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SpaceX Starship rocket could move to the launch pad today
SpaceX has finished stacking its fourth full-scale Starship prototype and public schedules show that the rocket could be moved to a nearby launch and test pad as early as April 20th.
Known as Starship serial number 4 (SN4), the rocket will be the third full-scale vehicle completed since the start of serial production, while Starship Mk1 – the first full-scale prototype – was built far more slowly and with different methods. Mk1 was destroyed during one of its first cryogenic liquid nitrogen ‘proof’ tests in November 2019, nearly nine months after assembly began in February. After Mk1’s failure, SpaceX spent about two months rapidly expanding and upgrading its Boca Chica, Texas Starship factory.
Around the end of January 2020, SpaceX kicked off the production of its first serial prototype – logically deemed SN1. Less than a month after its first steel rings were stacked and welded together, SpaceX transported the completed prototype to the launch pad. On February 28th, what CEO Elon Musk later described as a fault in its engine section “thrust puck” destroyed Starship SN1 during one of its first cryogenic proof tests. Barely a month later and after SN2 was modified into a “thrust puck” test tank and successfully tested, Starship SN3 rolled to the launch pad and was destroyed by operator and test design errors on April 3rd. Now, barely two weeks after SN3, Starship SN4 is about to begin testing.
By all appearances, work on Starship SN4 began around March 23rd, continuing a production schedule that has been consistently completing a full-scale rocket prototype every four or so weeks. While SpaceX has taken the unprecedented step of reusing a section of a prototype (SN3) destroyed during testing, every other aspect of the rocket is new and built more or less from scratch.
Just two days after Starship SN3’s salvaged skirt and SN4’s new engine section and aft liquid oxygen tank dome were stacked and welded together, SpaceX technicians attached a crane to the upper two-thirds of the rocket’s tank section and stacked it on top of the newly-finished engine section. 24 hours later, SpaceX teams have completed at least one circumferential seam weld, with a second soon to be finished.
Once that last weld is complete and passes inspections, Starship SN4 will be ready to be lifted onto a transporter and rolled down the road to SpaceX’s dedicated launch and test facilities. Of course, like SN3 and SN1 before it, SpaceX will likely still have a few days of work to get Starship SN4 ready for testing once it’s been moved to the pad.
Using Starship SN3’s timeline, Starship SN4 could be transported to the pad as early as April 19th or 20th and ready for testing by April 24th or 25th. This meshes well with a publicly-available road closure schedule, required because SpaceX often needs to close a public highway for certain Starship transport and testing operations. Per Cameron County’s website, SpaceX has a transport-related closure planned on April 20th. The first testing-related closure begins on Sunday, April 26th and lasts from 9am to midnight, with backups on Monday and Tuesday.
As always, delays should come as no surprise with prototype testing, and schedules are always fluid and liable to change at any second. Regardless, it looks like Starship SN4 is perhaps just a week from its first round of testing.
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.
The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable.
As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality.
“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.
When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.
After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”
“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.
Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.
During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.
As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.
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Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.
Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.
While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing.
“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely.
“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said.
The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.
Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”
Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker.
“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all.
“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
