News
SpaceX reveals new details on Starship’s third test flight
SpaceX has revealed some new information regarding the third test flight of its massive Starship rocket.
The flight, which took place from Starbase, Texas, yesterday morning at 8:25 am CT, capitalized on previous test flights and accomplished a host of new objectives.
All 33 Raptor engines lit in a staggered sequence, and once throttled up, the world’s biggest rocket took flight for the third time.
All 33 Raptor engines burning (Credit: SpaceX)
As Starship climbed into the South Texas skies, the 33 engines continued to operate nominally until the hot stage separation, in which 30 of Super Heavy’s engines shut down as Starship lit its 3 sea-level and 3 vacuum Raptor engines and continued to space.
For the first time, the Super Heavy first stage, Booster 10, successfully performed a boost back burn and aimed for a splashdown just East of the launch pad in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the data displayed on the webcast, the booster reached a peak speed of 5750 km/h and an altitude of 106 km.
Super Heavy performing the boost backburn while Starship heads down range (Credit: SpaceX)
Unlike the Falcon 9, the Super Heavy is so big it does not need to do an entry burn however in one of the last bits of data available on the webcast, it showed the booster attempted to begin its landing burn around 1 km in altitude with only 3 engines lighting and 2 shutting off almost immediately after.
SpaceX has since confirmed that Booster 10 experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly just 462 meters above the water’s surface, and it is likely that what remained of the booster hit the water at nearly the speed of sound.
While Booster 10 was meeting its fate in the Gulf of Mexico following a great performance, Ship 28 continued to burn all 6 of its Raptor engines and completed its first full-duration burn, inserting itself into its proper sub-orbital trajectory.
Starship just after Raptor shutdown (Credit SpaceX)
Ship 28 then began its coast phase and started a series of tests. The payload bay door, aka pez door, designed to eventually eject the full-size Starlink satellites, was first commanded to open 12 minutes into the flight. SpaceX has yet to confirm whether it managed to fully open/close the door. At 30:18 into the mission, the door appears to have dislodged into the payload bay, and we no longer got any live views inside the ship.
The next task was to re-light the first-ever Raptor engine in space, but due to the vehicle’s roll rates, SpaceX decided to postpone this until a future flight.
Ship 28 then began atmospheric entry, but the ship seemed to be partially out of control with the spin and eventually began to build up plasma. The heat shield was only half exposed, and the rest was bare stainless steel, taking the brunt of the forces of re-entry.
Ship 28 begins atmospheric re-entry (Credit SpaceX)
Thanks to Starlink terminals on board, SpaceX was able to provide incredible live views from a camera located on one of Starship’s flaps. The plasma began as a faint pink glow before rapidly growing and enveloping the vehicle while still maintaining a good data connection which has never before been possible.
Overall, SpaceX made many great advancements on this third test flight and will look to complete all of these on the fourth test flight, including a smooth splashdown of the Super Heavy booster and successful re-entry through the atmosphere for Starship.
When do you think the 4th test flight will occur, and will they fix the issues encountered during flight 3?
Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk shares big Tesla Optimus 3 production update
According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that production of Optimus 3 could begin this summer. Musk shared the update in his interview at the Abundance Summit.
According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.
“We’re in the final stages of completion of Optimus 3, which is really going to be by far the most advanced robot in the world. Nothing’s even close. In fact, I haven’t even seen demos of robots that are as good as Optimus 3,” Musk said.
He also set expectations on the pace of Optimus 3’s production ramp, stating that the initial volumes of the humanoid robot will likely be very low. Musk did, however, also state that high production rates for Optimus 3 should be possible in 2027.
“I think we’ll start production on Optimus 3 this summer, but very slow at first, like sort of this classic S-curve ramp of manufacturing units versus time. And then, probably reach high volume production around summer next year,” he said.
Interestingly enough, the CEO hinted that Tesla is looking to iterate on the robot quickly, potentially releasing a new Optimus design every year.
“We’ll have Optimus 4 design complete next year. We’ll try to release a new robot design every year,” Musk stated.
Tesla has already outlined broader plans for scaling Optimus production beyond its first manufacturing line. Musk previously stated that Optimus 4 will be built at Gigafactory Texas at significantly higher production volumes.
Initial production lines for the robot are expected to be located at Tesla’s Fremont Factory, where the company plans to establish a line capable of producing up to 1 million robots per year.
A larger production ramp is expected to occur at Gigafactory Texas, where Musk has previously suggested could eventually support production of up to 10 million robots per year.
“We’re going to launch on the fastest production ramp of any product of any large complex manufactured product ever, starting with building a one-million-unit production line in Fremont. And that’s Line one. And then a ten million unit per year production line here,” Musk said previously.
The comments suggest that while Optimus 3 will likely begin production at Fremont, Tesla’s larger-scale manufacturing push could arrive with Optimus 4 at Gigafactory Texas.
Elon Musk
Tesla showcases Optimus humanoid robot at AWE 2026 in Shanghai
Tesla’s humanoid robot was presented as part of the company’s exhibit at the Shanghai electronics show.
Tesla showcased its Optimus humanoid robot at the 2026 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE 2026) in Shanghai. The event opened Thursday and featured several Tesla products, including the company’s humanoid robot and the Cybertruck.
The display was reported by CNEV Post, citing information from local media outlet Cailian and on-site staff at the exhibition.
Tesla’s humanoid robot was presented as part of the company’s exhibit at the Shanghai electronics show. On-site staff reportedly stated that mass production of the robot could begin by the end of 2026.
Tesla previously indicated that it plans to manufacture its humanoid robots at scale once production begins, with its initial production line in the Fremont Factory reaching up to 1 million units annually. An Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas is expected to produce 10 million units per year.
Tesla China previously shared a teaser image on Weibo showing a pair of highly detailed robotic hands believed to belong to Optimus. The image suggests a design with finger proportions and structures that closely resemble those of a human hand.
Robotic hands are widely considered one of the most difficult engineering challenges in humanoid robotics. For a system like Optimus to perform complex real-world tasks, from factory work to household activities, the robot would require highly advanced dexterity.
Elon Musk has previously stated that Optimus has the capability to eventually become the first real-world example of a Von Neumann machine, a self-replicating system capable of building copies of itself, even on other planets. “Optimus will be the first Von Neumann machine, capable of building civilization by itself on any viable planet,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
Elon Musk shares big Tesla Optimus 3 production update
