Update #2: SpaceX has successfully delivered Starlink 4-4 – batch of 52 new satellites – to low Earth orbit (LEO), completing the first of three back-to-back Falcon 9 launches scheduled less than three days apart.
Starlink 4-4 marks the 98th successful Falcon landing, the first time SpaceX has performed a non-polar Starlink launch from its West Coast pad, and the first time a Falcon 9 booster has completed 11 orbital-class launches and spaceflights. Up next, SpaceX is scheduled to launch Turkey’s Turksat 5B geostationary communications satellite out of its Cape Canaveral, Florida LC-40 pad. Falcon 9 could lift off as early as 10:58 pm EDT, Saturday, December 18th (03:58 UTC 19 Dec) – just 15 hours after Starlink 4-4. Set in September 2021, SpaceX’s current record is two launches in ~44 hours.
Update: SpaceX’s second dedicated West Coast Starlink launch has slipped to no earlier than (NET) 1:24 am PDT (09:24 UTC) on Saturday, December 18th. Headed to an orbit unusual for a Vandenberg Space Force Base launch, Starlink 4-4 could now lift off just 18 hours before a different SpaceX mission – Turksat 5B – lifts off from the opposite side of the country.
Barring delays to Cargo Dragon’s CRS-24 space station resupply mission, which remains scheduled for 5:06 am EDT on December 21st, that means that SpaceX is now on track to launch three Falcon 9 rockets in three days (less than 73 hours).
SpaceX appears to be on track to round out a record-breaking year with three Falcon 9 launches in four days.
With the diverse trio of missions, SpaceX will orbit another batch of laser-linked Starlink satellites, deliver a large communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), send a Dragon to space for sixth time this year, and break at least two company records. The first mission, known as Starlink 2-3, could occur as early as the morning of December 17th, kicking off an incredibly busy period of launches – and not just for SpaceX.
Starlink 2-3
Referring to the fact that the mission will be the third launch for the second distinct group or ‘shell’ of Starlink satellites, Starlink 2-3 will actually be the second dedicated launch to a semi-polar orbit, leapfrogging Starlink 2-2 for unknown reasons after Starlink 2-1’s successful September launch. Originally scheduled to launch in mid-October, SpaceX was forced to stand down just a few days before liftoff for unknown reasons and at least a week or two of delays soon put Starlink 2-3 at risk of clashing with the company’s upcoming NASA DART launch, which unsurprisingly took precedence. SpaceX successfully launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission on November 24th.
Late on December 13th, tugboat Scorpius likely departed Port of Long Beach with SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) in tow – a fairly airtight confirmation that a SpaceX launch is just a handful of days away. Based on safety Notices to Airmen and Mariners (NOTAMs/NOTMARs), Starlink 2-3 is scheduled to launch sometime between 12am and 6am PDT (UTC-8) on Friday, December 17th. If accurate and SpaceX stays on schedule, Falcon 9 could lift off from the company’s Vandenberg SLC-4E launch pad with Starlink 2-3 in tow just 22 days after a different Falcon 9 rocket launched DART – smashing the pad’s current 36-day turnaround record by almost 40%.
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Aside from drastically increasing the maximum theoretical launch cadence SpaceX’s West Coast pad is capable of supporting, Starlink 2-3 is also expected – as it was in October – to fly on Falcon 9 booster B1051, potentially making the mission the first time a liquid rocket booster has completed eleven orbital-class launches. B1051 debuted in March 2019, sending an uncrewed Crew Dragon on its way to orbit for the first time. Before SpaceX’s Starlink launch cadence fell off a cliff in the second half of 2021, B1051 completed its tenth launch on May 9th, 2021, averaging one launch every ~80 days over a two-year career. Starlink 2-3 will be B1051’s first launch in 7 months and eleventh launch in 33 months.
Turksat 5B
As early as 11:58 pm EDT (UTC-5) on Saturday, December 18th, another Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch Turkey’s Turksat 5B geostationary communications satellite from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral LC-40 pad. There’s a good chance that former Falcon Heavy booster B1052 – recently converted into a Falcon 9 after more than two years in storage – will be assigned to the mission, which is set to be SpaceX’s 30th orbital launch in 2021.
CRS-24 and more!
Finally, a different Falcon 9 (possibly B1062 or even a new booster entirely) is scheduled to launch a new Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft on CRS-24 – potentially the company’s 23rd operational International Space Station (ISS) resupply run since October 2012. It will be Falcon 9’s sixth Dragon launch of 2021 – another record for SpaceX and the spacecraft. If the schedule holds, CRS-24 could lift off as early as 5:06 am EDT (UTC-5) on Tuesday, December 21st and would be SpaceX’s third Falcon 9 launch in roughly 100 hours (a little over four days). CRS-24 is expected to be SpaceX’s 31st and final launch of 2021, beating out the 26-launch record it set just last year.
However, the rest of the world isn’t quite finished. As early as the day after CRS-24, an Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled to launch the almost $10 billion, NASA-built James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Decades in the making, JWST will be the single most expensive payload and the largest space telescope ever launched and is functionally irreplaceable and hard (but not impossible, if the political will is there) to repair, making it perhaps the most universally nerve-wracking uncrewed launch in the history of spaceflight.
Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.
It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.
If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Outlet Adapter for Model Y Premium in the U.S., enabling V2L capability for all Premium trims (that’s what it appears to be as it is available for purchase with all Premium trims)
It’s available for $80. 2.4kW max power and rated for 120v, 20A pic.twitter.com/lDxlVIk5s8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?
They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.
Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:
Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners
You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.
It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.
You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.
Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”
Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.
The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.
🚨 The Information is reporting this morning that Tesla is ready to unveil the “flying” Roadster as soon as this month
It’s almost here, folks. pic.twitter.com/IdL4atsucQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.
According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.
We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”
We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.
The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.
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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.
Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.
Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.
Tesla has received its Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority says that operations are limited to a maximum fleet of 10 fully autonomous vehicles and shall be conducted only within the Authority-approved Operational Design… https://t.co/Cxfd6GIfDk pic.twitter.com/iOO6wSZkHF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2026
The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.
Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.
Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.
Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.
Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information
