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SpaceX swaps “suspect” Starship engine in record time

SpaceX has swapped out a misbehaving Raptor engine in record time and fired up Starship SN10 just 48 hours after the rocket's first "suspect" static fire. (NASASpaceflight - bocachicagal)

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SpaceX has reportedly swapped a “suspect” Raptor engine installed on Starship serial number 10 (SN10) in record time, setting the company up for what appeared to be an excellent static fire just 48 hours after the first test.

In a February 24th tweet, CEO Elon Musk told followers that “one of [SN10’s three Raptor] engines is suspect, so we’re swapping it out.” Engine swap-outs have been a regular procedure for SpaceX’s Starship team as the company continually pushes the envelope of both Starship and Raptor prototype fidelity and implement major design changes and upgrades. Of the five Starship prototypes (including Starhopper) with intentional flights under their belts, all required at least one engine replacement before being cleared to launch.

Within ~18 hours of Tuesday’s “suspect” Starship SN10 static fire, SpaceX dispatched a replacement Raptor down the road from a nearby storage site. Within ~12 hours, the faulty engine had been removed and a backup engine installed in its place. Another ~12 hours after that, SpaceX teams cleared the launch pad for Starship SN10 to attempt a second static fire and (hopefully) qualify the rocket for flight.

Starship SN10 – set to be the sixth prototype to fly – is now part of that elite but buggy group of flightworthy test articles. For the most part, that bugginess is all according to plan: SpaceX’s ability to move and react with extreme speed is what allows the company to make such rapid progress and begin test flights as early in the development process as it does. That speed of action includes responding to the inevitable bugs that crop up while testing cutting-edge rocket prototypes.

Case in point, after Tuesday’s 5pm CST static fire, it took SpaceX less than 48 hours to pore through the test’s data, conclude that one of SN10’s three Raptor engines was “suspect,” select a replacement engine, remove the faulty engine, install that replacement, and fire up Starship SN10 a second time. Even SpaceX’s world-class reusable Falcon rockets would have a hard time challenging that engine swap turnaround. Taking a broader look at the lay of the land, NASA’s SLS rocket booster – outfitted with four former Space Shuttle engines – will reportedly require more than three weeks for teams to swap out a faulty valve in one of those four engines.

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The first SLS Core Stage suffered an early abort during its first static fire test in mid January. As of publishing, NASA is now working towards a second static fire attempt in mid March – two full months later. By all appearances, SpaceX turned Starship SN10 around in 48 hours, performing what looked like a full-duration, nominal three-engine static fire on February 25th. Unlike February 23rd’s static fire, Starship exhibited no signs of an abort immediately after the test, whereas SN10 began large depressurization venting the second its Raptors shut down on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, everything will remain uncertain until SpaceX official confirms its plans, but Starship SN10 should be fully cleared for a launch attempt as early as Monday, March 1st if a data review of its Thursday static fire raises no red flags. Stay tuned for updates as SpaceX prepares to find out if the third time really is the charm.

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 Model 3 gets perfect 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating

Tesla prides itself on producing some of the safest vehicles on the road today.

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Credit: Tesla Singapore/X

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. 

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“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

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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.

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Credit: Elon Musk/X

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.

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Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

The humanoid robot was able to complete all the tasks through a single neural network.

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Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

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).

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“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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