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SpaceX aces three Falcon 9 launches in 34 hours
SpaceX has successfully launched three Falcon 9 rockets less than 34 hours apart, leaving the company only one mission shy of CEO Elon Musk’s ambitious target of 60 launches in 2022.
The period was almost even more intense, with two launches briefly scheduled minutes apart and all three set to launch in the space of 10-11 hours. But the more conservative sequencing SpaceX ultimately settled on still produced impressive results and allowed the company to break its own world record for the fastest time to complete three launches of the same rocket. In June 2022, SpaceX managed three similar launches – a Starlink mission, a scientific Earth observation satellite, and a commercial communications satellite – in 36 hours and 18 minutes.
Six months later, SpaceX has shaved more than two hours off of its own feat with the successful launches of another Earth observation satellite, a pair of commercial communications satellites, and 54 Starlink satellites in 33 hours and 46 minutes.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
SpaceX’s latest hat trick began on December 16th with a Falcon 9 launch of the joint US-French Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission out of Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), California. Delayed from December 12th and 15th, the launch was nonetheless a perfect success, placing the 2.2-ton (~4850 lb) radar satellite into a low Earth orbit that will allow it to precisely analyze virtually every inch of exposed water on Earth. That unprecedented capability should make it easier for scientists to study and understand Earth’s water cycle, as well as humanity’s substantial impact on those processes.
A little over 11 hours later, a second Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station LC-40 pad carrying the first two Boeing-built O3b mPOWER satellites for satcom provider SES. Once again, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket did its job perfectly, even managing to exceed its contracted parameters according to SES CEO Steve Collar. Falcon 9’s better-than-expected performance will reduce the amount of time and propellant each 1.7-ton (~3750 lb) mPOWER satellite requires to reach its operational orbit, potentially ensuring a quicker path to revenue generation and longer useful lifespans.
SpaceX is on contract to launch all 11 initial mPOWER satellites. The next nine satellites will head to orbit sometime in 2023 and 2024 as Boeing completes them.


Finally, less than a day later after O3b mPOWER 1&2, a third Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s NASA Kennedy Space Center LC-39A pad (just a few miles north of LC-40) with what could be the last full batch of “Group 4” Starlink V1.5 satellites. SpaceX’s first-generation Starlink constellation is comprised of five groups of satellites operating in distinct orbital ‘shells,’ and the company’s December 18th launch of Starlink 4-37 will leave SpaceX just 14 satellites away from fully finishing the second of two shells of 1584 satellites. All told, Starlink 4-37 was SpaceX’s 65th operational Starlink launch since November 2019 and the company likely has just ~20 launches to go to complete its first satellite constellation – already the largest in history by an order of magnitude.
All three launches were completed in less than a day and a half. Further emphasizing the breadth of SpaceX’s expertise, each Falcon 9 booster successfully landed after supporting their respective orbital launch, ensuring that those boosters will all be able to support more launches in the near future. In fact, Starlink 4-37 was the 15th mission for its Falcon 9 booster, B1058, breaking SpaceX’s internal reuse record and pushing the technology’s envelope. It remains to be seen if the company will push beyond 15 flights. In June 2022 interviews with Aviation Week, SpaceX executives stated that Falcon boosters would be retired after 15 flights – a big change from past indications that there was nothing preventing each booster from launching 100+ times with regular maintenance.
Starlink 4-37 was also SpaceX’s 59th successful orbital launch of 2022. In March, CEO Elon Musk raised an earlier annual target of 52 launches to 60 launches. At the time, 60 launches in one year was almost inconceivable. Set in 1980, the all-time record for a family of rockets (the Russian R-7) is 61 successful launches in one calendar year.
But against all odds, SpaceX has relentlessly executed week after week and sustained an average of one launch every six days for more than 12 months. Multiple sources currently indicate that SpaceX has two more Falcon 9 launches scheduled this year: another Starlink mission as early as December 28th and a mission carrying the Israeli EROS-C3 Earth imaging satellite on December 29th. SpaceX’s Falcon rocket family thus has a chance to tie the all-time record of 61 R-7 family launches, which was backed by the entire Soviet Union at the peak of its national launch cadence.
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Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.

Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.