Here are some of the stories you may have missed in the past week. The week, of course, featured a few Starlink launches, delays to Boeing’s first Crewed Starliner mission, Starship updates, and Polaris Dawn unveiling their new EVA suits.
SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites from Florida – SpaceX continued its Starlink constellation buildout, sending 23 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit using Booster 1069 which made its 15th successful flight and is already back and beginning its refurbishment process.
United Launch Alliance delayed the first crewed Starliner mission – ULA delayed the first crewed Boeing Starliner mission due to an upper-stage oxygen release valve that started having issues right when the Crew was being loaded into the capsule. The launch was initially delayed to the 10th but later delayed to no earlier than May 17th as ULA needed to move the rocket back to its integration facility to gain access to the valve to replace it. ULA this afternoon has now delayed the launch to no earlier than May 21st to allow for additional testing.
SpaceX kept up its pace with another Starlink launch – 23 more Starlink satellites joined the constellation after a successful launch from Launch Complex 39A using Booster 1083. It is likely this Booster’s next mission will be very important as it has been assigned the Polaris Dawn crew launch later this Summer.
Starlink satellites began their trip to orbit last week (Credit SpaceX)
Starship fires its engines up at Starbase – Starship 30 began its test campaign as it fired all 6 Raptor engines at sub-orbital pad B. This Starship will likely fly on the 5th Integrated Flight Test, potentially weeks after the 4th flight. This was also the last static fire of a Starship at the launch site, as it was demolished just days after the test. Future Starship testing will occur at the company’s Massey testing facility down the road.
Polaris Dawn EVA suits revealed—SpaceX unveiled the brand new Extravehicular Activity suits that will be used by the Polaris Dawn crew to conduct the first-ever commercial crew spacewalk. The spacewalk will see all four members exposed to the vacuum of space, the most ever at once in the history of spaceflight.
-->SpaceX launches more Direct-to-Cell capable Starlinks—Twenty Starlinks launched from California, 13 of which are Direct-to-Cell capable, to help eliminate cell dead zones in remote areas.
Dream Chaser Tenacity during testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility (Credit Sierra Space)
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser space plane to be moved to Florida – The Dream Chaser space plane will soon be moved to Florida for integration onto ULA’s Vulcan rocket. This is a vital mission as it will certify Vulcan for government missions, and officials are now pressing the company to either launch this mission or even use a mass simulator if Dream Chaser isn’t ready.
The world also experienced a major Solar storm over the weekend with SpaceX reporting that all of their satellites weathered the storm and are operating nominally.
Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
News
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
Tesla Europe has announced that its “Future Holidays” campaign will feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along experiences in the Netherlands.
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
The Holiday program was announced by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on X. “Come get in the spirit with us. Featuring Caraoke, FSD Supervised ride-along experiences, holiday light shows with our S3XY lineup & more,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Per the program’s official website, fun activities will include Caraoke sessions and light shows with the S3XY vehicle lineup. It appears that Optimus will also be making an appearance at the events. Tesla even noted that the humanoid robot will be in “full party spirit,” so things might indeed be quite fun.
“This season, we’re introducing you to the fun of the future. Register for our holiday events to meet our robots, see if you can spot the Bot to win prizes, and check out our selection of exclusive merchandise and limited-edition gifts. Discover Tesla activities near you and discover what makes the future so festive,” Tesla wrote on its official website.
-->This announcement aligns with Tesla’s accelerating FSD efforts in Europe, where supervised ride-alongs could help demonstrate the tech to regulators and customers. The Netherlands, with its urban traffic and progressive EV policies, could serve as an ideal and valuable testing ground for FSD.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
News
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.
Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October.
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.
Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.
The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.
This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.
-->For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
