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SpaceX is about to stack Starship on a Super Heavy booster for the first time

SpaceX could stack a Starship on top of a Super Heavy booster for the first time as early as Friday morning. (@StarshipGazer)

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After a slight delay, CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX is now on track to stack a complete Starship prototype on top of a Super Heavy booster for the first time ever as early as Friday morning.

In the latest stage of SpaceX’s continually impressive “Starbase Surge,” the company rolled the first orbital-class Starship prototype’s aft tank section from its birthplace in the factory “midbay” to a much larger “high bay” around noon on August 3rd. Mere hours later, Elon Musk revealed that SpaceX had fitted the Starship with a full six Raptors – a first for any Starship prototype, though Super Heavy Booster 4 technically beat it to the punch with the installation of a staggering 29 Raptor engines hours prior.

The rocket’s conical nose section joined it in the high bay later that evening and SpaceX wasted no time stacking and welding the two Starship halves together early on August 4th, effectively completing the basic structure of Ship 20 (S20). After a day of final integration work, Starship S20 left the high bay around dawn on August 5th and took to the highway for a brief trip from SpaceX’s Boca Chica factory to launch and testing facilities just a mile and a half to the east.

On August 3rd, Super Heavy Booster 4 – fitted with 29 functional Raptor engines – made the same trip from build site to launch pad, where it sat on the transporter overnight. On August 4th, with slightly calmer winds, SpaceX installed the immense ~69m (~225 ft) tall rocket booster on an orbital launch mount that itself had only been installed less than a week prior.

Ship 20 arrived at the orbital launch site a few hours after heading out and was eventually moved directly beside Booster 4 and the orbital launch mount and attached to the largest crane in SpaceX’s arsenal. After several hours sitting in one place, SpaceX announced over a sitewide loudspeaker system that all further stacking operations had been called off for the day, which Musk later confirmed on Twitter was due to wind conditions at the launch site.

Had the weather cooperated, SpaceX’s plan was to install Starship S20 on top of Super Heavy Booster 4, a feat that would have marked the first time a two-stage Starship rocket has ever been fully assembled. Due to the current setup’s temporary nature, SpaceX must complete that stacking process with a vast crawler crane – the same crane used to fully assemble a ~145m (~475 ft) tall Starship integration tower visible directly behind the rocket.

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SpaceX’s Starship launch tower was stacked to its full height on July 28th. (@StarshipGazer)

Sitting on top of the fairly tall orbital launch mount, Starship S20 and Super Heavy Booster 4 will stand about as tall as that 145m launch tower, though the booster and ship itself are expected to be just shy of 120m (~390 ft) from tip to Raptor tail. Once stacked, the vehicle will be the tallest rocket assembled in the history of spaceflight.

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 cleared in Canada EV rebate investigation

Tesla has been cleared in an investigation into the company’s staggering number of EV rebate claims in Canada in January.

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Credit: Tesla

Canadian officials have cleared Tesla following an investigation into a large number of claims submitted to the country’s electric vehicle (EV) rebates earlier this year.

Transport Canada has ruled that there was no evidence of fraud after Tesla submitted 8,653 EV rebate claims for the country’s Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program, as detailed in a report on Friday from The Globe and Mail. Despite the huge number of claims, Canadian authorities have found that the figure represented vehicles that had been delivered prior to the submission deadline for the program.

According to Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, the claims “were determined to legitimately represent cars sold before January 12,” which was the final day for OEMs to submit these claims before the government suspended the program.

Upon initial reporting of the Tesla claims submitted in January, it was estimated that they were valued at around $43 million. In March, Freeland and Transport Canada opened the investigation into Tesla, noting that they would be freezing the rebate payments until the claims were found to be valid.

READ MORE ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES: EVs getting cleaner more quickly than expected in Europe: study

Huw Williams, Canadian Automobile Dealers Association Public Affairs Director, accepted the results of the investigation, while also questioning how Tesla knew to submit the claims that weekend, just before the program ran out.

“I think there’s a larger question as to how Tesla knew to run those through on that weekend,” Williams said. “It doesn’t appear to me that we have an investigation into any communication between Transport Canada and Tesla, between officials who may have shared information inappropriately.”

Tesla sales have been down in Canada for the first half of this year, amidst turmoil between the country and the Trump administration’s tariffs. Although Elon Musk has since stepped back from his role with the administration, a number of companies and officials in Canada were calling for a boycott of Tesla’s vehicles earlier this year, due in part to his association with Trump.

Tesla excluded from incentives in Canada over Trump tariffs

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Tesla Semis to get 18 new Megachargers at this PepsiCo plant

PepsiCo is set to add more Tesla Semi Megachargers, this time at a facility in North Carolina.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla partner PepsiCo is set to build new Semi charging stations at one of its manufacturing sites, as revealed in new permitting plans shared this week.

On Friday, Tesla charging station scout MarcoRP shared plans on X for 18 Semi Megacharging stalls at PepsiCo’s facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, coming as the latest update plans for the company’s increasingly electrified fleet. The stalls are set to be built side by side, along with three Tesla Megapack grid-scale battery systems.

The plans also note the faster charging speeds for the chargers, which can charge the Class 8 Semi at speeds of up to 1MW. Tesla says that the speed can charge the Semi back to roughly 70 percent in around 30 minutes.

You can see the site plans for the PepsiCo North Carolina Megacharger below.

Credit: PepsiCo (via MarcoRPi1 on X)

Credit: PepsiCo (via MarcoRPi1 on X)

READ MORE ON THE TESLA SEMI: Tesla to build Semi Megacharger station in Southern California

PepsiCo’s Tesla Semi fleet, other Megachargers, and initial tests and deliveries

PepsiCo was the first external customer to take delivery of Tesla’s Semis back in 2023, starting with just an initial order of 15. Since then, the company has continued to expand the fleet, recently taking delivery of an additional 50 units in California. The PepsiCo fleet was up to around 86 units as of last year, according to statements from Semi Senior Manager Dan Priestley.

Additionally, the company has similar Megachargers at its facilities in Modesto, Sacramento, and Fresno, California, and Tesla also submitted plans for approval to build 12 new Megacharging stalls in Los Angeles County.

Over the past couple of years, Tesla has also been delivering the electric Class 8 units to a number of other companies for pilot programs, and Priestley shared some results from PepsiCo’s initial Semi tests last year. Notably, the executive spoke with a handful of PepsiCo workers who said they really liked the Semi and wouldn’t plan on going back to diesel trucks.

The company is also nearing completion of a higher-volume Semi plant at its Gigafactory in Nevada, which is expected to eventually have an annual production capacity of 50,000 Semi units.

Tesla executive teases plan to further electrify supply chain

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Tesla sales soar in Norway with new Model Y leading the charge

Tesla recorded a 54% year-over-year jump in new vehicle registrations in June.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is seeing strong momentum in Norway, with sales of the new Model Y helping the company maintain dominance in one of the world’s most electric vehicle-friendly markets.

Model Y upgrades and consumer preferences

According to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), Tesla recorded a 54% year-over-year jump in new vehicle registrations in June. The Model Y led the charge, posting a 115% increase compared to the same period last year. Tesla Norway’s growth was even more notable in May, with sales surging a whopping 213%, as noted in a CNBC report.

Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association (NEVA), stated that Tesla’s strong market performance was partly due to the updated Model Y, which is really just a good car, period.

“I think it just has to do with the fact that they deliver a car which has quite a lot of value for money and is what Norwegians need. What Norwegians need, a large luggage space, all wheel drive, and a tow hitch, high ground clearance as well. In addition, quite good digital solutions which people have gotten used to, and also a charging network,” she said.

Tesla in Europe

Tesla’s success in Norway is supported by long-standing government incentives for EV adoption, including exemptions from VAT, road toll discounts, and access to bus lanes. Public and home charging infrastructure is also widely available, making the EV ownership experience in the country very convenient.

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Tesla’s performance in Europe is still a mixed bag, with markets like Germany and France still seeing declines in recent months. In areas such as Norway, Spain, and Portugal, however, Tesla’s new car registrations are rising. Spain’s sales rose 61% and Portugal’s sales rose 7% last month. This suggests that regional demand may be stabilizing or rebounding in pockets of Europe.

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