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Second SpaceX Block 5 rocket spied in Texas, solidifying May 4 debut

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Following reports from SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann that the company’s newest Falcon 9 Block 5 soared through its first hot-fire testing faster than any of the rocket’s previous upgrades, the second Block 5 booster has been spotted vertical, prepping for its own round of static-fire testing in McGregor, Texas.

After a thorough period of tests for the first Block 5 booster B1046, spotted partway through by NASASpaceflight’s forum member Gary Blair (ScaryDare), the presence of what can only be B1047 backs up Hans’ comments beyond a shadow of doubt. B1046 is now understood to be awaiting its inaugural on-pad static fire and launch at SpaceX’s Pad 39A, currently scheduled for NET May 4. While not entirely clear at this point, B1047 will most likely return to California after its test campaign in Texas, supplying SpaceX’s Vandenberg AFB launch site with a highly reusable booster.

If flight-testing shows that Block 5 is as easily and rapidly reusable as SpaceX engineers and techs intended, it’s entirely possible that B1047 will become the de facto Falcon 9 booster for most – if not all – upcoming VAFB missions, at least until additional boosters are completed, tested, and readied for flight operations. In a sense, SpaceX could be just weeks away from orbital rocket activities that all but mirror the sort of attitudes given towards modern aircraft, where one or several aircraft services contain specific routes and airports – or orbits and launch pads, in the case of Falcon 9.

In the history of reusable launch vehicles, the Space Shuttle is the only example that ever came close to the sort of regular reflights promised by Block 5 (and apparently even Block 4). If all goes as planned, the booster that launched TESS (B1045) will complete its second mission as early as June 28, requiring refurbishment in as few as 72 days, well over twice as fast as most previous reflights. Around the program’s cadence peak in the 1980s, Space Shuttle Atlantis flew two orbital missions in 54 days, and Falcon 9 Block 4 was by no means designed for rapid or repeated reuse and refurbishment.

If Block 5 becomes twice as reusable as Block 4, it will effectively usher in a new era of orbital access – Falcon 9’s booster accounts for over 70% of the rocket’s entire cost, and the payload fairing (~10%) is well on its way to recovery and reuse. Before the introduction of the fully-reusable BFR spaceship and booster, CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed that SpaceX will attempt to recover Falcon 9’s second stage, the only other critical component of the rocket that is now expended outright, mission permitting.

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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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Tesla Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.

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Credit: @JT59052914/X

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.

Recent Cybercab sightings

Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.

The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.

Production design all but finalized?

Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.

There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious. 

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Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade

As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

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Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

Vision’s decision to pull the blockade

Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week. 

As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.

“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”

The SKR’s warning

Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said. 

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Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.

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Tesla Semi program Director teases major improvements

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.

Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.

The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.

Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries

Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.

Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.

Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.

All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”

The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.

Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.

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