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SpaceX aces ninth rocket launch, eighth landing this year

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Like clockwork, SpaceX has successfully launched yet another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, racking up the company’s ninth launch (and eighth rocket landing) this year.

Set to be SpaceX’s last (orbital) launch this quarter, Starlink V1 L22’s success leaves it on track for an impressive 36 launches this year if the company can repeat the feat thrice over. That would be a third short of an ambitious 48-launch target but still smash the 26-launch record SpaceX set just last year by almost 40%.

Supporting its sixth orbital-class launch and landing in less than nine months, Falcon 9 booster B1060 sailed through boost phase, reentry, and descent without issue before sticking the landing on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). Notably, every single orbital SpaceX launch this year – Starlink-22 included – has used a flight-proven booster and the first launch of a new booster is unlikely to happen before the second half of 2021.

Falcon 9 booster B1060 aced its sixth launch and landing in eight months. (SpaceX)

Including a batch of 10 of the first polar Starlink satellites – also bearing space-laser prototypes – flown on a commercial rideshare mission earlier this year, Starlink-22 is technically SpaceX’s 23rd operational Starlink launch and 24th Starlink launch overall. Completed in 22 months, including all 23 operational missions in just 16 months, those two-dozen launches have delivered nearly 1400 broadband satellites to LEO.

Excluding 62 prototype Starlink satellites, 12 of which are still in orbit, less than 2% of the 1322 operational spacecraft launched have suffered some kind of issue, while a little over 1% have deorbited and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. Assuming the Starlink-22 batch continues the positive trend, that failure rate has dropped as low as ~0.6% for the last ~890 satellites launched.

The latest batch in a long line of Starlink satellites now in orbit. (SpaceX)

Aside from continuing what looks set to be another halcyon year of launches and Starlink milestones, Starlink-22 was also SpaceX’s fourth launch this month, making March 2021 its second four-launch month ever. That cadence – a bit less than one launch per week – is exactly what SpaceX would need to maintain to achieve the ambitious 48-launch target set by CEO Elon Musk last year.

SpaceX achieved its first four-launch month in November 2020 and repeating the feat just four months later is a strong sign that routine weekly launches are well within reach as operational efficiency continues to improve. Of all orbital rockets in history, just a few of which reached similar operational peaks sometime last century, Falcon 9 is the first in decades to get anywhere close to an annual cadence of 30-40+ launches.

SpaceX’s next launch (unsurprisingly a Starlink mission) is expected sometime in early April, followed by at least another one or two more Starlink missions before the focus shifts to Crew-2 – Crew Dragon’s third astronaut launch – around the second half of the month.

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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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Elon Musk says he’s open to powering Apple’s Siri with xAI’s Grok

Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.

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Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk says he’s willing to help Apple overhaul Siri by integrating xAI’s Grok 4.1, igniting widespread excitement and speculations about a potential collaboration between the two tech giants. 

Siri, one of the first intelligent AI assistants in the market, has become widely outdated and outperformed by rivals over the years.

Musk open to an Apple collaboration

Musk’s willingness to team up with Apple surfaced after an X user suggested replacing Siri with Grok 4.1 to modernize the AI assistant. The original post criticized Siri’s limitations and urged Apple to adopt a more advanced AI system. “It’s time for Apple to team up with xAI and actually fix Siri. Replace that outdated, painfully dumb assistant with Grok 4.1. Siri deserves to be Superintelligent,” the X user wrote.

Musk quoted the post, responding with, “I’m down.” Musk’s comment quickly attracted a lot of attention among X’s users, many of whom noted that a Grok update to Siri would be appreciated because Apple’s AI assistant has legitimately become terrible in recent years. Others also noted that Grok, together with Apple’s potential integration of Starlink connectivity, would make iPhones even more compelling. 

Grok promises major Siri upgrades

The enthusiasm stems largely from Grok 4.1’s technical strengths, which include stronger reasoning and improved creative output. xAI also designed the model to reduce hallucinations, as noted in a Reality Tea report. Supporters believe these improvements could address Apple’s reported challenges developing its own advanced AI systems, giving Siri the upgrade many users have waited years for.

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Reactions ranged from humorous to hopeful, with some users joking that Siri would finally “wake up with a personality” if paired with Grok. Siri, after all, was a trailblazer in voice assistants, but it is currently dominated by rivals in terms of features and capabilities. Grok could change that, provided that Apple is willing to collaborate with Elon Musk’s xAI.

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Tesla’s top-rated Supercharger Network becomes Stellantis’ new key EV asset

The rollout begins in North America early next year before expanding to Japan and South Korea in 2027.

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Credit: Tesla

Stellantis will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging System (NACS) across select battery-electric vehicles starting in 2026, giving customers access to more than 28,000 Tesla Superchargers across five countries. 

The rollout begins in North America early next year before expanding to Japan and South Korea in 2027, significantly boosting public fast-charging access for Jeep, Dodge, and other Stellantis brands. The move marks one of Stellantis’ largest infrastructure expansions to date.

Stellantis unlocks NACS access

Beginning in early 2026, Stellantis BEVs, including models like the Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona, will gain access to Tesla’s Supercharger network across North America. The integration will extend to Japan and South Korea in 2027, with the 2026 Jeep Recon and additional next-generation BEVs joining the list as compatibility expands. Stellantis stated that details on adapters and network onboarding for current models will be released closer to launch, as noted in a press release.

The company emphasizes that adopting NACS aligns with a broader strategy to give customers greater freedom of choice when charging, especially as infrastructure availability becomes a deciding factor for EV buyers. With access to thousands of high-speed stations, Stellantis aims to reduce range anxiety and improve long-distance travel convenience across its global portfolio.

Tesla Supercharger network proves its value

Stellantis’ move also comes as Tesla’s Supercharger system continues to earn top rankings for reliability and user experience. In the 2025 Zapmap survey, drawn from nearly 4,000 BEV drivers across the UK, Tesla Superchargers were named the Best Large EV Charging Network for the second year in a row. The study measured reliability, ease of use, and payment experience across the country’s public charging landscape.

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Tesla’s UK network now includes 1,115 open Supercharger devices at 97 public locations, representing roughly 54% of its total footprint and marking a 40% increase in public availability since late 2024. Zapmap highlighted the Supercharger network’s consistently lower pricing compared to other rapid and ultra-rapid providers, alongside its strong uptime and streamlined user experience. These performance metrics further reinforce the value of Stellantis’ decision to integrate NACS across major markets.

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Tesla FSD and Robotaxis are making people aware how bad human drivers are

These observations really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla FSD and the Robotaxi network are becoming so good in their self-driving performance, they are starting to highlight just how bad humans really are at driving. 

This could be seen in several observations from the electric vehicle community.

Robotaxis are better than Uber, actually

Tesla’s Robotaxi service is only available in Austin and the Bay Area for now, but those who have used the service have generally been appreciative of its capabilities and performance. Some Robotaxi customers have observed that the service is simply so much more affordable than Uber, and its driving is actually really good.

One veteran Tesla owner, @BLKMDL3, recently noted that the Robotaxi service has become better than Uber simply because FSD now drives better than some human drivers.  Apart from the fact that Robotaxis allow riders to easily sync their phones to the rear display, the vehicles generally provide a significantly more comfortable ride than their manually-driven counterparts from Uber.

FSD is changing the narrative, one ride at a time

It appears that FSD V14 really is something special. The update has received wide acclaim from users since it was released, and the positive reactions are still coming. This was highlighted in a recent post from Tesla owner Travis Nicolette, who shared a recent experience with FSD. As per the Tesla owner, he was quite surprised as his car was able to accomplish a U-turn in a way that exceeded human drivers.

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Yet another example of FSD’s smooth and safe driving was showcased in a recent video, which showed a safety monitor of a Bay Area Robotaxi falling asleep in the driver’s seat. In any other car, a driver falling asleep at the wheel could easily result in a grave accident, but thanks to FSD, both the safety monitor and the passengers remained safe.

These observations, if any, really show that Tesla’s focus on autonomy would result in safer roads for everyone. As per the IIHS, there were 40,901 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2023. The NHTSA also estimated that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and 800 deaths. FSD could lower all these tragic statistics by a notable margin.

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