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A flight-proven SpaceX launch and landing, in pictures
After a series of frustrating but predictable delays, SpaceX has returned its newly-refurbished Launch Complex 40 to active duty with the successful launch of a reused Falcon 9 booster, itself carrying a refurbished Cargo Dragon spacecraft now headed to the International Space Station for its second time.
Clear, sapphire skies greeted Falcon 9 and Dragon earlier this morning as they were at last prepped for launch, this time a very brief window of opportunity on Friday morning. Impressively, despite the fact that LC-40 is essentially a new launch pad, its first launch attempt went off without a hitch – even the slightest delay would have scrubbed the launch of CRS-13 to late December. SpaceX has thus continued to demonstrate its ability to move incredibly quickly while still accomplishing the tasks at hand: the company effectively constructed and upgraded an entirely-new launch facility in less than ten months, a staggering achievement by any comparison.
For this launch, Teslarati’s photographer Tom Cross was on hand to document it, and he weathered the numerous delays and cancellations of launch opportunities and photo ops over the last week. Arguably, his patience paid off and we have some exceptional photos of CRS-13, SpaceX’s 17th successful launch of 2017 and 20th successful landing of a Falcon 9 overall. While we await the status of Tom’s remotely placed cameras, tragically destroyed by Falcon 9’s intense exhaust, Tom was still present on top of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building and was able to take a number of amazing photos of the launch.
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- A reused Falcon 9 clears the lightning towers of Florida’s Launch Complex-40 (LC-40). (Tom Cross)
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- As the rocket gains speed, it tips over to reach orbital velocity. (Tom Cross)
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- Falcon 9 nears main engine cutoff (MECO) and stage separation. (Tom Cross)
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- Falcon 9 races to orbit. (Tom Cross)
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- As Falcon 9 rises out of Earth’s atmosphere, its exhaust expands. (Tom Cross)
After Falcon 9’s second stage separated and continued on towards orbit with Dragon, booster 1035 immediately flipped around and headed back towards Cape Canaveral and Landing Zone-1 for its second-ever recovery. Stationed on top of the VAB, Tom captured this event all the way from boostback burn to landing.
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- Booster 1035 completes its first boostback burn on the fringes of Earth’s atmosphere. (Tom Cross)
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- After the first burn completes, Falcon 9 barrels through hypersonic and transonic regimes of flight. (Tom Cross)
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- The final burn begins. (Tom Cross)
With the first boostback burn complete, Falcon 9 is placed on a landing trajectory. Finally, 1035 begins its last landing burn, the booster’s legs deploy, and as SpaceX would say, “Falcon 9 has landed.”
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- Legs deploy…
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- Falcon 9 approaches the pad…
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- Almost there!
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- And finally, Falcon 9’s Merlin 1D landing engine shuts off, completing the landing. (Tom Cross)
All things considered, this mission was an amazing success for SpaceX: not only does it symbolize NASA’s acceptance of SpaceX’s reuse procedures, but the launch is arguably the first time that a reused spacecraft has launched aboard the reused first stage of a rocket, a truly historic accomplishment for SpaceX along the path towards fully reusable access to orbit.
Up next on the busy rocket company’s docket is the fourth launch of Iridium satellites, currently scheduled to lift off just a week from today, December 22. Rather mind-bogglingly, Iridium-4 will also fly aboard a reused Falcon 9, this time the booster that launched the Iridium-2 mission in June 2017. In the meantime, SpaceX has announced the opening of media accreditation for Falcon Heavy’s January 2018 inaugural launch, which Tom Cross will no doubt be attending and photographing.
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- RIP Tom’s cameras 🙁 (Tom Cross)
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- Tom Cross at the Cape! (Brady Kenningston)
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- A panorama of SpaceX’s newly-reactivated Launch Complex 40. Falcon 9 and Dragon can be seen in the center. (Tom Cross/Teslarati)
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- A December 2017 panorama of SpaceX’s LC-40 facilities, CRS-13’s Cargo Dragon and Falcon 9. (Tom Cross/Teslarati)
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- Falcon 9 readying for launch at LC-40. (Tom Cross)
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- Sooty Falcon 9 1035 before its second flight with an also-reused Dragon payload, CRS-13. (Tom Cross/Teslarati)
A Tesla upfitter has offered to take over Cybertruck lines from the company in a last-ditch effort to save the all-electric pickup from being completely canceled in the middle of 2027.
Unplugged Performance, the Hawthorne, California-based Tesla aftermarket specialist, has publicly offered to take over Cybertruck production from Tesla, funding the effort “through a consortium of investors.”
An open offer to Tesla: We fully support putting Cybercab first, and we’d be glad to take the Cybertruck line off your hands.
We’d fund it with a consortium of investors and run it at no cost to Tesla’s floor space, headcount, or focus. All of that goes to Cybercab. Cybercab gets first call on battery cells too. We’ll wait our turn.
Tesla gains incremental profit: a license fee, plus FSD and Robotaxi network revenues on every vehicle built.
We’d build the Cybertruck, a three-row CyberSUV, and an unmanned CyberCargo hauler. More autonomous miles, across every surface of this planet and beyond.
Worth a conversation?— UP (@UnpluggedTesla) November 10, 2026
The proposal comes as Tesla prioritizes its Cybercab Robotaxi program and prepares to wind down Cybertruck assembly at Gigafactory Texas around mid-2027.
Founded in 2013 by Ben Schaffer and located adjacent to Tesla’s Design Studio and SpaceX, Unplugged Performance has become a leading provider of premium upgrades for Tesla vehicles, including extensive Cybertruck packages under its UP INVINCIBLE line.
Through its UP.FIT division, the company has also developed purpose-built police and fleet versions of the Cybertruck, including deliveries to agencies such as the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
In an X post on Tuesday, Unplugged said:
“An open offer to Tesla: We fully support putting Cybercab first, and we’d be glad to take the Cybertruck line off your hands. We’d fund it with a consortium of investors and run it at no cost to Tesla’s floor space, headcount, or focus. All of that goes to Cybercab. Cybercab gets first call on battery cells too. We’ll wait our turn. Tesla gains incremental profit: a license fee, plus FSD and Robotaxi network revenues on every vehicle built. We’d build the Cybertruck, a three-row CyberSUV, and an unmanned CyberCargo hauler. More autonomous miles, across every surface of this planet and beyond. Worth a conversation?”
The arrangement would free Tesla resources and manufacturing capacity for Cybercab while allowing continued production of the stainless-steel pickup and expanded variants. Unplugged Performance indicated it would wait for battery cells after Cybercab needs are met and would generate ongoing revenue for Tesla through licensing and software/network services on the vehicles it produces.
Following strong initial interest, Unplugged Performance posted a follow-up inviting potential investors and strategic partners to email cyber@unpluggedperformance.com. The company clarified that the outreach is solely to gauge interest and does not constitute an offer to sell securities or acceptance of funds at this stage.
The proposal arrives shortly after Elon Musk indicated that Cybertruck production in Texas would be phased out by roughly the middle of 2027 to expand Cybercab output.
Whether Tesla engages with the offer remains to be seen, but the public overture highlights both the aftermarket specialist’s deep experience with the Cybertruck platform and the growing focus on autonomy within Tesla’s manufacturing plans.
Elon Musk said the Tesla Cybercab will perform “a majority of all passenger miles” where it is allowed to operate and that point is “obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.”
Musk used the point to double down on the company’s decision to ax the cult-favorite Cybertruck, as its production space will be removed and transitioned into additional Cybercab lines. The move has catalyzed a polarizing conversation on whether its right or wrong.
Whatever side you are on — it’s happening.
Dodge ended the Viper.
Audi retired the R8.
Mitsubishi said goodbye to the Lancer Evo.
Ford bid farewell to the Bronco (at one point).
Chevrolet sunset the Camaro.Tesla is ending the Cybertruck. I’m pissed. I’m upset.
Fans of those five automakers mentioned did the same thing. It happens. It sucks. I don’t like it.
But I still love Tesla. I love my Model Y. I hoped to be in a Cybertruck in a little under two years.
I won’t be. But I still won’t put my family in anything else. Too safe. Too advanced. Too much better than everything else.
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 10, 2026
Regardless, Musk seems to be getting to the point that he is done talking about the choice. At some point, you have to think that this was truly a difficult decision for him and the company as well, and this is not something he took lightly. In fact, he’s probably a little bit disappointed with it, too.
But the point remains that the Cybertruck is gone. Musk’s focus is purely on developing an autonomous platform that the world will utilize for transportation, and he’s telling you that anyone “with eyes and a brain” can see it:
@PalmerLuckey @carlhancock Cybercab will do a majority of all passenger miles in any jurisdiction where it is not prohibited by law.
Obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2026
Tesla is betting that all of its passengers in the future will be okay with not owning their own personal cars and will be fine with ride-hailing for the rest of their lives. Every dinner, every errand, every trip to the airport and transportation thereafter, will all be operated by ride-sharing, and in Tesla’s perfect world, it will happen in a Cybercab.
As of now, Cybercab is only active in Austin, but it has been spotted all over the country with a driver behind the wheel in those prototypes. In Austin, the car has no steering wheel or pedals for people to control the vehicle.
The Cybertruck dilemma is one that has truly come across the entire Tesla community and while it seems to be a great idea to keep it because people love it, the business side of things is steering Musk and Tesla in another direction.
Tesla has slimmed its Cybertruck offerings to offer only its most expensive trim: the Cyberbeast.
After announcing that the Cybertruck would no longer be produced and the company would wind down manufacturing sometime in the middle of 2027, Tesla started to eliminate some of the configurations offered to customers.
Tesla has stopped taking orders for the Cybertruck Premium AWD.
The Cyberbeast is now the only trim you can order, and its price went up $7,500 to $109,990.
Estimated deliveries have also slipped to March–June 2027 as the Giga Texas line heads toward its mid-2027 wind-down. https://t.co/o28epA0ZQl
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 10, 2026
Now, only one remains: the $109,990 Cyberbeast. This is truly what seems like Tesla’s last effort to deter any remaining orders from coming in: eliminate the cheap trims and leave only the high-dollar vehicle within the lineup of Cybertruck options.
Those who want to take advantage of this last-ditch opportunity to own Tesla’s symbolic pickup have to pay to play.
Tesla says the reason for the wind down is truly because of Cybercab and its importance to the future.
Despite cries for Tesla to continue production of the pickup, Musk says it is too difficult to ramp a high-volume line instead of ending the truck altogether. He also says Cybercab is what will take passengers around for the “majority of all miles in any jurisdiction where it is not prohibited by law.”
@PalmerLuckey @carlhancock Cybercab will do a majority of all passenger miles in any jurisdiction where it is not prohibited by law.
Obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2026
Tesla is going all in on autonomy, and that’s never been a secret. But the commitment to a two-door, two-seat Cybercab truly limits people from having options for labor or hobbies. It also limits people from having their entire family in a single car.
Parents with even a single child will be required to take multiple vehicles if Cybercab is truly the only option Tesla plans to have.
Elon Musk keeps justifying Tesla Cybertruck’s cancelation, but it’s confusing
Tesla has stated the Robovan will also be in production eventually, but it still does not seem like the most ideal vehicle to own. It seems like it is geared more toward commercial uses, but Tesla might have something in the pipeline for families.
Tesla upfitter offers to keep Cybertruck alive
Elon Musk says Tesla Cybercab future is ‘obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain’
