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SpaceX retracts latest rocket’s landing legs in impressive feat of durability
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster had all four of its landing legs successfully retracted after a flawless fourth launch and landing, highlighting the impressive margins and durability of the rocket’s upgraded Block 5 design.
On April 22nd, Falcon 9 booster B1051 lifted off on its fourth orbital-class mission – also its second 60-satellite Starlink launch this. Around eight minutes later, B1051 successfully landed aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), ending a back-to-back streak of failed ocean recoveries for SpaceX and verifying that the cause of a March 2020 in-flight engine failure had been rectified. After the loss of booster B1056 and B1048 in February and March, it was also simply a relief to have B1051 safe and sound aboard OCISLY, ensuring that the rocket should be able to support another launch in the near future.
After sailing in port on April 26th, SpaceX technicians lifted a booster off of drone ship OCISLY’s deck for the first time since late January – coincidentally (or maybe not) also Falcon 9 B1051. Two days after its arrival in port and transfer onto dry land, SpaceX successfully retracted all of the massive booster’s landing legs in less than three hours and had it ready for transport less than two hours after that. While B1051’s brisk fourth recovery didn’t break any records, it still serves as a reminder of Falcon 9’s impressive durability in light of the landing it experienced just ~85 days prior.
B1051’s successful leg retraction after its fourth launch and landing is particularly impressive for one main reason: after its third launch, the booster suffered perhaps the hardest drone ship landing any Block 5 rocket has thus far experienced.
Taken in March 2019 and February 2020 after Falcon 9 B1051’s first and third launches and landings, the photo below reveals just how hard a landing B1051 experienced after its Starlink-4 launch. Built almost entirely out of carbon fiber composites and mounted directly to the rocket’s tank walls, Falcon’s telescoping landing legs rely on something known as a ‘crush core’ – made out of aluminum honeycomb – that’s designed to intentionally collapse under a very specific amount of stress.
The crush core is situated in the very tip of the cylindrical leg booms and is easily visible above on the left, while it has nearly disappeared in the right (after) photo after an exceptionally hard landing used up what looks like 90+% of the booster’s safety margin. In other words, if B1051 had landed just a little harder after its third launch, it’s possible that the booster’s landing leg booms would have used up all their crush cores and been driven into the kerosene tank they attach to, potentially totaling the Falcon 9 first stage.
Instead, while clearly a rough landing, B1051 appears to have had its landing leg crush cores replaced and was made ready for another Starlink launch less than three months after that exceptionally hard landing. In other words, despite the rarity of similar hard landings over dozens of recent booster landings, SpaceX was apparently almost entirely unconcerned about the rocket’s state.
As usual, the company almost certainly checked the structural integrity of B1051’s major welds and landing leg hardware before certifying the vehicle for its fourth launch, but the fact that its reuse was so seemingly unexceptional is a testament to the sheer durability of SpaceX’s reusable rocket boosters. Thanks to the modularity of its design, B1051 should have no trouble performing at least several more orbital-class launches over the next several months (if not years). More likely than not, the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket will fly again just two or so months from now on another Starlink mission, of which SpaceX has 20+ nominally scheduled this year alone.
Tesla’s dreams of operating a fully autonomous ride-hailing platform just took a massive step toward reality, as two separate events have indicated the company is perhaps closer than ever to achieving self-driving as a product.
On Thursday, Tesla was granted authorization by the State of Texas to operate driverless vehicles in a commercial manner. On May 28, Senate Bill 2807, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature, took effect after being passed back on September 1, 2025.
The bill establishes a statewide regulatory framework requiring authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for companies to operate automated vehicles commercially on Texas roads.
This covers driverless, or SAE Level 4+, operations for passenger transport, meaning Robotaxi, or freight.
Tesla and other companies can self-certify their vehicles and tech as long as they:
- Operate in compliance with Texas traffic laws
- Maintain proper registration, title, and insurance
- Use compliant automated driving systems
- Record onboard activity and handle system failures and glitches safely.
The new authorization, which was first reported by James Stephenson on X, allows companies to utilize their own processes to determine if their vehicles are ready to operate without drivers.
🚨BREAKING:
Tesla has been authorized by the State of Texas to operate driverless vehicles commercially under the new law that took effect today, May 28th, 2026. Tesla has officially self-certified the software running on its robotaxis as Level 4. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/KSJdsvlaW5— James Stephenson (@ICannot_Enough) May 28, 2026
It is a rule that expedites the entire approval process, keeping agencies out of a usually long, lengthy, and frustrating task that is essential to technological advancements. It essentially means Tesla can launch commercial Robotaxi operations at this point.
On the very same day, Tesla continued the momentum as CEO Elon Musk shared a video of Cybercab units autonomously driving off the property at Gigafactory Texas. This is a major step in the story of the Cybercab.
Mass production of the Cybercab started at Giga Texas in April, and it is already heading out of the factory on its own.
Cybercab driving itself out of the GigaTexas factory pic.twitter.com/EwAMVVDjYy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 28, 2026
These two major events mark a drastic step forward in Tesla’s progress toward Cybercab and the permissions it needs to operate a self-driving ride-hailing service. Tesla is now able to operate autonomously under Texas law by self-certifying, and with the potentially imminent rollout of Cybercab, Tesla’s autonomous dreams are starting to take serious shape.
Elon Musk
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Tesla and SpaceX may be closer to merging than Wall Street or either company is admitting.
Elon Musk has reportedly discussed merging Tesla and SpaceX with people close to him, according to CNBC, which cited sources familiar with the conversation. Tesla employees have long expected such a transaction and the topic is openly discussed internally, according to internal sources. With SpaceX is days away from kicking off its Wall Street roadshow for what could be the largest IPO in market history, this would be the first time the company will have public market currency to execute a stock-for-stock deal with Tesla.
The financial logic for a merger would make sense. A combined SpaceX and Tesla would create a conglomerate spanning rockets, satellites, electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, and energy storage valued at roughly $3.35 trillion to $3.6 trillion based on SpaceX’s IPO target range and Tesla’s current market capitalization. The two companies are already more intertwined than most people realize. SpaceX bought $697 million worth of Tesla Megapack systems for xAI data centers and $131 million worth of Cybertrucks. Tesla invested $2 billion in xAI, which subsequently merged with SpaceX. Past transactions also include Tesla selling solar equipment and parts to SpaceX, and SpaceX helping with Cybertruck materials.
Will Tesla join the fold? Predicting a triple merger with SpaceX and xAI
Musk himself signaled where this was heading in November 2025 when he posted on X, “My companies are, surprisingly in some ways, trending towards convergence.” Tesla and SpaceX announced a joint semiconductor fabrication facility in Austin called Terafab on the Gigafactory Texas campus, covering two advanced chip factories, with one serving Tesla’s AI needs for vehicles and Optimus robots, the other targeting space-based data centers under SpaceX’s infrastructure vision.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives places the probability of a merger at 80% to 90% with a target completion in the first half of 2027. The mechanics of a deal became possible the moment SpaceX filed its S-1. Legal experts said a merger likely would not spark antitrust issues but would raise concerns among shareholders in each company, with questions around which company would be the parent, how a stock swap would take place, and who determines the appropriate price. Musk holds about 20% of Tesla’s equity but controls 85.1% of SpaceX’s voting power through a super-voting share class, meaning he would largely be negotiating the terms with himself.
Not everyone is convinced the timing is imminent. Traders on Kalshi place only 33% odds that a merger will happen before May 2027. The more immediate concern for Tesla shareholders is whether the SpaceX IPO pulls capital and Musk’s attention away from Tesla before any merger consolidates the upside for both.
What is clear is that the structural groundwork is already being laid. The Terafab announcement, the xAI merger, the shared supply chain, the cross-company balance sheet transactions, and now the IPO all point in the same direction. Whether the merger follows in 2027 or later, the two companies are already operating more like divisions of a single entity than independent competitors.
Elon Musk
SpaceX to become America’s Military data backbone for missiles, drones, and warfighters
The Space Force just handed SpaceX $2.29 billion to build the military’s space internet backbone.
The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract on May 26, 2026 to build the backbone of its Space Data Network, a satellite-based communications system designed to keep American military forces connected anywhere on Earth in real time. The contract is firm-fixed-price and requires SpaceX to deliver a fully operational prototype by the end of 2027.
In plain terms, the SDN Backbone is the plumbing behind the military’s space-based internet. It functions as a low Earth orbit satellite constellation providing robust, high-capacity, and low-latency data transport for the Joint Force, connecting sensors and weapons systems continuously, globally, and securely. Think of it as a private, hardened version of Starlink built specifically for battlefield communications, one that soldiers, ships, and aircraft can rely on even in contested environments where ground-based networks have been disrupted.
SpaceX is quietly becoming the U.S. Military’s only reliable rocket
The Space Force was direct about why SpaceX was selected. “The SDN Backbone leverages the best of commercial innovation and delivers a strong foundation for the SDN mission set — a huge benefit and enabler for our warfighters,” said USSF Col. Ryan Frazier.
“We aren’t trading speed for scale; we are demanding both. By using rapid prototyping and Other Transaction Authorities, we are ensuring our advanced solutions are integrated and delivered to the warfighter as fast as possible,” added USSF Lt. Col. Fry, SDN Backbone system program manager.
The SDN Backbone will work alongside the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer, with the two systems forming a unified open architecture to provide critical data transport for current and future Department of War missions.
As Teslarati has reported, this is not SpaceX’s first Space Force contract of 2026. In April, the Space Force awarded SpaceX $178.5 million to launch missile tracking satellites, and SpaceX is already embedded in the Golden Dome missile defense software group. The $2.29 billion SDN Backbone award puts SpaceX at the center of how the American military communicates in space, a position with direct implications for its reported $1.75 trillion IPO valuation as the company heads toward a public offering as early as June 2026.
Tesla’s Robotaxi dreams just took a massive step toward reality
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
