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SpaceX Starship holds up under pressure, lines up Raptor engine test fire

Starship SN11 has (mostly) soared through the first two of three major tests standing between the rocket and a launch attempt. (NASASpaceflight - bocachicagal)

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After a few false starts and some minor delays, SpaceX’s 11th Starship prototype (SN11) has made it through two of the three major tests standing between it and liftoff.

SpaceX rolled Starship SN11 from the factory to the launch pad on March 8th, just five days after Starship SN10 briefly became the first prototype of its kind to land in one piece. One or two issues with Raptor’s final landing burn caused SN10 to touch down faster than expected and eventually led to the rocket’s explosive demise around 15 minutes later. Still, the test flight was an almost unequivocal success and seemingly left SpaceX with more than enough confidence to speed through preparations for the next flight test.

Heading into the next day, SpaceX had hoped to kick off cryogenic proof testing but Starship SN11 required a bit more attention than expected and unknown bugs ultimately meant that only an ambient-temperature pressure test could be completed by the end of the test window. Those issues appeared to persist through the end of March 10th, preventing any kind of proof test attempt.

On March 11th, Starship SN11 was able to take its first real stab at a cryo proof and was loaded with liquid nitrogen (LN2), a cryogenic fluid with a density and temperature similar to Starship’s liquid oxygen and methane propellant but without the risk of a catastrophic fire or explosion. Over the course of three or so hours, SpaceX didn’t appear to fully load SN11 with LN2, a possible sign of a technical bug that could just as easily be an intentional part of the test design.

Oddly, parts of the evenings testing were unlike past cryo proofs and there’s a slight chance that the activity was actually a static fire attempt scrubbed well before ignition, though it’s impossible to say without official confirmation.

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Otherwise, the most notable part of the cryo proof was a test of Starship SN11’s attitude control system (ACS) that involved firing each of the ship’s several cold-gas nitrogen thrusters at least 5-10 times for a total of several dozen bursts. The current generation of Starships mainly use those thrusters to augment their flaps and perform flip maneuvers during suborbital launch and landing attempts, while early orbital-class prototypes may use the same thruster system to control their attitude in the vacuum of space.

If last night’s cryo proof test was successful and gave SpaceX the data it needs to give SN11 a good bill of health, the Starship could potentially attempt its first Raptor engine static fire as early Friday, March 12th. Historically, SpaceX has never static fired a Starship prototype less than 12 days after its launch site arrival, meaning that a static fire tomorrow would smash the previous record by a factor of three. As such, it’s more likely that SN11 will need a day or two and be ready for a static fire attempt as early as Monday, March 15th.

Either way, Starship SN11 is undeniably on a faster track than any of its three-engine predecessors and a clean static fire on Friday or Monday would leave a launch next week – SpaceX’s current target– well within reach.

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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Tesla begins Robotaxi certification push in Arizona: report

Tesla seems serious about expanding its Robotaxi service to several states in the coming months.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has initiated discussions with Arizona transportation regulators to certify its driverless Robotaxi service in the state, as per a recent report from Bloomberg News. The move follows Tesla’s launch of its Robotaxi pilot program in Austin, Texas, as well as CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the service’s expansion in the Bay Area.

The Arizona Department of Transportation confirmed to Bloomberg that Tesla has reached out to begin the certification process for autonomous ride-sharing operations in the state. While details remain limited, the outreach suggests that Tesla is serious about expanding its driverless Robotaxi service to several territories in the coming months.

The Arizona development comes as Tesla prepares to expand its service area in Austin this weekend, as per CEO Elon Musk in a post on X. Musk also stated that Tesla is targeting the San Francisco Bay Area as its next major market, with a potential launch “in a month or two,” pending regulatory approvals.

Tesla first launched its autonomous ride-hailing program on June 22 in Austin with a small fleet of Model Y vehicles, accompanied by a Tesla employee in the passenger seat to monitor safety. While still classified as a test, Musk has said the program will expand to about 1,000 vehicles in the coming months. Tesla will later upgrade its Robotaxi fleet with the Cyercab, a two-seater that is designed without a steering wheel.

Sightings of Cybercab castings around the Giga Texas complex suggests that Tesla may be ramping the initial trial production of the self-driving two-seater. Tesla, for its part, has noted in the past that volume production of the Cybercab is expected to start sometime next year.

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In California, Tesla has already applied for a transportation charter-party carrier permit from the state’s Public Utilities Commission. The company is reportedly taking a phased approach to operating in California, with the Robotaxi service starting with pre-arranged rides for employees in vehicles with safety drivers.

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Tesla sets November 6 date for 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting

The automaker announced the date on Thursday in a Form 8-K.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has scheduled its 2025 annual shareholder meeting for November 6, addressing investor concerns that the company was nearing a legal deadline to hold the event. 

The automaker announced the date on Thursday in a Form 8-K submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company also listed a new proposal submission deadline of July 31 for items to be included in the proxy statement.

Tesla’s announcement followed calls from a group of 27 shareholders, including the leaders of large public pension funds, which urged Tesla’s board to formally set the meeting date, as noted in a report from The Wall Street Journal

The group noted that under Texas law, where Tesla is now incorporated, companies must hold annual meetings within 13 months of the last one if requested by shareholders. Tesla’s previous annual shareholder meeting was held on June 13, 2024, which placed the July 13 deadline in focus.

Tesla originally stated in its 2024 annual report that it would file its proxy statement by the end of April. However, an amended filing on April 30 indicated that the Board of Directors had not yet finalized a meeting date, at least at the time.

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The April filing also confirmed that Tesla’s board had formed a special committee to evaluate certain matters related to CEO Elon Musk’s compensation plan. Musk’s CEO performance award remains at the center of a lengthy legal dispute in Delaware, Tesla’s former state of incorporation.

Due to the aftermath of Musk’s legal dispute about his compensation plan in Delaware, he has not been paid for his work at Tesla for several years. Musk, for his part, has noted that he is more concerned about his voting stake in Tesla than his actual salary.

At last year’s annual meeting, TSLA shareholders voted to reapprove Elon Musk’s compensation plan and ratified Tesla’s decision to relocate its legal domicile from Delaware to Texas.

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Grok coming to Tesla vehicles next week “at the latest:” Elon Musk

Grok’s rollout to Tesla vehicles is expected to begin next week at the latest.

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Credit: Tesla China

Elon Musk announced on Thursday that Grok, the large language model developed by his startup xAI, will soon be available in Tesla vehicles. Grok’s rollout to Tesla vehicles is expected to begin next week at the latest, further deepening the ties between the two Elon Musk-led companies.

Tesla–xAI synergy

Musk confirmed the news on X shortly after livestreaming the release of Grok 4, xAI’s latest large language model. “Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest,” Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X.

During the livestream, Musk and several members of the xAI team highlighted several upgrades to Grok 4’s voice capabilities and performance metrics, positioning the LLM as competitive with top-tier models from OpenAI and Google.

The in-vehicle integration of Grok marks a new chapter in Tesla’s AI development. While Tesla has long relied on in-house systems for autonomous driving and energy optimization, Grok’s integration would introduce conversational AI directly into its vehicles’ user experience. This integration could potentially improve customer interaction inside Tesla vehicles.

xAI and Tesla’s collaborative footprint

Grok’s upcoming rollout to Tesla vehicles adds to a growing business relationship between Tesla and xAI. Earlier this year, Tesla disclosed that it generated $198.3 million in revenue from commercial, consulting, and support agreements with xAI, as noted in a report from Bloomberg News. A large portion of that amount, however, came from the sale of Megapack energy storage systems to the artificial intelligence startup.

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In July 2023, Musk polled X users about whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI. While no formal investment has been made so far, 68% of poll participants voted yes, and Musk has since stated that the idea would be discussed with Tesla’s board.

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