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ISSR&D: NASA praises SpaceX and commercial partners, looks towards the future
Robert Lightfoot, the current Acting Director of NASA, began the third day of ISS R&D with a rousing keynote on the roles of NASA and the ISS in the future of public and private space exploration.
ISS R&D’s keynote venue. (Teslarati/Eric Ralph)
Lightfoot began the timely statement that those creating new platforms often completely fail to fully predict how those platforms will eventually be used. The ISS is a prime example, with an array of commercial endeavors having come into existence for reasons that were undoubtedly less than prominent in discussions of the use of the ISS around the time it was be theorized and later constructed.
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$19.99 USDAnother shining example, Lightfoot admitted that those involved with ensuring the survival of the ISS may have never imagined or predicted that the Station would act as a catalyst for programs like COTS, CRS, and CCtCap, which have encouraged considerable competition and led to a range of successes in a now-burgeoning commercial space market. In fact, NASA’s willingness to take risks, particularly in the development of the ISS and other platforms, has arguably enabled SpaceX to completely revitalize American participation in the commercial launch industry, and to do so in less than five years.
While not fully accurate, given that Ariane 5 carries two satellites per launch, this chart is still a profound demonstration of the rapid progress SpaceX has made in ensuring a more competitive commercial launch industry. (SpaceX)
Lightfoot went on to praise NASA’s commercial partners, and said that “[NASA will] be able to get four crew on station [once SpaceX, Boeing, and possibly Sierra Nevada are launching crew]”. He offered a brief overview of the past several trunk-loads of scientific instruments SpaceX Dragons have brought to the ISS, enabling it to remain “a vital platform for earth observation, [both hands-on and hands-off]”. A great deal of the experiments and cargo that have enabled such a burgeoning low Earth orbit economy aboard the ISS have been brought there in part by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, which marked the first commercial spacecraft to reach orbit and later visit the International Space Station in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
Lightfoot actively asked himself and the audience what the future of the ISS may be or ought to be, and clearly had every desire to ensure the future of the vibrant LEO economy that the ISS has enabled. Whether this means that the ISS continues to function indefinitely or is replaced with a commercial platform, it will be necessary for NASA to eventually decrease or cut completely their funding burden of the ISS if NASA wishes to better develop the hardware and create the knowledge necessary for manned Mars exploration.
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- A prototype of Dragon 2 being tested in an anechoic chamber. (SpaceX)
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- Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. (Boeing)
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- Orbital ATK’s Enhanced Cygnus, the second CRS partner that delivers cargo to the ISS. (NASA)
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- Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser Cargo, which received investment from NASA for their CRS-2 program. (SNC)
Undertaking all that is necessary, and doing it successfully, will require a great deal of cooperation in the development of space policy in the present and near future. Jeff Bingham, once a Republican aide in Congress and a crucial voice in gathering the votes to ensure the continued existence of the ISS more than a decade ago, noted that his past colleague, Ann Lukowksi, was a Democratic aide, and that “didn’t matter”. Together, with the help of numerous other crucial members, they arguably ensured that the House successfully passed a resolution to pursue the creation of the ISS with a margin of a single vote out of more than 400.
Bipartisan cooperation has long been a standout feature of space policy and decision-making, and is more obvious and crucial than ever in a time of increased polarization. Public investment in private space endeavors, whether direct or indirect, has ensured the existence of SpaceX and a thriving community of commercial space providers and users, and will soon allow the U.S. to rid itself of a reliance upon non-American launch vehicles for access to the ISS.
Tesla Cybertruck trims saw a big price change, at least on two of the three available to consumers, as demand for the all-electric pickup appears to be increasing.
Tesla bumped up its Base All-Wheel-Drive trim level up to $74,990 from $69,990 and the Premium All-Wheel-Drive configuration from $79,990 to $84,990. The Cyberbeast price remains unchanged at $99,990.
🚨 Cybertruck prices went up as Tesla bumped them 7%
– Tesla Cybertruck AWD is now $74,990
– Tesla Cybertruck Premium AWD now $84,990
– Tesla Cyberbeast now $99,990 https://t.co/MYJbaw56GL— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 25, 2026
Despite questions of demand for the truck, Tesla is bumping its two least expensive trims up $5,000 to signal that there are plenty of buyers. Although SpaceX has been buying Tesla Cybertruck units to utilize as company vehicles, it is no secret that the Cybertruck is among the most sought-after Tesla models out there.
The issue has always been pricing, at least for the most part. When Tesla initially launched the Cybertruck AWD at $59,990 a few months back, the company stated that price would remain intact for just ten days due to the influx of orders it received.
Cybertruck Sales: Is It the Product or Pricing?
Depending on who you ask, you will likely hear one of two explanations for relatively low Cybertruck sales: either the product itself or the pricing.
Yes, this is the best-selling all-electric pickup on the market. However, there are people who simply hate the look of it, which I understand, but do not agree with. Look is totally subjective, and I love the look of the Cybertruck.
Some people will not buy the Cybertruck because of the look, but I am under the impression that sales would be much better if this truck were priced lower; something that might not be possible considering Tesla’s need to make money on its products. When it was unveiled in 2019, its most expensive trim level was $69,990. Now, the cheapest trim level is more expensive than that.
I would be in a Cybertruck if it were more affordable. I LOVE my Model Y, but Cybertruck is the best vehicle Tesla makes, and it’s not particularly close. Even in the base model, the steer-by-wire, the space, storage, and performance make it more desirable than the Model Y to me. I cannot be the only Tesla owner without a Cybertruck who feels this way.
If you’re interested in buying a Tesla vehicle, use my referral link.
Energy
Tesla Semi factory is getting a celebration nobody expected
Tesla will inaugurate its Nevada Semi factory September 24, five months after production quietly began ramping.
Tesla says it will officially inaugurate its new Semi factory in Nevada next month. The Tesla Semi account posted the announcement on X, sharing a graphic titled “Semi Rollout” with a date of September 24. No further details were given about the format of the event or who would attend.
While Tesla’s dedicated Semi plant in Sparks, adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada, opened back in April, with the first trucks rolling off the high volume line on April 29, the timing for the factory inauguration comes at a surprise. The ribbon cutting event five months into production is a break from how Tesla has usually handled its other factories, where the first truck or car off the line typically served as the milestone moment.
Inauguration of new Semi factory in Nevada next month pic.twitter.com/a8kAlxrOOn
— Tesla Semi (@tesla_semi) August 24, 2026
The 1.7 million square foot factory was built as part of a $3.6 billion expansion Tesla announced in early 2023, and it shares a site with the battery cell lines that feed the Semi’s structural pack, a decision meant to remove the supply bottleneck that delayed the truck for years. The plant is designed for 50,000 trucks a year at full ramp. Semi program director Dan Priestley has said production “is now ramping” rather than claiming it has reached scale.
Nine years passed between the Semi’s 2017 unveiling and this stage of production, with the truck slipping from an original 2019 target through hand built pilot units for PepsiCo and a slow build out of the Nevada plant. An inauguration event now gives Tesla a stage to talk up that ramp and reset expectations for how many trucks it can begin delivering at scale.
The September date also lines up with the Semi’s next milestone. Tesla confirmed the truck is heading to Europe with a full unveiling at the IAA Transportation trade show in Hannover, Germany, running September 15 through 20. Between the Nevada event and the Hannover reveal, Tesla has roughly a week and a half in September to make the case that the Semi is now a truck being built and sold on two continents rather than tested in a handful of fleets.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk just set a condition that could end Falcon 9 as we know it
Elon Musk says SpaceX will finally retire Falcon 9 once Starship flies reliably every week.
Elon Musk gave the clearest timeline yet for retiring Falcon 9, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket.
The comment came in a reply on X, where Musk wrote that “once Starship is flying reliably several times per week, it makes sense to shift super scarce SpaceX engineering and production resources to Starship to get launch rate to several times per day, which means winding down Falcon.” He was responding to physicist Casey Handmer, who noted that NASA is reportedly uneasy about SpaceX phasing out Falcon after building what Handmer called the most successful launcher ever, with the fleet nearing 1,000 total launches.
Now @SciGuySpace reports NASA is in a tizzy because after running the most successful launcher ever for more than a decade and nearing 1000 launches, @SpaceX is planning to retire Falcon in favor of Starship in a few years.
Sorry, NASA, you’ve had 15 years to burn down the… https://t.co/uCNoMwK0v9
— Casey Handmer (@CJHandmer) August 22, 2026
Falcon 9 is still SpaceX’s busiest vehicle by far. The company is on pace for roughly 140 to 145 Falcon flights this year, following 165 in 2025, president Gwynne Shotwell told Time earlier in 2026. She has already said Falcon flights would “tail off” as Starship comes online, while reports indicate that SpaceX has stopped booking new Falcon 9 launches past 2028 and halted production of some expendable Falcon hardware, according to Bloomberg.
It’s worth noting that Musk’s post is a condition, and not a countdown on when Falcon will retire. Starship has not yet flown weekly, let alone daily. Its most recent flight in July ended with a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean, a milestone Musk pointed to earlier this month when he said the vehicle’s heat shield problem was effectively solved. SpaceX towed that ship to Christmas Island for inspection, and the next flight, Flight 14, is aimed at putting Starship into orbit for the first time. A tower catch attempt for the upper stage has been pushed back to what Musk has called “a few months” away.
SpaceX and a new Trump order that could rewrite the next decade of launches
The gap between Falcon’s role today and Starship’s promised role tomorrow matters most to NASA. Falcon and its Dragon capsule remain the only way the agency rotates astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and Starship is not certified to carry NASA crews. Musk’s post did not address how that handoff would work if Falcon winds down before a crew-rated Starship variant exists. The timing lines up with Musk’s other recent Starship comments. Two days before the Falcon post, he told a different X user that SpaceX is aiming for more than 30 Starship launches a day by 2030, or roughly 10,000 a year, a figure tied to the Trump administration’s new push for higher national launch cadence. Falcon, which took over a decade to reach its first 100 launches, was never built to approach that kind of volume.
For now, Falcon 9 keeps flying at a near-record pace while Starship works to prove it can do the job Musk has already picked out for it.
Tesla just made Cybertruck more expensive
Tesla Semi factory is getting a celebration nobody expected
