Connect with us

News

United Launch Alliance delays maiden Vulcan Centaur launch

Centaur V being stacked atop the Vulcan first stage in February (Credit United Launch Alliance)

Published

on

Following the anomaly investigation into the Centaur V upper stage, United Launch Alliance is de-stacking the Vulcan Centaur rocket and shipping the Centaur V upper stage back to Decatur, Alabama.

While the Vulcan Centaur’s first stage performed nominally during the Flight Readiness Firing and met all objectives, United Launch Alliance is doing the right thing and fixing any potential issues on the ground before finding out about them during flight. It is worth noting, the Centaur V upper stage performed as expected during the test firing in which it was fully fueled and pressurized in a flight configuration.

The anomaly investigation found that “Centaur’s thin-walled pressure stabilized tanks require minor reinforcement at the top of the forward dome” and they will also select another Centaur V currently in production at their processing facility to complete qualification testing.

This process will delay the maiden launch of the Vulcan Centaur for quite some time, and there is a high chance that some of those national security payloads could be switched over to the Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy. United Launch Alliance had originally won 60% of the contract, with SpaceX picking up the remaining 40%.

While the Centaur V upper stage is shipped back and reinforcements added, the Vulcan first stage will be removed from the mobile launch platform and lowered into a horizontal position for storage in the Horizontal Integration Facility.

United Launch Alliance’s Gary Wentz said the fix would be “relatively easy,” so there is a chance that Vulcan Centaur could make its maiden launch before the year is out.

The payload for the first launch is Astrobotics Peregrine lunar lander, which is done and ready for shipping to the launch site in Florida. While this launch could still happen this year, it is highly likely that Amazon’s launch of their first two Kuiper internet satellites will be delayed further, creating a bit of a domino effect for payloads assigned to the delayed rocket.

Throughout all of this, rumors abound of United Launch Alliance being shopped around for someone to buy. How much could these issues with the rocket that is supposed to be their primary workhorse for years if not decades to come, affect their potential buyers?

Advertisement

Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.

Comments

Investor's Corner

Tesla (TSLA) releases first quarter 2025 earnings results

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings were released in an Update Letter, which was posted on the company’s Investor Relations website after markets closed today, April 22, 2025.

Tesla Q1 2025 Deliveries

Tesla’s first quarter vehicle deliveries fell short of expectations, with the EV maker delivering a total of 336,681 vehicles, comprised of 323,800 Model 3/Y and 12,881 other models, worldwide. Vehicle production was at 362,615 units in the first quarter, comprised of 345,454 Model 3/Y and 17,161 other models.

Tesla Energy continued its momentum in Q1 2025, with the division deploying 10.4 GWh of energy storage products during the quarter.

What Wall Street Expects

As noted in a Forbes report, expectations are high that Tesla will report a gain of $0.35 per share on $21.85 billion in revenue, though whisper numbers suggest that the company will only post a gain of $0.31 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect Tesla to see an EPS of $0.41 per share on revenues of $21.27 billion, as noted in an Investors’ Business Daily report.

Tesla’s Q1 2025 Results

Following are highlights of Tesla’s Q1 2025 update Letter:

Advertisement
  • Total Revenues: $19.3 billion
  • Total automotive revenues: $13.967 billion
  • Total GAAP gross margin: 16.3%
  • Gross Profit: $3.15 billion
  • EPS non-GAAP: $0.27 per share
  • Free cash flow: $664 million

Below is Tesla’s first quarter 2025 Update Letter.

TSLA-Q1-2025-Update by Simon Alvarez

This article is being updated.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla is thriving in Japan and outpacing homegrown EVs

Imports, which include vehicles from Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla China)

Tesla is seeing robust sales in Japan. This was hinted at in data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, which indicated a 56% yearly increase to 2,120 units in Q1 2025.

Tesla constitutes most of the vehicles in the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, as noted in a Nikkei Asia report.

Japan’s Tesla Boom

Car sales by “others” in Japan soared 89% to 1,249 units in March, a monthly high, Nikkei noted. Fueling this surge in vehicle demand seemed to be the rollout of the new Model Y, as well as incentives like a five-year free Supercharging offer for previous-generation Model Y units. 

Japan’s overall electric vehicle market, however, shrank 33% to 59,736 units in 2024, comprising under 2% of total auto sales, the lowest among major economies. Imports, which include Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.

Weak Local Competition

One of the reasons behind Tesla’s surge in Japan could be the subpar EVs offered by Japanese automakers. So far, only eight models are available from homegrown automakers, and none could really hold a candle to vehicles like the new Model Y in terms of features and performance.

Advertisement

This was highlighted by the Nissan Leaf, which saw a 32% sales drop to 1,133 units, and the Toyota bZ4X, which saw a 76% drop in sales to just 85 units in the first quarter. Combined, Japanese brands sold a total of 2,063 EVs, less than Tesla’s estimated figures for the quarter.

Yoshiaki Kawano, an analyst at S&P Global, noted that the weak EVs from Japan’s homegrown automakers result in consumers opting for imported vehicles like Teslas. “There are few homegrown EV options, so in some cases people who want to buy EVs reluctantly choose imports,” Kawano stated.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

xAI poised for funding surge as Musk seeks “proper value” for AI startup: report

The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.

Published

on

Credit: xAI/X

During a recent investor call, Elon Musk reportedly hinted at a major valuation adjustment for his artificial intelligence startup, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO stating that he was looking to put a “proper value” on xAI.

The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.

Investor Call Sparks Speculation

Citing sources who were reportedly involved in the call, Faber noted that while Musk did not specifically state that he was looking to initiate another funding round, his comments about a “proper valuation” for xAI were interpreted by Faber’s sources that xAI may be setting the stage for a notable capital raise in the near future.

“Let me give you some takeaways from the call itself. It was with a number of the companies, the investors in xAI going over a number of important things, that included the closing of the X transaction… Remember, xAI and X are now one company valuing X at $33 billion going in. xAI had a value of as much as $80 billion.

“What I’ve heard is the company is setting up for another capital raise of great significance… But on the call, Musk is quoted as having said, ‘We’re going to put a proper value on the company in reference to xAI,’ and people took that to mean, and again this is speculation, that they will have a large raise,” Faber stated

Advertisement

xAI’s Growth and Ambitions

Launched in July 2023, xAI introduced its Grok chatbot to challenge Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In March, Musk merged xAI with X. “xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk wrote on X. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.” 

The merger leverages X’s data to train Grok, boosting xAI’s competitive edge. xAI has also made a lot of headway in the artificial intelligence space, thanks in part to its speed, which allowed it to set up Colossus, a supercomputer cluster comprised of 100,000 GPUs, in just 122 days. Colossus has since been expanded to 200,000 GPUs, and plans are underway to expand the supercomputer even further.

Continue Reading

Trending