

News
High winds scrub SpaceX Starship SN9’s Monday launch attempt
Update (2:30 pm CST): SpaceX appears to have called off Monday’s Starship SN9 launch attempt due (primarily) to high winds along the flight corridor. Additional opportunities are available from 8 am to 6 pm CST (UTC-6) on Tuesday (Jan 26) and Wednesday (Jan 27).
Technically, lacking any official confirmation, there’s still a chance of a launch attempt or additional ground testing happening today but either possibility is extremely unlikely at this point.
Update: SpaceX has completed what is known as a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) and determined that Starship prototype SN9 is ready to attempt its first high-altitude launch as early as today.
All necessary aviation and maritime notices and restrictions are in place and the company has begun the process of closing a public highway and clearing the launch site of employees. Today’s (Jan 25) launch window lasts from noon to 6 pm CST (UTC-6) and Starship SN9 could likely be made ready to launch anytime after 2pm be ready to fly as early as 4 pm CST according to a loudspeaker announcement at the launch pad. Stay tuned for updates and, hopefully, an official SpaceX webcast.
All signs point to SpaceX’s second high-altitude Starship prototype preparing for a 12.5-kilometer (~40,000 ft) as early as Monday, January 25th in a bid to rectify a last-second bug that caused its predecessor to explode last month.
Known as Starship serial number 8 (SN8), the SpaceX-built prototype was the first to have its basic airframe (tank and nose sections) fully integrated, as well as the first Starship to attempt to break the 150m (~500 ft) ceiling set by Starhopper, SN5, and SN6. Break the ceiling SN8 most certainly did, performing a spectacularly successful 12.5 km launch that aced almost every single goal SpaceX had hoped to complete. Keyword almost.
After an impressive 280 seconds of uninterrupted operation of its Raptors, Starship SN8 shut down the last of those three engines, flipped onto its belly, and successful freefell ~12 kilometers back to Earth. The rocket then carried that success even further, reigniting two Raptors, performing a dramatic 120-degree flip, orienting itself vertically, and beginning to slow down for a soft landing.
Only then did Starship SN8’s performance deviate from virtual perfection. At T+6:38, a few seconds after beginning its crucial landing burn, one of Starship’s active Raptors shut down and the other effectively stopped generating thrust. The reason, CEO Elon Musk would later explain, was low head pressure in a smaller tank (‘header tank’) dedicated to supplying fuel during Starship’s wild flip and landing maneuver. It was never confirmed if the Raptor engine shutdown observed milliseconds prior to the other engine losing thrust was intentional.
Cause aside, the end result was unsurprising: without enough thrust to slow down, Starship SN8 accurately impacted the concrete landing zone but did so at high speed – likely around 50-60 m/s (100-150 mph). Given that Starhopper and Starships SN5 and SN6 had already successfully proven Starship’s ability to gently land from 150 meters on a single Raptor engine and that, prior to SN8, Starship’s bizarre belly-flop descent and 90-degree flip had been almost entirely theoretical, SpaceX deemed the launch a spectacular success.
Nothing better exemplifies that than the fact that a little over a month later, SpaceX quite literally began scrapping the most complex, completed section of a future Starship prototype (SN12) before it ever reached the assembly phase. Instead, SpaceX appears to be more focused than ever on a mysterious series of “major” upgrades Musk has said will debut on Starship SN15. Nearly all SN15 subsections have been completed and are simply waiting to be joined together, while parts of SN16 and SN17 are also starting to pile up in staging areas.
Starship SN10 is practically ready to move to the launch pad to prepare for flight as soon as SpaceX chooses to do so and Starship SN11 is likely no more than a week or two of work away from reaching same level of readiness.
Ultimately, despite a long and delay-ridden test campaign, Starship SN9 finally completed what looked like a full-duration static fire of all three of its Raptor engines – the rocket’s sixth static fire overall. On Saturday, January 23rd, SpaceXers installed SN9’s flight termination system (FTS) – a system of explosives designed to destroy Starship if it flies too far off course. For Starship, FTS installation all but guarantees that a launch attempt is a matter of days away. Fresh county roadblocks, Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) granted by the FAA, and Coast Guard a safety notice further imply that SN9 will attempt to launch as early as Monday morning, January 25th, with backup opportunities on Tuesday and Wednesday.
With any luck, like SN8’s high-altitude debut, SpaceX hopefully livestream Starship SN9’s own attempt at the same feat. Stay tuned for more details as they come.
News
Robotaxis are already making roads safer, Waymo report reveals
Waymo Driver is already reducing severe crashes and enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users.

Industry leaders such as Elon Musk have always maintained that autonomous robotaxis will make roads safer. A recent blog post from Waymo about the safety of its self-driving cars suggests that Musk’s sentiments are on point.
Way More Safety
Waymo Driver is already reducing severe crashes and enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users. As per a new research paper set for publication in the Traffic Injury Prevention Journal, Waymo Driver had outperformed human drivers in safety, particularly for vulnerable road users (VRUs).
Over 56.7 million miles, compared to human drivers, Waymo Driver achieved a 92% reduction in pedestrian injury crashes, 82% for cyclists, and 82% for motorcyclists. Waymo Driver also slashed injury-involving intersection crashes by 96%, which are a key factor in severe road harm for human drivers per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Waymo Driver saw 85% fewer crashes with suspected serious or worse injuries as well.
What They Are Saying
Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s Chief Safety Officer, was optimistic about Waymo Driver’s results so far. “It’s exciting to see the real positive impact that Waymo is making on the streets of America as we continue to expand. This research reinforces the growing evidence that the Waymo Driver is playing a crucial role in reducing serious crashes and protecting all road users,” the Chief Safety Officer noted.
Jonathan Adkins, Chief Executive Officer at Governors Highway Safety Association, also noted that Waymo’s results are very encouraging. “It’s encouraging to see real-world data showing Waymo outperforming human drivers when it comes to safety. Fewer crashes and fewer injuries — especially for people walking and biking — is exactly the kind of progress we want to see from autonomous vehicles,” Adkins stated.
Elon Musk
Tesla hints at June 1 launch of Robotaxi platform in Austin
Tesla has hinted at a potential launch date for the Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.

Tesla just dropped its biggest hint yet about the potential launch date of its Robotaxi ride-hailing platform in Austin, Texas, shedding more light on when to expect it to take off.
In preparation for the ride-hailing service to launch, Tesla has been in talks with the City of Austin for months. It has also spent recent months bolstering its Full Self-Driving suite, aiming for it to handle initially supervised rides with the use of teleoperators to keep things safe and dependable, at least early on.
The company has also said that it expects the Robotaxi service, which will drive passengers in Tesla Model Y vehicles to start, to launch in Austin in June. However, Tesla has not given an exact date.
Now, Tesla is hinting that Robotaxi could launch on June 1, based on a very vague X post it published on May 1:
Of course, this is extremely speculative. However, it’s the first time Tesla has made any suggestions about a potential launch date, so it’s worth taking it seriously.
While the automaker has often missed timelines in the past, most notably the launch of a “feature-complete” Full Self-Driving platform, this is the first time we’ve seen Tesla be so adamant and truly reiterate a target date.
Tesla has not shied away from this June date for the Robotaxi launch yet, something that is worth noting as we move closer to June. All signs point toward Tesla being able to come through on this timeline, and it could be one of its biggest accomplishments yet on the grand scheme of things. The Robotaxi rollout will be controlled and small to start, the company noted on its most recent Earnings Call.
CEO Elon Musk said:
“The team and I are laser-focused on bringing robotaxi to Austin in June. Unsupervised autonomy will first be solved for the Model Y in Austin.”
At first, it also seems as if the first Robotaxi rides will be available to a select group, as Musk said the ability to order one will not be available to the general public until later in the month. He also said the initial fleet will be between 10 and 20 vehicles:
“Yeah. We’re still debating the exact number to start off on day one, but it’s, like, I don’t know, maybe 10 or 20 vehicles on day one. And watch it carefully. They scale it up rapidly after that. So, we want to make sure that you’re paying very close attention the first time this happens. But, yeah, you will be able to — end of end of June or July, just go to Austin and order a Tesla for autonomous drive.”
While the June 1st date of the Robotaxi launch is extremely speculative, Tesla seems convinced that its vehicles could already handle this task. It would be something to see them come through on this date, especially on the first day of the month.
News
Is the affordable Tesla Model Y’s features hiding in plain sight?
Variants of the Model Y that could bring down the vehicle’s price would likely be appreciated by consumers.

Just recently, rumors emerged in China suggesting that a more affordable Tesla Model Y variant internally dubbed the ”E80” would be produced in Giga Shanghai this May. A look at Tesla’s current affordable vehicles suggests that the features of the upcoming Model Y variant may be hiding in plain sight.
Model Y “E80” Rumors
Reports from Chinese publications suggested that the affordable Model Y “E80” will be a stripped down version of the new Model Y. Thus, the vehicle may be equipped with smaller wheels, single-layer windows on its sides, no rear display, half the number of speakers, single-color ambient interior lighting, fabric seats with no heating or ventilation functions, and a manual trunk.
These reductions, the rumors suggested, would allow Tesla China to offer the Model Y “E80” at an affordable price of 190,000–210,000 ($26,000–$28,800). Other rumors suggested that the vehicle will be priced even more aggressively, at around 150,000-170,000 yuan ($20,500-$23,300).
Hiding in Plain Sight
What is quite interesting about the Model Y “E80” rumors is the fact that Tesla has actually released stripped-down versions of its vehicles to make them more affordable. Based on the features that were bundled in these vehicles, one could make an inference about the features that the Model Y “E80” will have, at least considering its rumored aggressive pricing.
In August last year, Tesla Mexico launched a variant of the Model 3 sedan that is quite unlike the vehicle’s base variant in the United States. The vehicle was priced at MXD 749,000 (USD 40,000), which was MXD 50,000 (USD 2,670) lower than the Model 3 RWD’s previous price in Mexico, which stood at MXD 799,000 (USD42,730).
With its more affordable price, Tesla Mexico’s base Model 3 featured textile seats instead of vegan leather, acoustic glass only on its front windows, and no secondary display for rear passengers. Its ambient lights were also limited to just white. Lastly, the vehicle did not have heated or cooled seats or a heated steering wheel. These reductions are very similar to the rumored feature set of the Model Y “E80” in China.
The Tesla Cybertruck Long Range Rear Wheel Drive is another base variant that could provide hints at the affordable Model Y’s features. Similar to Tesla Mexico’s base Model 3, the Cybertruck LR RWD features textile seats and no second-row display. Interestingly enough, the Cybertruck LR RWD is $10,000 cheaper than the Cybertruck. That’s similar to the rumored price difference between the new Model Y in China and the vehicle’s supposed affordable “E80” variant.
Still Compelling Enough?
Perhaps the biggest question at this point would be if the rumored Model Y “E80,” even with its stripped-out features, will be compelling enough for consumers. While such concerns are valid, one must not forget that the Model Y is still a premium vehicle.
Thus, variants of the Model Y that could bring down the vehicle’s price would likely be appreciated by consumers. The fact that the rumored “E80” will be produced in Giga Shanghai speaks volumes as well, especially since China is home to the most competitive EV market in the world. Giga Shanghai also exports vehicles to several territories worldwide.
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