News
SpaceX preparing for an inaugural Falcon Heavy launch in November
All three Falcon Heavy cores are believed to be at Cape Canaveral
As we inch closer to SpaceX returning to a regular launch schedule, evidence is adding up that Falcon Heavy is fast approaching launch readiness.
Over at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral facilities, workers are busily modifying LC-39A and are deep into the reconstruction and reactivation of LC-40, which was severely damaged just over 11 months ago. Members of the SpaceX fan community have taken regular tours of the Kennedy Space Center and offered glimpses into part of the process as workers relentlessly dismantle previous LC-39A pad structures.
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- During a month without launches, SpaceX has made considerable progress dismantling parts of LC-39A. The main focus right now is the RSS, which is the skeletal structure on the left. (Brian Bundridge/Facebook)
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- One of Falcon Heavy’s side boosters seen arriving at LC-39A about a month ago. (Reddit /u/MajorRocketScience)
Before SpaceX, the pad hosted the first manned launches of the vast Saturn V rocket and hosted the launch of Apollo 11, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Decades later, that same pad was recycled for the Space Shuttle and supported dozens of Shuttle launches. SpaceX is deep into the process of dismantling the old pad structures used for the Shuttle, and Elon Musk has recently reported that the Rolling Service Structure (RSS) is expected to be entirely removed before the first launch of Falcon Heavy. While bittersweet for many observers, LC-39A will eventually host both the return of massive rockets to the U.S., as well as the first American-supported launch of crew to the ISS in more than six years.
With this progress, we find ourselves in the pleasantly foreign situation of SpaceX beating one of Musk’s aggressive schedules. In early June, he tweeted about Falcon Heavy cores arriving at the Cape within two or three months. Surprisingly, it has been confirmed that three of three Falcon Heavy cores are already at LC-39A and have been for at least a week or two. At the moment, pad readiness is the main constraint for its inaugural launch. SpaceX is preparing for a period of pad gymnastics as they ready LC-40 to take over for LC-39A. Once this happens, all Falcon 9 launches will be transferred over to LC-40, and this will allow SpaceX workers to conduct necessary modifications to LC-39A’s launch hardware in preparation for Falcon Heavy. These modifications are expected to take about two months.
All Falcon Heavy cores should be at the Cape in two to three months, so launch should happen a month after that
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2017
Current best guesses peg the first launch from LC-40 in late August or sometime in September, fitting nicely with Musk’s Falcon Heavy launch estimate of November. Falcon Heavy will nevertheless likely require several weeks of fit checks, wet dress rehearsals (like a static fire but without the ignition), and one or several static fires before its first official launch attempt. While Musk has recently been on a warpath of expectation management for Falcon Heavy, going so far as to imply that a failure was a likely outcome, let there be no doubt that SpaceX and Musk will privately do everything realistically possible to ensure a safe launch. If major issues are discovered during pre-launch testing, SpaceX will almost certainly scrub the launch indefinitely.
However, if Falcon Heavy does indeed lift off above a more controlled fireball later this year, fans can look forward to what will be a stunning show of force. Musk once again confirmed that both side cores will land at LZ-1, SpaceX’s land-based landing facilities, and the center core will land on Of Course I Still Live You somewhere in the Pacific. While not guaranteed, Musk’s myriad comments on the spectacular nature of the launch mean that SpaceX’s live coverage will offer some truly incredibly views. Fans have long eagerly anticipated the synchronized landings of the side cores, as well as possible live shots of booster separation during the launch.
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- NASASpaceflight’s famed graphic designer okan170 has produced multiple gorgeous renders of Falcon Heavy over the years. (NASASpaceflight)
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- NASASpaceflight’s famed graphic designer okan170 has produced multiple gorgeous renders of Falcon Heavy over the years. (NASASpaceflight)
At the ISSR&D Conference, Musk reiterated the fact that SpaceX’s primary focus is preparation for Commercial Crew. LC-39A is needed for SpaceX’s crewed launches, so it is highly unlikely that the company will risk a Falcon Heavy launch if there is anything more than the slimmest of chances of the pad being lost in a launch failure. Regardless of the outcome, as Musk himself has often said, Falcon Heavy’s inaugural launch is guaranteed to be a spectacle.
News
Tesla Sweden’s port deal sparks political clash in Trelleborg
The extension of Tesla’s lease has drawn criticism from the local Social Democratic opposition.
Tesla Sweden’s lease agreement at the Port of Trelleborg has triggered a political dispute, with local leaders divided over whether the municipally owned port should continue renting space to the electric vehicle maker amidst its ongoing conflict with the IF Metall union.
Tesla Sweden’s recently extended contract with the Port of Trelleborg has triggered calls for greater political oversight of future agreements.
Tesla has used the Port of Trelleborg to import vehicles into Sweden amid a blockade by the Transport Workers’ Union, as noted in a report from Dagens Arbete (DA). By routing cars via trucks on passenger ferries, the company has maintained deliveries despite the labor dispute. Vehicles have also been stored and prepared in facilities leased from the municipal port company.
The extension of Tesla’s lease has drawn criticism from the local Social Democratic opposition. Initially, the Port of Trelleborg hinted that it would not enter into new agreements with Tesla, but it eventually opted to renew its existing contract with the EV maker anyway.
Lennart Höckert, an opposition councilor, described the port’s decision as a “betrayal of the Swedish model,” arguing that a municipally owned entity should not appear to side with one party in an active labor dispute.
“If you want to protect the Swedish model, you shouldn’t get involved in a conflict and help one of the parties. When you as a company do this, it means that you are actually taking a position and making things worse in an already ongoing conflict,” Höckert said.
He added that the party now wants politicians to review and approve future rental agreements involving municipal properties at the port.
The proposal has been sharply criticized by Mathias Andersson of the Sweden Democrats, who chairs the municipal board. In comments to local media, Andersson described the Social Democrats’ approach as “Kim Jong Un-style,” arguing that political leaders should not micromanage a company governed by its own board.
“I believe that the port should be run like any other business,” Andersson said. He also noted that operational decisions fall under the authority of the Port of Trelleborg’s board instead of elected officials.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X sees outage on Monday as users report issues
Monday’s outage follows a similar issue that befell the social media platform in mid-January.
X experienced an outage on Monday morning, with tens of thousands of users reporting that the platform failed to load across both desktop and mobile. The disruption began around 8:02 a.m. ET, as per Downdetector data, and quickly escalated in the U.S. and U.K.
Monday’s outage follows a similar issue that befell the social media platform in mid-January.
Shortly after 8 a.m. ET, Downdetector showed a sharp rise in incident reports. At one point, U.S. complaints exceeded 40,000, while U.K. reports climbed past 6,000. Earlier in the outage, filings had already crossed 11,000 in the U.S. and 3,300 in the U.K., as noted in a TechRadar report. X users in other locations, such as the Philippines and Costa Rica, also reported similar issues.
Users attempting to access X were met with a “something went wrong” message. Feeds did not refresh, posts failed to appear, and both the social media platform’s app and web versions appeared affected by the issue. The outage struck during peak weekday usage, amplifying its visibility across regions worldwide.
X has not issued an official explanation for the latest outage or confirmed what caused the service disruption. The scale of complaints drew comparisons to the platform’s major outage in November 2025, which resulted in users being met with “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages, as well as Cloudflare-related error notices.
The incident also comes just weeks after X experienced a similar downtime in mid-January. That outage seemed more notable, however, with more than 100,000 users reporting issues with the social media platform on Downdetector.
Elon Musk
New details emerge on The Boring Company’s Universal tunnel plans
The materials outline staffing, construction timelines, tunnel configuration, and operational details that were not previously public.
Newly released bidding documents have shed light on how Elon Musk’s Boring Company plans to connect Universal Orlando Resort’s north campus to Universal Epic Universe.
The materials outline staffing, construction timelines, tunnel configuration, and operational details that were not previously public about the planned Loop system.
The Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District voted Feb. 11 to begin contract negotiations with The Boring Company after ranking it the top bidder for the Universal Orlando transport project. Now, evaluation documents obtained by local news media reveal how the company intends to execute the project, according to Attraction Insight.
The proposal describes a twin-tunnel configuration, with one tunnel in each direction. It also noted that permitting, design, and construction could take roughly a year and a half once approvals are secured. The company indicated it could deploy multiple tunnel boring machines and install temporary support infrastructure, including muck storage pits and stormwater systems, during construction.
Bid documents list eight internal specialists assigned to the project, including tunnel engineers, structural engineers, and tunnel boring machine experts. Six subcontractors would handle fire protection, communications, soil treatment, and concrete work.
The company stated it “has the necessary internally produced tunneling equipment and personnel immediately available to complete this project for the district as quickly as permits and approvals can be obtained.”
Operationally, the system would mirror the company’s Las Vegas Loop model, using Tesla vehicles to provide point-to-point transport rather than fixed-route buses. The proposal frames the concept as “on-demand, express transportation,” with vehicles dispatched as needed and capacity adjustable in real time.
Stations could be built underground or above ground with ramp access into tunnels. The documents also referenced potential future integration of a configurable Robovan for passengers and cargo, though capacity projections for the Orlando tunnels have not yet been disclosed.
The proposal states that the Loop can integrate “easily into environmentally sensitive areas,” but it does not provide detailed mitigation plans for Central Florida’s high water table and limestone geology, which is susceptible to sinkholes. The company has stated that it intends to hire an Orlando-based geotechnical firm to evaluate soil conditions.
Tesla Sweden’s port deal sparks political clash in Trelleborg
Elon Musk’s X sees outage on Monday as users report issues
