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SpaceX doubleheader struck down by poor weather
Update: The first of two SpaceX launch attempts scheduled on Tuesday, November 22nd has been called off by poor weather. The weather for the second attempt, carrying a Eutelsat communications satellite, is expected to be just as poor, but SpaceX is still working towards a 9:57 pm EST (02:57 UTC) launch in spite of CRS-26’s bad luck.
SpaceX says it will attempt to launch two Falcon 9 rockets six hours apart after delaying a mission that was scheduled to lift off on November 21st.
The weather at Cape Canaveral is expected to be poor, with just a 10% chance of favorable conditions. But SpaceX says it will still attempt to launch the Eutelsat 10B communications satellite around 9:57 pm EST (2:57 UTC) on Tuesday, November 22nd, after delaying a November 21st attempt “to allow for additional pre-flight checkouts.” Only a few days prior, SpaceX indefinitely delayed a different Falcon 9 launch after apparently uncovering a problem during prelaunch testing. That problem was significant enough for SpaceX’s West Coast drone ship to return to port, guaranteeing a multi-day delay.
Despite back-to-back delays caused by apparent technical issues with two other Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX’s next Cargo Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station remains on track to launch as early as 3:54 pm EST (20:54 UTC) on November 22nd.
In the days prior, even Dragon’s CRS-26 mission didn’t escape unscathed. SpaceX discovered a small leak in the Dragon spacecraft earlier this month, forcing it to push the launch from November 21st to November 22nd. Before that, CRS-26 was delayed from November 18th to the 21st in the wake of Hurricane Nicole. Out of coincidence, the combination of the hurricane, Dragon leak, and unspecified issues with Eutelsat 10B’s rocket or payload have placed the launches just over six hours apart.
24 hours out, US Space Launch Delta 45 (formerly the 45th Space Wing) predicts just a 10% chance of favorable conditions for CRS-26 and Eutelsat 10B. The odds that both launches will thread a different 1-in-10 needle six hours apart are not great. Eutelsat 10B has a backup window on November 23rd with a 60% chance of favorable weather, while CRS-26’s next opportunity is November 26th.
CRS-26 will launch several thousand pounds of food, water, supplies, and a third set of upgraded solar arrays to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission will debut a new Falcon 9 booster (B1076) and the fourth and final reusable Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft (Capsule C211).
In an unusual first, Eutelsat 10B will be the third SpaceX launch this month to intentionally expend a Falcon booster as Falcon 9 B1049 – the oldest in the fleet – flies its eleventh and final mission. The well-worn booster’s sacrifice will help boost the 5.5-ton (~12,000 lb) Eutelsat 10B communications satellite into a higher transfer orbit than usual, likely shaving weeks off the orbit-raising process and allowing it to enter service sooner. SpaceX will still attempt to recover Falcon 9’s payload fairing (nosecone) halves more than a thousand kilometers downrange.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you, as the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, finally shed some light on the reason they are putting a satellite internet terminal on its ride-hailing-geared vehicle.
On Monday, Tesla officially confirmed that it would integrate Starlink V5 terminals into Cybercab vehicles, something many Tesla fans had figured the company would do, as the vehicle is primarily geared toward giving rides without any passenger intervention.
Starlink V5 directly integrated in Cybercab pic.twitter.com/FxzTtzjB6I
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 20, 2026
The ability to access the internet would allow riders to work or play in the car with their devices. It seemed like a more-than-reasonable feature to add to the Cybercab, which made its way off the production lines for the first time earlier this year.
Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration
However, the move is not for the rider, as Elluswamy confirmed on Monday night. Instead, it’s actually for Tesla to be able to have a constant connection to the cars in the Robotaxi fleet so it can troubleshoot issues, contact riders, or resolve other issues.
Elluswamy said:
“It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.”
It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 20, 2026
Many initially assumed the option of constant connectivity would be enabled on the Cybercab for passenger entertainment or work. With the Cybercab, passengers won’t be doing anything but enjoying the ride, so it seemed more than logical that they would be hanging out with Starlink internet access as an amenity.
However, Tesla’s primary concern with Robotaxi is safety, and nailing these first unsupervised rides is a crucial step to setting a good narrative on how effective driverless transportation can be.
Being able to get in touch with passengers or a vehicle if something is wrong is a crucial part of the overall experience, and preventative measures are being taken by Tesla to ensure a smooth process, even in the worst-case.
Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi program in Florida to include two new cities: Tampa and Orlando.
This marks the second and third cities to be added to the company’s available locations for autonomous ride-hailing in the Sunshine State, joining Miami, which was the first Florida city to offer Robotaxi rides.
Tesla announced the addition of Orlando and Tampa to the Robotaxi program on Tuesday morning. The cities now join Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area as locations where Tesla can operate its Robotaxi platform:
Robotaxi now in Tampa & Orlando! pic.twitter.com/fYtmXgJq3O
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 21, 2026
These rides are unsupervised, as AI Head Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the suite in Florida is operating without safety drivers or anyone within the cabin to assist with operation.
Orlando Tesla Robotaxi Operation
The geofence in Orlando covers a prominent irregular shaded zone on the map, roughly 4-6 miles across in key dimensions, so it likely measures somewhere between 25 and 45 square miles, which is comparable to other early Tesla launches in other cities.
It encompasses central and southern areas bounded by major highways including SR-417 and SR-528, including parts of the Orlando metro core, tourism-adjacent zones, and residential/commercial districts. This represents an initial targeted rollout in a tourist-heavy region, positioned for quick expansion via Tesla’s software updates.
Tampa Tesla Robotaxi Operation
In Tampa, the shape of the geofence is a shaded polygon covering key neighborhoods, explicitly including West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Hyde Park, and downtown Tampa proper, with boundaries along major roads and the Hillsborough River area.
This focuses on high-demand central zones and will offer tourists and citygoers rides without drivers.
Robotaxi Progress
Tesla has been operating Robotaxi since last June, when it launched in Austin. The geofences in most regions have already expanded several times since their launch last year, but the bigger complaint is vehicle availability. Tesla has been working to add more Robotaxi-enabled vehicles to its fleet.
The company still plans to utilize its Cybercab, a new vehicle that is being produced at Gigafactory Texas, for the Robotaxi suite alongside the Model Y, which has been the vehicle of choice for Tesla with early operations.
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Tesla’s AI Chief just hinted at something big for FSD v14 lite owners
Tesla’s AI chief suggests the newest FSD v14 Lite build may finally go wide release.
Tesla’s head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, noted on Sunday that the newest FSD v14 Lite build rolling out to Hardware 3 cars is likely the version that goes to wide release, the strongest signal yet that Tesla is near to closing out an early access phase that Hardware 3 owners have waited more than a year for.
Elluswamy made the comment in response to an extensive review from Tesla owner Zack, known on X as @BLKMDL3, who tested software version 2026.20.6.10 and detailed the changes in a lengthy post. “FSD v14 Lite (for Tesla AI3 hardware vehicles) review.
The update restarts a rollout that had stalled after its initial release. Tesla began pushing FSD v14 Lite to Hardware 3 early access drivers on June 29, bringing driving behavior learned on the newer Hardware 4 computer down to the more limited chip that has powered Tesla vehicles built between 2019 and early 2023. That release, as we covered in detail, gave roughly 4 million HW3 vehicles their first meaningful update since being frozen on version 12.6 in early 2025.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ Release Notes: new capabilities and features
The latest build adds features that bring Hardware 3 closer in line with what Hardware 4 owners already have. FSD can now start directly from park without a brake pedal confirmation, a change Zack called a small but meaningful quality of life improvement. The interface also picks up the blue “P” park icon, approaching destination alerts, and a dedicated Self-Driving app with streak tracking, all details previously exclusive to the AI4 branch of v14, as outlined in Tesla’s original release notes.
The stakes around Hardware 3 go beyond software polish. Tesla sold the Full Self-Driving package for years on the promise that every vehicle equipped with it had the hardware needed to eventually drive itself without supervision. That promise broke down during Tesla’s Q1 2026 earnings call, when Musk acknowledged HW3 cars could not run unsupervised FSD, prompting Tesla to offer trade-in discounts and hardware retrofits alongside the Lite software track.
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla has continued to frame v14 Lite as the primary path forward for the HW3 fleet, telling owners in April that international markets would follow the U.S. rollout once regulatory approvals came through. For now, HW3 owners in the early access group are the only ones running the new build. A broader rollout would mark the second major software delivery to the legacy fleet since Tesla first released FSD v14 to Hardware 4 vehicles, and the first sign since June that the Lite program is still moving rather than stuck in early access limbo.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
Tesla Robotaxi program expands in Florida to two new cities
