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SpaceX’s orbital Starship launch pad tank farm comes to life for the first time
Update: Two days after a bevy of tanker trucks began to arrive at SpaceX’s orbital Starship launch site with load upon load of cryogenic liquid nitrogen, the company’s custom-built tank farm appears to have taken its very first ‘breaths.’
In other words, at least one of seven massive propellant storage tanks – two of which appear to have been fully completed and insulated – began venting. For a tank like SpaceX’s ground support equipment (GSE) tanks, the level of venting observed can only mean one thing: pressure maintenance during operations with cryogenic fluids. As cryofluids are loaded into empty tanks, they inevitably come into contact with warm pipes and tank walls, rapidly warming a portion of the liquid that then boils into gas. Tanks then need to vent that excess gas to avoid bursting.
In the case of SpaceX’s two completed liquid oxygen GSE tanks and a spate of liquid nitrogen (LN2) deliveries this week, it’s clear that the company has begun the process of testing and activating part of its brand new orbital-class Starship tank farm – beginning with much less risky LN2 proof testing. Filling the two finished LOx tanks with LN2 should also serve the dual purpose of flushing and cleaning them of any debris or contaminants, ensuring that it’s safe to fill them with LOx when the time comes.
For the first time, SpaceX appears to have begun delivering large quantities of cryogenic fluids to Starship’s orbital launch pad – still under construction but fast approaching some level of initial operational capability.
Sometime in the morning on September 19th, a semi-truck carrying a cryogenic liquid nitrogen (LN2) transport trailer arrived at SpaceX’s Starbase launch facilities. Normally, that would be a completely mundane, uninteresting event: SpaceX has used and will continue to use liquid nitrogen to safely proof test Starship prototypes and supercool their liquid methane (LCH4) and oxygen (LOx) propellant for the indefinite future. However, up to now, 100% of all Starbase cryogen deliveries have gone to the suborbital launch site, where two “mounts” and a few concrete aprons have supported all Starship and Super Heavy tests and launches to date.
Instead, this particular LN2 tanker headed for Starbase’s first orbital tank farm and began to offload its cryogenic liquid cargo at a number of brand new fill stations specifically designed for the task.
Still well under construction and at least a few weeks or months from total complete, Starship’s orbital launch site tank farm will ultimately be a group of eight massive storage tanks surrounded by thousands of feet of insulated plumbing, industrial pumps, a small army of “cryocoolers,” a blockhouse filled with human-sized valves, and much more. Said tank farm has been under construction for the better part of 2021, beginning with work on its concrete foundation this January.
Nine months later, the orbital tank farm is nearly complete. A power distribution and communications blockhouse has been complete for weeks with virtually all the wiring and cabling needed for the orbital launch mount and tower already in place. Several hundred feet of concrete cable and plumbing conduit have been filled with thousands of feet of wires, cables, and pipes and been sealed and buried. The tank farm blockhouse – where a dozen or so massive valves control the flow of propellant to and from the orbital launch mount and tower – is complete save for some final plumbing.
Finally, seven of eight GSE (ground support equipment) tanks have been installed and partially plumbed. Built in the same factory, six are virtually identical to Starship and Super Heavy tanks and will store LOx (3x), LN2 (2x), LCH4 (2x), and around a million gallons of water. Save for one LCH4 tank, all have been installed at the farm and that last tank (known as GSE8) is nearly complete back at the build site. Additionally, to insulate those seven thin, steel storage tanks, SpaceX has contracted with a water/storage tank company to build seven “cryoshells” and said million-gallon water tank.
The water tank was installed months ago and all seven shells are completed and ready to go as of last month. Only two of those seven cryoshells have been installed – and, rather asymmetrically, both on LOx tanks. SpaceX recently rolled the first LN2 tank cryoshell to the farm and could install it soon but as of now, it will likely be weeks before the orbital tank farm will have sleeved, insulated LOx, LN2, and LCH4 tanks ready for testing.
At the moment, that’s one of the biggest points of uncertainty standing between SpaceX and the ability to test Super Heavy or Starship at the orbital launch site. It’s entirely unclear if uninsulated GSE tanks can support any kind of substantial testing – like, say, the first full Super Heavy static fire test campaign – before their contents effectively boil off. As such, it’s a bit of mystery why SpaceX then had at least three tanker loads of liquid nitrogen – likely more than 70 tons (~150,000 lb) total – delivered to the orbital tank farm on September 19th.
By all appearances the first time that the farm’s actual main tanks have been filled with anything, that liquid nitrogen seems to have been loaded into one or both of the two insulated LOx tanks. There are two or three main explanations. First, SpaceX could simply be testing those more or less completed tanks with their first cryogenic fluids. Those partial ‘cryo proof’ tests would also help clean and flush out the interior of the LOx tanks, removing mundane debris or contamination that could become a major hazard when submerged in a high-density oxidizer. Given that both tanks can easily hold ~1300 tons (~2.9M lb) of liquid nitrogen, 70 tons is more of a tickle than a test, though, so a magnitude more would need to be delivered to perform even a half-decent bare-minimum cryoproof.
The other distinct possibility is that SpaceX plans to temporarily use one or both of the only two finished orbital pad tanks to store liquid nitrogen for Super Heavy Booster 4’s first cryogenic proof test. Either way, SpaceX has test windows scheduled every day this week, beginning with a six-hour window that opens at 5pm CDT today (Sept 20). Stay tuned to find out what exactly SpaceX plans to test and if the orbital tank farm and its first taste of liquid nitrogen are involved!
News
Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities
This expansion builds directly on Tesla’s existing operations. Robotaxi has been ramping unsupervised rides in Austin for months and maintains activity in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Tesla has taken a major step forward in its autonomous ride-hailing ambitions.
On April 18, the company’s official Robotaxi account announced that Robotaxi service is now rolling out in Dallas and Houston, Texas. The update signals the rapid scaling of unsupervised autonomous operations in the Lone Star State.
The announcement includes a compelling 14-second video captured from inside a Model Y. Shot from the passenger perspective, the footage shows the vehicle navigating suburban roads in both cities with zero driver intervention, with no Safety Monitor to be seen.
Robotaxi now rolling out in Dallas & Houston 🤠 pic.twitter.com/G3KFQwqGxB
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) April 18, 2026
Tesla also shared geofence maps highlighting the initial service areas: a compact zone in Houston covering parts of Willowbrook and Jersey Village, and a similarly defined area in Dallas near Highland Park and central neighborhoods.
🚨 Tesla has expanded Robotaxi to two new cities: Houston and Dallas, joining Austin and the SF Bay Area as active Robotaxi areas https://t.co/S3Ck4EaGpR pic.twitter.com/N0qu0bcTyd
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 18, 2026
This expansion builds directly on Tesla’s existing operations. Robotaxi has been ramping unsupervised rides in Austin for months and maintains activity in the San Francisco Bay Area.
With Dallas and Houston now live, Texas hosts three active hubs—an impressive concentration that triples the company’s Lone Star footprint in just weeks. The move aligns with Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings guidance, which outlined a broader H1 2026 rollout across seven U.S. cities, including Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas.
Texas offers favorable regulations, high ride-share demand, and relatively straightforward suburban-to-urban driving patterns ideal for early autonomous scaling. While initial geofences appear modest—roughly 25 square miles per city—Tesla has historically expanded these zones quickly as it gathers real-world data.
Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
Unsupervised operation marks a critical milestone: passengers can summon, ride, and exit without safety drivers, a leap beyond many competitors still requiring human oversight.
For Tesla, the implications are significant. Successful scaling in major metros could accelerate the transition to a fully driverless fleet, unlocking new revenue streams and validating years of Full Self-Driving investment.
Riders gain convenient, potentially lower-cost mobility, while the company edges closer to Elon Musk’s vision of Robotaxis transforming urban transport.
As Tesla pushes into more cities this year, today’s launch in Dallas and Houston underscores its momentum. Hopefully, Tesla will be able to expand unsupervised rides to another U.S. state soon, which will mark yet another chapter in this short-but-encouraging Robotaxi story.
News
Tesla is pushing Robotaxi features to owner cars with Spring Update
Tesla has quietly begun rolling out one of its most forward-looking Robotaxi-inspired features to existing customer vehicles.
Tesla is starting to push Robotaxi features to owner cars, and the first instances are coming as the Spring 2026 Update starts to roll out.
Tesla has quietly begun rolling out one of its most forward-looking Robotaxi-inspired features to existing customer vehicles.
With the 2026 Spring Update (version 2026.14+), the rear passenger display now features a fully interactive navigation map that works while the car is driving — a capability previously reserved for Tesla Robotaxi.
First look at Tesla’s v2026.14.1 Spring Update.
🧭Rear screen interactive map #teslaupdate #tesla #teslasrpingupdate pic.twitter.com/yH3T4U8qHp— Sergiu Mogan (@sergiumogan) April 17, 2026
Until now, Tesla’s rear displays have been largely limited to media controls, climate settings, and static route overviews. The new interactive map transforms the backseat into an active navigation hub, exactly the kind of passenger-first interface Tesla has been prototyping for its driverless fleet.
In a Robotaxi, where no one sits behind the wheel, every rider will need intuitive, real-time map access. By shipping this UI into thousands of owner cars months ahead of the Cybercab’s planned unveiling, Tesla is stress-testing the software in real-world conditions and giving loyal customers an early taste of the autonomous future.
The rollout is still in its early wave. Only a small number of vehicles have received 2026.14.1 so far, but the feature is expected to expand rapidly in the coming weeks. Owners of Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck are all eligible.
For buyers of the new Signature Edition Model S and X Plaid vehicles — whose deliveries begin in May — the update will likely arrive shortly after they take delivery, meaning the final chapter of Tesla’s flagship lineup will ship with cutting-edge Robotaxi preview tech baked in.
Elon Musk has long emphasized that Tesla ships supporting infrastructure well before new products launch. This rear-map rollout is a textbook example of that philosophy — quietly preparing both the software and the customer base for a world of fully driverless rides.
While the interactive map may seem like a modest convenience upgrade on the surface, its deeper purpose is unmistakable. Tesla is using its massive installed base of vehicles as a proving ground for the exact passenger experience that will define the Robotaxi era.
For current owners, it’s a free preview of tomorrow’s mobility; for the company, it’s invaluable data and real-world validation before the Cybercab hits the streets.
News
Tesla Cybertruck sales bolstered by bold Musk move, report claims
If accurate, that means nearly one in every five Cybertrucks registered in the quarter was transferred internally within Musk’s business empire. The purchases, valued at more than $100 million, have continued into 2026.
A new report from Bloomberg claims Tesla Cybertruck sales were inflated by internal buyers, meaning companies owned by CEO Elon Musk, and most notably, SpaceX.
According to a new registration data analysis, a significant portion of the fourth quarter’s Cybertruck sales came from Musk companies.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, 7,071 Cybertrucks were registered in the United States. SpaceX, Musk’s rocket and satellite company, accounted for 1,279 of those vehicles—more than 18 percent of the total. Musk’s additional ventures, including xAI, the Boring Company, and Neuralink, acquired another 60 trucks during the same period.
Tesla Cybertruck just won a rare and elusive crash safety honor
If accurate, that means nearly one in every five Cybertrucks registered in the quarter was transferred internally within Musk’s business empire. The purchases, valued at more than $100 million, have continued into 2026.
These internal sales supplemented the Cybertruck’s overall performance for the quarter, as without them, sales would have plunged 51 percent. The vehicle, which has repeatedly been called “the best product Tesla has ever made,” has fallen short of expectations due to pricing.
When first unveiled back in 2019, Tesla had a $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990 configuration for sale. Those prices inflated significantly as the truck was not released to customers until 2023. Those who had placed orders for affordable configurations were priced out.
Sam Fiorani, VP of Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, said, “Tesla is running out of buyers for the Cybertruck.” In reality, there are probably a lot of buyers, but they simply cannot afford the truck at its current price point.
The Cybertruck was supposed to broaden Tesla’s appeal beyond its core lineup of sleek sedans and SUVs. While it has done a lot for brand notoriety, it has not lived up to its monumental expectations, and it’s simply because the truck has not been as available as most had thought.
The truck is still the best-selling electric pickup in the country, outpacing rivals like the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado EV. It is also not uncommon for companies to use their own vehicles for internal operations, like Ford using its own Transit van for Mobile Service.
However, this much inventory of Cybertrucks being purchased by Musk’s companies is not what you love to see as a fan or investor.
Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities
Tesla is pushing Robotaxi features to owner cars with Spring Update
