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SpaceX’s repaired Starship booster survives back-to-back cryoproof tests
SpaceX’s upgraded Starship booster has completed a second and third cryogenic proof test in rapid succession after undergoing repairs to fix damage suffered during the first round of testing.
Testing began almost immediately after SpaceX rolled the repaired Super Heavy booster back to the orbital launch site (OLS) on May 6th. After a quick installation on the pad’s stool-like launch mount and another day of systems checks and integration, Booster 7 charged headfirst into its first post-repair cryoproof on May 9th.
Instead of cautiously feeling out the repaired plumbing and header tank over a series of small tests, SpaceX immediately performed a full cryogenic proof (cryoproof) and filled Booster 7 to the brim with about 3000 tons (~6.6M lb) of liquid nitrogen (LN2) or a combination of LN2 and liquid oxygen (LOx). Standing about 67 meters (~220 ft) tall and 9 meters (~30 ft) wide, it took about two hours to fully fill Super Heavy’s tanks with the equivalent of one and a half Olympic swimming pools of cryogenic liquid.
As always, that liquid (well below –320°F or –196°C) rapidly chilled the booster’s 4mm (~0.16″) thick steel tanks to cryogenic temperatures, which then froze moisture directly out of the humid Texas air, coating almost all of Super Heavy’s exterior with a layer of frost and ice.
SpaceX began detanking Booster 7 soon after the fill process was completed. Thanks to plenty of insulated plumbing and well-insulated ground storage tanks, SpaceX is able to recover nearly all of the LN2 and LOx used during cryoproof testing, which helps avoid the hundreds of semi-truck delivers that would otherwise be required to replenish the tank farm after even a single test.
As if to demonstrate that, SpaceX proceeded to put Booster 7 through a whole new cryogenic proof test just two days later, on May 11th. Once again, Super Heavy was fully loaded with thousands of tons of liquid nitrogen and oxygen. Unlike Cryoproof #2’s immediate detank, SpaceX – judging by the frost levels – kept Booster 7 topped off for a good hour before detanking.
In a last-minute surprise, after fully detanking B7 at the end of Cryoproof #3, SpaceX refilled the booster’s liquid oxygen tank with a few hundred tons of LN2 or LOx. Once the rocket’s thrust section reached some degree of thermodynamic equilibrium, SpaceX remotely retracted and reconnected the orbital launch mount’s Super Heavy umbilical. The launch mount umbilical or ‘quick disconnect’ is responsible for connecting Super Heavy to the pad’s gas supplies, propellant storage, power, and communications. The test SpaceX completed after Cryoproof #3 may have been a rough simulation of one scenario Starship could easily face: a post-ignition launch abort. In other words, if an orbital Starship launch was aborted just before liftoff but after quick-disconnect retraction, could it quickly reconnect to the booster with zero human intervention?
In a scenario where a QD failed to reattach to a fully-fueled Super Heavy after a launch abort, the odds of a catastrophic fire or explosion would immediately shoot up to near-certainty. In moderate quantities, simultaneously venting gaseous methane and oxygen from the same rocket is risky but manageable. Venting hundreds – let alone thousands – of tons while trapped on the ground would amount to creating a multi-hour fuel-air bomb just waiting for a spark. Multiple Starship prototypes (SN4, SN10) have already been destroyed in part by the flammability of methane gas.
Combined with the completion of two full cryogenic proof tests in less than two days, it appears that Super Heavy B7’s repairs were extremely successful. Had the first post-repair cryoproof not gone more or less perfectly, it’s hard to imagine that SpaceX would have attempted or completed an almost identical test two days later. If the second cryoproof hadn’t been nearly perfect, it’s even harder to imagine that SpaceX would have accepted the risk involved in detaching Booster 7’s umbilical during the same test window.
On May 12th, SpaceX’s main pad crane attached a lift jig to Super Heavy B7, implying that it will likely be removed from the orbital launch mount in the near future. If the repaired booster aced its tests, SpaceX’s next step would likely be Raptor engine installation and the start of static fire testing. It’s unclear if SpaceX wants to install all 33 engines at once or begin with a small handful. It’s also unclear if SpaceX will return Booster 7 to Starbase’s production facilities to finish Raptor, heat shield, grid fin, and aerocover installation.
News
Donald Trump confirms ‘good’ relationship with Elon Musk after public feud
Trump stated that he and Elon Musk have spoken “on and off, a little bit” since meeting at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in September.
United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that his relationship with Elon Musk has improved following months of tension.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump stated that he and Elon Musk have spoken “on and off, a little bit” since meeting at slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in September. Trump also noted that he now considers their relationship “good.”
Trump stated that his feud with Musk has cooled after ‘stupid moment’
Trump addressed the pair’s earlier feud, which unfolded publicly earlier this year after Musk publicly opposed Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and later stepped away from his administration’s advisory role tied to the DOGE initiative. The U.S. president addressed the dispute, describing it as a brief lapse in judgment, as noted in an Insider report.
“He had a bad spell, he had a bad period. He had a bad moment,” Trump said. “It was a stupid moment in his life, very stupid. I’m sure he’d tell you that. But I like Elon, and I suspect I always will.”
Trump’s remarks suggest a thaw in what had been one of the United States’ most visible political rifts, which saw Musk accusing Trump of being on Epstein’s list and Trump threatening to take away Tesla and SpaceX’s subsidies. In his recent comments, however, Trump noted that “I like Elon, I’ve always liked him.”
Musk has mostly stayed quiet on Trump, but he still criticizes administration officials
Musk has publicly toned down his criticism of Trump in recent months, pausing discussion of a third political party he once floated after Trump’s megabill passed. While his stance toward the former president appears to have softened, with the two men publicly making peace during Kirk’s memorial, Musk has continued to spar with members of Trump’s administration.
Just last week, he engaged in a dispute with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over NASA leadership after Duffy opened one of SpaceX’s contracts for review. Musk expressed his frustration against Duffy on X, stating that “Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA” and pledging that SpaceX would be taking humans back to the Moon with Starship before any other company.
News
IF Metall chair to Elon Musk: “Give us a chance” as Tesla Sweden strike hits 2 years
The official emphasized that Swedish unions function under a cooperative framework that benefits both employers and workers.
IF Metall’s strike against Tesla Sweden has entered its third year, with union chair Marie Nilsson urging Elon Musk to reconsider his perception of organized labor.
Speaking ahead of the strike’s second anniversary, Nilsson stated that Tesla should understand that Swedish unions operate differently from their American counterparts, and they deserve the opportunity to prove it.
IF Metall leader urges Tesla to understand Sweden’s system
In an interview with Dagens Arbete (DA), Nilsson stated that Tesla’s skepticism toward labor unions likely stems from the company’s experience in the United States, where labor organizations have historically taken a more combative approach. She emphasized that Swedish unions function under a cooperative framework that benefits both employers and workers.
“I can certainly understand that Elon Musk and Tesla are skeptical of the trade union movement. They have experience with American unions that operate in a completely different environment and that have to be militant in a different way.
“I would say: Don’t compare Swedish unions with American ones. Let’s give us a chance. Signing a collective agreement in Sweden also does not mean that you are committed to collective agreements in the rest of the world, but it is the practical system we have here to regulate the conditions,” Nilsson stated.
Nilsson rejected the idea that Tesla Sweden is being unfairly targeted
The IF Metall leader also reflected on the conflict’s duration, calling it unprecedented in Swedish labor history. While she admitted the union should have organized Tesla workers earlier, she maintained that the movement remains determined. “No one can possibly imagine what it is like not to go to work for two years,” Nilsson said, praising members who have continued to maintain their protest against the EV maker.
Nilsson also rejected any notion that the union is targeting Tesla unfairly. “Tesla is not a poor little company that we are trying to crush in any way,” she said. “But this is a global player, and we cannot accept that they should have different conditions in Sweden than other entrepreneurs have.”
She confirmed that IF Metall is now prepared to take greater risks, especially after the Swedish Mediation Institute stepped back from talks. “It is impossible for us to do anything else. This is a large and important player, and therefore we need to take this conflict. It is impossible for us to do anything else,” Nilsson said.
Elon Musk
Tesla analyst: ‘near zero chance’ Elon Musk’s $1T comp package is rejected
“There is a near-zero chance that $TSLA shareholders will vote down Elon’s new proposed comp plan at the Nov 6 shareholders’ meeting.”
A Tesla analyst says there is “zero chance” that CEO Elon Musk’s new compensation package is rejected, a testament to the loyalty and belief many shareholders and investors have in the frontman.
Tesla investors will vote on November 6 at the annual Shareholder Meeting to approve a new compensation package for Musk, revealed by the company’s Board of Directors earlier this month.
The package, if approved, would give Musk the opportunity to earn $1 trillion in stock, an ownership concentration of over 27 percent (a major request of Musk’s), and a solidified future at the company.
The Tesla Community on X, the social media platform Musk bought in 2023, is overwhelmingly in favor of the pay package, though a handful of skeptics remain.
Nevertheless, the big pulls of this vote are held by proxy firms and other large-scale investors. Two of them, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, said they would be voting against Musk’s proposed compensation plan.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm
Today, the State Board of Administration of Florida (SBA) said it would vote in favor of Musk’s newly-proposed pay day, making it the first large-scale shareholder to announce it would support the CEO’s pay.
One analyst said that Musk’s payday is inevitable. Gary Black of the Future Fund said today there is a “near-zero chance” that shareholders will allow Musk’s pay package to be rejected:
“There is a near-zero chance that $TSLA shareholders will vote down Elon’s new proposed comp plan at the Nov 6 shareholders’ meeting.”
He added an alternative perspective from Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who said that he had a better chance of starting for the New York Yankees than the comp package not being approved.
There is a near zero chance that $TSLA shareholders will vote down Elon’s new proposed comp plan at the Nov 6 shareholders’ meeting. As Wedbush analyst Dan Ives (@divestech) colorfully put it in a Yahoo Finance interview on October 23rd: “I have a better chance of starting for…
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) October 27, 2025
Black’s the Future Fund sold its Tesla holdings earlier this year. He explained that the firm believed the company’s valuation was too disconnected from fundamentals, citing the P/E ratio of 188x and declining earnings estimates.
The firm maintained its $310 price target, and shares were trading at $356.90 that day.
Shares closed at $452.42 today.
The latest predictions from betting platform Kalshi have shown Musk’s comp package has a 94 percent chance of being approved:
— Kalshi (@Kalshi) October 20, 2025
Donald Trump confirms ‘good’ relationship with Elon Musk after public feud
IF Metall chair to Elon Musk: “Give us a chance” as Tesla Sweden strike hits 2 years
Tesla analyst: ‘near zero chance’ Elon Musk’s $1T comp package is rejected
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