News
SpaceX targeting 52 Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy launches in 2022
Shortly before SpaceX was scheduled to launch an Italian Earth observation satellite, a member of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) revealed that the company aims to conduct as many as 52 launches this year.
Supporting several estimates published by Teslarati over the last month, SpaceX officially targeting up to one launch per week in 2022 meshes well with the company’s record-breaking commercial launch manifest and plans for up to 10 Falcon launches in December 2021 and January 2022 alone. It also comes as no surprise after SpaceX’s spectacular performance in the first six months of 2021.

In H1 2021, before major production issues effectively halted all Starlink launches, SpaceX launches 20 Falcon 9 rockets in six months, demonstrating a sustainable cadence of 40 launches per year. Of those 20 launches, 13 were Starlink missions and 7 were commercial. Due to a lack of commercial launches and a lack of Starlink satellites to launch, SpaceX then proceeded to launch just three times between July 1st and November 11th.
However, in the last two months of 2021, SpaceX managed to go from launching three times in 19 weeks to launching eight Falcon 9 rockets in six weeks. Further, SpaceX completed five of those eight launches in less than three weeks. Given that that feat made December 2021 SpaceX’s first five-launch month ever just a year after SpaceX’s first four-launch month ever, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that five launches in one month was a fluke. However, the fact that SpaceX abruptly went from a record of five launches in ~27 days to five launches in ~19 days did feel like more than a mere coincidence
That was confirmed about two weeks later, when a US military official responsible for managing the Florida range implicitly revealed that SpaceX was targeting up to five East Coast Falcon launches in January 2022. It then became a question of whether SpaceX’s plans would survive the only true constant of spaceflight: delays.
However, three weeks later, SpaceX has successfully launched three Falcon 9 rockets and is on track to launch another two from Florida in the last few days of the month. Originally scheduled to launch in late 2021, the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) CSG-2 Earth observation radar satellite was eventually rescheduled for January 27th, but poor weather forced SpaceX to delay that launch to 6:11 pm EST (23:11 UTC), Friday, January 28th, 29th, and finally the 30th. Perhaps less than a day later, as early as 2:17 pm (19:17 UTC) on Monday, January 31st (delayed from Jan 29th and 30th), another Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a batch of approximately 49 Starlink satellites known as Starlink 4-7.
Last but not least, SpaceX has already tested and static-fired a third Falcon 9 rocket and is prepared to launch the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) NROL-87 spy satellite(s) out of California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) no earlier than (NET) 11:07 am PST (19:07 UTC), Wednesday, February 2nd. If all three of those launches happen according to plan, SpaceX will have kicked off 2022 with six launches in the first five weeks of the year and, technically, just 27 days. Further, over a period of 10 weeks, SpaceX will have potentially completed twelve Falcon 9 launches.
In short, while just one month into the year, SpaceX is undeniably maintaining the launch cadence it will need to launch an average of one Falcon rocket per week for all of 2022. It’s obviously far more likely that unexpected issues will arise, significantly delaying a number of launches and pushing SpaceX below its goal of 52 launches in one year, but even 40 launches per year would be an extraordinary achievement. If SpaceX actually does achieve 50+ launches in 2022, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will represent the second rocket family in history to achieve such a cadence – and the first to do so since the 1980s.
Tune in below around 6pm EST on Friday, January 28th to watch SpaceX’s fourth Falcon launch of the year.
News
Tesla dominates in the UK with Model Y and Model 3 leading the way
Tesla is dominating in the United Kingdom so far through 2025, and with about two weeks left in the year, the Model Y and Model 3 are leading the way.
The Model Y and Model 3 are the two best-selling electric vehicles in the United Kingdom, which is comprised of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and it’s not particularly close.
According to data gathered byΒ EU-EVs, the Model Y is sitting at 18,890 units for the year, while the Model 3 is slightly behind with 16,361 sales for the year so far.
The next best-selling EV is the Audi Q4 e-tron at 10,287 units, lagging significantly behind but ahead of other models like the BMW i4 and the Audi Q6 e-tron.
GOOD NEWS π¬π§ Tesla is absolutely crushing the UK electric vehicle market in 2025 π₯
The numbers are in, and the dominance is clear. With an impressive amount of 42,270 vehicles delivered year-to-date, the brand now commands a solid 9.6% market share of the total auto market πβ¦ pic.twitter.com/dkiGX9kzd0
β Ming (@tslaming) December 18, 2025
The Model Y has tasted significant success in the global market, but it has dominated in large markets like Europe and the United States.
For years, it’s been a car that has fit the bill of exactly what consumers need: a perfect combination of luxury, space, and sustainability.
Both vehicles are going to see decreases in sales compared to 2024; the Model Y was the best-selling car last year, but it sold 32,610 units in the UK. Meanwhile, the Model 3 had reached 17,272 units, which will keep it right on par with last year.
Tesla sold 50,090 units in the market last year, and it’s about 8,000 units shy of last year’s pace. It also had a stronger market share last year with 13.2 percent of the sales in the market. With two weeks left in 2025, Tesla has a 9.6 percent market share, leading Volkswagen with 8 percent.
The company likely felt some impact from CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration and, more specifically, his role with DOGE. However, it is worth mentioning that some months saw stronger consumer demand than others. For example, sales were up over 20 percent in February. A 14 percent increase followed this in June.
News
Tesla Insurance officially expands to new U.S. state
Tesla’s in-house Insurance program first launched back in late 2019, offering a new way to insure the vehicles that was potentially less expensive and could alleviate a lot of the issues people had with claims, as the company could assess and repair the damage itself.
Tesla Insurance has officially expanded to a new U.S. state, its thirteenth since its launch in 2019.
Tesla has confirmed that its in-house Insurance program has officially made its way to Florida, just two months after the company filed to update its Private Passenger Auto program in the state. It had tried to offer its insurance program to drivers in the state back in 2022, but its launch did not happen.
Instead, Tesla refiled the paperwork back in mid-October, which essentially was the move toward initiating the offering this month.
BREAKING: Tesla Insurance has just officially launched in Florida.
This is the first new state to receive @Tesla Insurance in more than 3 years. In total, Tesla insurance is now available in 13 U.S. states (map in thread below of all the states).
Tesla Insurance in Florida uses⦠pic.twitter.com/bDwh1IV6gD
β Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 17, 2025
Tesla’s in-house Insurance program first launched back in late 2019, offering a new way to insure the vehicles that was potentially less expensive and could alleviate a lot of the issues people had with claims, as the company could assess and repair the damage itself.
It has expanded to new states since 2019, but Florida presents a particularly interesting challenge for Tesla, as the company’s entry into the state is particularly noteworthy given its unique insurance landscape, characterized by high premiums due to frequent natural disasters, dense traffic, and a no-fault system.
Annual average premiums for Florida drivers hover around $4,000 per year, well above the national average. Tesla’s insurance program could disrupt this, especially for EV enthusiasts. The state’s growing EV adoption, fueled by incentives and infrastructure development, aligns perfectly with Tesla’s ecosystem.
Moreover, there are more ways to have cars repaired, and features like comprehensive coverage for battery damage and roadside assistance tailored to EVs address those common painpoints that owners have.
However, there are some challenges that still remain. Florida’s susceptibility to hurricanes raises questions about how Tesla will handle claims during disasters.
Looking ahead, Tesla’s expansion of its insurance program signals the company’s ambition to continue vertically integrating its services, including coverage of its vehicles. Reducing dependency on third-party insurers only makes things simpler for the company’s automotive division, as well as for its customers.
News
Tesla Full Self-Driving gets sparkling review from South Korean politician
“Having already ridden in an unmanned robotaxi, the novelty wasnβt as strong for me, but it drives just as well as most people do. It already feels like a completed technology, which gives me a lot to think about.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving got its first sparkling review from South Korean politician Lee So-young, a member of the country’s National Assembly, earlier this week.
Lee is a member of the Strategy and Finance Committee in South Korea and is a proponent of sustainable technologies and their applications in both residential and commercial settings. For the first time, Lee was able to utilize Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology as it launched in the country in late November.
Her thoughts on the suite were complimentary to the suite, stating that “it drives just as well as most people do,” and that “it already feels like a completed technology.”
λλμ΄ μ€λ, μμΈμμ ν μ¬λΌ FSD 체ν νμ΅λλ€.
JiDal Papaλμ λͺ¨λΈS νμ°¬μ νμ μ΄^^ ννλ μ λ§ κ°μ¬ν©λλ€.
κ΅ν -> λ§μμμ₯ -> νμ΅λ -> κ΅ν λ³΅κ· μ½μ€μκ³ μ.
μ΄λ―Έ λ¬΄μΈ λ‘보νμλ₯Ό νλ΄μ κ·Έλ°μ§ μ κΈ°ν¨μ
λνμ§λ§, μ¬λ§ν μ¬λλ§νΌ μ΄μ μ μνλ€μ.μ΄λ―Έ μμ±λ κΈ°μ μ΄λΌκ³ β¦ pic.twitter.com/8pAidHBpRG
β μ΄μμ κ΅νμμ (Soyoung Lee) (@im_soyounglee) December 17, 2025
Her translated post says:
“Finally, today I got to experience Tesla FSD in Seoul. Thanks to the Model S sponsored by JiDal Papa^^, Iβm truly grateful to Papa. The route was from the National Assembly -> Mangwon Market -> Hongik University -> back to the National Assembly. Having already ridden in an unmanned robotaxi, the novelty wasnβt as strong for me, but it drives just as well as most people do. It already feels like a completed technology, which gives me a lot to think about. Once it actually spreads into widespread use, I feel like our daily lives are going to change a lot. Even I, with my license gathering dust in a drawer, donβt see much reason to learn to drive a manual anymore.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving officially landed in South Korea in late November, with the initial launch being one of Tesla’s most recent, v14.1.4.
It marked the seventh country in which Tesla was able to enable the driver assistance suite, following the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.
It is important to see politicians and figures in power try new technologies, especially ones that are widely popular in other regions of the world and could potentially revolutionize how people travel globally.