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SpaceX’s sootiest Falcon 9 booster yet returns to port after record reuse

Falcon 9 booster B1051's titanium grid fins have developed a rainbow patina over a almost a dozen hypersonic reentries. (Richard Angle)

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Three days after acing record-breaking tenth launch and landing, SpaceX’s sootiest Falcon 9 rocket booster yet has returned to Port Canaveral to begin the processing of preparing for its eleventh flight.

Almost exactly three years ago, speaking in a conference call focused on the debut of SpaceX’s ultimate “Block 5” Falcon booster upgrade, CEO Elon Musk revealed that Block 5 boosters were “designed to do 10 or more flights with no [scheduled] refurbishment” and “at least 100 flights [with moderate scheduled maintenance.]” Relative to the Space Shuttle, the only other operational orbital-class reusable rocket in history, 10 flights with little to no refurbishment would be an extraordinary achievement

Around 36 months later, albeit a year and a half after Musk anticipated SpaceX might reach that milestones, a Falcon 9 booster has successfully completed ten orbital-class launches and lived to tell the tale.

Falcon 9 B1051 is the first liquid rocket booster ever to complete ten launches and the rocket certainly looks the part. (Richard Angle)

26 months after the booster first took flight in support of Crew Dragon’s March 2019 uncrewed orbital launch debut, Falcon 9 B1051 has narrowly beaten several of flight-proven siblings to become the first liquid rocket booster of any kind to complete ten launches. Just four days prior to that historic tenth flight, Falcon 9 booster B1049 became the second SpaceX rocket (after B1051) to ace nine launches and landings.

SpaceX quickly processed booster B1049 after its own port return and Falcon 9 B1051 narrowly missed greeting its still-vertical sibling by just a few days. Together, over the course of the 19 orbital launches those two Falcon 9 boosters have supported in ~30 months, B1049 and B1051 have collectively delivered more than 260 metric tons (~570,000 lb) of satellites and spacecraft to low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and the International Space Station (ISS).

Falcon 9 B1051 is pictured in January 2019 before its first launch. (SpaceX)
Two and half years and ten launches later, the booster looks decidedly “flight-proven.” (Richard Angle)

That performance is roughly equivalent to two expendable Saturn V Moon rocket launches for a total launch cost to SpaceX likely less than $500 million, while five of those 19 launches also brought in revenue on the order of $400M to $500M. In effect, even the small handful of commercial launches B1049 and B1051 have completed likely generated enough revenue to wholly amortize the cost of a dozen or more additional launches. SpaceX has still had to pay for propellant, maritime recovery assets, any necessary refurbishment, and the hundreds of satellites both boosters have launched, but Falcon booster reusability still offers an extraordinary return on investment even with that multitude of caveats.

Falcon 9 B1051’s safe return also means that SpaceX should have no trouble turning the booster around as it prepares to push past the ten-flight target behind Block 5’s upgrade. In recent months, multiple SpaceX executives have stated that SpaceX intends to push well beyond that ten-flight goal as boosters with more and more flight experience continue to come back in excellent condition. CEO Elon Musk even indicated that SpaceX may intentionally fly Falcon 9’s fleet-leader (B1051, in this case) until something on the booster fails during a launch or landing. SpaceX’s own Starlink launches offer the perfect opportunity for that kind of pragmatic risk-taking.

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Falcon 9 booster B1051’s titanium grid fins have developed a rainbow patina over ten hypersonic reentries. (Richard Angle)
(Richard Angle)
B1051’s aft engine and landing legs section certainly looks like it’s been through 10 launches and hypersonic reentries. (Richard Angle)

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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Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas dubs Tesla FSD a “game changer” after marathon drive

Jonas reported that FSD handled more than 99% of the miles.

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

Morgan Stanley’s analyst Adam Jonas shared a notable endorsement of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after completing a 1,400-mile round trip from New York to Michigan in his Model Y. 

Jonas reported that FSD handled more than 99% of the miles, calling the system “a game changer” for long-distance driving.

Hands-free experience

Jonas drove his 2021 Tesla Model Y equipped with Hardware 3 and FSD Supervised v12.6.4, and he used the system nearly the entire trip. “Having your hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals for nearly 12 hours of driving is a real game changer that is hard to appreciate without experiencing it for yourself,” he noted.

He explained that outside of two heavy downpours, one on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and another in suburban Detroit, plus some light maneuvering in fast food parking lots, FSD handled the drive without any human intervention. “FSD made no mistakes or close calls that I recall. The system handles highways very safely and confidently. I cannot imagine buying another EV without FSD.”

Broader implications

Jonas added that he has used FSD consistently over the past 18 months, and the $8,000 he paid for the feature feels like a bargain considering the value. He also praised Tesla’s Supercharging network, which supported his trip without issue.

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Jonas has been one of Wall Street’s most closely followed voices on Tesla, and his comments add weight to the ongoing debate about the role of autonomy in the company’s future. His current price target for Tesla stock stands at $410. During Morgan Stanley’s 13th Annual Laguna Conference, he echoed similar experiences with Tesla’s software, emphasizing that FSD “probably drove well over 99% of the miles” on his recent trips.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

Prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons


Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rose on Monday after CEO Elon Musk disclosed a rare insider purchase of company stock worth about $1 billion. 

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Musk acquired 2.57 million shares last Friday at various prices. The move represents Musk’s largest TSLA purchase ever by value, as per Verity data.

Elon Musk’s TSLA purchase

The disclosure sent Tesla shares up more than 8% in premarket trading Monday, as investors read the purchase as a notable vote of confidence, as stated in a CNBC report. Tesla stock had closed slightly lower Friday but remains more than 25% higher over the past three months. It should be noted that prior to this latest move, Musk’s most recent purchase was for about 200,000 shares worth $10 million in 2020.

Market watchers say the purchase could help shore up investor sentiment amid a volatile year for TSLA stock. Shares have faced pressure from a variety of factors, from year-over-year sales challenges due to the new Model Y changeover, political controversies tied to Musk, and reduced U.S. incentives for EVs under the Trump administration. Nevertheless, analysts such as Wedbush’s Dan Ives stated that Musk’s purchase was a “huge sign of confidence for Tesla bulls and shows Musk is doubling down on his Tesla A.I. bet.”

Tesla and Elon Musk

Musk already owns about 13% of Tesla, and his latest purchase comes as the company prepares for a key shareholder vote in November. Investors will decide whether to approve a compensation package for Musk that could ultimately be worth as much as $975 billion if ambitious market value milestones are achieved. The package has a long-term target of pushing Tesla’s market capitalization to $8.5 trillion, compared with about $1.3 trillion at Friday’s close.

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Wall Street’s current consensus price target still implies a roughly 20% decline from current levels, though some Tesla bulls remain optimistic that the company could shift its focus toward autonomy, AI, and robotics. Musk has also asked shareholders to approve an investment into his latest venture, xAI.

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Tesla adjusts one key detail of Robotaxi operations in Austin

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Tesla is adjusting one key detail of Robotaxi operations in Austin: service hours.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform in Austin has been active since late June and has been running smoothly since then. It has its limits, as Tesla has set hours that Robotaxis can operate, as well as a distinct Service Area, also known as a geofence, which has expanded three times already.

While the geofence is currently approximately 170 square miles in size, Tesla has recently enabled freeway drives, which also necessitated an adjustment to the company’s strategy with its “Safety Monitors.”

Tesla explains why Robotaxis now have safety monitors in the driver’s seat

Traditionally, they sit in the passenger’s seat. During highway driving, they move to the driver’s seat.

These are just a few adjustments that have been made over the past two and a half months. Now, Tesla is adjusting the service hours of Robotaxi operation in Austin, but only slightly.

Tesla will now operate its Robotaxi ride-hailing service from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., extending the hours by two hours. It previously shut down at midnight.

Tesla has implemented a variety of safeguards to ensure riders and drivers are safe during Robotaxi rides, and they have made it a point to adjust things when they feel confident that it will not cause any issues.

Many people have been critical of Robotaxi, especially because a person sits in the front of the car.

However, an accident or some type of mistake could do more damage to the autonomous travel sector than anything else. This would not just impact Tesla, but any company operating an autonomous ride-hailing service in the country.

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