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SpaceX is building Starship’s East Coast launch site at a breakneck pace
After breaking ground on September 21st, SpaceX and construction contractors are working at a breakneck pace to complete the modifications necessary for the existing Launch Complex 39A pad to support East Coast Starship and Super Heavy launches.
SpaceX is simultaneously preparing two launch sites and two orbital-class Starship prototypes – Mk1 (Boca Chica, Texas) and Mk2 (Cocoa, Florida) – for their inaugural flight tests. Both pads and flight hardware appear to feature unique design choices and clearly have different strategic value, but one thing remains entirely consistent: SpaceX is not wasting time at either site.
Less than five days after SpaceX received its final construction permit and broke ground at Pad 39A, the company and its contractors have made quick work of clear the ground. Major earthmoving is well underway, concrete deliveries have already begun, and piles are being driven in a bid to quickly secure the proposed Starship launch mount’s foundation.
Per descriptions and drawings included in environmental assessments and water management documents published in August and September, SpaceX – already leasing and operating out of Pad 39A – intends to modify the NASA-owned Kennedy Space Center (KSC) facilities. Once complete, Pad 39A will be able to simultaneously support both Falcon 9/Heavy and Starship/Super Heavy launches. Per communications archived as part of St. Johns River Water Management District (SJR) permitting, SpaceX also needed NASA approval to attain the stormwater management permits needed to begin its Pad 39A modifications.
The fact that SpaceX has already broken ground guarantees that NASA and KSC have already given SpaceX full permission to do so, meaning that the path to complete Pad 39A’s Starship launch accommodations is nearly wide open. The only thing SpaceX still needs – assuming the company hasn’t already received approval – is one last major permit in the form of a positive National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental assessment (EA), the final draft of which was published on August 7th. SpaceX can technically continue construction but it will need to secure NEPA approval before it can begin any sort of Starship operations at the new facilities.
Meanwhile, although it’s pretty clear that a large portion of SpaceX’s Cocoa, FL Starship crew has been diverted to help with Mk1 in Texas, a skeleton crew continues to do what they can to prepare Starship Mk2 for its next major assembly milestones. Most notably, the prototype’s upper (top) tank dome was rolled out of the facility’s assembly building, a strong indicator that it’s nearly ready for installation atop Starship Mk2’s tank section. This will ‘cap off’ Starship Mk2, a milestone its sister ship reached on September 14th. As such, Mk2 is likely two or so weeks behind Mk1 after suffering delays at the hand of Hurricane Dorian and after CEO Elon Musk likely decided to prioritize Starship Mk1’s pre-presentation preparations.
Most importantly, a few local observers have noted and continued to document the process SpaceX will have to undertake to transport Starship Mk2 from Cocoa to Cape Canaveral – specifically Pad 39A. Several people realized that a nearby railroad bridge’s imminent construction could shortly block the path SpaceX was hoping to use to get Starship to the Indian River, where a barge could carry it the rest of the way to KSC. SpaceX likely has backup routes as options, but they would very likely require far more time and effort.
Time will tell if SpaceX can prepare Starship Mk2 in time to take its original transport route. By all appearances, if the prototype’s transport ends up being delayed, Pad 39A’s newly minted Starship launch facilities will likely be ready and waiting once the rocket arrives.
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News
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.
Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.
First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more
However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.
So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Macau
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- U.S.
- Canada
Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.
One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.
A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.
Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers
As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.
Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.
Tesla received a price target boost from Morgan Stanley, according to a new note on Monday morning, but there is some considerable caution also being communicated over the next year or so.
Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco took over Tesla coverage for the firm from longtime bull Adam Jonas, who appears to be focusing on embodied AI stocks and no longer automotive.
Percoco took over and immediately adjusted the price target for Tesla from $410 to $425, and changed its rating on shares from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight.’
Percoco said he believes Tesla is the leading company in terms of electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy, and real-world AI, so it deserves a premium valuation. However, he admits the high expectations for the company could provide for a “choppy trading environment” for the next year.
He wrote:
“However, high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation. While it is well understood that Tesla is more than an auto manufacturer, we expect a choppy trading environment for the TSLA shares over the next 12 months, as we see downside to estimates, while the catalysts for its non-auto businesses appear priced at current levels.”
Percoco also added that if market cap hurdles are achieved, Morgan Stanley would reduce its price target by 7 percent.
Perhaps the biggest change with Percoco taking over the analysis for Jonas is how he will determine the value of each individual project. For example, he believes Optimus is worth about $60 per share of equity value.
He went on to describe the potential value of Full Self-Driving, highlighting its importance to the Tesla valuation:
“Full Self Driving (FSD) is the crown jewel of Tesla’s auto business; we believe that its leading-edge personal autonomous driving offering is a real game changer, and will remain a significant competitive advantage over its EV and non-EV peers. As Tesla continues to improve its platform with increased levels of autonomy (i.e., hands-off, eyes-off), it will revolutionize the personal driving experience. It remains to be seen if others will be able to keep pace.”
Additionally, Percoco outlined both bear and bull cases for the stock. He believes $860 per share, “which could be in play in the next 12 months if Tesla manages through the EV-downturn,” while also scaling Robotaxi, executing on unsupervised FSD, and scaling Optimus, is in play for the bull case.
Will Tesla thrive without the EV tax credit? Five reasons why they might
Meanwhile, the bear case is placed at $145 per share, and “assumes greater competition and margin pressure across all business lines, embedding zero value for humanoids, slowing the growth curve for Tesla’s robotaxi fleet to reflect regulatory challenges in scaling a vision-only perception stack, and lowering market share and margin profile for the autos and energy businesses.”
Currently, Tesla shares are trading at around $441.
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
