News
NASA installs SpaceX-delivered docking adapter for Crew Dragon, Boeing Starliner missions
Launched on July 25th, SpaceX’s CRS-18 Cargo Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) a few days later, delivering a major piece of space station hardware in its unpressurized trunk.
Known as International Docking Adapter 3 (IDA-3), the docking port will quite literally open the door for future commercial missions to the space station. Some 25 days after arriving at the ISS, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan performed a six-hour spacewalk (also known as an extra-vehicular activity or EVA) on August 21st, over the course of which they successfully installed IDA-3 on the outside of the space station.
On Monday, August 19th, IDA-3 was extracted from Cargo Dragon’s expendable trunk using Canadarm-2 and stored a few feet away from the Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 (PMA-3) on the station’s Harmony module. The PMA-3 is a leftover from the days of Space Shuttle and has thus been unused since 2011 – IDA-3’s installation means that the old hardware will be able to finally return to operational use.
The successful spacewalk was the fifth of this year and 218th overall. Astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan worked outside of the ISS to complete the tethering process and install power and data connectors, spending much of the 6.5 hours simply attaching and routing new cabling, extremely difficult to do in NASA’s semi-rigid EVA spacesuits. Astronaut Christina Koch assisted the duo from inside the station.
IDA-2, IDA-3’s predecessor, was successfully installed way back in August 2016, while the docking port was used for the first time ever just six months ago, when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – as part of its inaugural orbital launch – autonomously docked at IDA-2 on March 3rd, 2019. IDA-1 was sadly destroyed after a Falcon 9 upper stage failed catastrophically in June 2015, resulting in the total loss of Cargo Dragon CRS-7 and its array of ISS-bound cargo. Although far from the first, IDA-3 is still an extremely important addition to the ISS, particularly with respect to assuring redundancy and future accessibility for numerous spacecraft.
IDA’s are meant to serve as truly international ports, built by Boeing from a partially open-source design with parts from companies located in 25 different states and primary structures produced by Russian company RSC-Energia.
Both adapters feature a standard design, uniform docking requirements, and fittings for power and data transfer, all of which which are readily available to spacecraft designers to help streamline and simplify docking procedures. The IDA (technically, IDSS) standard has been adopted by both SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, while Russia may also adopt the standard on its next-generation Federation spacecraft, meant to replace Soyuz sometime in the 2020s.
Both US capsules – currently in various stages of production and flight preparations – will be able to autonomously dock with either IDA-2 or -3, as will SpaceX’s Crew Dragon-derived Dragon 2, to be used for SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract. With two IDA adapters, a SpaceX and Boeing crew capsule or two SpaceX Dragon 2s could simultaneously dock with the ISS.
Unlike the berthing process used by Cargo Dragon, Cygnus, and (prospectively) Dream Chaser, the docking adapters allow for spacecraft to perform autonomous docking maneuvers. Berthing instead involves the spacecraft in question station-keeping just a few meters away from the ISS while astronaut operators manually ‘grab’ the spacecraft with a giant, robotic arm known as Canadarm2.
While the installation of a second adapter is certainly a step in the right direction to support a larger commercial customer base, there are many more steps to get through before the ISS can begin to support regular visits from Crew Dragon and Starliner. Both SpaceX and Boeing are hopeful that their capsules will be ready for their crewed launch debuts (Demo-2 and OFT, respectively) before 2019 is out, although delays into 2020 are extremely likely for both NASA Commercial Crew providers.
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Tesla launched the all-electric, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercab last night at a quiet and small event in downtown Austin, Texas.
The launch, which marked the beginning of unsupervised ride-hailing for Tesla’s Robotaxi platform with Cybercab, has already caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who has more questions.
NHTSA opened an Audit Query (AQ) into the Cybercab’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) certification that Tesla gave the vehicle. Manufacturers self-certify vehicles much of the time to avoid excessive regulatory delays.
Tesla Cybercab interior, note the lack of steering wheel and pedals. (Credit: @niccruzpatane/X< /a>)
However, the agency needs more information; it said in a summary:
“On September 3, 2026, Tesla began commercial deployment with a small number of its Cybercab vehicles in Austin, Texas. Tesla notified the Agency that it certified those Cybercab vehicles as compliant with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Tesla also notified the Agency that it plans to gradually expand commercial deployment of the Cybercab to include additional vehicles and locations.”
It also went on to state that the Cybercab lacks traditional automotive controls, which is a groundbreaking move. The process is entirely new to the NHTSA, which gives the agency some leverage to put Tesla’s launch under a microscope:
“The vehicles lack permanently attached, conventional manual controls, such as a brake pedal, gas pedal, steering wheel, and mirrors. NHTSA is opening this AQ to examine the process and technical data on which Tesla relied when certifying the Cybercab and related issues. Among other things, NHTSA will consider the extent to which Tesla’s certification depended on determinations that certain FMVSS are inapplicable to the Cybercab.”
Tesla has added 45 Cybercab units to its fleet of Robotaxi-enabled cars in Austin, according to public documents the company submitted to the State of Texas over the past week. Enabling this level of self-driving is something Tesla has worked toward for many years, and now that it is finally here, it seems more than reasonable that regulatory agencies will have some questions.
Many outlets might try to frame this as a negative, but it is truly an agency looking to gain more information about groundbreaking tech that Tesla has been developing for years.
In an effort to keep riders, pedestrians, and property safe, any and all data accumulated from these first days, weeks, and months of rides will likely be shared with the NHTSA to enable broader rollout strategies across the United States and more in the future.
Featured
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Asia says Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai this month.
Tesla’s Cybercab is heading to Asia. The official Tesla Asia account posted on X Thursday, inviting Cybercab fans to “Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai.” The post went up within hours of Tesla’s own Cybercab milestone in Texas, where the company said Thursday it had begun offering rides in across Austin.
Exact dates and venues for the Asia tour haven’t been released yet, though Tesla Hong Kong replied to the announcement with “Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong soon,” while Tesla Japan’s response pointed fans to a sign up page for updates. Neither post mentions test rides or a service area, and nothing so far suggests Tesla is launching Robotaxi operations in any of the four cities. Based on how Tesla has run past Cybercab tours, in Europe in late 2024 and at US shopping centers that same December, the Asia stops are almost certainly static displays at Tesla stores or public venues as a means to stimulate buzz for its future driverless ride-hailing service in the big cities.
Cybercab will be on display in Asia this month!
Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/wGmmEastfX— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) September 4, 2026
The timing lines up with Tesla’s only prior Cybercab appearance in the region, a booth at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last November, which Teslarati covered at the time. At that event, Tesla’s regional general manager for Shanghai framed the car as evidence of the company’s broader mission, a message Tesla has since formalized in its Master Plan Part IV, which states that “autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities.” The same document is where Tesla lays out its “sustainable abundance” framing for Cybercab and Optimus alike, describing the two as the hardware behind an AI driven push to cut the cost of transportation and labor at scale.
Whether Cybercab actually operates as a robotaxi anywhere in Asia remains an open question, considering China has already pushed an autonomous ride-hailing market that’s run on homegrown players like Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony AI. For now, the four city tour reads as a marketing push timed to Austin’s momentum.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Tesla Cybercab launch catches NHTSA’s attention who wants to know more
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
