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A stack of 60 Starlink v0.9 satellites are prepared for their orbital launch debut in May 2019. (SpaceX) A stack of 60 Starlink v0.9 satellites are prepared for their orbital launch debut in May 2019. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX planning four more Falcon 9-launched Starlink missions this year, permits show

An imposing stack of SpaceX's first 60 Starlink satellites is shown here prior to their inaugural launch. (SpaceX)

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According to a suite of eight FCC Special Temporary Authority licenses SpaceX filed for on August 30th, the company has plans for as many as four additional Starlink satellite launches in 2019, on top of Starlink’s May 23rd launch debut.

Additionally, SpaceX simultaneously requested that the FCC modify its current Starlink application to permit a slight change in orbital characteristics that would drastically improve the broadband satellite constellation’s coverage in its early stages. Combined, SpaceX appears to be extremely confident about the status and near-future progress to be made by its prospective Starlink constellation, confidence presumably inspired by the performance of the first 60 “v0.9” satellites launched three months ago.

Beta-test hiccups

Over the last three months, 50 of the 60 Starlink satellites launched on May 23rd have made their way to their final ~550 km (340 mi) circular orbits. As observed by astronomer Jonathan McDowell and partially confirmed by SpaceX’s own official statements, the company remains in contact with and – more or less – in control of all but three of the 60 Starlink prototypes. SpaceX did confirm in late June that two functioning satellites were being intentionally deorbited to test procedures and performance, while another three satellites had partially failed and were to “passively deorbit”.

Based on the phrasing of SpaceX’s June 28th update, it’s ambiguous if communication and/or control has been completely lost with those three satellites. Additionally, five more satellites have remained paused partway between their ~440 km insertion orbits and ~550 km operational orbits, described two months ago as “going through checkouts prior to completing their orbit raise.” For unknown reasons, that orbit raise never happened. This leaves SpaceX with 57 of 60 satellites that have effectively ‘survived’ and are still under some form of control, while 50 (83%) of the satellites have successfully reached their nominal operational orbits and are performing as intended.

SpaceX continues to waffle between describing these first 60 satellites – internally known as “Starlink v0.9” – as a development test and the first operational Starlink launch. A ~17% failure rate for satellite orbit raising would be unacceptable for a finished product but, on a positive note, is actually quite impressive if one assumes that the 60 spacecraft are high-fidelity prototypes, not operational satellites.

Although each satellite is just a few square meters, they may be able to serve internet to thousands of people simultaneously. (SpaceX)

In short, there is a lot of room for improvement – particularly in the realm of short and long-term reliability – but the likely fact that “v0.9” signifies a sort of Starlink beta test means that SpaceX’s next Starlink launches will feature updated and bug-fixed hardware. In the realm of satellites, the practice of flying prototypes as early as possible and risking failures to learn from experience is exceedingly rare, but this behavior is entirely consistent with SpaceX’s preferred approach to rocket and spacecraft development.

300 satellites, 7 months

As mentioned above, SpaceX applied for four FCC STA licenses – effectively communications-related launch permits – on August 30th, all for Starlink missions with nominal No Earlier Than (NET) launch dates in 2019. It must be noted that it’s exceptionally rare for the starting dates of STAs to actually correlate with launch dates, but a best-case scenario typically sees a given launch occur within a handful of weeks of that date. STAs last six months, providing plenty of buffer for all but the most extreme launch delays.

MissionDate (NET)
Starlink-1October 10th
Starlink-2October 25th
Starlink-3November 13th
Starlink-4December 8th

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Of note, NASASpaceflight.com recently published Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) planning dates for SpaceX’s next two Starlink missions, confirming that the company is planning for launches roughly one week after the dates on its newly-requested FCC STAs. Those official planning dates show two back-to-back Starlink launches no earlier than (NET) October 17th and November 4th.

A general overview of Starlink’s bus, payload stacking, and solar arrays. (SpaceX)

In a best-case scenario where SpaceX successfully manufactures, delivers, and prepares the satellites and readies the Falcon 9 rockets assigned to launch them, the company could complete four more Starlink launches between now and the New Year. Sticking to a three-week cadence hopefully set by Starlink-1 and Starlink-2, two more launches could follow around late-November and mid-December. Of course, as just the first few truly operational launches of more or less finalized “v1.0” Starlink satellites, delays from manufacturing through launch flows are probable and should be expected.

Even completing just one more 60-satellite launch of an updated Starlink design would be an impressive achievement, making SpaceX the first and only entity – country or company – to place more than 100 satellites in orbit in the first year of a satellite system’s launch activities. In a best-case scenario, four additional Starlink launches in 2019 would abruptly take SpaceX from two satellite prototypes to operating almost 300 satellites – unequivocally the largest constellation in the world – in no more than seven months.

SpaceX's first Starlink launch was also Falcon 9 booster B1049's third launch ever.(SpaceX/Teslarati)
SpaceX completed its first Starlink launch on May 23rd, flying B1049 for the third time. SpaceX’s next Starlink launch will very likely mark the first time a booster has flown four orbital-class missions. (SpaceX)

Serving customers sooner

According to SpaceX’s Starlink.com website, Starlink will be able to start serving customers at Northern US and southern Canadian latitudes after just six launches (360 satellites), with limited “global coverage of the populated world” available after 24 launches (1440 satellites). However, per an FCC license modification request published on August 30th, the same day as 8 launch STAs, the company believes it can dramatically expedite Starlink coverage (regardless of launch rate) with one relatively simple modification.

This modification would leave inclination (orbit angle relative to Earth’s rotational axis), orbital altitude, and the number of satellites and launches completely unchanged, modifying Starlink’s orbital planes instead. It’s an extreme simplification of the reality of orbital mechanics, but one can imagine orbital planes as roughly akin to lanes on a road. To increase their reach, SpaceX wants to deploy Starlink satellites to three separate planes each launch, ultimately tripling the number of ‘lanes’ (from 24 to 72) while cutting the number of satellites in each ‘lane’ by two-thirds (from 66 to 22). In this analogy, it is logically easier to build fewer ‘lanes’, referring – in this case – to the challenge it poses to the launch vehicle, satellites, or both. SpaceX would only be able to triple Starlink’s orbital ‘lanes’ by requiring the satellites to do the bulk of their own orbit raising, leaning heavily on the performance and reliability of their SpaceX-built electric (ion) propulsion.

According to SpaceX, this could as much as halve the number of launches needed to achieve a given level of Starlink coverage, meaning that SpaceX’s early constellation could reach its initial operational status up to twice as quickly. SpaceX believes that this updated orbital layout of Starlink’s 1584 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites would also significantly improve coverage and capabilities for areas with high population density (i.e. big cities).

Whether or not the FCC sees fit to rapidly grant SpaceX’s modification request in the next ~8 weeks, SpaceX’s next Starlink launches will be a major step forward for the company’s nascent communications constellation.

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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 ‘Mad Max’ gets its first bit of regulatory attention

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Credit: Teslarati

Tesla “Mad Max” mode has gotten its first bit of regulatory attention, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has asked for additional information on the Speed Profile.

A few weeks ago, Tesla officially launched a new Speed Profile for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) known as “Mad Max,” which overtook the “Hurry” mode for the fastest setting FSD offers.

Tesla launches ‘Mad Max’ Full Self-Driving Speed Profile, its fastest yet

It launched with Full Self-Driving v14.1.2, and it was no secret that the company was looking for a new mode that would cater to more aggressive driving styles.

The release notes showed the description of the Speed Profile as:

“Introduced new speed profile MAD MAX, which comes with higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than Hurry.”

It certainly lived up to its description. In our testing, it was aggressive, fast, and drove similarly to some of the more challenging traffic patterns I’ve come across.

In normal highway driving, it was one of the quicker cars on the road, while other applications saw it be a suitable version for navigating things like rush-hour traffic.

Here’s what my experience with it was:

While Tesla owners have certainly enjoyed the feature and the behaviors of Mad Max, the NHTSA said it is in contact with Tesla about it, looking to gather additional information. Additionally, it said:

“The human behind the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and complying with all traffic safety laws.”

The important thing to note with Mad Max mode, along with the other Speed Profiles, is that the driver can choose whichever one they’d like, and they all cater to different driving styles.

While Mad Max is more aggressive, modes like “Sloth” and “Standard” are significantly more conservative and can be more suitable for those who are not comfortable with the faster, more spirited versions.

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Tesla shares AI5 chip’s ambitious production roadmap details

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed new details about the company’s next-generation AI5 chip, describing it as “an amazing design.”

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Image used with permission for Teslarati. (Credit: Tom Cross)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed new details about the company’s next-generation AI5 chip, describing it as “an amazing design” that could outperform its predecessor by a notable margin. Speaking during Tesla’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Musk outlined how the chip will be manufactured in partnership with both Samsung and TSMC, with production based entirely in the United States.

What makes AI5 special

According to Musk, the AI5 represents a complete evolution of Tesla’s in-house AI hardware, building on lessons learned from the AI4 system currently used in its vehicles and data centers. “By some metrics, the AI5 chip will be 40x better than the AI4 chip, not 40%, 40x,” Musk said during the Q3 2025 earnings call. He credited Tesla’s unique vertical integration for the breakthrough, noting that the company designs both the software and hardware stack for its self-driving systems.

To streamline the new chip, Tesla eliminated several traditional components, including the legacy GPU and image signal processor, since the AI5 architecture already incorporates those capabilities. Musk explained that these deletions allow the chip to fit within a half-reticle design, improving efficiency and power management. 

“This is a beautiful chip,” Musk said. “I’ve poured so much life energy into this chip personally, and I’m confident this is going to be a winner.”

Tesla’s dual manufacturing strategy for AI5

Musk confirmed that both Samsung’s Texas facility and TSMC’s Arizona plant will fabricate AI5 chips, with each partner contributing to early production. “It makes sense to have both Samsung and TSMC focus on AI5,” the CEO said, adding that while Samsung has slightly more advanced equipment, both fabs will support Tesla’s U.S.-based production goals.

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Tesla’s explicit objective, according to Musk, is to create an oversupply of AI5 chips. The surplus units could be used in Tesla’s vehicles, humanoid robots, or data centers, which already use a mix of AI4 and NVIDIA hardware for training. “We’re not about to replace NVIDIA,” Musk clarified. “But if we have too many AI5 chips, we can always put them in the data center.”

Musk emphasized that Tesla’s focus on designing for a single customer gives it a massive advantage in simplicity and optimization. “NVIDIA… (has to) satisfy a large range of requirements from many customers. Tesla only has to satisfy one customer, Tesla,” he said. This, Musk stressed, allows Tesla to delete unnecessary complexity and deliver what could be the best performance per watt and per dollar in the industry once AI5 production scales.

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Energy

Tesla VP hints at Solar Roof comeback with Giga New York push

The comments hint at possible renewed life for the Solar Roof program, which has seen years of slow growth since its 2016 unveiling.

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Image Credit: Tesla/Twitter

Tesla’s long-awaited and way underrated Solar Roof may finally be getting its moment. During the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Vice President of Energy Engineering Michael Snyder revealed that production of a new residential solar panel has started at Tesla’s Buffalo, New York facility, with shipments to customers beginning in the first quarter of 2026. 

The comments hint at possible renewed life for the Solar Roof program, which has seen years of slow growth since its 2016 unveiling.

Tesla Energy’s strong demand

Responding to an investor question about Tesla’s energy backlog, Snyder said demand for Megapack and Powerwall continues to be “really strong” into next year. He also noted positive customer feedback for the company’s new Megablock product, which is expected to start shipping from Houston in 2026.

“We’re seeing remarkable growth in the demand for AI and data center applications as hyperscalers and utilities have seen the versatility of the Megapack product. It increases reliability and relieves grid constraints,” he said.

Snyder also highlighted a “surge in residential solar demand in the US,” attributing the spike to recent policy changes that incentivize home installations. Tesla expects this trend to continue into 2026, helped by the rollout of a new solar lease product that makes adoption more affordable for homeowners.

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Possible Solar Roof revival?

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Snyder’s remarks, however, was Tesla’s move to begin production of its “residential solar panel” in Buffalo, New York. He described the new panels as having “industry-leading aesthetics” and shape performance, language Tesla has used to market its Solar Roof tiles in the past.

“We also began production of our Tesla residential solar panel in our Buffalo factory, and we will be shipping that to customers starting Q1. The panel has industry-leading aesthetics and shape performance and demonstrates our continued commitment to US manufacturing,” Snyder said during the Q3 2025 earnings call.

Snyder did not explicitly name the product, though his reference to aesthetics has fueled speculation that Tesla may finally be preparing a large-scale and serious rollout of its Solar Roof line.

Originally unveiled in 2016, the Solar Roof was intended to transform rooftops into clean energy generators without compromising on design. However, despite early enthusiasm, production and installation volumes have remained limited for years. In 2023, a report from Wood Mackenzie claimed that there were only 3,000 operational Solar Roof installations across the United States at the time, far below forecasts. In response, the official Tesla Energy account on X stated that the report was “incorrect by a large margin.”

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