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SpaceX Starlink launch marks record Falcon fairing reuse, 85th booster landing
Update: SpaceX aced its 28th operational Starlink launch without issue, simultaneously marking a new record for Falcon fairing reuse, the 85th successful Falcon booster landing, and Falcon’s 94th consecutively successful launch.
SpaceX says that its 14th Starlink launch of 2021 will also be the first mission to fly a reusable Falcon payload fairing for the fifth time, marking a significant milestone just 18 months after fairing reuse began.
Scheduled to lift off no earlier than (NET) 2:59 pm EDT (18:59 UTC) on Wednesday, May 26th, Starlink-28 will be SpaceX’s 12th dedicated Starlink launch and 14th Starlink launch overall this year – representing more than 780 satellites safely delivered to orbit in five months. Perhaps most notably, Starlink-28 – if successful – will push SpaceX past a milestone that COO and President Gwynne Shotwell recently stated would enable virtually uninterrupted Starlink coverage of the populated world.
SpaceX says that Starlink-28 will fly with two flight-proven payload fairing halves – one having previously supported four Starlink missions and the other a Starlink mission and Transporter-1. Falcon fairings are vast nosecone-like structures built mainly out of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb composites and designed to maintain a sterile, controlled environment for satellites and protect them from the elements, heating, and aerodynamic stress while inside Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX currently uses the same fairing design for all Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy satellite launches, simplifying its product line to keep costs as low as possible.
Historically, SpaceX executives have stated that each pair of Falcon fairings represents around 10% of the cost of Falcon 9 production, or $5 million. Due to the need for massive autoclave curing ovens, the volume and speed of Falcon fairing production has a firm lower limit save for expensive, space-hungry factory expansions. For SpaceX’s increasingly ambitious Starlink launch cadence goals, that means that fairing recovery and reuse is more valuable and essential than each pair’s price tag would otherwise suggest.
SpaceX reused Falcon fairings for the first time on Starlink’s first operational v1.0 satellite launch in November 2019, approximately 18 months ago. Since then, of 28 operational Starlink missions, only 11 have flown new fairings, more than doubling the effective output of SpaceX’s limited fairing production capacity. All told, SpaceX has flown 34 flight-proven fairing halves on 19 separate missions – almost every other Falcon 9 launch since November 2019.
Starlink-28 will fly one of its two fairing halves for the fifth time just 18 months after the first fairing reuse. In comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon booster reusability program took three years – 36 months – to go from first reuse to a fifth flight of the same booster. In other words, SpaceX fairing reusability is speeding right along as it crosses milestones more than twice as quickly as boosters did. Over the brief life of the program, fairing reuse has likely already saved SpaceX at least $90 million in nonrecurring costs while simultaneously freeing up a substantial portion of the company’s composites team to fill in on other composites projects and reducing or replacing the need for tens of millions of dollars of new production space and equipment.
Tune in at the link below around 2:45 pm EDT (18:45 UTC) to watch SpaceX’s Starlink-28 launch live.
Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla has expanded its branded ‘For Business’ Supercharger program that it launched last year, as yet another company is using the platform to attract EV owners to its business and utilize a unique advertising opportunity.
Francis Energy of Oklahoma is launching four Superchargers in Norman, where the University of Oklahoma is located. The Superchargers, which are fitted with branding for Francis Energy, will officially open tomorrow.
It will not be the final Supercharger location that Francis Energy plans to open, the company confirmed to EVWire.
Back in early September, Tesla launched the new “Supercharger for Business” program in an effort to give businesses the ability to offer EV charging at custom rates. It would give their businesses visibility and would also cater to employees or customers.
“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business,” Tesla wrote on a page on its website for the new program. “Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”
The first site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, which is Northeast of Tampa, as a company called Suncoast launched the Superchargers for local EV owners.
Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station
The program also does a great job at expanding infrastructure for EV owners, which is something that needs to be done to encourage more people to purchase Teslas and other electric cars.
Francis Energy operates at least 14 EV charging locations in Oklahoma, spanning from Durant to Oklahoma City and nearly everywhere in between. Filings from the company, listed by Supercharge.info, show the company’s plans to convert some of them to Tesla Superchargers, potentially utilizing the new Supercharger for Business program to advertise.
Moving forward, more companies will likely utilize Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program as it presents major advantages in a variety of ways, especially with advertising and creating a place for EV drivers to gain range in their cars.
Tesla Cybercab is perhaps the most highly-anticipated project that the company plans to roll out this year, and as it is undergoing its testing phase in pre-production currently, there are some things to work through with it.
Over the weekend, an image of the Cybercab being loaded onto a tow truck started circulating on the internet, and people began to speculate as to what the issue could be.
Hmmmmmm… https://t.co/L5hWcOXQkb pic.twitter.com/OJBDyHNTMj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 11, 2026
The Cybercab can clearly be seen with a Police Officer and perhaps the tow truck driver by its side, being loaded onto, or even potentially unloaded from, the truck.
However, it seems unlikely it was being offloaded, as its operation would get it to this point for testing to begin with.
It appears, at first glance, that it needs assistance getting back to wherever it came from; likely Gigafactory Texas or potentially a Bay Area facility.
The Cybercab was also spotted in Buffalo, New York, last week, potentially undergoing cold-weather testing, but it doesn’t appear that’s where this incident took place.
It is important to remember that the Cybercab is currently undergoing some rigorous testing scenarios, which include range tests and routine public road operation. These things help Tesla assess any potential issue the vehicle could run into after it starts routine production and heads to customers, or for the Robotaxi platform operation.
This is not a one-off issue, either. Tesla had some instances with the Semi where it was seen broken down on the side of a highway three years ago. The all-electric Semi has gone on to be successful in its early pilot program, as companies like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. have had very positive remarks.
The Cybercab’s future is bright, and it is important to note that no vehicle model has ever gone its full life without a breakdown. It happens, it’s a car.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that there has been no official word on what happened with this particular Cybercab unit, but it is crucial to remember that this is the pre-production testing phase, and these things are more constructive than anything.
Tesla Model Y gets fresh configuration with three highly requested features
Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers
