News
SpaceX high-altitude Starship debut go for a second launch attempt
Update (Dec 9th): All signs point to a second attempt at SpaceX’s high-altitude Starship launch debut sometime near the end of today’s window, likely no earlier than 3:30-4 pm CST (UTC-6).
Amazingly, the actual pilot of the NASA WB-57 reconnaissance aircraft tasked with capturing aerial photos and videos of Starship SN8’s first flight is on Twitter and confirmed that the aircraft had been just a few minutes from takeoff before SpaceX chose to delay the launch for a few more hours. Thankfully, as of 2 pm CST, ground equipment activity at the pad is rapidly picking up – a good sign that SN8 launch preparations are well underway.
Stay tuned for SpaceX’s official Starship SN8 launch livestream around five minutes before liftoff and tune into NASASpaceflight.com’s excellent coverage below to keep up to date on launch proceedings.
Update: Starship serial number 8 (SN8) aborted its high-altitude launch debut at the last second, ending today’s attempt for SpaceX.
Depending on why one or several of the steel rocket’s three advanced Raptor engines aborted their ignition, SpaceX has backup launch windows and airspace closures from 8am to 5pm CST (UTC-6) on December 9th and 10th. Stay tuned for updates on the cause of the abort and whether Starship SN8 can be prepared for another attempt less than a day from now.
In a last-minute surprise, SpaceX appears to have secured NASA support for Starship SN8’s first flight in the form of a space agency reconnaissance jet often used to capture aerial photos and videos of spaceflight events.
Primarily intended to capture those views for developmental, data-gathering purposes, NASA WB-57 jets have recently been used to milestones like SpaceX’s explosive Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort test and Demo-2 astronaut launch/reentry debut. Likely made possible by a $135 million Starship Moon lander development contract awarded by NASA in April, the space agency has positioned itself to benefit from SpaceX’s success and leverage the company’s extensive internal investments.
Aside from exemplifying NASA’s new and promising relationship with SpaceX’s Starship development program, the use of space agency surveillance assets also serves as a convenient barometer to judge Starship SN8’s launch timing with.
As of publishing (1:30 pm EST, UTC-5), NASA’s WB-57 jet is scheduled to take off from Houston’s Ellington Airport at 2:12 pm CST, arriving ‘on station’ in the vicinity of SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas launch pad around 3:10 pm. With NASA assets now in play, Starship SN8 is unlikely to lift off before the jet is in place, meaning that the rocket’s 12.5 km (~7.8 mi) launch debut is now scheduled sometime between ~3:15 pm and 5 pm CST (UTC-6).
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently reiterated his prediction that Starship SN8 has a ~33% chance of successfully launching, reaching an apogee of ~12.5 km, free-falling belly-first most of the way back to earth, performing a radical flip maneuver, and landing intact. With Starship SN9 – effectively a refined clone of SN8 – practically complete and ready to roll to the launch pad, SpaceX’s hardware-rich development program means that almost any SN8 outcome at all will produce valuable data.
For a program like Starship, the success of any early prototype is better judged on the quantity and quality of data gathered and lessons learned than on the survival of hardware. Even so, SpaceX is clearly working to give Starship SN8 the best possible shot at survival and a successful landing would be a truly spectacular outcome. Stay tuned for updates as we track towards SN8’s first flight!
Cybertruck
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.
The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.
Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.
That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.
Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says
Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.
It features:
- Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
- Powered tonneau cover
- Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
- Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
- Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
- Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
- 6’ x 4’ composite bed
- Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
- Powered frunk
Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.
Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms.
“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified.
His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.
SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable.Â
Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight.
The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.
“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated.Â
“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”
Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions.
The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles.
In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
