of now, the Block 5 booster has indeed successfully completed its second orbital-class mission, setting itself up for a milestone NASA reuse that could happen as early as December 2019 on CRS-19, Dragon 1’s second-to-last planned International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission.

SpaceX has nailed Falcon 9’s 24th flight-proven launch, using Block 5 booster B1056 to send Cargo Dragon capsule C108 on its way to the ISS. (SpaceX)

Back in May 2019, NASA ISS official Kenny Todd specifically stated that the space agency had a “vested interest” in Falcon 9 booster B1056, at that time just hours away from its inaugural launch and landing as part of Cargo Dragon’s CRS-17 mission. That mission went off without a hitch on May 4th, 2019, although B1056 was forced to land aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) due to a Crew Dragon explosion that littered LZ-1/2 with invaluable debris about two weeks prior.

“Quite frankly, [NASA] had a vested interest in this particular booster. We were gonna require it – the intent is to [reuse B1056 on SpaceX’s upcoming CRS-18 launch] and – potentially – CRS-19.” 

Kenny Todd, ISS Operations and Integration Manager, NASA Johnson

SpaceX’s latest Falcon 9 booster returns to port as NASA hints at “vested interest”

After returning to port, B1056.1 became the first Falcon 9 booster ever to successfully retract all four of its landing legs and be transported back to Cape Canaveral with its legs still attached. By all appearances, SpaceX reused all four of those landing legs, although chances are good that they removed and inspect the legs once B1056 was snug inside one of the company’s local refurbishment hangars.

Still, the likely cautious landing leg stowage and reuse milestone hopefully means that future boosters may be able to stow their landing legs and prepare for a second launch without SpaceX technicians having to spend the time removing and reattaching them for inspection.

B1056.2 stands vertical at LZ-1 after a picture-perfect launch and landing, likely just one of many more to come. (SpaceX)

Successful second launch and landing now in hand, Falcon 9 B1056.2 is almost certainly on track to be reused by NASA a second time as early as December 2019 (CRS-19), perhaps even launching a fourth Cargo Dragon mission in March 2020 (CRS-20). Regardless of where the cards end up falling, B1056’s first successful NASA reuse bodes well for the future of Block 5 reusability and NASA missions.

Watch a full recap of CRS-18 at the link below.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX Starship gets FAA nod for ninth test flight

The FAA has given the green light for Starship’s ninth test flight.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has received FAA approval for the ninth test flight of the Starship rocket. The approval was delayed due to the federal agency finishing its comprehensive safety review of the eighth flight earlier this year.

The FAA said in a statement that it has determined that SpaceX has “satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap, and therefore, the Starship vehicle can return to flight.”

The eighth test flight occurred back on March 6. SpaceX completed a successful liftoff of Starship and the Super Heavy Booster, before the two entered stage separation a few minutes after launch.

Starship Flight 8: SpaceX nails Super Heavy booster catch but loses upper stage

The booster returned and was caught by the chopsticks on the launch pad, completing the second successful booster catch in the program’s history. However, SpaceX lost contact with Starship in the upper atmosphere.

The ship broke up and reentered the atmosphere over Florida and the Bahamas.

The debris situation caused the FAA to initiate a mishap investigation:

The FAA said it will verify that SpaceX implements all the corrective actions on Flight 9 that it discovered during the mishap investigation.

There is no current confirmed launch window, but the earliest it could take off from Starbase is Tuesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. local time.

To prevent any injuries and potentially limit any damage, the FAA has stayed in contact with various countries that could be impacted if another loss of vehicle occurs:

“The FAA is in close contact and collaboration with the United Kingdom, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Mexico, and Cuba as the agency continues to monitor SpaceX’s compliance with all public safety and other regulatory requirements.”

The agency has also stated that the Aircraft Hazard Area (AHA) is approximately 1,600 nautical miles and extends eastward from the Starbase, Texas, launch site through the Straits of Florida, including the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos.

For flight 8, the AHA was just 885 nautical miles.

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Hyundai begins real-world testing of AI-powered EV charging robot

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Credit: Hyundai

Hyundai announced on Thursday that it has officially launched real-world testing of its AI-powered EV charging robot, which it is referring to as the ACR.

The Korean company is partnering with both Kia and Incheon International Airport for the testing phase, which was launched with a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The pilot program is going to be used to lay the groundwork for future robot use for EV charging.

Incheon already has a reputation that aligns with the pilot program as it has the largest eco-friendly vehicle infrastructure in Korea, according to Korea JoongAng Daily, which first reported the launch of the pilot program.

Hyundai is partnering with Kia’s Robotics Lab to provide hardware and software solutions for this early rollout.

Yan Hee-won, President of Hyundai Motor’s R&D Division, said:

“This marks an important turning point in validating the practical value of future mobility technologies. With customized automatic charging solutions, we aim to deliver a more convenient and enhanced mobility experience for users.”

The testing phase will be limited in the sense that the charging robot will be deployed for a fleet of eco-friendly airport vehicles. Those who park their EVs at the airport will not be able to use it for use while they’re traveling — at least at first.

Eventually, it will become a great way to give vehicles range while the owners are off on trips.

Tesla had a similar idea several years ago, which it shared viral videos of back in 2015.

Tesla “snake charger” wasn’t just a creepy one-off, suggests Elon Musk

Musk said in 2020 that Tesla still had the intention of making it. However, it has shifted to wireless induction charging, which seems to be a better option simply because of fewer moving parts and better compatibility with the upcoming Robotaxi fleet.

Tesla flexes Robotaxi wireless charging — autonomy from top to bottom

Tesla displayed its wireless charging idea at the “We, Robot” event last year:

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How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies

Tesla has a few paths to limit damage from the elimination of tax credits.

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President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

The United States House of Representatives passed President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” by a vote of 215 to 214 on Thursday, effectively bringing an end to many EV subsidy programs, like the $7,500 tax credit, by the end of this year.

The bill will not only eliminate the $7,500 credit on new EV purchases, but also the $4,000 credit given on the purchase of used electric vehicles, and a $1,000 credit on the installation of Level 2 chargers. It will also impact solar subsidies that help generate clean energy in a residential setting.

EVs would also be subject to a $250 road use fee.

All of these things sound like negatives — truly because they are. Those who are not in a financial position to buy an EV this year, even with the tax credit, might not be able to afford them in the coming years either, unless manufacturers are able to bring pricing to a level that is more accessible to consumers.

In theory, President Trump’s focus on bringing manufacturing back to America would bring prices down, but it won’t happen overnight. Companies will take many years to completely bring manufacturing and part sourcing to the United States.

However, Tesla could feel some positives from this bill, and it all comes down to timing. Of course, in the long term, it wouldn’t be great for the company, especially if it did not have two things going on right now: a slightly lagging delivery pace and the introduction of affordable models.

Tax Credit Sunsetting Advantage

Sunsetting the $7,500 tax credit means one thing: those who have been in limbo over buying an EV from Tesla are going to have to make a decision on whether they want to buy this year and still have access to the credit, or test their luck and hope for price reductions.

More than likely, those who have been on the fence will be willing to pull the trigger this year, and Tesla will definitely gain some sales from this fact alone. Other automakers will, too.

This could help offset Tesla’s slow start to the year, which has been caused by the changeover of production lines of the Model Y across each of its factories globally.

Affordable Models

Tesla said earlier this year that it will roll out affordable models in the first half of 2025. These cars are expected to be around the $30,000 mark, but the company has not shed any true information on what they will cost.

Potential affordable Tesla “Model 2/Model Q” test car spotted anew in Giga Texas

Ideally, the cars would cost under $30,000 without the EV tax credit, which would be more than accessible for many car buyers in the United States.

The introduction of models that are not in need of a tax credit to be affordable to the masses. This would help offset some of the losses Tesla might feel from cars losing the tax credit.

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