

News
SpaceX reveals concrete details about Starship’s first orbital test flight
Via FCC regulatory filings, SpaceX has revealed the first concrete details about Starship and Super Heavy’s first orbital flight test.
Earlier this year, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed a shocking NASASpaceflight.com report that the company was working to launch Starship into orbit by July 2021 – the achievement of which would be nothing short of miraculous. Less than two months later, SpaceX has submitted a request for FCC permission to communicate with Starship and Super Heavy before and during an inaugural “orbital test flight” scheduled no earlier than (NET) June 20th.
Oddly, the FCC application indicates some truly unusual plans relative to the rest of SpaceX’s intensive Starship test and launch campaign.
“The Starship Orbital test flight will originate from Starbase, TX. The Booster stage will separate approximately 170 seconds into flight. The Booster will then perform a partial return and land in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 20 miles from the shore. The Orbital Starship will continue on flying between the Florida Straits. It will achieve orbit until performing a powered, targeted landing approximately 100km (~62 miles) off the northwest coast of Kauai in a soft ocean landing.“
SpaceX FCC STA Request – 13 May 2021
In short, Starship’s first orbital launch attempt aims to send an expendable prototype into space for a brief 90-minute, one-orbit spaceflight, meaning that Starship will travel once around Earth before perform a deorbit burn and attempt its first reentry. If everything goes according to plan, which is far from guaranteed, that Starship prototype will perform “a soft ocean landing” 100 km (62 mi) off the coast of the Hawaiian island Kauai. Back in the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX’s first flightworthy Super Heavy booster will launch much like Falcon 9, separate from Starship, perform a flip and boostback burn towards Texas, and “land approximately 20 miles [32 km] from the shore.”
SpaceX says the FCC STA request is meant to “authorize Starship test vehicle communications from the launch pad at Boca Chica TX and the experimental recovery operation” following the launch but makes no reference to recovery assets in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving it ambiguous whether the first flown Super Heavy will be recovered or also perform a “soft ocean landing.” To maximize speed, choosing not to attempt to recover the first orbit-proven Starship is a logical choice for SpaceX, especially given that a fully successful orbital launch, coast, and reentry on the first attempt is a tall order.
Super Heavy, however, will be performing a maneuver virtually identical to the Falcon booster landings SpaceX has aced 75+ times over the last five years. Notably, in an included “timeline of events” for the orbital launch, SpaceX refers to Super Heavy’s landing as a “touchdown,” whereas Starship’s “soft ocean landing” is referred to as a “splashdown,” raising hopes that the booster will attempt to land on an unspecified platform a few dozen miles off the Texas coast.
Given SpaceX’s requested “operation start date” on June 20th, we wont have to wait long to find out. At the moment, SpaceX has yet to even begin stacking the first flightworthy Super Heavy booster prototype, so that NET June 20th target is far more likely to slip into July or August. Regardless, an orbital Starship launch of any kind before the end of 2021 would be nothing short of an engineering and program management tour de force for SpaceX. Stay tuned for updates as SpaceX’s orbital launch pad, Starship prototype, and booster continue to progress towards flight-readiness.
News
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.

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.
“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
Elon Musk
USDOT Secretary visits Tesla Giga Texas, hints at national autonomous vehicle standards
The Transportation Secretary also toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk.

United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy recently visited Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas complex, where he toured the factory’s production lines and spoke with CEO Elon Musk. In a video posted following his Giga Texas visit, Duffy noted that he believes there should be a national standard for autonomous vehicles in the United States.
Duffy’s Giga Texas Visit
As could be seen in videos of his Giga Texas visit, the Transportation Secretary seemed to appreciate the work Tesla has been doing to put the United States in the forefront of innovation. “Tesla is one of the many companies helping our country reach new heights. USDOT will be right there all the way to make sure Americans stay safe,” Duffy wrote in a post on X.
He also praised Tesla for its autonomous vehicle program, highlighting that “We need American companies to keep innovating so we can outcompete the rest of the world.”
National Standard
While speaking with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the Transportation Secretary stated that other autonomous ride-hailing companies have been lobbying for a national standard for self-driving cars. Musk shared the sentiment, stating that “It’d be wonderful for the United States to have a national set of rules for autonomous driving as opposed to 50 independent sets of rules on a state-by-state rules basis.”
Duffy agreed with the CEO’s point, stating that, “You can’t have 50 different rules for 50 different states. You need one standard.” He also noted that the Transportation Department has asked autonomous vehicle companies to submit data. By doing so, the USDOT could develop a standard for the entire United States, allowing self-driving cars to operate in a manner that is natural and safe.
News
Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet
The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

When Elon Musk spoke with CNBC’s David Faber in an interview at Giga Texas, he reiterated the idea that Optimus will be one of Tesla’s biggest products. Seemingly to highlight the CEO’s point, the official Tesla Optimus account on social media platform X shared what could very well be the most impressive demonstration of the humanoid robot’s capabilities to date.
Optimus’ Newest Demonstration
In its recent video demonstration, the Tesla Optimus team featured the humanoid robot performing a variety of tasks. These include household chores such as throwing the trash, using a broom and a vacuum cleaner, tearing a paper towel, stirring a pot of food, opening a cabinet, and closing a curtain, among others. The video also featured Optimus picking up a Model X fore link and placing it on a dolly.
What was most notable in the Tesla Optimus team’s demonstration was the fact that the humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network. The robot’s actions were also learned directly from Optimus being fed data from first-person videos of humans performing similar tasks. This system should pave the way for Optimus to learn and refine new skills quickly and reliably.
Tesla VP for Optimus Shares Insight
In a follow-up post on X, Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac stated that one of the team’s goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans performing tasks, including footage captured in third person or by random cameras.
“We recently had a significant breakthrough along that journey, and can now transfer a big chunk of the learning directly from human videos to the bots (1st person views for now). This allows us to bootstrap new tasks much faster compared to teleoperated bot data alone (heavier operationally).
“Many new skills are emerging through this process, are called for via natural language (voice/text), and are run by a single neural network on the bot (multi-tasking). Next: expand to 3rd person video transfer (aka random internet), and push reliability via self-play (RL) in the real-, and/or synthetic- (sim / world models) world,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.
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