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Boeing Starliner joins SpaceX’s Crew Dragon at the International Space Station
Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule has successfully rendezvoused, approached, and docked with the International Space Station for the first time, marking major several major milestones for NASA and its second Commercial Crew partner.
Starliner’s second orbital flight test (OFT-2) began as expected with a near-flawless May 19th launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. As thousands of employees and stakeholders held their collective breath, the uncrewed prototype safely detached from Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage and propelled itself the rest of the to a stable parking orbit. Two and a half years after their first attempt, Boeing and NASA were then finally able to send Starliner on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) and prepare for proximity operations.
Welcome #Starliner ! pic.twitter.com/F7KVIRO24c— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 21, 2022
As previously discussed on Teslarati, Starliner making it through the first hour or so of flight without running into a catastrophic problem was already a huge milestone for Boeing and a massive improvement over the company’s last two orbital flight test attempts.
“The story of Starliner’s tortured orbital flight test (OFT) campaign began in earnest on December 20th, 2019, when an uncrewed prototype first attempted to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. A major software bug that could have been easily detected with even the most basic integrated hardware-in-the-loop prelaunch testing caused Starliner to lose control the moment it separated from Atlas V. After hundreds of seconds of unplanned burns of its many attitude control thrusters, Boeing finally regained control but Starliner no longer had enough propellant to safely reach the ISS.
Boeing would later catch and correct another unrelated software bug mere hours before Starliner’s planned reentry and recovery that, if undetected, could have caused the spacecraft’s capsule and service sections to crash into each other shortly after separation.
On July 30th, 2021, shortly before a different uncrewed Starliner was scheduled to reattempt the first Orbital Flight Test, the launch was aborted. Boeing and NASA later reported that 13 of Starliner’s 24 main oxidizer valves failed to open during a prelaunch test just a few hours before liftoff. It was eventually concluded that faulty Aerojet Rocketdyne-supplied valves and poor Boeing integration enabled water intrusion and extensive corrosion. The next OFT-2 launch attempt was delayed by almost ten months, as a result.”
Teslarati.com – May 19th, 2022
Instead of calamity, Starliner’s second OFT and third OFT attempt was mainly greeted with success. After reaching orbit, the spacecraft began raising and ‘phasing’ its orbit to rendezvous with the ISS and completed all the burns and navigation required without major issues. Finally, after several intentional test maneuvers and about an hour of unplanned troubleshooting, Starliner began its final approach and successfully docked with the ISS – joining a SpaceX Crew Dragon – at 8:28 pm EDT on May 20th (00:28 UTC 21 May).
Starliner’s successful docking made it the fourth, fifth, or sixth US spacecraft to reach the ISS, joining the Space Shuttle, three main variants of SpaceX’s Dragon, and Orbital ATK’s (now Northrop Grumman) Cygnus cargo vehicle. It also marked the first time that both NASA Commercial Crew Program vehicles have been simultaneously docked at the space station – a reassuring sign of a future with redundant access after years of Boeing delays forced SpaceX to temporarily become NASA’s sole source of astronaut transportation. While odds are good that SpaceX will ultimately be required to singlehandedly maintain NASA access to the ISS for seven six-month ‘expeditions’ (>3 years), Starliner’s thus-far-successful OFT2 mission significantly improves the odds that the Boeing spacecraft will be fully ready within a year or two.
Nonetheless, Starliner must still safely depart the ISS, lower its orbit, reenter Earth’s atmosphere, and safely touch down for recovery and reuse. Starliner has already accomplished all of those tasks during OFT1, but tensions will still be high. Additionally, Starliner’s performance during OFT2 has been far from perfect. Aside from a few minor issues with coolers and radiators, Boeing and NASA revealed that four of the spacecraft’s several dozen thrusters (two larger maneuvering/control thrusters and two smaller attitude control thrusters) – had failed by the time it was docked. During OFT1, as many as 13 thrusters failed as a result of minutes of unplanned burns, but Boeing was able to recover all but one before reentry.
Technically, that means that both missions have demonstrated the solid redundancy of Starliner’s propulsion systems, but NASA will undoubtedly demand that Boeing determine probable root causes and qualify fixes before greenlighting Starliner’s first Crewed Flight Test (CFT). For SpaceX, it took 14 months after Crew Dragon’s first near-flawless uncrewed debut for NASA to agree to proceed with a crewed flight test. However, during post-flight testing, the capsule that support Demo-1 catastrophically exploded, triggering a several-month investigation. The effect of a few failed thrusters is decidedly less severe, so Starliner might not have to wait as long for CFT. With any luck, that means that NASA will have two fully-redundant astronaut transport spacecraft available and operational by the end of 2023, if not earlier.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s secretive “Project Crystal Sun” gets a big green light in Texas
Fort Bend County approved four incentive agreements Thursday for Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion solar factory.
Fort Bend County commissioners on Thursday approved a package of tax incentives for Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion solar cell factory near Needville, Texas, giving the company one of the last local approvals it needs before it decides where to build. All four Tesla agreements passed 4 to 0.
The votes covered a property tax abatement inside Reinvestment Zone No. 34, a Chapter 381 economic development agreement, a foreign trade zone non-objection paired with payments in lieu of certain taxes, and a separate payment in lieu of taxes “true up” agreement, according to agenda notes from the Fort Bend Commissioners Court meeting.
The project, known internally as “Project Crystal Sun,” would make solar cells and finished modules on roughly 3,000 acres near FM 762 and FM 1994, south of the Brazos River. As Teslarati reported when the filing first surfaced in August, Tesla’s application under the state’s JETI Act splits the investment into $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in equipment, with 9,712 permanent jobs projected by 2033 and commercial operations targeted for the first quarter of 2029. The plant would handle the full chain from ingot and wafer production through cell testing.
Inside Tesla’s secretive $10 Billion “Project Crystal Sun” filing
Thursday’s approval does not lock in the site. Tesla has told the Texas Comptroller it is still weighing other locations, and site selection adviser David Dennison told Lamar Consolidated ISD trustees in September that the race had narrowed to Fort Bend and one out of state rival with a “very compelling package,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Tesla hopes to decide before the end of 2026, and the incentives still need sign off from the Comptroller and the Governor’s office.
Local officials have now done nearly everything within their control. Commissioners created the reinvestment zone in an August 24 special meeting, with Interim County Judge Daniel Wong formally withdrawing himself over his engineering firm’s past work with Tesla. Lamar CISD trustees voted 7 to 0 on September 15 to advance a JETI agreement that would tax Tesla’s qualifying property at 50 percent of its value for maintenance and operations from 2029 through 2038.
The plant lines up with a target Elon Musk set on Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings call in January, when he said the company would “work toward getting 100 GW a year of solar cell production, integrating across the entire supply chain from raw materials all the way to finished solar panels.” In March, Tesla was reported to be negotiating a $2.9 billion purchase of Chinese solar manufacturing equipment bound for Texas. The Houston area already hosts Tesla’s Megafactory in Brookshire, where Megapack 3 production has started. Tesla said on its Q3 call that Megapack supply for 2027 is nearly sold out, and Musk wrote on X Thursday that the company is “increasing production of Megapacks as much as possible,” as demand from data centers climbs.
Tesla revealed plans to develop its own maps internally to fix Navigation issues and give owners more control over their routing.
On the company’s Q3 2026 Earnings Call, a question was asked about FSD Navigation issues, particularly speed limit recognition, parking, and routing. These are issues that surface from version to version and seem to be seriously challenging for Tesla’s AI team to resolve.
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said in response to the question:
“You’re totally right that we shouldn’t be depending on external people’s maps. So we are building our own maps, but not like the same way as OneMoreMap. We are building an entirely new architecture with essentially AI-based mapping and navigation.”
He continued:
“It’s going to be super awesome. It’s going to be integrated with voice. You can talk to it, ask for different routes. It’s going to learn your personalized preferences, plus the fleet preferences. The collective intelligence of all the cars is going to flow into making the maps and navigation super cool.”
Elluswamy said this issue should be confronted, and the mapping should be available for people by the time the v15 release starts deploying to customers.
“And over the next several months,” he added, “it’s just going to take over all of the navigation functions, parking, destination handling. And it will know you better than you know yourself in some regard for the driving task, and then handle it fully.”
Tesla Summon got insanely good in FSD v14.3.2 — Navigation? Not so much
Navigation is perhaps the most notable complaint with FSD, and although it has gotten better, it is still flawed. Much of the time, FSD will take people on routes that are not preferred by the driver, but Tesla tried to combat this with a routing feature in the Summer 2026 Update.
Tesla currently relies on Google for map data, but it is sort of counterintuitive to believe the company would rely on a third party for this. These improvements will be welcome, as routing and navigation have been such a pain point for so many owners for so long.
Quotes via Motley Fool
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) showed a record attach rate at delivery for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2026.
75 percent of new vehicle deliveries in North America included a subscription to FSD software, up from 55 percent in the prior quarter, a 20-percentage-point sequential gain in the company’s most mature market.
Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS
Tesla shed light on the Q3 Shareholder Deck that 75 percent of new deliveries came with an FSD subscription:
“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets. “
The higher attach rate accompanied strong growth in the overall FSD consumer base, as active subscriptions rose to 1.75 million, a 67 percent year-over-year increase. For the first time, more than half of paid customers are on the monthly subscription, which is priced at $99 per month in the U.S.
People are buying FSD with a car attached, not the other way around
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026
The transition to subscriptions has accelerated since Tesla discontinued the one-time purchase option in most markets earlier this year. The recurring model improves revenue visibility and margins compared with large upfront payments. With three-quarters of North American deliveries now including FSD, the software is now an evidently large contributor to Tesla’s economics and ancillary revenue.
Geographic expansion remains important for further gains. FSD is now available in nine countries in the EU, and more than 100,000 customers have driven over 160 million kilometers. Tesla is pursuing broader EU-wide approval, with a related vote expected in December. Similar progress in additional markets could support higher attach rates beyond North America.
These results came as Tesla had a strong quarterly delivery performance of 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, which came with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. Battery supply continued to limit volume, but the company has pointed to FSD as a clear difference-maker that is helping sustain demand. As supervised capabilities improve, the attach rate will likely continue to improve.
At face value, it is a key measure of how Tesla is converting sales into autonomy progress.
Tesla’s secretive “Project Crystal Sun” gets a big green light in Texas
Tesla is building its own maps to fix Navigation issues
