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SpaceX planning four more Falcon 9-launched Starlink missions this year, permits show
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”.
And for completeness here is an updated version of the plot showing Starlink satellite height ((p+a)/2) versus time, no recent changes pic.twitter.com/E3a38afRse— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) August 28, 2019
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.
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.
| Mission | Date (NET) |
| Starlink-1 | October 10th |
| Starlink-2 | October 25th |
| Starlink-3 | November 13th |
| Starlink-4 | December 8th |
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.
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.
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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Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is currently listed as a Level 2 suite in terms of its passenger cars. As its Robotaxi platform continues to move quickly, it has been recognized as a Level 4 ride-sharing program by the State of Texas, as Tesla recently self-certified itself.
However, a Wall Street analyst is arguing that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has effectively achieved Level 4 autonomy in most conditions in all of its vehicles, drawing on personal experience and data released by the company.
Alex Potter of Piper Sandler said in a note to investors on Wednesday that “Tesla has solved the self-driving puzzle,” pointing to decisions to offer insurance discounts for FSD-enabled policies as a signal of confidence, which is backed up by stellar safety records compared to human driving.
Investing.com initially reported on Potter’s new note.
Additionally, Potter looks at the recent start of Cybercab production at Giga Texas as a potential indication that Tesla is ready to offer some level of unsupervised driving at least in the near future. The Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals, completely eliminating the ability for human input.
He also sees Tesla’s allocation of “several hundred million USD (if not $1B+)” as confidence internally, seeing as it would be tough to set aside that amount of capital toward a project that the company does not see as relatively near-term.
Forward thinking, especially as Cybercab has no human controls, it would make sense that Tesla is at least close to self-driving. How close is another question.
Tesla has routinely teased that unsupervised FSD is close, but there are still a lot of things it feels as if the company has to roll out some more capability, including unsupervised parking features, known as “Banish,” better operation with regional self-driving performance, and other improvements.
That is not to say that Tesla FSD is super impressive already. It has already completed coast-to-coast drives across the United States and Canada, it routinely takes the stress out of driving for most people, and it has proven through Tesla Safety Reports that it is safer and involved in accidents less frequently than humans.
🚨 These are the first-ever FSD safety statistics out of the Netherlands, showing it was over 3.5x safer than human driving on Dutch roads.
The most recent numbers out of Tesla for North America show:
-Over 5.5 million miles between accidents for Teslas using FSD
-660k miles… https://t.co/XKlRzgSGEh pic.twitter.com/HX6kzh0ZKc— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 9, 2026
Even Potter believes it is capable, as he used it to go from Missoula, Montana, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, back in April.
“There’s no substitute for personal experience,” he wrote.
Tesla has finally and officially confirmed that Actually Smart Summon, commonly known as ASS, will make its way to the Cybertruck two and a half years after first deliveries.
The feature, which is part of the Full Self-Driving suite, allows owners of any Tesla to literally summon their vehicle to their location in a parking lot. It is limited by range and speed, especially as there is nobody in the vehicle, but is a great feature to have for rainstorms, busy parking lots, or for injured passengers (I recently used it so I could give my Fiancèe a hand leaving a sports injury doctor after she pulled her calf).
Tesla Summon has been a lifesaver for picking up my Fiancèe as she pulled her calf during a 10-mile race in Philadelphia this past weekend!
It went from one of her least favorite features of the Tesla to one of the most useful:pic.twitter.com/CPs6lTSPA8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 6, 2026
Summon has been available on every Tesla that is currently available, but the Cybertruck has not had the feature in the two and a half years that customers have been taking deliveries.
There were a few things that Tesla had to work out with Full Self-Driving features, Summon in particular, with the Cybertruck.
Initially, its Steer-by-Wire system handles low-speed maneuvers differently than a typical mechanical steering connection available in the S3XY lineup. This required some additional time of development to allow Tesla to retrain and validate the AI models specifically for the feature within Cybertruck.
Additionally, the overall size and weight of Cybertruck impacted expected dynamics, has an impact on braking distances, and even obstacle avoidance in tighter lots. Tesla prioritized safety over launching the feature ahead of having the utmost confidence in it.
However, the wait is finally over, at least it seems that way. Tesla said that Cybertruck will receive ASS through a Software Update “shortly,” but did not give an explicit date. Tesla has said that Summon is coming in the past, only for it to be delayed yet again.
Summon for Cybertruck rolling out shortly https://t.co/rGli2iHbtL
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 10, 2026
We anticipate that Summon will roll out within the Cybertruck in less than a week, but there are still some reservations about that timing because, ultimately, nobody knows what Tesla will do outside of Tesla. The Spring Update for many came well late, at least a month past the initial rollout wave.
The rollout of Summon to Cybertruck is a great milestone for Tesla, even if it has come later than most would really like to admit. Now that Cybertrucks will be summoned across parking lots, it will be awesome to see reactions to the massive pickup with no driver sitting in the driver’s seat.
Tesla has secured regulatory approval for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system in Denmark, marking a significant step in the technology’s expansion across Europe.
Announced on June 9, the approval positions Denmark as the fourth European country to greenlight FSD Supervised, following the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia.
Rollout to Danish vehicle owners is expected to begin soon, the company said.
The Danish Road Traffic Authority granted provisional approval after reviewing the original type approval issued by the Dutch vehicle authority (RDW) on April 10, 2026.
FSD Supervised now approved in Denmark 🇩🇰
Rollout will begin soon pic.twitter.com/Xpxwcme10k
— Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) June 9, 2026
This national recognition approach allows individual countries to bypass slower EU-wide harmonization processes, accelerating deployment. Lithuania activated the system on May 20, with Estonia following on May 29, demonstrating a rapid domino effect across the region.
FSD Supervised enables advanced driver assistance capabilities, including automatic steering, acceleration, braking, lane changes, and navigation through complex urban and rural environments. The system is designed for supervised use, as its name states, meaning drivers must remain attentive and ready to intervene at all times.
It adapts to diverse conditions, such as rain, night driving, and varied road types common in Denmark, but it is important to note that the tech is not fully autonomous.
Following a launch in Europe just a few months ago, with its first approval coming in the Netherlands, Tesla is just now highlighting the successful start.
Early data from the Netherlands highlights strong safety performance. Between April 10 and June 5, vehicles using FSD Supervised recorded 3.5 times fewer collisions than manual driving overall, with zero crashes reported on highways across more than 16.6 million kilometers driven.
These results underscore the potential of the technology to enhance road safety when properly supervised.
Tesla’s European push builds on its global footprint, now reaching 12 countries with FSD Supervised availability. The software receives continuous over-the-air updates, improving performance based on real-world data from millions of miles.
In Denmark, owners with compatible hardware—particularly newer vehicles equipped with Hardware 4 (HW4)—are anticipated to gain access first, though exact timelines and eligibility details will be confirmed during rollout.
This approval reflects growing regulatory confidence in supervised autonomy across Europe. As more nations recognize the Dutch certification, Tesla continues to demonstrate how its AI-driven approach can navigate real-world driving scenarios effectively. Denmark’s addition strengthens Tesla’s position in the region, paving the way for broader adoption on a continent that his been surprisingly slow to adopt the technology.
With FSD Supervised now approved in four European markets in just two months, the technology is steadily advancing toward wider availability. Tesla aims to refine the system further through ongoing data collection and software iterations, supporting its vision for safer and more efficient transportation.
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