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SpaceX’s reusable Falcon rockets have Europe thinking two steps ahead
In a rare instance of some connection to reality, a European Union commissioner overseeing the space industry has acknowledged the elephant in the room, admitting that SpaceX has changed the game for commercial rockets and that the upcoming Ariane 6 rocket may already be outdated.
While slight, European Commissioner Thierry Breton expressed some level of urgency, stating that “SpaceX has redefined the standards for launchers.” “Ariane 6 is a necessary step, but not the ultimate aim: we must start thinking now about Ariane 7.” Ariane 6 is a new European Space Agency (ESA) rocket designed to replace the existing Ariane 5 workhorse and do some while cutting costs. However, the vehicle’s design and the strategy behind it were fixed in place before SpaceX began to routinely demonstrate Falcon 9 reusability, effectively creating a rocket optimized for a market that ceased to exist soon after.
Based on the economically infeasible design decision to build a hybrid first stage with a liquid core and add-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs), as well as the structurally inefficient use of hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant for the booster, Ariane 6 is designed to compete with the likes of the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV, Atlas V, and upcoming Vulcan rockets. Despite several years of halfhearted, half-baked attempts to even consider making parts of Ariane 6 reusable, the rocket will be 100% expendable come its first (and likely last) launches.
While effectively dead on arrival from a commercially competitive perspective, Ariane 6 is still an impressive rocket. Featuring two variants, the only major difference is the inclusion of either two or four SRBs. A62 is expected to cost roughly $82 million and will be able to launch up to 5000 kg (~11,000 lb) to the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) commonly used by the communications satellites that are Ariane 5’s bread and butter. Doubling down on solid rocket boosters, A64 will cost at least $135 million apiece and can launch up to 11.5 metric tons (~25,400 lb) to GTO and 5 metric tons to a circular geostationary orbit (GEO).
Compared to SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy offerings, Ariane 6 is thus put in a bit of a nightmarish situation. According to the most up-to-date information available, the base price for a commercial orbital launch on a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster may already be as low as $50 million. Even in a recoverable configuration, Falcon 9 easily trounces Ariane 62’s performance and is able to launch more than 16 metric tons to low Earth orbit (A62: 10.3 t) and 5.5 tons (A62: 5 t) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), all while costing almost 40% less.
Technically, Ariane 64 is a bit more viable from a performance perspective, but Falcon Heavy can offer almost identical performance to higher orbits and vastly superior performance to lower orbits while still permitting recovery of all three boosters. Cost-wise, Falcon Heavy either meets or beats A64, with existing contracts ranging from $115 to $130 million for extraordinarily high-value NASA and US military payloads. According to SpaceX, the rocket’s base price could be as low as $90 million. Once SpaceX has three operational drone ships on the East Coast, Falcon Heavy can send up to 10 metric tons to GTO while still allowing all three boosters to land at sea. If one of those three boosters is expended, that performance leaps to 16 tons, 40% more than A64.
In short, even assuming no improvements between now and Ariane 6’s first several launches in 2021 and 2022, SpaceX’s existing Falcon 9 and Heavy rockets beat Europe’s newest entrant at almost every turn. It should be no surprise, then, that a senior ESA commissioner is already publicly implying that Ariane 6 is outdated before its first launch. As far as “Ariane 7” goes, no official plans exist, although ESA, French space agency (CNES), and Arianespace have tenuous concepts in work that point towards a fully liquid methane-oxygen rocket with a reusable booster.
In theory, a rocket like Themis could launch Europe back into the competitive global launch industry, but ESA’s history of launch vehicle development suggests that such a radical departure from Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 (>$4 billion on its own) would require a huge uptick in funding and 5-10 years of development. With pragmatic supporters like Breton, there is at least some hope, but the outlook is decidedly gray.
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk confirms Grok 4 launch on July 9 with livestream event
The rollout will be accompanied by a livestream at 8 p.m. Pacific Time.
Elon Musk has officially confirmed that Grok 4, the latest version of xAI’s large language model, will launch on July 9. The rollout will be accompanied by a livestream at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, hosted on xAI’s official account on X.
xAI goes straight to Grok 4
Back in May, leaks indicated that xAI was getting ready to ship Grok 3.5. Considering Musk’s recent comments, however, it appears that the artificial intelligence startup would be focusing on the large language model’s fourth iteration instead. As noted in a Financial Express report, users on X have sighted references to Grok 4 in the lead up to the update’s launch, such as “grok-4-prod-mimic” and “Grok 4 Code.”
Musk’s Grok 4 announcement comes as AI competition intensifies between major players including OpenAI, Google, and xAI. With Musk’s Colossus supercomputer fully operational in Memphis, xAI appears to be accelerating its AI product roadmap.
Musk pushes Grok toward political neutrality
Grok 4’s launch also follows a recent controversy involving political bias, as noted in a CNN report. Last week, Grok responded to a user on X stating that political violence in the U.S. since 2016 had come more from the political right than the left. The chatbot noted in a later reply that its answer was based on information from sources like Reuters, the Journal of Democracy, and University of Maryland studies.
Musk stated that Grok’s response was a “major fail.” “Major fail, as this is objectively false. Grok is parroting legacy media. Working on it,” he wrote in a post on X. By the end of June, Musk noted that he was “grinding all night with the xAI team” and that they were making “good progress.” He also stated that the model “Will be called Grok 4. Release just after July 4th. Needs one more big run for a specialized coding model.”
News
Tesla opens massive solar Supercharger station in California
The Supercharger opened to customers ahead of Fourth of July weekend, while Tesla continues phase two of construction on the site.
Tesla has officially launched the first several Supercharging posts at a massive station in California, notably including solar canopies and grid-scale batteries to offer completely renewable charging.
Last week, Tesla announced on X that it opened the first 84 Supercharger stalls of a planned 168-stall station in Lost Hills, California. Additionally, the massive Supercharger project features 11MW of solar canopies and 10 Megapack batteries for off-grid charging powered entirely by solar energy.
Tesla completed the first phase of the project just days ahead of the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend, adding that initial construction took just eight months. In addition to the remaining charging stalls, Tesla says it’s building a set of lounge areas, renderings of which can be seen below alongside current photos of the site.
Notably, the site also includes V4 charging posts for the company’s latest available charging speeds, and it’s located near the busy junction between I-5 and Highway 46 in Kern County.
“Thank you [Kern County] and [PG&E] for collaboration and approvals,” Tesla wrote in a follow-up post.
Credit: Tesla Charging | X
Credit: Tesla Charging | X
Credit: Tesla Charging | X
Credit: Tesla Charging | X
Tesla Supercharger Maps for North America, Europe, and Asia pic.twitter.com/0U5r0XRPyo
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 2, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA SUPERCHARGERS: Tesla launches ultra-fast V4 Superchargers in China for the first time
Testing at the LA Diner, plus Musk update on potential Tesla solar Gigafactory
The huge Tesla Supercharger station completed phase one of construction fairly quickly, especially given how long Tesla has been working on its unique Los Angeles diner, drive-in, and Supercharger location. Still, the company was seen performing some testing at the nearly-completed charging station earlier this month, and will reportedly be holding a job fair.
Elon Musk also responded on Monday morning to a post on X, suggesting that Tesla is “thinking about” building a U.S.-based solar Gigafactory in order to help support increased power needs with AI growth, and to bolster domestic solar production.
Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
News
Tesla driver walks away from major accident with minor injuries
The driver sustained only minor injuries, and the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The driver of a Tesla Model Y survived and walked away from a harrowing accident on Monday in California, only sustaining minor injuries despite the vehicle being impaled by a guardrail.
On Monday morning around 4:34 a.m., the Los Banos division of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the accident on I-5 near Panoche Road, involving a 23-year-old in a Tesla Model Y. According to a post on social media, the driver veered off the road for unknown reasons in the northbound lane, before crashing directly into the guardrail and impaling the vehicle.
You can read the full message and photos from Los Banos CHP below, as were shared in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon.
This morning a Tesla model y was traveling in the #1 northbound lane of I-5 north of Panoche Rd. For unknown reasons driver allowed V-1 to veer off the roadway, travel through a dirt center divide, and crashed into the fixed metal guardrail. Lucky for the driver he only sustained minor injuries and was able to walk away. Driving a vehicle requires 100% attention to the road. Avoid distractions and focus on driving.
Credit: CHP Los Banos (via Facebook)
Credit: CHP Los Banos (via Facebook)
Credit: CHP Los Banos (via Facebook)
In a statement to SFGate, CHP officer Myles Anderson said that the driver only sustained minor injuries, while no arrests are made and drugs and alcohol are not suspected to have been involved. The report also notes that Tesla’s “cruise control and lane assistance features” were activated, according to Anderson. However, it’s not entirely clear if this is referring to Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD), or to the cruise control and lane assist features baked into Autopilot.
At the time of writing, CHP has not yet responded to Teslarati’s request for clarification and additional details on the matter.
Tesla Crash Safety Ratings across its lineup: pic.twitter.com/ny30R7ceji
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 1, 2025
READ MORE ON TESLA SAFETY: Tesla rolls out crucial new safety feature aimed at saving children
The news comes after Tesla has touted its vehicles as incredibly safe for many years. In December, for example, the company highlighted receiving top safety scores from regulators on four different continents throughout the world, including from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) in the U.S.
Tesla has also listed the goal of making its vehicles the safest on the road throughout the years, both in the overall design of its vehicles and in its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) programs.
Tesla Model 3 ranks as the safest new car in Europe for 2025, per Euro NCAP tests
Elon Musk confirms Grok 4 launch on July 9 with livestream event
Tesla opens massive solar Supercharger station in California
Tesla driver walks away from major accident with minor injuries
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