Connect with us

News

Elon Musk and SpaceX won’t be stopped along the road to Mars

Published

9 years ago

on

If one is to take anything at all away from Elon Musk’s update to SpaceX’s planetary colonization strategy on September 29, it ought to be the tangible and undeniable progress the company has made with real, Mars-focused hardware development.

To take Musk at his word, the general atmosphere pervading the two relevant programs is one of extreme success and confidence. Raptor, the powerful methane-oxygen rocket engine intended to be the workhorse for any larger launch vehicle, has conducted dozens (42, to be specific) of successful hot fires at SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas testing facilities. These ranged from a handful of seconds all the way to 100 seconds in duration, and Musk made it explicitly clear that the only limiting factor to test duration was the size of the tanks of propellant available to fuel the engine. Of crucial importance is the fact that the engine being tested in Texas is a subscale prototype, and is not representative of the final engine. However, SpaceX has since shrunk the final target for operational Raptors, and this means that the current scale is not far off from the final thrust figure. The prototype Raptor is believed to have a thrust of approximately 1,000 kN (Kilonewtons), with slides from Musk’s 2017 presentation pointing to a full scale thrust of 1700 kN, far closer to becoming real than the 3,000 kN figure given at the 2016 IAC.

Advertisement

Possibly even more significant is the reported success SpaceX has had with the construction and stress testing of a full-scale carbon fiber liquid oxygen tank, which was tested to a very eventful destruction on Washington state’s Puget Sound. Fans closely followed this series of tests, but information was scarce and the general consensus was that the tank had failed unintentionally during those tests. The fact that Musk claimed that the 12 meter diameter tank was “successfully tested” at high pressures, as well as the confidence he expressed about a uniquely capable “carbon fiber matrix”, suggest that SpaceX have leaped over one of biggest potential hurdles of their larger vehicle plans. Carbon fiber propellant tanks have the potential to make rockets significantly lighter and thus more efficient, particularly if no internal liner of metal is needed to ensure the safety of those carbon fiber tanks. One might remember the difficulties SpaceX had with supercool liquid oxygen, culminating in the Amos-6 mishap that saw carbon fiber helium tanks clash with SpaceX’s then-new supercooled propellant procedures.

Through many challenging mistakes, SpaceX has learned the hard way that extra care must be taken when mixing carbon fiber and liquid oxygen. The telltale sign that SpaceX has, however, successfully learned from those mistakes can be found in the company’s aspiration to begin construction of the first BFR cargo ship as early as April of 2018, barely six months from today. Time will tell if they can maintain that aggressive schedule and launch two Mars-bound cargo ships in 2022. The company’s incontrovertible success with the development of Raptor engines and carbon fiber propellant tanks bode extremely well for the future of their planetary colonization efforts.

Related Topics:

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

Advertisement
Comments

DIY

Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit

Published

2 hours ago

on

June 7, 2026

By

Credit: @mikegapinski

Tesla owners have long griped about the wireless phone charger in the Model Y and other vehicles. It often turns smartphones into miniature ovens rather than reliably topping them up.

Software engineer and Model Y owner Michał Gapiński tackled this issue head-on with a clever DIY upgrade, swapping the cooled wireless charger pad from the China-made Model YL in for the one that came standard in his vehicle.

There are several key differences between the U.S.-built Model Y’s wireless charging pad and the one that Tesla has been installing in the Model YL. The one installed in U.S.-built vehicles lacks active cooling and relies on basic heat dissipation, leading to rapid temperature buildup during charging. In contrast, the Model YL integrates a small fan for active cooling.

This design maintains lower temperatures even in warm ambient conditions, though it does not support faster Qi2 charging on iPhones. The connector matches exactly, making physical swaps feasible on compatible consoles, but coding is required to enable full functionality.

Owners in the U.S. have complained about the wireless charging pad, with many reporting that overheating is fairly common. Within 20 or 30 minutes of placing a phone on the wireless charging pad, many have reported overheating messages on their phones, which halt charging and essentially turn the pad into a fancy place to rest your phone.

Many owners have opted to simply plug their phones into a charging cord. Tesla has acknowledged the problem by releasing several solutions for owners, including a relatively new feature that allows you to simply turn off the charging and simply act as a holder for your phone while driving.

Advertisement

Gapiński said that he sourced the cooled pad affordably from China, and it cost under $200 for the part.

He removed the existing console charger, swapped in the new unit, confirming a perfect connector fit, and handled the trim differences. Since the parameter isn’t fully secured, he enabled it through custom coding outside official Toolbox.

Advertisement

The fan activates quietly, blending with AC and seat cooling. He reported the installation was effective and the wireless charging pad worked perfectly; it even kept the phone cool as it stayed at just 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Many times, the wireless charging pad will bring the phone’s temperature well above 100 degrees, sometimes even being relatively hot to the touch.

Advertisement

This retrofit highlighted an elegant, owner-driven solution to a factory shortcoming. It is expected that Tesla will begin installing the cooled charging pads into new cars in the U.S. soon, and hopefully, it will offer some sort of retrofit service or kit to owners here who want to use the charging pad effectively.

For those who love to tinker, it’s an accessible upgrade, proving that innovation thrives beyond the production line.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Roadster unveiling teased to be happening ‘in a few weeks’ by exec

Published

6 hours ago

on

June 7, 2026

By

(Credit: teslaindiafansclub/Instagram)

The Tesla Roadster unveiling could be coming “in a few weeks,” according to the company’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, who said at the Tesla Takeover Europe Event in Austria that the all-electric hypercar could finally make its way to the production line after years of anticipation.

Von Holzhausen delivered the news just days after The Information reported that Tesla planned to push the Roadster unveiling to August. It was slated for both April and May of this year, but now it seems the company is leaning toward a late Summer event to cap off the heat with perhaps its most anticipated vehicle of all-time.

Franz has been with Tesla since 2008, and has played a pivotal role in the iconic design language the company has utilized with its vehicles. Speaking to the crowd in Austria virtually, von Holzhausen’s comments injected fresh excitement into a project that has been plagued by delays for nine years.

The second-generation Roadster promises to redefine supercar standards. Tesla’s website still highlights ambitious targets: 0-60 mph in under 1.9 seconds (with optional SpaceX thruster pack potentially achieving 1.1 seconds or less), a top speed exceeding 250 mph, and a range of about 620 miles.

Equipped with a tri-motor all-wheel-drive setup delivering over 1,000 horsepower, the four-seater aims to blend blistering acceleration, everyday usability, and innovative features like cold gas thrusters for short-hop capabilities, technology that will combine the project with SpaceX.

Advertisement

But years after the company promised to start production, which was slated for 2020, the timeline for the Roadster has continued to shift.

Tesla has strung along those who have put $50,000 deposits down, as well as fans and enthusiasts of the company who have been long awaiting the company to bring forth a car truly designed for the human driver, and not autonomy. The Roadster is more than just a halo vehicle for Tesla; it showcases the company’s ability to push the boundaries while incorporating synergies from other Musk companies.

However, it has to make it to production, which is something Musk and Co. have pushed back repeatedly.

As Tesla navigates Robotaxi development and broader autonomy goals, the Roadster serves as a reminder of its performance roots. If von Holzhausen’s timeline holds, fans could witness this engineering marvel by late June or early July 2026. Whether a full unveiling, demo, or initial deliveries, it marks a milestone for electric supercars.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Tesla Roadster unveiling gets pushed again, but new event details emerge

Published

2 days ago

on

June 5, 2026

By

Credit: Dan Burkland

Tesla has reportedly pushed the unveiling of the Roadster once again, but there are also evidently new details about the event that the company plans to show off.

The Information reported this morning that Tesla will now unveil, for the second time, the next-generation Roadster in August, a further delay from the multiple timeline that the company had previously stated.

The report has not been confirmed or denied by Tesla at any capacity.

It also states the unveiling event will take place in Texas, the same place that Tesla executives revealed in May would be the place of manufacture for the company’s highly-anticipated supercar, which boasts a top speed of over 250 MPH and 650 miles of range, according to its website.

Advertisement

Tesla is also expected to showcase the SpaceX package, which will be used for faster acceleration and potentially hovering capabilities, at the unveiling event, the report states. Musk has always planned for this to happen, but now it seems it is more realistic than ever

The Roadster has had its unveiling date and manufacturing date pushed back on many occasions. It was set to start production in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic crippled supply chain operations, forcing Tesla to push its timeline back considerably.

Advertisement

However, COVID has been over for some time, and Tesla has still not managed to successfully schedule and execute an unveiling event, which is something fans and enthusiasts, as well as those who have put down a $50,000 deposit, have been waiting for.

The vehicle was close to completion last year, but Musk truly wanted Lars Moravy and Franz von Holzhausen to push the limits of the Roadster. In July of last year, Moravy said:

“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”

It is important to note two things: Tesla has not confirmed these details, and the company has regularly pushed these dates back. Until Tesla sends out formal invitations with a concrete date, taking any unveiling event reports with a grain of salt is a good idea.

Advertisement
Continue Reading