News
SpaceX readies for upcoming May 15 expendable Falcon 9 mission
Come May 15, 2017, it’s launch time again for SpaceX. Falcon 9 will carry the Inmarsat-5 F4 global communications satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit, the fourth satellite in its series. Technical tidbit: Inmarsat-5 F4 was built by Boeing and will provide Ka-band radio frequencies on the company’s Global Xpress network.
So far, everything looks like a “go”, and this happy customer recently announced their satellite’s arrival at SpaceX’s facility for launch prep (excitedly, I might add).
https://twitter.com/InmarsatGlobal/status/856901747733925889
After launching from historic pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will separate, then come tumbling back through the atmosphere and burn up or break apart upon reentry.
That’s right. There will (assumingly) be no first stage landing attempt after this launch. If that’s a bummer, it may be safe to say that we’ve become spoiled by now. And rightly so:
More photos from today’s Falcon 9 launch and first stage landing → https://t.co/095WHWMtKp pic.twitter.com/OOjAJLhhkg
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 1, 2017
It’s always possible that SpaceX will opt to do some maneuvering in lieu of a landing to gather experimental data, but “nothing to see here” will likely be the result for the casual launch observer. Why no landing? It’s a weight(y) issue.
Coming in at some 6000 kg, the Inmarsat-5 exceeds Falcon 9’s current landing-after-launch payload capacity maximum of approximately 5300 kg. In case you’re curious, the heaviest payload launched with a landing to-date was the SES-10, and that came in at around 5250 kg. (Thanks for the tidbits, Reddit.)
Fun Fact: This satellite was originally scheduled to fly on a Falcon Heavy.
The launch window for Inmarsat-5 F4 opens at 7:20 PM EST, and the static fire is set to happen on May 11th.
Pending post NROL-76 launch review, the next Falcon 9 will head to 39A (NET) May 11 for the Static Fire ahead of the Inmarsat 5 F4 mission. pic.twitter.com/3LdNifnzVA
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) May 1, 2017
This will be SpaceX’s second launch for the month of May, and if all goes according to plan, yet a third launch will successfully send a payload to the International Space Station on May 31st with CRS-11. Heads-up for more history: That mission will be the first reuse of the Dragon capsule, the Space Shuttle being the only other orbital-class vehicle to have done such, um, repurpose-ing.
Stay tuned!
News
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Investor's Corner
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
News
Tesla door handle saga gets its latest chapter and a big change is coming
Tesla’s long-standing saga regarding its door handles and a manual release has entered its latest chapter, and as a result, a big change is coming.
On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied Tesla’s petition that was seeking a defect investigation into roughly 180,000 Model 3 vehicles for an issue involving the emergency mechanical door release.
🚨 The NHTSA denied a petition from Tesla that would have thrown out concerns regarding its door handles.
NHTSA said Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect warranting an investigation. The agency said a rulemaking process would be a better strategy. pic.twitter.com/j6PzUBM1mT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 24, 2026
NHTSA said that Tesla’s petition did not present evidence of a safety-related defect in the door handles or their emergency releases. Instead, the agency determined that it would rather solve the issue of the lack of labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases and the federal safety rules that govern them.
Essentially, the NHTSA wants to create and enforce rules that would require automakers to make emergency door latch releases more clearly labeled in a car. Despite a Tesla having manual door releases on all four passenger doors, many people do not know they exist or how they work.
Tesla addresses door handle complaints with simple engineering fix
In recent times, Tesla has faced some criticism involving its door handles, specifically because some occupants have reported that they are unable to exit their vehicles after losing power. The door handles on a Tesla are electronically operated, but in the event that the 12V battery dies, there is a manual release that can be used.
The NHTSA only identified a single complaint involving the mechanical door releases: a 2022 Model 3 owner said the release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost power after a front-end collision. It has also already started to create a separate rulemaking process to make emergency door-egress systems more obvious.
It should be noted that all Teslas have mechanical emergency door releases, but they are placed in various locations as the vehicles have aged and been redesigned from year to year. Refer to the safety manual for your vehicle if you have any confusion about where the emergency releases are and how they work.