News
(Updated) SpaceX’s next launch is a first step to rival Comcast and Time Warner
Updated February 21: Due to strong upper-level winds, SpaceX has postponed the launch to the same time on Thursday, 6:17 a.m. PST, 9:17 EST. CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to address the delay, “High altitude wind shear data shows a probable 2% load exceedance. Small, but better to be paranoid.”
Update: SpaceX has delayed the launch of PAZ and its Starlink prototype satellites from Sunday, February 18 to Wednesday the 21st in order to complete additional tests and checks of an upgraded payload fairing. Wednesday’s new instantaneous launch window remains unchanged – 6:17 a.m. PST, 9:17 EST.
Standing down today due to strong upper level winds. Now targeting launch of PAZ for February 22 at 6:17 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 21, 2018
Not long after SpaceX’s recent, flawless Falcon Heavy debut, the company has completed a successful static fire of a flight-proven Falcon 9 on the West coast. SpaceX is preparing to send the Spanish government’s PAZ imaging satellite skyward aboard the same rocket that launched Formosat-5 for the Taiwanese government in August 2017.
Amazingly, this means that three of the four launches conducted by SpaceX in the last two months will have made use of reused Falcon 9 boosters, something I am choosing to take as foreshadowing for the coming months. By all appearances, the rocket company has been eminently successful in enacting a true industrial phase change towards the acceptance of flight-proven rocketry – a hard-earned achievement made possible by a combination of incredible reliability and unexpectedly positive responses from government agencies like NASA and the USAF.
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- SpaceX is readying one of three flightworthy reused boosters for its final flight, NET June 4. (SpaceX)
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- GovSat-1’s sooty booster from late January 2018. (Tom Cross)
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- Falcon Heavy’s incredible debut also featured two flight-proven boosters – the side cores were converted from reused Falcon 9s. (Bill Carton)
A relatively light payload, PAZ weighs in just shy of 1400 kg. However, despite a lack of confirmation, it is known that riding along with the imaging satellite are two highly significant prototype satellites, built by SpaceX itself. Deemed Microsat 2A and 2B in FCC licensing applications, the small 400 kg satellites will act as SpaceX’s first-ever flight test of integrated satellite hardware – a massive step towards realizing the company’s dream of Starlink, a global internet constellation meant to provide service of the same caliber (or better…) as providers like Comcast, Time Warner, and others. This will be a major moment if successful, and will make SpaceX the first US company to successfully launch its first prototype internet satellites intended for low Earth orbit (200-1000 miles above Earth), a factor that would make them far more viable as a competitive alternative to ground-based internet than the current heavyweights in geostationary orbit (30,000+ miles above Earth).
Those distances are crucial: such a long distance between user and terminal (60,000+ miles round trip) results in what the average person would consider “lag” or simply unresponsive internet, where actions take as long as several seconds to register (such as clicking a link). This makes things like gaming, video chat, and more effectively unusable. However, thanks to the miniaturization enabled by the relentless progress of electronics technologies, tiny satellites (100-500 kg) with electric propulsion are rapidly becoming a viable alternative and threat to the massive (4000-8000 kg) communications satellites placed into geostationary orbit. Through mass production and lower costs to orbit, a giant network of magnitudes smaller satellites can realistically beat those giant satellites by being closer to the Earth. This means that more satellites in a given network will more frequently reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and be destroyed, requiring the constant launch of reinforcements, but this new paradigm is actually a viable strategy.
A beautiful string of Iridium NEXT satellites deployed into the sunrise. (SpaceX)
SpaceX’s own Microsats, prototypes for a constellation likely to be named Starlink, are quite possibly the most promising entrants among a sea of interested constellation operators. With the addition of laser-based communications links between each or most of the Starlink satellites planned to be placed in orbit, SpaceX’s constellation will be truly unique in its extreme flexibility as a giant, global mesh network.
By using lasers, latency (lag) will be far less significant and will enable SpaceX to distribute its network’s availability beyond the capability of any individual satellite, known as a decentralized network. As always, SpaceX’s choice to pursue such a configuration is extraordinarily ambitious. Still, the very fact that Microsat 2A and 2B are scheduled for launch just days from now suggests that the company’s near-silent satellite development program, employing several hundred people all over the West coast, has seen some considerable successes. In other words, it’s likely not a coincidence that the first flight test of a Starlink satellite will actually feature two satellites – one cannot test laser interlinks with just one satellite.
All things considered, fingers crossed for SpaceX on this flight-proven commercial mission. If all goes well with both PAZ and the Starlink prototypes, SpaceX will be one huge step closer to being able to provide truly universal, affordable, and high-quality internet.
Stay with us on Twitter and Instagram as Teslarati’s West Coast photojournalist, Pauline Acalin, will bring us on the ground coverage at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base ahead of, and on the day of, the PAZ mission.
Follow along live as we cover these exciting proceedings live on social media!
Teslarati – Instagram – Twitter
Pauline Acalin – Twitter
Eric Ralph – Twitter
News
Tesla taps Samsung for 5G modems amid plans of Robotaxi ramp: report
The move signals Tesla’s growing focus on supply-chain diversification and next-generation communications as it prepares to scale its autonomous driving and robotaxi operations.
A report from South Korea has suggested that Samsung Electronics is set to begin supplying 5G automotive modems to Tesla. If accurate, this would mark a major expansion of the two companies’ partnership beyond AI chips and into vehicle connectivity.
The move signals Tesla’s growing focus on supply-chain diversification and next-generation communications as it prepares to scale its autonomous driving and Robotaxi operations.
Samsung’s 5G modem
As per industry sources cited by TheElec, Samsung’s System LSI division has completed development of a dedicated automotive-grade 5G modem for Tesla. The 5G modem is reportedly in its testing phase. Initial supply is expected to begin in the first half of this year, with the first deployments planned for Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet in Texas. A wider rollout to consumer vehicles is expected to follow.
Development of the modem began in early 2024 and it required a separate engineering process from Samsung’s smartphone modems. Automotive modems must meet stricter durability standards, including resistance to extreme temperatures and vibration, along with reliability over a service life exceeding 10 years. Samsung will handle chip design internally, while a partner company would reportedly manage module integration.
The deal represents the first time Samsung has supplied Tesla with a 5G vehicle modem. Tesla has historically relied on Qualcomm for automotive connectivity, but the new agreement suggests that the electric vehicle maker may be putting in some serious effort into diversifying its suppliers as connectivity becomes more critical to autonomous driving.
Deepening Tesla–Samsung ties
The modem supply builds on a rapidly expanding relationship between the two companies. Tesla previously selected Samsung’s foundry business to manufacture its next-generation AI6 chips, a deal valued at more than 22.7 trillion won and announced in mid-2025. Together, the AI chip and 5G modem agreements position Samsung as a key semiconductor partner for Tesla’s future vehicle platforms.
Industry observers have stated that the collaboration aligns with Tesla’s broader effort to reduce reliance on Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers. Geopolitical risk and long-term supply stability are believed to be driving the shift in no small part, particularly as Tesla prepares for large-scale Robotaxi deployment.
Stable, high-speed connectivity is essential for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, supporting real-time mapping, fleet management, and continuous software updates. By pairing in-vehicle AI computing with a new 5G modem supplier, Tesla appears to be tightening control over both its hardware stack and its global supply chain.
Tesla’s new Full Self-Driving pricing strategy will eliminate one recurring complaint that many owners have had in the past: FSD transfers.
In the past, if a Tesla owner purchased the Full Self-Driving suite outright, the company did not allow them to transfer the purchase to a new vehicle, essentially requiring them to buy it all over again, which could obviously get pretty pricey.
This was until Q3 2023, when Tesla allowed a one-time amnesty to transfer Full Self-Driving to a new vehicle, and then again last year.
Tesla is now allowing it to happen again ahead of the February 14th deadline.
The program has given people the opportunity to upgrade to new vehicles with newer Hardware and AI versions, especially those with Hardware 3 who wish to transfer to AI4, without feeling the drastic cost impact of having to buy the $8,000 suite outright on several occasions.
Now, that issue will never be presented again.
Last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X that the Full Self-Driving suite would only be available in a subscription platform, which is the other purchase option it currently offers for FSD use, priced at just $99 per month.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Having it available in a subscription-only platform boasts several advantages, including the potential for a tiered system that would potentially offer less expensive options, a pay-per-mile platform, and even coupling the program with other benefits, like Supercharging and vehicle protection programs.
While none of that is confirmed and is purely speculative, the one thing that does appear to be a major advantage is that this will completely eliminate any questions about transferring the Full Self-Driving suite to a new vehicle. This has been a particular point of contention for owners, and it is now completely eliminated, as everyone, apart from those who have purchased the suite on their current vehicle.
Now, everyone will pay month-to-month, and it could make things much easier for those who want to try the suite, justifying it from a financial perspective.
The important thing to note is that Tesla would benefit from a higher take rate, as more drivers using it would result in more data, which would help the company reach its recently-revealed 10 billion-mile threshold to reach an Unsupervised level. It does not cost Tesla anything to run FSD, only to develop it. If it could slice the price significantly, more people would buy it, and more data would be made available.
News
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y dominates U.S. EV market in 2025
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y continued to overwhelmingly dominate the United States’ electric vehicle market in 2025. New sales data showed that Tesla’s two mass market cars maintained a commanding segment share, with the Model 3 posting year-to-date growth and the Model Y remaining resilient despite factory shutdowns tied to its refresh.
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Model 3 and Model Y are still dominant
According to the report, Tesla delivered an estimated 192,440 Model 3 sedans in the United States in 2025, representing a 1.3% year-to-date increase compared to 2024. The Model 3 alone accounted for 15.9% of all U.S. EV sales, making it one of the highest-volume electric vehicles in the country.
The Model Y was even more dominant. U.S. deliveries of the all-electric crossover reached 357,528 units in 2025, a 4.0% year-to-date decline from the prior year. It should be noted, however, that the drop came during a year that included production shutdowns at Tesla’s Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas as the company transitioned to the new Model Y. Even with those disruptions, the Model Y captured an overwhelming 39.5% share of the market, far surpassing any single competitor.
Combined, the Model 3 and Model Y represented more than half of all EVs sold in the United States during 2025, highlighting Tesla’s iron grip on the country’s mass-market EV segment.
Tesla’s challenges in 2025
Tesla’s sustained performance came amid a year of elevated public and political controversy surrounding Elon Musk, whose political activities in the first half of the year ended up fueling a narrative that the CEO’s actions are damaging the automaker’s consumer appeal. However, U.S. sales data suggest that demand for Tesla’s core vehicles has remained remarkably resilient.
Based on Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report, Tesla’s most expensive offerings such as the Tesla Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X, all saw steep declines in 2025. This suggests that mainstream EV buyers might have had a price issue with Tesla’s more expensive offerings, not an Elon Musk issue.
Ultimately, despite broader EV market softness, with total U.S. EV sales slipping about 2% year-to-date, Tesla still accounted for 58.9% of all EV deliveries in 2025, according to the report. This means that out of every ten EVs sold in the United States in 2025, more than half of them were Teslas.
Tesla taps Samsung for 5G modems amid plans of Robotaxi ramp: report
Tesla Full Self-Driving pricing strategy eliminates one recurring complaint
