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SpaceX shifts South Texas focus to Starship’s orbital launch pad

SpaceX's orbital Starship launch site (OLS) took several big steps towards initial readiness on Wednesday, July 28th. (NASASpaceflight - bocachicagal)

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Highlighted by a Wednesday jam-packed with important milestones, SpaceX appears to be shifting its focus in South Texas to the completion of Starship’s first orbital launch pad.

Boca Chica will be the first time in its history that SpaceX has faced the challenge of (or had the opportunity to) build an orbital launch complex from scratch after gaining a great deal of expertise modifying, reactivating, and rebuilding two existing pads in Florida and one in California. SpaceX’s Boca Chica facilities must also support what will be the most powerful rocket ever built (or tested) and a planned flight rate and turnaround capability that drastically exceeds anything the company (or anyone else, really) has attempted.

As a result, the site looks almost nothing like SpaceX’s other launch facilities. On top of the already significant hurdles faced, SpaceX is also attempting to complete its from-scratch facility in record time and work on Starship’s orbital launch site (OLS) really only began in earnest around the start of 2021. That aggressive work schedule has begun to clearly bear fruit in the last few months and arguably reached a bit of a local peak on Wednesday, July 28th.

A Tower Is Born

Kicking off the day after an aborted attempt on Tuesday, SpaceX began what would turn out to be an extremely busy Wednesday around 5am CDT (UTC-5) with the installation of the Starship launch tower’s ninth and final prefabricated section, effectively completing the structure’s skeleton. Unlike all other SpaceX pads, save for Pad 39A’s single-purpose Dragon and Crew Access Arm, Starship’s first orbital launch pad will lean heavily on a massive steel tower.

By all appearances, Starship’s launch tower will host an elevator-like carriage outfitted with several large arms on its exterior and will use those arms to stabilize, stack, fuel, and maybe even catch Starships and Super Heavy boosters. The tower will be integral to routine Starship launch operations, in other words.

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With the installation of one last steel segment, that tower grew to a height of ~145m (~440 ft) and isn’t expected to get any taller after a 10m/30ft lightning rod is eventually added. SpaceX’s pad team can now begin the process of finalizing tower construction, ranging from adding cladding on its rectangular exterior and welding all nine steel sections together to filling its four legs with concrete.

Tank and Table

Just a few hours after the start of Tower Section #9 installation, a fleet of SpaceX’s self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) left the build site with two major pieces of orbital pad hardware in tow. For the first time in three months, one of those payloads was an OLS propellant storage tank built by SpaceX itself out of parts almost identical to those found on Starship. Since the first two ground support equipment (GSE) tanks were rapidly installed in April, activity on that front has been curiously stagnant.

Since modifications of those tanks began in-situ over the last month or so, the general consensus has been that a fairly minor design flaw or oversight was discovered well after production began, requiring a significant pause to rework and redesign the crucial pad components. In the meantime, work on contractor-built GSE tank shells meant to eventually insulate SpaceX’s thin cryogenic storage tanks continued unabated and one water tank and six shells have already been more or less completed. With any luck, GSE tank #5’s delivery to the OLS means that SpaceX has removed the roadblock(s) and is ready to move into plumbing and tank farm activation.

Simultaneously, a far more significant part known as the Starship ‘launch table’ also left SpaceX’s Boca Chica build site after nearly six months of around-the-clock assembly and outfitting. Designed to secure, fuel, and launch orbital Starships, the launch table has to be able to withstand the ~5000 metric ton (~11 million lb) weight of a fully-fueled Starship, hold Super Heavy in place during static fires and prelaunch ignitions that could produce ~7500 metric tons of thrust, and survive the unspeakable fury of 33 Raptor engines operating simultaneously.

Unlike all other major orbital Starship launch pad parts, the custom launch mount and table’s successful and near-total completion is an absolute necessity for any kind of orbital test flight or full-up Super Heavy static fire. Only part of the tank farm is truly necessary and the vast majority of the tower’s intended tasks can be completed with workarounds if neither are fully ready. Without the launch mount, however, testing much beyond what SpaceX has already accomplished is mostly impossible in the near term.

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This table will eventually be installed on a tall, six-legged launch mount. (NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)

Raptor Invasion

Finally, while less pressing, SpaceX also accepted delivery of four Raptor engines on top of three more that were delivered to Boca Chica on Tuesday. According to CEO Elon Musk, Starship’s first orbital test flight(s) will happen with a full complement of engines installed, meaning that SpaceX will need to build, qualify, and ship at least 35 new Raptors for a single flight.

SpaceX recently completed assembly of the 100th full-scale Raptor engine at its Hawthorne factory and HQ – an encouraging sign that the engines needed for Starship’s orbital launch debut will be ready for flight sooner than later.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Investor's Corner

X clarifies xAI prediction market rumors, hints at future plans

Musk’s AI firm denied rumors of a Kalshi deal but left the door open. Prediction markets + AI could change how we forecast everything.

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Credit: xAI

X dismissed rumors of xAI entering prediction market partnerships. In a recent X post, Elon Musk’s company clarified that xAI had not yet entered formal partnerships in the prediction market.

However, xAI clarification hinted at future exploration in the prediction market, aligning with X’s goal to become an “everything app.” The speculation underscores AI’s potential to reshape predictive analytics.

“Recent speculation about xAI’s involvement in the prediction market space has been circulating. While we’re enthusiastic about the potential of this industry and engaged in various discussions, no formal partnerships have been confirmed to date. Stay tuned!” noted the X team.

X’s statement followed a Tuesday post by Kalshi, hinting at a collaboration with xAI, which was deleted hours later. Kalshi suggested that xAI could leverage AI to analyze X’s news and social media data, enhancing betting decisions on political and economic events.

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Bloomberg reported Kalshi aims to use xAI for tailored insights, enabling users to wager on outcomes like Federal Reserve rate changes or elections through derivative contracts.

“There’s deep alignment between prediction markets, social media, and AI. Prediction markets capture what people know — AI scales what people can know,” said Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour. “This is just the beginning of a long collaboration to unlock the full potential of prediction markets.”

The prediction market industry fits X’s vision to evolve into a comprehensive platform, capitalizing on its trend and news leader role. While xAI’s denial quashes immediate partnership claims, its openness to discussions signals potential interest in prediction markets, where AI could amplify real-time insights.

xAI’s cautious stance reflects its focus on strategic AI development while navigating speculative buzz. As X pursues its “everything app” ambition, prediction markets could enhance its ecosystem, blending social media’s pulse with AI-driven analytics. With no partnerships confirmed, xAI’s future moves may yet redefine how users engage with event-based predictions, positioning it at the forefront of AI innovation.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk sends stern warning to Tesla vandals, doubters

Elon Musk sent another warning to vandals that have attacked Tesla for political reasons.

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NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk has sent a stern warning to Tesla vandals, doubters, and attackers, who have subjected the company and its owners to political violence through arson and other modes of retaliation.

Over the past few months, Tesla showrooms and vehicles have been hit with numerous attacks from those who have opposed Musk and his political involvement with the Trump Administration. Although Musk has stepped back from his role within government significantly since the start of May, the company is still looked at as a political target.

While the White House has put a clear-cut line on the acts, calling them domestic terrorism and holding those responsible for the damage they have done, there are still numerous and daily instances of keying cars or worse.

Yesterday, Musk continued to send stern warnings to those who oppose Tesla and choose to handle their distaste for the company with violence and vandalism. In a Bloomberg interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk was asked if he took what has happened to Tesla “over the past few months personally.”

Musk replied simply but sternly: “Yes.”

He went on to say that not only will those who vandalized the company and its products owned by consumers be held to the fullest extent of the law, but also those who fund it.

Musk also said during a CNBC interview yesterday that very few people buy a company’s products because of the CEO’s political beliefs, and many people do not even know where those CEOs stand on various social issues.

Although Musk has gone out of his way to be transparent about his beliefs, he has a valid point. He obviously felt that, because of his influence, he held a duty to uphold American values and protect what he felt was an attack on free speech and human rights.

Disagreeing with Musk and his political stances is totally reasonable, but damaging products that consumers bought from his companies is not impacting him directly. Instead, it is making consumers’ lives more difficult.

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Tesla Model 3 gets perfect 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today.

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Credit: Tesla Singapore/X

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today. Based on recent findings from the Euro NCAP, the 2025 Model 3 sedan continues this tradition, with the vehicle earning a 5-star overall safety rating from the agency.

Standout Safety Features

As could be seen on the Euro NCAP’s official website, the 2025 Model 3 achieved an overall score of 90% for Adult Occupants, 93% for Child Occupants, 89% for Vulnerable Road Users, and 87% for Safety Assist. This rating, as per the Euro NCAP, applies to the Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range Rear Wheel Drive, Long Range All Wheel Drive, and Performance All Wheel Drive.

The Euro NCAP highlighted a number of the Model 3’s safety features, such as its Active Hood, which automatically lifts during collisions to mitigate injury risks to vulnerable road users, and Automatic Emergency Braking System, which now detects motorcycles through an upgraded algorithm. The Euro NCAP also mentioned the Model 3’s feature that prevents initial door opening if someone is approaching the vehicle’s blind spot.

Standout Safety Features

In a post on its official Tesla Europe & Middle East account, Tesla noted that the company is also introducing new features that make the Model 3 even safer than it is today. These include functions like head-on collision avoidance and crossing traffic AEB, as well as Child Left Alone Detection, among other safety features.

“We also introduced new features to improve Safety Assist functionality even further – like head-on collision avoidance & crossing traffic AEB – to detect & respond to potential hazards faster, helping avoid accidents in the first place. 

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“Lastly, we released Child Left Alone Detection – if an unattended child is detected, the vehicle will turn on HVAC & alert caregivers via phone app & the vehicle itself (flashing lights/audible alert). Because we’re using novel in-cabin radar sensing, your Tesla is able to distinguish between adult vs child – reduced annoyance to adults, yet critical safety feature for kids,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.

Below is the Euro NCAP’s safety report on the 2025 Tesla Model 3 sedan.

Euroncap 2025 Tesla Model 3 Datasheet by Simon Alvarez on Scribd

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