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NASA’s SLS Moon rocket is almost ready for its first trip to the launch pad
NASA says its first complete Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is less than a week away from its first rollout and the start of its first East Coast ‘wet dress rehearsal’.
Teams have begun retracting work platforms surrounding the fully stacked rocket, slowly revealing the launch vehicle assigned to Artemis 1 – a much anticipated and extensively delayed uncrewed test flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. Since April 2021, SLS and Orion have been slowly but surely assembled within the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Preparing the rocket for the launch pad has required an arduous and complex series of tests meant to ensure that the vehicle is ready for the stresses it will experience and the operations it will perform before and during launch. The rollout is expected to begin around 5 pm EST (22:00 UTC) on Thursday, March 17th and, if all goes well, it should take the giant crawler tasked with carrying the rocket and ‘mobile launch platform’ about 12 hours to carry them to Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B or Pad 39B). The first hour of the rollout will extricate the rocket and its mobile launch tower from the VAB, followed by an 11-hour journey to the pad.
NASA says SLS will spend around one month at Pad 39B, during which it will undergo expensive testing required to ensure its launch readiness. After two weeks on the pad, SLS will have its tanks filled with liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOx) propellant and run through a simulated countdown in a process known as a wet dress rehearsal (WDR). Representatives of the Artemis-1 mission indicate “the countdown will end at about [T-minus 9 seconds], which is just moments before the rocket’s four RS-25 engines would ignite [before] an actual launch.” By allowing the countdown to run so low, test teams are able to check all interfaces (aside from the rocket’s RS-25 engines) that must be carefully coordinated during launch.
Once the wet-dress is complete, SLS will be rolled back into the VAB for final launch preparations, including the identification and repair of any issues found during wet-dress, final Orion spacecraft work, and flight software updates. After SLS’ return to the VAB, NASA expects that final work to take one month to complete. However, NASA officials admit that there is still a lot of work to be done to SLS before launch, and almost every aspect of the space agency’s work on the rocket over the last two and a half years has run into extensive delays.
An official launch date has not been chosen by NASA, as delays continue to make setting a specific date impractical. Tom Whitmeyer, NASA deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, has indicated that a launch in April is no longer feasible. “We’re still evaluating the tail end of the May window,” he said, which runs from May 7 to 21. Future launch windows, governed by orbital mechanics and other mission constraints like ensuring that Orion is recovered in daylight, are June 6 to 16 and June 29 to July 12, with a “cutout” of July 2 to 4, when a launch would not be possible.
The Artemis-1 mission will be the first uncrewed integrated flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket. The SLS rocket is designed for missions beyond low-Earth orbit carrying crew or cargo to the Moon and beyond. At liftoff, it will weigh approximately six million pounds (~2700 tons) and produce around 8.8 million pounds (~4000 tons) of thrust.
Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”
Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.
For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.
The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):
“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”
Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.
Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.
The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.
Tesla confirmed this morning that it has sent the first production units, manufactured with no steering wheel or pedals, to on-road testing in Austin, sharing video of the first rides with no human controls.
The lack of steering wheels and pedals in the Cybercab aligns with Tesla’s self-certification of Robotaxi as Level 4 SAE, a platform it plans to make widespread through internal vehicles and customer-owned cars that will operate and generate revenue for individuals.
The start of these engineering tests is a major signal for Tesla, which plans to bring driverless, wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercabs to market in the coming months. With production already well underway at Gigafactory Texas, where the Cybercab is built, there is some inclination to believe the first public rides could happen sooner rather than later.
Engineering tests of the first production Cybercab have begun in Austin pic.twitter.com/fk3KQvcE8a
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 30, 2026
Tesla’s engineering tests will put the Cybercab in real-world scenarios, testing not only the hardware, but more importantly, the software that drives the car around Austin with nobody supervising it within the car.
This is perhaps the biggest part of the internal testing process, especially prior to allowing regular, everyday people to hail the Cybercab for an autonomous ride. These early rides serve as a true benchmark for Tesla: How many rides can it achieve safely? How many miles did it travel consecutively without needing an intervention? What scenarios challenge the Full Self-Driving suite the most?
The proper precautions have already been put into place as well, as Tesla released the First Responders Guide to Cybercab over the weekend, ensuring that emergency services have 24/7 access to Robotaxi Assistance, as well as other boundaries, such as Geofencing features that can be used to redirect autonomous vehicle traffic due to accidents, road closures, construction, or maintenance.
Cybercab seems genuinely close to being added to the Robotaxi fleet in Austin, but Tesla has prioritized safety throughout this entire process. Therefore, we think it could be months before it truly starts giving rides to the public. People have been frustrated with this, but Robotaxi in Austin has a tremendous safety record so far, so the slow rollout has kept people safe and accidents to a minimum.
The most important thing is that Tesla continues to show consistent progress in the Cybercab’s ramp-up toward fleet addition. A few weeks back, we saw the EPA reward the Cybercab a Certificate of Conformity, allowing it to enter the stream of commerce. Then, we saw Tesla add decals, signaling that it was likely about to start testing it publicly. That has now happened.
The next big move will be the announcement of the first rides, so this Summer should be filled with anticipation.
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla expands massive safety feature worldwide in latest update
Tesla sends production Cybercab with no steering wheel, pedals to on-road testing
