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SpaceX's next rocket launch on track to break a 20-month-old booster reusability record

Falcon 9 B1056 became first SpaceX booster to successfully retract all of its landing legs last year. Now, the booster might be about to snag its second record. (Teslarati)

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Scheduled as early as next week, SpaceX’s next rocket launch could see the company break a 20-month-old record that is closely intertwined with the reusability of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters.

Unsurprisingly, that record – if broken – will tag along on one of up to two dozen Starlink satellite launches SpaceX has planned for 2020. The fourth launch of upgraded Starlink v1.0 satellites and fifth dedicated launch overall, SpaceX’s next Starlink mission – deemed Starlink V1 L4 – is currently set to lift off no earlier than (NET) 10:46 am EST (15:46 UTC) on February 15th. As usual, the mission’s Falcon 9 booster will attempt to land aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), while SpaceX recovery ships Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief may attempt to catch both Falcon payload fairing halves for the third time ever.

According to Next Spaceflight, SpaceX has assigned thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster B1056 to the Starlink launch, potentially making it the fourth SpaceX rocket to complete four separate launches. However, while SpaceX’s fourth fourth-flight milestone is significant, B1056 is – barring delays – also set to break a record that could be even more important for rocket reusability.

Starlink-1 will mark SpaceX's first attempted drone ship landing in more than five months.
Falcon 9 B1056 approaches drone ship OCISLY after Cargo Dragon’s May 4th, 2019 CRS-17 launch and the booster’s flight debut. (SpaceX)

SpaceX’s 10th finished Falcon 9 Block 5 booster, B1056 completed a flawless launch and landing debut on May 4th, 2019, sending Cargo Dragon on its way to orbit for CRS-17, the spacecraft’s 17th International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission. Instead of a more normal return-to-launch-site (RTLS) recovery at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral-based Landing Zone, SpaceX opted to land the booster on drone ship OCISLY.

B1056’s May 2019 launch debut sent Cargo Dragon on its 17th space station resupply mission. (Teslarati)

It’s believed that SpaceX and NASA made that decision out of an abundance of caution after an attempted LZ recovery following the Falcon 9 B1050’s CRS-16 Cargo Dragon launch saw the booster lose control and crash-land in the Atlantic Ocean less than a mile off the coast.

Regardless, SpaceX’s subsequent CRS-17 Cargo Dragon launch went exactly as planned and Falcon 9 B1056 landed smoothly aboard drone ship OCISLY. Less than two days after returning to Port Canaveral, B1056 even became the first SpaceX booster to have its landing legs retracted – a small but significant step along the path to true airplane-like reusability. 82 days later, B1056 successfully completed its second launch, sending another Cargo Dragon its CRS-18 resupply mission before landing at LZ-1. The booster completed its third mission a bit less than five months later, placing the 6800 kg (15,000 lb) Kacific-1 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on December 16th, 2019.

Falcon 9 B1056.2 landed at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Landing Zone-1 on July 25th, 2019 after the booster’s second successful launch – Cargo Dragon’s CRS-18 mission. (SpaceX)
Finally, Falcon 9 B1056 completed its third orbital launch in seven months on December 16th, 2019, carrying a communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. (Richard Angle)

Now, SpaceX wants to launch B1056 for the fourth time as early as February 15th. Close observers will note that that would imply just 61 days between B1056’s Kacific-1 and Starlink V1 L4 launches, a feat that would make it SpaceX’s fastest ‘booster turnaround’ ever. Currently, that record stands at 71 days and was actually achieved just a month after SpaceX debuted Falcon 9’s reusability-focused Block 5 upgrade. However, that record turnaround was actually achieved by the B1045, SpaceX’s last Falcon 9 Block 4 booster.

Surprisingly, the closest SpaceX’s upgraded Block 5 rockets have gotten to beating B1045’s 71-day record was when the company turned around Falcon Heavy side boosters B1052 and B1053 in just 74 days before completing the giant rocket’s third orbital launch since February 2018. Now, barring calamities worthy of a ten-day delay, it looks likely that Falcon 9 booster B1056 will beat out the current record-holder by up to ten days (~15%).

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According to a SpaceX engineer’s January 2020 presentation, SpaceX is currently capable of landing, refurbishing, and relaunching Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters in about a month (~30 days). With Falcon 9 B1056’s Starlink V1 L4 launch, SpaceX will hopefully be taking its biggest step in 20 months towards the goal of reusing Falcon boosters in a matter of days.

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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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Tesla launches new Model S and Model X, and the changes are slim

Tesla’s newest versions of its flagship vehicles have arrived with some slim changes.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched the newest versions of its flagship Model S and Model X vehicles, but the changes are pretty slim, which is something we expected when a couple cars were spotted during public testing recently.

The new “refreshed” Model S and Model X were spotted recently by The Kilowatts, and the changes appeared to be a new front camera, a new color, and only a handful of other changes.

Tesla officially announced the launch of the Model S and Model X on Thursday night, and here’s what it listed as the changes to the two vehicles:

  • Frost Blue paint color
  • Up to 410 miles of range (Model S Long Range – our longest range Tesla yet)
  • Even quieter inside: less wind + road noise & more effective Active Noise Cancellation
  • New wheel designs & improved aerodynamics = more range
  • Front fascia camera for better visibility
  • Dynamic ambient lighting that brings unique animations along the dash & doors upon entry
  • An even smoother ride thanks to new bushings & suspension design
  • Adaptive driving beams
  • New exterior styling for Model S Plaid, optimized for high-speed stability
  • More space for 3rd row occupants & cargo (Model X)

We expected most of these changes, especially the new Frost Blue paint color, as it was spotted by The Kilowatts in its initial coverage of the cars being spotted a few weeks back. Here’s what it looks like officially:

Some of the changes are familiar from the Model Y Refresh, which featured the quieter interior through acoustic-lined glass, a front fascia camera, new bushings, and suspension improvements for a smoother ride.

However, Tesla did refine the Model S Plaid’s exterior for “optimized high-speed stability.” You can see the difference between the two below:

The front-end air diffusers are much deeper, and the front end is more boxy than the previous iteration of the Plaid Model S.

Here are some more images of the Model S that Tesla released in a teaser video:

Tesla sells such a low volume of the Model S and Model X that it was probably less than likely that the company would put endless manpower and effort into completely redesigning it. CEO Elon Musk said a few years ago that the two cars would only stay in production for “sentimental reasons.” 

While they are very special to the Tesla family, they are not incredibly important to the mission of the company.

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Tesla owners across the globe prepare for Robotaxi launch with this neat customization

Tesla will eventually have Robotaxis worldwide. Some owners are already preparing.

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Credit: @HanChulYong | X

Tesla owners are already preparing for the company’s launch of the Robotaxi platform with a new, neat customization that is appearing around the world.

On Tuesday, the first Tesla Robotaxi test mule was spotted in Austin, where the company will launch the first driverless rides of this ride-hailing service. At first, it will be a limited rollout, reserved for a select few. CEO Elon Musk said public rides could occur as soon as June 22.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

However, the Tesla Robotaxi platform is not one that will be confined to cities and geofenced to certain areas.

Eventually, Tesla will gain enough confidence to roll the Full Self-Driving software straight to every car in the customer fleet that paid for it. Owners will be able to generate income for themselves while they sleep, as the cars will operate as ride-hailing vehicles for people to use for transportation.

In an effort to prepare for the launch of Robotaxi, Tesla owners across the globe are installing Tesla’s ‘Robotaxi’ word art on their cars.

Here’s one in South Korea:

Here’s another in the U.S.:

Obviously, this is more of a symbol of support for the Robotaxi launch, but many owners are recognizing that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software will extend to them the ability to use their personal cars as ride-hailing vehicles, becoming a part of the global fleet of self-driving chauffeurs.

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Tesla sues former Optimus engineer for stealing trade secrets

Tesla is suing a former engineer who worked on Optimus after he left and immediately started a robotics company that achieved quick development of a hand.

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Tesla is suing former Optimus engineer Jay Li in federal court after accusing him of stealing trade secrets and using them to enable a startup he founded after he left.

Li is accused of stealing confidential files and using them to help get his company, “Proception,” off to a rocking start. Tesla says the files Li took helped his new startup “shortcut the typical development process” for robot hands, something that took Tesla years to develop and evolve.

The company said in the complaint (via Reuters):

“Through Li’s pilfering, Defendant Proception purportedly achieved in a matter of months what it has taken Tesla over four years, hundreds of employees, and billions of dollars to achieve.”

Li was an employee at Tesla for several years, working on the Optimus sensor team from 2022 to 2024. The company says it utilized and devoted “extraordinary resources” to the development of Optimus, which has come a long way since its unveiling several years ago.

Tesla Optimus to receive hands with 22 degrees of freedom later this year

Li allegedly downloaded confidential files related to Optimus’ robotic hand movement research before departing the company. He did not work on the hands at the time. However, he left and swiftly started Proception, as the suit states the company was founded just six days after he left Tesla.

Proception was gloating about its ability to build robotic hands just five months after the company was founded. Tesla says the hands have “striking similarities” to its own design for Optimus.

The company is looking for monetary damages and a court order that would block Proception from misusing the secrets it accuses Li of taking.

This is not the first suit Tesla has filed over trade secrets and confidential information theft. Recently, it accused German-Canadian dual citizen Klaus Pflugbeil of stealing battery-related secrets. He was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.

Men accused of selling Tesla battery secrets arrested in undercover sting

The U.S. Department of Justice used an undercover sting to arrest Pflugbeil.

Tesla is being represented by Josh Krevitt, Orin Snyder, and Angelique Kaounis of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

The case is Tesla Inc. v. Perception Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:25-cv-04963.

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