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SpaceX execs bullish on BFR as Mars rocket test facilities expand in Texas [photos]

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Aerial observations of SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas testing facilities on April 17 revealed an unusually frenetic level of construction and expansion centered around Raptor – the rocket engine intended to power BFR and SpaceX to Mars – and a new test-stand, the purpose of which is currently unknown.

With a minimum of 1200 seconds of hot-fires under its belt, SpaceX’s Raptor propulsion program is likely rapidly approaching the end of what is best described as the experimental phase of testing. While this has not been communicated by SpaceX, it is a logical conclusion following several recent developments. Namely the true beginning of BFR test article fabrication and an impressively bullish level of commitment and confidence in the fully reusable launch system demonstrated in the last few months alone by CEO Elon Musk and President/COO Gwynne Shotwell. While Musk is infamous both within and beyond his companies for painfully impractical development timelines, he demonstrated some level of growing consciousness of that fallibility at 2018’s SXSW, stating that he was working on recalibrating his expectations. Without taking a breath, he reiterated his anticipation for short hop tests of the first full-scale spaceship prototype in the first half of 2019.

SpaceX’s three-bay Raptor test stand as of April 17. The middle bay is currently home to the subscale Raptor test program. (Aero Photo)

While anyone familiar with Musk’s timeline antics may roll their eyes and laugh, far more shocking was Shotwell’s sudden pivot towards a new sense of optimism for the BFR program. At Satellite Conference 2018, the typically reserved and pragmatic executive confirmed beyond any doubt that she had become aggressively bullish on the Mars rocket, stating that she believed the spaceship would be ready for suborbital testing in 2019, while the booster-spaceship system could potentially reach orbit by 2020. Musk and Shotwell’s suggestion that BFR’s first suborbital testing – akin to an extreme version of SpaceX’s Grasshopper and F9R programs – is expected to begin in 2019 meshes well with a recent explosion of activity at Port of San Pedro in Los Angeles, CA, thanks to a combination of land acquisition, successful bureaucracy-wrangling,  and the first hints of construction and BFR production. It’s highly unlikely that SpaceX would have chosen to temporarily move BFR prototyping into a giant tent on abandoned dock space rather than waiting for port and city approvals for their permanent port factory if they were not keen on moving full speed ahead with the fully reusable launch vehicle’s development.

SpaceX’s Director of Real-Estate Bruce McHugh was less confident when he spoke before Port of San Pedro’s board of commissioners on April 19, although all in attendance expressed a huge amount of excitement at the increasingly likely prospects of a huge SpaceX rocket factory materializing in their neighborhood. Local contractors, economic development representatives, and many other community members were eager for the approval and permitting process to finish up, after which SpaceX is characteristically likely to begin demolition and construction in earnest at Berth 240, the prospective site for the company’s first dedicated BFR factory.

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Early phases of in-house BFR structures prototyping is taking shape behind the flaps of a custom-ordered temporary tent, something like 60m long, 30m wide, and ~15m tall at the highest point – half an acre of eccentric but functional space for Mars rocket R&D, in other words. The primary benefit of these facilities’ dock-side locations is the minimization of the transportation hell that SpaceX would have had to suffer through to transport 9m-diameter rocket hardware through downtown Los Angeles – feats that would cost as much as $2.5 million one way each time components had to be moved from the Hawthorne factory to the Port of LA, where it would be finally shipped to Texas or Florida.

Speaking at a private talk given to MIT campus members in October 2017, attendees reported that Shotwell stated that although “[BFR’s] composite tanks [would] be a challenge [for SpaceX],” the company was already working on maturing the technologies required, and also noted that SpaceX was “building a larger [version of] Raptor right now.” Half a year later, outsiders have heard nothing of any additional carbon composite propellant tank testing at the new 9m diameter, but the existence of custom-ordered (i.e. very expensive and specialized) composite fabrication tooling of the same diameter as BFR effectively guarantees that SpaceX has settled upon and is confident in its approach to manufacturing the massive composite tankage and structures. Along with a similar line of thought, expensive tooling with a fixed diameter also indicates – albeit with less certainty – that the vehicle’s Raptor propulsion system is not expected to change significantly as BFR marches closer to suborbital and orbital testing. Raptor, in other words, is probably considerably more mature than SpaceX’s composite tankage expertise, itself fairly advanced given the mandrel and additional fabrication tooling already present at Port of San Pedro.

And yet, Shotwell’s most telling display of confidence occurred just a handful of days ago at the TED2018 conference. In a lengthy and fairly well-orchestrated interview with the session’s host Chris Anderson, Shotwell repeatedly and happily made comments indicating that she has become extremely bullish on BFR and BFS in the last several months. In her opinion, BFR (and point-to-point Earth transport) will be deployed “within a decade, for sure.” Prices would nominally be “between business and economy,” or a few thousand dollars per person. Speaking on the trip from Earth to Mars, she estimated a three-month journey with BFR Block 1, “but [SpaceX is] gonna try to do it faster.” She further confirmed that SpaceX intends to build much larger BFRs, meshing with Elon’s suggestions that 2016’s ITS concept is now perceived internally as a sort of BFR Block 2. Perhaps most importantly, she qualified her timeline estimates as “Gwynne-time” when Anderson jokingly deadpanned about the infamous Elon-time. Overall, Shotwell came across as more bullish than she has ever been before on BFR’s development and future prospects, including both point-to-point transport on Earth and crewed missions to the surface of Mars – both of which she expected to begin “within a decade, for sure.” Smirking, she quipped that she was “sure Elon would want us to go faster.”

Not one to end on a quiet note, the typically pragmatic executive finished by describing how she believed that spreading human presence throughout the Sol System was only “the first step [towards] moving to other solar systems and potentially other galaxies; I think this is the only time I ever out-vision Elon.” Interstellar travel and faster-than-light propulsion aspirations aside, Shotwell’s comments mark a fairly incredible shift in attitude toward SpaceX’s far loftier ambitions. Musk seems to be working to recalibrate his timelines to be less naive at the same time as Shotwell’s confidence is steadily growing – the two executives, in other words, appear to be rapidly converging upon a middle ground of pragmatic optimism (that or Musk-time is contagious!).

As shown above, the level of construction activity at SpaceX’s Texas testing facilities is fairly impressive and could perhaps be seen as evidence that both Musk and Shotwell are speaking from a place of something approaching pragmatism. While the purpose of the new stand (center) is not yet clear, several aspects indicate that it is unlikely to be more mundane. First, the massive water tower (one that did not exist just a month or two ago, might I add) dwarfs anything found at individual engine or upper stage test stands at the SpaceX facility. It’s possible that the existence of the flame trench alone necessitates the inclusion of such a large water suppression system for damage prevention, but the presence of the blue steel skeleton of a new flame bucket (operational iterations shown on the right) suggests otherwise. For example, the Merlin stands have no such water suppression system: they do use water suppression to avoid damaging the ground systems or the engines themselves, but that water is stored in a large ground-level tank. A tower, however, indicates that SpaceX wants much higher water pressures and flow rates to be available at the new stand, a requirement for significantly more powerful tests akin to SpaceX’s full-up Falcon 9 (and Heavy) test stand – the water towers at the S1 stand and this new stand appear to be identical in size.

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In other words, it’s more probable than not that this new stand is being built to support either booster static fires or much larger tests of BFR hardware (perhaps multiple Raptors at once, akin to SpaceX’s very early tests of Falcon 9’s nine Merlins). It could, of course, be used for many different tasks, but only time will tell. Given the sheer level of physical progress made in the BFR program and the swelling confidence of Musk and Shotwell, I certainly know where I’d hedge my bets.

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Eric Ralph Twitter

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 Model Y reclaims elusive sales title in competitive market

As more EVs have entered the market and some at better prices, Tesla’s Model Y has been put up against some very attractive options.

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Model Y reclaimed an elusive sales title in one of the most competitive markets it is in, outpacing key rivals and formidable competitors to regain the crown it once was a shoe-in for.

As more EVs have entered the market and some at better prices, Tesla’s Model Y has been put up against some very attractive options.

This is especially prudent in Europe and China, where domestic car companies have been offering attractive and cheap EVs as Tesla alternatives.

However, in September, the Model Y was able to battle back and take over the top sales spot for EVs in Europe.

In September, it had 25,938 sales, and although it was an 8.6 percent decrease compared to the same month in 2024, it was enough to be labeled the best-selling car in the European market, Automotive News reported.

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500-mile test proves why Tesla Model Y still humiliates rivals in Europe

There are four vehicles that have been atop the European EV sales rankings for any given month this year: the Renault Clio, which has three titles, the Dacia Sandero, which has won four monthly sales titles, and the Volkswagen T-Roc, which was the best-selling car in the market in August.

The Clio captured the number-two spot in September with 20,146 sales.

Despite a strong September showing for the Model Y, which was its first monthly sales crown of the year, the vehicle has not been a top-three EV in Europe this year. That is still led by the Sandero, Clio, and T-Roc.

Despite that, Tesla’s Model Y is still likely to be one of the best-selling vehicles in the world, if not the best, for the year.

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In the United States, it has dominated EV sales charts and has been one of the most popular cars in the region. The same goes for China, where the Model Y has more competition than in Europe, but is so attractive because of its premium look and feel, as well as its tech offerings.

The Model Y has been the best-selling car globally for the past two years, outpacing widely popular gas and EV models from around the world.

Tesla also just finished up its best three-month sales period in its history, delivering just shy of half a million vehicles from July to September.

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Tesla dashcam video shows crazy plane crash avoidance maneuver

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Credit: @davidbellow | X

A Tesla captured video of a crashing plane on an Oklahoma highway, as a shocking video shows a small aircraft coming across a local roadway, with various cars ducking to avoid it.

On October 23, an Oklahoma National Guard OA-1K Skyraider II turboprop plane crashed during a training mission after an engine failure. Both crew members escaped unharmed, but they were not the only ones at risk of injury.

A Tesla Dashcam video shared by a friend of the car’s owner shows the vehicle narrowly avoiding an impact with the plane, swerving left, then back onto its side of the road. It appears to be a serious miracle:

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David Bellow, the person who posted the video of the Tesla avoiding the plane, claims it was Full Self-Driving that performed the maneuver, but it is not confirmed. This is what he said:

There are a few hints that suggest it could be Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite, but it is important to note that neither the company, the driver, nor the friend has confirmed this.

The first hint is the vehicle’s maneuver and subsequent reaction. The car suddenly swerves to the left, which any human would do, but how the vehicle continues to travel as if nothing had happened seems to solidify the idea that FSD could have been involved in avoiding the plane.

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Nevertheless, this does not confirm that FSD was in control.

My Tesla did this on FSD (Supervised) v14.1 and the internet went crazy

Most people would likely have stopped in their tracks after avoiding an aircraft while driving.

However, this is not enough proof to definitively say FSD was responsible for the avoidance.

Additionally, the “Jump to Event” button is activated in the video, suggesting that FSD was in control. The vehicle gives this option when something major has occurred, including human intervention.

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Regardless of whether the car was on FSD or was controlled manually, it is pretty crazy to have this piece of dashcam footage.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving got a minor feature that’s a massive improvement

“Brake Confirm for the Start Self-Driving button is now defaulted off. When disabled, Start Self-Driving will not require you to press and release the brake to confirm engagement.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite seems to get better with every single release. However, it is also making it more seamless and easier than ever to use for passenger travel, thanks to a recent feature that has flown under the radar.

Tesla started rolling out its v14 iteration of the Full Self-Driving suite a few weeks ago to Early Access Program (EAP) members, and it finally started making its way to the public for the first time earlier this week.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.1 first impressions: Robotaxi-like features arrive

The wide rollout of Tesla v14.1.3 was long-awaited, as its capabilities were flexed by the handful of people lucky to have it. However, those sitting with v13.2.9 were still eager to get to their hands on the new FSD version, especially considering it came with a lot of cool upgrades.

One of which is flying under the radar and not getting as much attention as it should. Although it is a minor feature change from v13, Tesla has made FSD more seamless than ever with a simple fix that it started utilizing with v14.

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With v14.1.1, Tesla started rolling out the removal of the “Brake Confirm” feature, which required drivers to touch the brake to activate Full Self-Driving. This is now an optional feature, as it now is defaulted to the off position by the car.

The release notes for the feature state:

“Brake Confirm for the Start Self-Driving button is now defaulted off. When disabled, Start Self-Driving will not require you to press and release the brake to confirm engagement.

You can enable Brake Confirm in Autopilot > Brake Confirm.”

Simply put, you no longer need to touch the brake to confirm your intention to use Full Self-Driving, which is a small but very effective fix.

It makes your car much more active in terms of overall activation, and it is definitely a quicker and more streamlined departure from your current location than ever before.

Here’s a good look at how quick it is:

@teslarati With Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, there is no delay when you start FSD. Press “Start Self-Driving” and you’re on your way #fyp #viral #tesla #teslafsd #fsdv14 ♬ original sound – TESLARATI

The feature is small, but it is very noticeable with your first uses of FSD v14. Eventually, it will become even more streamlined as Tesla solves self-driving and autonomy, as it will require zero human intervention to get started, which means the “Start Self-Driving” button will also be removed.

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