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SpaceX Starship launch pad upgraded as Elon Musk reveals rocket production milestone
SpaceX has begun to upgrade its South Texas Starship launch pad in anticipation of the completion of the next full-scale rocket prototype, photos of which CEO Elon Musk revealed just hours ago.
Working in parallel with efforts to repair damage caused by Starship serial number 1’s (SN1) violent February 28th test failure, SpaceX has managed to build, complete, and test an entirely separate ‘test tank’ and complete fabrication of a second full-scale Starship in a handful of weeks. Flexing the growing capabilities of the impressive Boca Chica, Texas Starship factory SpaceX has sprung up in just three months, the company is working around the clock to build not just one – but several – Starship prototypes simultaneously.
A successful March 9th tank test designed to prove a new thrust structure design managed to do just that less than two weeks after the same faulty part brought about Starship SN1’s demise. In the two weeks since that its test completion, SpaceX has been busy welding, stacking, welding, and stacking several separate sections of the next Starship prototype, known as SN3. Potentially a matter of days away from structural completion, focus has recently shifted to the launch pad the ship will be tested at. In the last few days, SpaceX technicians have begun to install a bizarre, new structural element on the mount Starship SN3 will be secured on top of, hinting at the goals of the rocket’s first test campaign.
Squeezing in alongside efforts to repair the propellant lines that run into the launch mount, upgrades began on March 24th as a SpaceX team worked to install what looked like an incredibly sturdy tripod (with four ‘legs’, of course). Thanks to familiar testing done with SpaceX’s most recent Starship tank prototype, the purpose of the launch mount’s newest appendage quickly became clear.
During the Starship SN2 tank’s thrust structure (‘thrust puck’, per Elon Musk) test campaign, SpaceX debuted the concurrent use of a beefy hydraulic jack to simulate the forces a Raptor engine static might produce. Capable of producing upwards of 200 metric tons (440,000 lbf) of thrust at full power, SpaceX will likely begin Starship static fire tests with a single Raptor engine. As soon as a Starship prototype completes one or several single-engine test fires, the plan is to install three sea level-optimized Raptor engines and repeat static fire tests.
Before that triple-engine static fire milestone, a first for the cutting-edge Raptor engine, SpaceX needs to verify that Starship’s thrust structure can stand up to the ~600 tons (~1.3M lbf) of force it will be subjected to during such a test. Sitting on a much smaller stand, Starship SN2 used a single hydraulic jack and temporary stand to simulate a single engine’s thrust. Starship SN3, sitting much higher above the ground, will need three jacks to simulate three Raptors.
As such, it looks likely that Starship SN3’s first cryogenic tank proof test – filling the vehicle with inert liquid nitrogen – will coincide with a second dedicated stress test of a Starship thrust structure, hopefully proving itself capable of surviving the force of three Raptor engines at full thrust. While orbital-class Starships will need three more vacuum-optimized Raptor engines, three sea-level engines are all SpaceX needs to begin flight tests with suborbital prototypes.
Based on an unofficial analysis of existing photos, it appears that every single major structural piece of Starship SN3 – excluding legs and fins – is nearing completion, even including the ship’s shiny nosecone. Likely to head to the launch pad for its first tests as soon as the tank section alone has been completed, just one stacking event remains before said tank section reaches its full height. Right now, both of those parts have been moved to a dedicated Vehicle/Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) and are probably no more than a day or two away from being joined*. Perhaps just a day or two after that milestone, SpaceX will likely transport the massive rocket to the launch pad to begin preparing for its first proof tests.
*Around 3am local time, SpaceX technicians stacked Starship SN3’s two main segments, completing its tank and engine section.
Tesla is beginning to roll out Full Self-Driving Supervised v14.3.9 with a new active safety layer that can take control even when the driver is operating the car manually.
Tesla AI said the software can activate FSD on the driver’s behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking may not be enough. It may also engage if the system detects heavy distraction or an accidental FSD disengagement.
FSD Supervised v14.3.9 starting to roll out shortly
This release includes a new active safety feature set: FSD Supervised can now activate on your behalf when an imminent collision is detected and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) may not be enough.
It may also engage if we…
— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) September 4, 2026
The capability is essentially Automatic Collision Evasion. However, unlike conventional AEB, which mainly applies the brakes in a straight line, this feature can use steering, braking, and acceleration together if the car calculates that stopping alone will not prevent impact and a safer path exists. The system may change lanes or move toward a shoulder when conditions allow, then continue driving after the immediate threat is handled rather than simply coming to a stop.
The intervention is meant as a last-resort safety net, not a replacement for attentive driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.7 early review: FSD saved me from an accident
Tesla’s own description still frames FSD as supervised assistance. Secondary reports on internal release notes say the feature can fire while the car is being driven manually if cabin-camera monitoring suggests the driver is not sufficiently attentive, such as reaching toward the back seat, or if FSD appears to have been turned off unintentionally.
After the emergency maneuver, the car is expected to alert the driver and request a return to manual control.
The safety case is straightforward. Many collisions happen in the last second because a driver is looking away, fumbles a control, or faces an obstacle that braking cannot fully solve. A system that can both recognize that AEB is insufficient and execute a coordinated evasive path can reduce those remaining high-severity events.
Re-engaging after accidental disengagement also addresses a practical failure mode: a small steering nudge that drops FSD at the worst moment. The advantage is a background safety net that uses the same vision stack already running in v14, instead of leaving the car solely to emergency braking once the driver is no longer in command.
The feature still depends on FSD being enabled and, according to reports, an active FSD purchase or subscription. It does not make the vehicle unsupervised. Drivers remain responsible, and Tesla has not published how often the system is expected to intervene or how it will handle false positives.
If the rollout is conservative and the false-alarm rate stays low, the update is a meaningful step: FSD is no longer only a feature the driver turns on. In the rare moments when disaster is already forming, it can step in.
Tesla launched the all-electric, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercab last night at a quiet and small event in downtown Austin, Texas.
The launch, which marked the beginning of unsupervised ride-hailing for Tesla’s Robotaxi platform with Cybercab, has already caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who has more questions.
NHTSA opened an Audit Query (AQ) into the Cybercab’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) certification that Tesla gave the vehicle. Manufacturers self-certify vehicles much of the time to avoid excessive regulatory delays.
Tesla Cybercab interior, note the lack of steering wheel and pedals. (Credit: @niccruzpatane/X< /a>)
However, the agency needs more information; it said in a summary:
“On September 3, 2026, Tesla began commercial deployment with a small number of its Cybercab vehicles in Austin, Texas. Tesla notified the Agency that it certified those Cybercab vehicles as compliant with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Tesla also notified the Agency that it plans to gradually expand commercial deployment of the Cybercab to include additional vehicles and locations.”
It also went on to state that the Cybercab lacks traditional automotive controls, which is a groundbreaking move. The process is entirely new to the NHTSA, which gives the agency some leverage to put Tesla’s launch under a microscope:
“The vehicles lack permanently attached, conventional manual controls, such as a brake pedal, gas pedal, steering wheel, and mirrors. NHTSA is opening this AQ to examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues. Among other things, NHTSA will consider the extent to which Tesla’s certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab.”
Tesla has added 45 Cybercab units to its fleet of Robotaxi-enabled cars in Austin, according to public documents the company submitted to the State of Texas over the past week. Enabling this level of self-driving is something Tesla has worked toward for many years, and now that it is finally here, it seems more than reasonable that regulatory agencies will have some questions.
Many outlets might try to frame this as a negative, but it is truly an agency looking to gain more information about groundbreaking tech that Tesla has been developing for years.
In an effort to keep riders, pedestrians, and property safe, any and all data accumulated from these first days, weeks, and months of rides will likely be shared with the NHTSA to enable broader rollout strategies across the United States and more in the future.
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Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Asia says Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai this month.
Tesla’s Cybercab is heading to Asia. The official Tesla Asia account posted on X Thursday, inviting Cybercab fans to “Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai.” The post went up within hours of Tesla’s own Cybercab milestone in Texas, where the company said Thursday it had begun offering rides in across Austin.
Exact dates and venues for the Asia tour haven’t been released yet, though Tesla Hong Kong replied to the announcement with “Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong soon,” while Tesla Japan’s response pointed fans to a sign up page for updates. Neither post mentions test rides or a service area, and nothing so far suggests Tesla is launching Robotaxi operations in any of the four cities. Based on how Tesla has run past Cybercab tours, in Europe in late 2024 and at US shopping centers that same December, the Asia stops are almost certainly static displays at Tesla stores or public venues as a means to stimulate buzz for its future driverless ride-hailing service in the big cities.
Cybercab will be on display in Asia this month!
Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/wGmmEastfX— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) September 4, 2026
The timing lines up with Tesla’s only prior Cybercab appearance in the region, a booth at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last November, which Teslarati covered at the time. At that event, Tesla’s regional general manager for Shanghai framed the car as evidence of the company’s broader mission, a message Tesla has since formalized in its Master Plan Part IV, which states that “autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities.” The same document is where Tesla lays out its “sustainable abundance” framing for Cybercab and Optimus alike, describing the two as the hardware behind an AI driven push to cut the cost of transportation and labor at scale.
Whether Cybercab actually operates as a robotaxi anywhere in Asia remains an open question, considering China has already pushed an autonomous ride-hailing market that’s run on homegrown players like Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony AI. For now, the four city tour reads as a marketing push timed to Austin’s momentum.
Tesla Full Self-Driving will now overtake manual driving to avoid disaster
Tesla Cybercab launch catches NHTSA’s attention who wants to know more
