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SpaceX begins installing ‘Mechazilla’ arms designed to catch Starship rockets
After a busy few weeks spent attaching Mechazilla’s two rocket-catching arms to a carriage-like backbone, SpaceX has begun the process of installing the integrated structure on Starbase’s ~450 ft (~135m) tall Starship ‘launch tower’.
Once complete, SpaceX will have created a first-of-its-kind launch tower designed to stack and manipulate Starships and Super Heavy boosters in far worse conditions than cranes can tolerate and catch both rocket stages out of mid-air. Referred to internally as ‘chopsticks,’ the giant pair of steel arms will join a third ‘quick disconnect’ (QD) arm tasked with stabilizing Super Heavy during Starship installation and feeding the reusable upper stage power, comms links, and some 1200 tons (~2.65M lb) of propellant.
Together, they will enable SpaceX to attempt Starship’s first orbital test flights and, perhaps one day, help the next-generation rocket launch in almost any weather and achieve unprecedentedly rapid reusability. But first, SpaceX needs to finish installing and rigging the massive structure.
Beginning on August 29th after less than three months of assembly, SpaceX installed Starship’s QD arm on the launch tower. About a month later, the QD arm was mostly finished off with the installation of a claw-like grabber meant to stabilize Super Heavy and is now only missing its namesake quick-disconnect (an actuating device that will connect Starship to the pad and rapidly disconnect at liftoff). Assembly of the last three major components of Mechazilla – a carriage-like structure and two giant arms – began in July and, much like the tower’s QD arm, wrapped up about three months later.
On October 6th, SpaceX began combining those three main parts by flipping the carriage – a bit like a spine and ribcage with ‘skates’ that attach to rails on the launch tower’s legs – vertical and staging it on a temporary support structure. Both ‘chopsticks’ were then flipped into the correct orientation and moved into position with separate cranes for installation on the carriage/backbone. From start to finish, that process took around 9-10 days and culminated with the installation of two giant cylindrical pins with built-in bearings on October 14th and 15th. By the 17th, both cranes had detached from the assembled Mechazilla arms and carriage were, leaving it precisely balanced against the support structure and more or less freestanding.
Just a few days later, after a last-second attempt on October 19th was called off as night fell, SpaceX tried again on the 20th and completed the first step of installing Mechazilla’s catch arms on the launch tower without apparent issue. Likely weighing several hundred tons, Starbase’s largest crane lifted the massive structure up and over an adjacent launch mount and then carefully inched it closer to the tower. Prior to the lift, SpaceX technicians staged 12 ‘skates’ on three of the tower’s four legs – two upper and two lower skates per leg.
Here's one with the QD arm back. If QD engaged, chopsticks can't get past. Elon said only need for "ship mate". Chopstick sequence:
1. Lift SH onto OLM
2. Rise, swing to side, lower, grasp SS
3. Rise above SH
4. Deploy QD arm and claw
5. Lower SS onto SH
6. At launch, open wide! pic.twitter.com/iRRfXQ5uEn— LunarCaveman (@LunarCaveman) October 1, 2021
Once the carriage was in the right position, workers were able to wrap its upper arms around the tower and began connecting the carriage to those skates with several more large pins. It’s unclear how much progress was made in the hours after the lift but it appears that the carriage has been attached to maybe four or five of six upper skates. Work continued well after nightfall, meaning that it will likely only take a few days to complete all 12 connections. However, even after all skates are installed, the carriage, arms, and skates will still be hanging by crane or winch.
To truly install the structure on the tower, SpaceX will have to finish installing and rigging thousands of feet of steel cable that – via a complex system of pulleys – will connect to powered ‘drawworks’ that will support the carriage and catch arms and lift the assembly up and down the tower like an elevator car. The catch arms and carriage will also need to be mated with a giant ‘cable carrier’ (already staged on the tower) that will connect the structure to ground and control systems.
Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.
Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.
This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.
Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.
Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.
The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:
“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”
Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.
“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”
I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy …
When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless. 🤷♂️
🦕 🦕
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2025
Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.
Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.
A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.
Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers
Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.
Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.
Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.
Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.
Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.
However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.
For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.
However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:
The naming change should have happened at once, instead of in 2 sequential steps. That was a big miss on our end. We do listen to the community and we do course-correct fast. The accelerated fix rolled out last night. The Tesla App is updated and most in-car touchscreens should…
— Max (@MdeZegher) November 20, 2025
The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.
Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.
Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.
Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving
