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SpaceX Crew Dragon astronauts are chasing the space station around Earth

The SpaceX Falcon 9 liftsoff from LC-39A carrying the Crew Dragon and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to International Space Station for the first time. (Credit: Richard Angle for Teslarati)

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The morning of SpaceX’s most prolific launch – the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission – began with one question on the mind of many, why did the Falcon 9 rocket have just one second, and one second only, to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS)? A simplified answer is orbital mechanics and a carefully planned out 19 hour trip around the planet.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley pushes through the Earth’s’ atmosphere experiencing a period of maximum aerodynamic pressures called Max Q. (Credit:
Richard Angle for Teslarati)

The launch of the Falcon 9 was a highly anticipated moment, however, it was easily the most familiar part of the Demo-2 mission. Leading up to Demo-2, SpaceX had successfully launched twenty-eight Block 5 Falcon 9 boosters – the same type of booster that the Crew Dragon carrying Behnken and Hurley would launch on. The landing of the Falcon 9 on the autonomous spaceport drone ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was also a familiar process that SpaceX had completed successfully a number of times.

A diagram depicts the launch, separation, and landing sequence of the Falcon 9 booster and Crew Dragon capsule. (Credit: SpaceX/NASA)

Even the Crew Dragon capsule had a launch and mission to the space station under its belt, however, launching astronauts aboard the capsule had yet to be attempted, let alone done successfully. The least familiar part of the mission was what Crew Dragon and its occupants had to achieve once free of the Earth’s gravity well.

Once past launch and separation from the Falcon 9 first stage booster, Crew Dragon would separate from the Falcon 9 second stage, enter an initial orbit, and proceed to spend the next nineteen hours chasing the ISS around the planet. The capsule had to perform a series of burns to lift its orbit high enough to match that of the ISS for autonomous docking nineteen hours later. During the trip, Behnken and Hurley had a series of items to check off prior to initiating their crew sleep aboard Crew Dragon. A few of the items included doffing – or taking off – their SpaceX pressure suits, hosting a brief media opportunity explaining the name “Endeavour” chosen for their capsule as well as the zero-G indicator named “Tremor” chosen to ride along with them and eat their first meal in space.

A diagram describes the different timeline milestones of the Crew Dragon capsule as it completes is trip to the International Space Station. (Credit: SpaceX/NASA)

The Crew Dragon also had a few jobs of its own to complete. Crew and capsule would spend about two hours performing 3 different burns of the sixteen Draco thrusters outfitted all around the Crew Dragon’s outer shell. The first phasing burn was needed to insert it into the correct orbit, followed a little while later by a boost burn to raise the capsule’s orbit even more. And lastly, a close coelliptic burn to flatten out the orbit around the Earth making it more elliptical, rather than circular matching that of the ISS. These three burns were completed while the crew was awake performing any necessary tasks. Two more burns remained to be completed, but those would need to occur much closure to docking with the ISS, one while the crew slept and one just before autonomous docking procedures were set to begin.

A diagram of the different burns of the Draco thrusters that the Crew Dragon capsule would need to perform to match the orbit of the International Space Station. (Credit: SpaceX/NASA)

The fourth burn – a transfer burn – is intended to raise the capsule the final ten meters in orbital space to match that of the ISS. This burn will allow the capsule to begin its final approach toward the station. It will be completed by the SpaceX mission control ground station in Hawthorne, California while the crew sleeps. It will be a gentle burn of the Dracos lasting less than a minute.

The capsule will then burn the Draco thrusters once more for the final coelliptic burn matching its orbit directly with the ISS. At this time, the crew aboard both the Crew Dragon capsule and space station will be awake for a full day of work including the meticulous process of autonomously docking the capsule to the ISS, the opening of the hatch of Crew Dragon, and welcoming Behnken and Hurley aboard the station as members of the Expedition 63 crew.

Crew Dragon is expected to meet up with the ISS nineteen hours after liftoff. Docking with the station is set to occur on Sunday, May 31st around 10:30 am EDT/14:30 UTC. Behnken and Hurley will be welcomed aboard the station during a traditional crew welcoming ceremony that should occur about two hours after docking has been confirmed.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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Tesla’s new Safety Report shows Autopilot is nine times safer than humans

Tesla released its Vehicle Safety Report for Q3 2025, and it showed that one crash was recorded every 6.36 million miles drive in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s new Safety Report for Q3 shows Autopilot technology contributed to accident frequency that was nine times lower than the national average.

Tesla released its Vehicle Safety Report for Q3 2025, and it showed that one crash was recorded every 6.36 million miles drive in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.

This is a stark contrast from the most recent data made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which shows there is an automobile crash approximately every 702,000 miles.

The figure for Q3 2025 is slightly lower than the one that Tesla released in Q3 2024, which eclipsed 7 million miles between accidents for drivers using Autopilot technology.

Over the past seven quarters, Q1 has been Tesla’s strongest showing with the Vehicle Safety Report, with Q4 being the weakest. This is usually attributed to weather and driving conditions deteriorating toward the end of the year.

Q1 2024 was Tesla’s best performance so far, with one crash every 7.63 million miles.

Tesla releases Vehicle Safety Report for Q1 2024

Autopilot and Full Self-Driving have been a major focus of Tesla over the past few years, and recent versions have improved on what has already proven to be an extremely safe way to travel, as long as it is used correctly.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite is a suitable way to allow the vehicle to navigate through any traffic setting and has been widely effective for day-to-day travel. With the data Tesla gets from its use across its vehicle fleet, it gets more refined and more accurate with every passing mile.

The company has teased the potential for completely unsupervised Full Self-Driving releases in the future, but Tesla has to solve autonomy before it can offer anything like that to the public.

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Tesla looks to enter a new continent, new job posting shows

Tesla is present on five of the seven continents: North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In South America, Tesla currently operates only in one country, Chile, but is looking to expand to more areas.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is looking to enter Africa for the first time, launching operations on a new continent and expanding its vehicle business operations.

Tesla is present on five of the seven continents: North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In South America, Tesla currently operates only in one country, Chile, but is looking to expand to more areas.

First Tesla Model Y Performance Spotted In Africa

Although the company has not launched anything in Africa, a new job posting indicates that Tesla is looking to launch there for the first time.

According to a new posting on Tesla’s Careers website, it is looking for a full-time Country Sales & Delivery Leader in Casablanca, Morocco:

“The Country Sales & Delivery Leader is responsible for driving the sales and delivery strategy and daily operations across the country. They will hire and develop the best people leaders and ensure the development of the highest performing teams. The Field Sales & Delivery Leader will take accountability for achieving ambitious sales and delivery targets and ensure the business performs on key success criteria, including but not excluded to market growth, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and employee deployment and retention. In addition to driving business performance across sales & delivery, the Field Sales & Delivery is expected to act as an ambassador for Tesla in the market, as well as provide critical perspective and guidance on decisions impacting outcomes within their market to increase Tesla’s market share.”

Back in July, Tesla officially registered its presence in the Moroccan market with the $2.75 million initial capital investment, according to The Habari Network.

The move marked a formal attempt at market entry for the EV maker, and it could signal even more opportunities through its other business operations, like energy.

Morocco is looked at as one of the countries in Africa that is most prone to transition toward EVs, as its government has focused on renewable energy and strategic investments in transportation.

It also has local production advantages, as Renault operates a plant in Morocco.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla investors want answers to these five questions during Q3 Earnings

These are the top five questions that have been asked and voted for by investors of the company, and what we think about them.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is preparing to report its earnings for the third quarter of 2025 this afternoon. Investors are looking for answers regarding the Robotaxi launch, energy division, potential future vehicle releases, Optimus, and demand stimulation without the tax credit.

Using the investor platform Say, Tesla allows investors to ask questions for the earnings call.

Tesla Q3 2025 earnings: What analysts expect

These are the top five questions that have been asked and voted for by investors of the company, and what we think about them:

  • What are the latest Robotaxi metrics (fleet size, cumulative miles, rides completed, intervention rates), and when will safety drivers be removed? What are the obstacles still preventing unsupervised FSD from being deployed to customer vehicles?
    • What we think: Tesla should release some metrics about Robotaxi operation, but it has been cryptic about fleet size and other statistics in the past. Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said Safety Drivers should be removed ‘by the end of the year,’ and we imagine this will be reiterated during the call. Regarding Unsupervised FSD, Tesla has stated that safety is its priority moving forward with the FSD rollout and Robotaxi as well.

 

  • What is demand/backlog for Megapack, Powerwall, Solar, or energy storage systems? With the current AI boom, is Tesla planning to supply power to other hyperscalers?
    • What we think: This is perhaps the only question of the five that Tesla will be totally forthcoming with, as it usually does not reveal vehicle plans or data on these earnings calls. However, it will be interesting to see if the company has any plans to supplement the increasing AI plans with its energy products. Energy falls under the radar with a lot of its achievements, so it really could be a major focus of this call if this question gets answered.

 

  • What are the plans for new car models? Will Tesla build compact car models leveraging the unboxed Cybercab platform? Will Tesla build a traditional SUV and pickup truck on the Cybertruck platform?
    • What we think: Tesla does not unveil or release plans about projects on earnings calls, so we doubt there will be much color here from executives. Considering Tesla has put so much weight on autonomy in the U.S., we’re not necessarily convinced it will plan to do much more than Cybercab, and SUV and pickup trucks will likely be built on a different platform as well, if they’re offered at all. Musk isn’t sure about bringing the Model Y L to the U.S. market due to the “advent of self-driving.”

 

  • What are the present challenges in bringing Optimus to market, considering app control software, engineering hardware, training general mobility models, training task-specific models, training voice models, implementing manufacturing, and establishing supply chains?
    • What we think: This will likely be where Tesla teases the capabilities of Optimus Gen 3, and comes up with some sort of rough date where it could show off the new design. Tesla has been using Optimus in its factories and other internal operations, so it’s likely we’ll hear some stories about that as well. Tesla is looking to refine the Optimus design so it is useful and capable in residential applications, and its hands are likely the biggest bottleneck as they are arguably the most crucial part of the product.

 

  • Can you talk about demand stimulation avenues beyond affordability? Given the state of global politics, can Tesla’s brand elevate above the divisiveness and return global perception back to our inspirational roots of ludicrous performance, environmental good, and superior safety?
    • What we think: Tesla is going to flex its new Standard offerings now, and the company has been transparent that Musk’s political involvement will wind down in a timely manner, according to the proxy it released when it revealed his pay package. 
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