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SpaceX readies for upcoming February launches
Although no major announcements from SpaceX regarding its upcoming February 14th and February 28th missions have been released, small details about the company’s progress have been picked up through social media and press inquiries as SpaceX fans count down to the next launches.
Under Construction: Launch Pads
First up is the construction status of historic Launch Complex 39A, the pad that SpaceX has been renovating from its Apollo-era days. Upon completion, this pad will host the Falcon Heavy vehicle once development has completed along with all upcoming Falcon 9 Florida launches until other pads currently under construction become available. Some of the pad progress being made in preparation for launch has been tracked by fans and shared on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQHUvzjFLz8/
Next are the reconstruction plans for Launch Complex 40 to repair the damage caused from the September 1, 2016 launch pad fire. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell confirmed in a recent Reuters article that this pad will be repaired for Falcon 9 use rather than refitted for Falcon Heavy. Shotwell quoted a $100 million dollar price tag to make a complete switch, an amount not justified given the 50% less cost estimate to only repair the damaged pad.
Countdown to Launch: NASA
Other than rescheduling the mission ahead of the EchoStar 23 launch, SpaceX’s upcoming February 14, 2017 CRS-10 launch to the International Space Station (ISS) has not had any major updates (or rescheduling) published. The pre-launch static fire is tentatively scheduled for February 8th, and this will be the first SpaceX rocket to launch from pad 39A.
Also, at KSC, the Falcon 9 S1 for CRS-10 is hoping to Static Fire on Feb 8 (NET), pending completion of 39A work. https://t.co/sJzLf6XZyM
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) February 1, 2017
As an interesting note for fans, however, NASA included this launch in its NASA Social program wherein 50 social media communicators were selected to attend a two-day behind the scenes event. Per NASA’s web site, selected participants will have the opportunity to:
- View the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
- Tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center
- Speak with representatives from NASA
- View and take photographs of the Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX’s Launch Complex 39A
- Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
- Meet members of NASA’s social media team
NASA opens events up to social media participants regularly, and past events have included other launches, the arrival of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, and behind the scenes opportunities during major discussion panels and announcements.
A Twitter search for tweets containing the @NASASocial handle will reveal several of the winners who chose to announce their acceptance into the February 14th SpaceX launch event. The hashtags #NASASocial and #Dragon will also be used.
Countdown to Launch: EchoStar 23
The February 28, 2017 launch of EchoStar 23 will attempt to set a spaceflight record by launching with the first recovered and refurbished rocket core. As previously reported, the recovered core being used will aim to make history twice, one being the first core landed on an autonomous droneship off the coast of Florida, and the other being the first recovered rocket core to be re-flown.
SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, Texas has been busy testing the first stage core for re-use in the EchoStar 23 mission. Residents near the location who are active on unofficial SpaceX social media outlets aren’t shy to tell all about the tests as they hear them. Some residents even provide regular reports of the activity, including the number and length of the fires, and further speculate what else the company is up to.
SpaceX took to social media itself regarding these tests and published a photo of one on its Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP8zK2DFxhq/?taken-by=spacex
No News is Good News
As the dates move closer, the scheduling for the upcoming launches will likely adjust as many factors affecting them are still in the air. Weather is always a question, and the status of launch pad 39A is still unknown.
Despite the numerous, multi-front approach SpaceX is tackling to meet all of its launch and construction objectives, the company is still confident it will be able to meet its fast-paced launch schedule over the next year.
The Tesla Semi is entering a new Pilot Program with Paper Transport, LLC (PTI), a Wisconsin-based transportation provider. The company will test the Semi’s Long Range configuration through “dedicated operations within the Chicago market.”
Chicago presents an interesting challenge for the Semi, as it will be a colder-weather climate that will test the Semi’s ability to operate in lower temperatures and in potentially large accumulations of snow. This is something Tesla has been testing with the Semi in Alaska and even in Northern California during the colder months, but Chicago will present a truly tough midwestern winter.
Tesla Semi spotted on journey home after winter performance testing
PTI says it is using the Semi to evaluate its strategy of reducing transportation emissions while maintaining performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. These are major arguments for the Semi being introduced into new fleets.
CEO of PTI Tyler Ellison said:
“PTI has been a leader in sustainable transportation solutions for over 15 years. We take a consultative approach to helping customers identify and implement the right transportation solution for their network. Our partnership with Tesla expands our portfolio alongside renewable natural gas and intermodal, giving customers more ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions without compromising service or economics.”
PTI is far from the first company to adopt the Semi within a fleet, as Tesla entered strategic agreements with PepsiCo. and its subsidiary Frito-Lay for a Pilot Program that extended throughout the California region.
Tesla has let companies like those utilize the Semi to determine whether it would be suitable for their operations. Additionally, Tesla gets valuable information regarding the Semi’s performance, knowing what to improve and what is ideal for companies that will utilize the all-electric truck for regional and nationwide logistics.
PTI plans to utilize the Long Range configuration, which is priced at $290,000 and features a range of approximately 500 miles, a three-motor powertrain, up to 800 kW of drive power, and consumption of just 1.7 kWh per mile.
Tesla Semi pricing revealed after company uncovers trim levels
VP of Maintenance at PTI, Bryan Ellen, added:
“We are excited to partner with Tesla, leveraging their ever-evolving technology. We are bullish in our estimation of the parallels available between our dedicated model and the efficiency of their fully electric Class 8 tractor. We anticipate a growing synergy between our businesses as we work to facilitate this sustainable solution for our customers.”
PTI has logged more than 87 million miles using sources like compressed and renewable gas, but now is looking to take it a step further with fully electric operations.
Tesla revealed on Monday that it is building a new autonomous vehicle at Gigafactory Texas, its plant just outside of the City of Austin. This particular vehicle will be geared toward those who are in need of a wheelchair-accessible car that would require no human driver for operation.
According to a new report from Wired, Tesla’s Senior Policy Advisor, India Herdman, told members of the Washington D.C. City Council on Monday:
“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas.”
This builds upon what CEO Elon Musk said last year on X, which confirmed the company was working on accessible rides within its Robotaxi platform, which currently is confined to the Model Y.
Absolutely
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2025
Tesla is also developing the Cybercab, which started employee rides last week. However, this vehicle is not necessarily geared toward wheelchair accessibility.
That leaves a major gap in the autonomous ride-sharing program that Tesla is attempting to build; the company has been pretty clear that it does not want to complicate its manufacturing lines by bringing in a wide array of body styles.
However, it seems necessary to have something larger that could help transport people to appointments when they cannot drive. For wheelchair accessibility, the Robovan, which was unveiled at the “We, Robot” event in October 2024, seems to be the most ideal solution:
Herdman did not indicate whether she was referring to the Robovan or if Tesla is building yet another body style that is geared toward full autonomy but also caters to the handicapped.
Tesla might need to develop something specifically for the handicapped in order to align with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services. Uber was hit with a lawsuit late last year for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities.”
Tesla would obviously like to avoid this.
It will be interesting to see what Tesla will do with this project, and whether it will introduce something new to the market or just continue with the Robovan.
Tesla weirdly confirmed that its steering wheel-less and pedal-less Cybercab vehicle is now in the process of giving employees rides, a huge milestone for the vehicle program.
But the entire thing was super strange. On Friday, Tesla released a video stating that there was “Cool news from Giga Texas” and that employees were now taking rides in Cybercabs that have no manual controls. The units seen on public roads are engineering vehicles that have manual controls inside, a necessity as Tesla moved through the testing phase.
However, Tesla removed the video and reposted it shortly after with a more vague title. It seems like the employee rides are still going, but the video was adjusted slightly. The initial upload showed employees doing things like watching movies and adjusting the climate, but these snippets were removed in the second upload.
Cool news from Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/gvbG456Tzw
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 11, 2026
Both images below were uploaded with the first video, but were removed after Tesla re-uploaded the announcement. These are not available in the second upload
Credit: Tesla
Credit: Tesla
Nevertheless, the announcement from Tesla is that the Cybercab is operating with employees inside who can control the vehicle’s audio, video, climate, and destination settings through their smartphone app.
Tesla has already been testing Cybercab engineering units, but last month, it was able to self-certify for SAE Level 4, which would enable unsupervised self-driving in Texas. The company is moving toward that, and the plans have always been to launch Cybercab rides this year.
The Cybercab is potentially looked at as the next generation of Tesla’s mobility leg. For the past 15 years, the company has been known as somewhat of an automaker, among many other things. However, these passenger vehicles that Tesla has manufactured are now moving into a new realm, as they will eventually drive themselves with no supervision thanks to the Full Self-Driving suite.
The Cybercab is just the next step of that: a true vehicle developed for the sole purpose of ride-hailing. It has no human controls, it has only two seats, and it will get passengers from Point A to Point B with no awkward driver, no need for manual inputs, and with no stress.
Tesla is moving forward with other developments related to the Cybercab project as well. However, the big announcement will come when Tesla finally announces that it is launching Cybercab rides to the general public, something that it plans to launch either late this year or early 2027.
Tesla Semi enters new Pilot Program with interesting challenge
Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible Robotaxi
