News
DeepSpace: Rocket Lab ready for first commercial launch of 2019, an innovative DARPA spacecraft
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Now approximately four months distant from the inaugural commercial launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, the company is ready – following many weeks of customer-side delays – to conduct its first launch of 2019, aiming to place an experimental DARPA-funded satellite into low Earth orbit (LEO).
If all goes as planned with the launch and experimental spacecraft’s orbital operations, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to use the mission to qualify a currently-untested technology that could ultimately enable the production of massive communications and sensing antennas that can fit on relatively tiny satellites. Known as R3D2 (ha…ha…), the mission also effectively serves as the latest operational debut of DARPA’s growing interest and involvement in spaceflight-related industries, nominally proving that the agency is capable of leaning on established companies and startups to rapidly design, build, and fly satellites. Barring any additional launch delays from DARPA’s preparations, Rocket Lab hopes to launch Electron around the end of this week – likely March 22-24 – to kick off what will hopefully be a busy and productive year for the newly operational launch provider.
DARPA in Space
- Originally targeted for sometime in the second half of February, the R3D2 mission – Electron’s fifth planned launch in 18 months – has suffered several weeks of delays due to issues faced by DARPA during satellite delivery and pre-launch preparations.
- Aside from a general hint that the satellite arrived a few weeks later than planned and an official statement from Rocket Lab that “DARPA’s payload team is conducting final ground station configuration work over the coming days”, the process appears to be going rather smoothly.
- Weighing in at roughly 150 kg (330 lb), the R3D2 spacecraft – barring the quiet inclusion of co-passengers – will be the first launch of Electron dedicated to a single satellite. In fact, 150 kg is actually the maximum listed payload that Electron is capable of launching to a 500 km (310 mi) sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), providing a functional ‘ceiling’ for the ultimate destination of DARPA’s satellite.
- R3D2’s primary purpose will be to extensively test a brand new antenna technology and thus prove (hopefully) that the in-space deployment mechanism and unique material composition function as designed. Likely no more than 1-2 feet (~50 cm) across, the definitively small satellite will attempt to deploy an antenna many times larger than itself.
- Made out of a material known as Kapton, the deployable antenna will reach a maximum diameter of 2.25 m (7.4 ft), fairly large even when compared with antennas used on satellites many dozens of times more massive.
Rocket Lab’s Biggest year yet
- Although the company is off to a relatively slow start, as many as eleven Electron missions – including R3D2 – are at least tentatively manifested for launches in 2019.
- In November and December of 2018, Rocket Lab further demonstrated that it is more than capable of a respectable monthly launch cadence, particularly impressive for a rocket conducting its third and fourth missions ever. If Rocket Lab can more or less sustain that cadence after DARPA’s R3D2, the company could ultimately complete as many as 8-10 launches this year.
- Ultimately, founder and CEO Peter Beck says that Rocket Lab and Electron will eventually target dozens of annual launches per year and a weekly launch cadence from an array of launch facilities.
- Earlier this year, Rocket Lab officially announced that it had come to an agreement with the state of Virginia to build its second launch complex (LC-2) at Wallops Flight Facility (also known as the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport). If construction proceeds apace, the company’s first US-based Electron launch could occur before the end of 2019.
- DARPA’s goal with R3D2 – and its interest in space and small satellites in general – should ultimately benefit the entire spaceflight industry, potentially paving the way for the design and production of small satellites with technical capabilities that far outstretch their compact nature.
- Reliable and affordable deployable structures are becoming a growing focus of a number of young and old spaceflight companies, ranging from heavyweights like SSL/Maxar to new startups like Oxford Space Systems.
- Unlike most modern defense and aerospace technology procurement, DARPA is also distinctly focused on streamlining the process of designing, building, and launching spacecraft. To do so, the agency plans to rely heavily on established commercial entities to optimize speed and affordability will still ultimately producing innovative space systems and pushing the state of the art forward.
- Aside from closely involved projects like R3D2, DARPA – through a program called Blackjack – is also extremely interested in a number of LEO communications constellations proposed in the last few years by companies like SpaceX, OneWeb, and Telesat, and has already awarded a series of small contracts with several to begin the program’s earliest phases.
Mission Updates
- Completed on March 8th, SpaceX’s near-flawless Crew Dragon launch, space station rendezvous, and recovery is likely the last of the company’s orbital launch activities for the month of March.
- The second launch of Falcon Heavy – the rocket’s commercial debut – is currently expected to occur as early as April 7th
- After Falcon Heavy, SpaceX has at least one other launch – Cargo Dragon’s CRS-17 resupply mission – firmly scheduled for April (April 25th), as well as the more tenuous possibility of the first dedicated Starlink launch occurring as early as late April.
Photos of the Week:
NASA posted a series of official photos documenting SpaceX’s Crew Dragon recovery process following the spacecraft’s first successful orbital reentry and splashdown. The photo below (top) offers one of the best (and most detailed) views ever made public of one of the heat shields of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, offering a glimpse of the wear the PICA-X material experiences after several minutes of extreme heating and buffeting. (c. NASA/Cory Huston)
Back on land, SpaceX’s South Texas entourage has continued to build the first full-scale Starship prototype – nicknamed Starhopper – in preparation for the vehicle’s inaugural static-fire and hop tests. According to official SpaceX statements, those tests could occur as early as this week, partially confirmed by the first installation of a Raptor engine (serial number 2) on a flight article of any kind.(c. NASASpaceflight – bocachicagal)
Elon Musk cannot be fired from SpaceX, and there’s a reason for that.
In a blunt post on X on Friday, Elon Musk confirmed plans to structurally shield his leadership at SpaceX, ensuring he cannot be fired while tying a potential trillion-dollar compensation package to the company’s long-term goal of establishing a self-sustaining colony on Mars.
Yes, I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars, not pandering to someone’s bullshit quarterly earnings bonus!
Obviously, IF SpaceX succeeds in this absurdly difficult goal, it will be worth many orders of…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026
The revelation stems from a Financial Times report detailing SpaceX’s intention to restructure its governance and compensation framework. The moves are designed to protect Musk’s control and align his incentives with the company’s founding mission rather than short-term financial pressures. Musk’s reply left no ambiguity:
“Yes, I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars, not pandering to someone’s bullshit quarterly earnings bonus!”
He added that success in this “absurdly difficult goal” would generate value “many orders of magnitude more than the economy of Earth,” though he cautioned that the journey will not be smooth. “Don’t expect entirely smooth sailing along the way,” Musk wrote.
The strategy reflects Musk’s deep concerns about how public-market expectations could derail SpaceX’s core objective. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has repeatedly stated its purpose is to reduce the cost of space travel and ultimately make humanity a multiplanetary species.
Unlike Tesla, which went public in 2010 and has faced repeated battles over Musk’s compensation and board influence, SpaceX remains privately held. Musk has long resisted taking the rocket company public precisely to avoid the quarterly earnings treadmill that forces most CEOs to prioritize short-term stock performance over ambitious, high-risk projects.
By embedding protections against his removal and linking any outsized pay package to verifiable milestones—such as a functioning Mars colony—SpaceX aims to insulate its leadership from activist investors or board members who might demand faster profits or safer bets.
Musk has referenced past experiences, including his ouster from OpenAI and shareholder lawsuits at Tesla, as cautionary tales. In those cases, he argued, external pressures risked diluting the original vision.
Critics may view the arrangement as excessive, especially given Musk’s already substantial voting power and wealth. Supporters, however, argue it is a necessary safeguard for a company pursuing goals measured in decades rather than quarters. Achieving a Mars colony would require sustained investment in Starship development, orbital refueling, life-support systems, and in-situ resource utilization—technologies that may deliver no immediate financial return.
Musk’s post underscores a broader philosophical point: true breakthrough innovation often demands tolerance for volatility and a willingness to ignore conventional business wisdom. As SpaceX prepares for increasingly ambitious Starship test flights and eventual crewed missions, the new governance structure signals that the company’s North Star remains unchanged—humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.
Whether the trillion-dollar package materializes depends on execution, but Musk’s message is clear: SpaceX exists to reach the stars, not to chase the next earnings beat. For investors or employees who share that vision, the protections are not a perk—they are a prerequisite for success.
News
Tesla discloses two Robotaxi crashes to NHTSA
Newly unredacted data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals the two incidents.
Tesla has disclosed information on two low-speed crashes that occurred in Austin with its Robotaxi platform. These incidents occurred with teleoperators steering the vehicle, and there were no passengers in the car at the time they happened.
Newly unredacted data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals the two incidents.
The first crash took place in July 2025, shortly after Tesla launched its nascent Robotaxi network in Austin. The ADS reportedly struggled to move forward while stopped on a street. A teleoperator assumed control, gradually accelerating and turning left toward the roadside. The vehicle then mounted the curb and struck a metal fence.
In the second incident, in January 2026, the ADS was traveling straight when the safety monitor requested navigation support. The teleoperator took over from a stop, continued forward, and collided with a temporary construction barricade at approximately 9 mph, scraping the front-left fender and tire.
Tesla Robotaxi service in Austin achieves monumental new accomplishment
Tesla has previously told lawmakers that teleoperators are authorized to pilot vehicles remotely—but only at speeds below 10 mph, as the only maneuvers they were approved to perform were repositioning in awkward areas.
“This capability enables Tesla to promptly move a vehicle that may be in a compromising position, thereby mitigating the need to wait for a first responder or Tesla field representative to manually recover the vehicle,” the company stated in filings earlier this year.
Before this week, Tesla redacted the NHTSA reports, but they decided to reveal all 17 Robotaxi incidents recorded since the launch in Austin last Summer. Most of the other crashes involved the Tesla being struck by other road users and were not caused by the self-driving suite itself.
There were other incidents, including two additional self-caused accidents involving the ADS clipping side mirrors on parked cars. In September 2025, one Robotaxi struck a dog that darted into the roadway (the dog escaped unharmed), while another made an unprotected left turn into a parking lot and hit a metal chain.
Although Waymo and Zoox have reported more total crashes, Tesla operates at a far smaller scale. The cautious pace reflects the company’s broader safety concerns; it has been very slow with the Robotaxi rollout to ensure the suite is ready for operation.
Last month, CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that “making sure things are completely safe” remains the primary bottleneck to expanding the network, describing the company’s approach as “very cautious.”
The unredacted filings arrive amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of autonomous vehicles. NHTSA recently closed a separate probe into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software repeatedly striking parking-lot obstacles such as bollards and chains—a problem that also prompted a recall at Waymo last year.
Tesla Robotaxi has been a widely successful program in its early days of operation, and the transparency Tesla brings here is greatly appreciated. Incidents will happen, of course, but the honesty gives customers and regulators a sense of where Tesla is in terms of developing its self-driving and fully autonomous ride-hailing suite.
Tesla Cybertruck was chosen by a Middle Eastern government agency because of its capability, safety, and other advantages that it offers over traditional pickups.
In a striking display of futuristic security technology, Kazakhstan’s State Guard Service has integrated Tesla Cybertrucks as mobile command-and-control vehicles for the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, held today in Turkistan.
🚨 Kazakhstan’s State Guard Service is deploying Tesla Cybertrucks as mobile command-and-control vehicles for the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkistan on May 15, 2026. pic.twitter.com/m4gHCyy5uS
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 14, 2026
The deployment, announced by Teslarati on May 14, marks one of the first known instances worldwide of the electric pickup truck being used in official state security operations.
The Cybertrucks are supporting a range of real-world tasks, including rapid response, field coordination, communications, and command functions.
Officials highlighted the vehicles’ suitability for the challenging mountainous terrain around Almaty, where superior off-road mobility allows them to navigate rugged landscapes that might challenge conventional vehicles. Their quiet electric operation enables discreet deployment, while the high onboard power output provides sustained energy for communications equipment and external devices—critical during a high-profile international gathering.
The Cybertrucks will support real operational security tasks, including rapid response, field coordination, communications, and command functions — particularly in the challenging mountainous terrain around Almaty.
Key advantages cited by Government Officials were superior… pic.twitter.com/zRznabs389
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 14, 2026
The summit brings together leaders from Turkic-speaking nations to discuss cooperation in politics, economy, and culture. Against this backdrop, the Cybertrucks stand out not only for their angular, stainless-steel exoskeleton and imposing presence but also for their practical advantages in modern security protocols.
This move underscores Kazakhstan’s push toward innovative and sustainable solutions in public safety. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s rugged all-electric pickup, was designed from the ground up for versatility, boasting impressive range, durability, and power capabilities that align well with governmental needs.
By choosing the vehicle, Kazakh authorities signal confidence in electric mobility even for demanding operational roles—potentially setting a precedent for other nations exploring green alternatives to traditional fleet vehicles.
Tesla Cybertruck too safe for even Musk’s biggest critics to ignore
As the summit unfolds on May 15, the presence of Cybertrucks symbolizes a broader shift: electric vehicles transitioning from consumer roads to critical infrastructure.
For Tesla, the development offers valuable real-world validation of the Cybertruck’s capabilities beyond civilian use. For Kazakhstan, it blends cutting-edge American engineering with national security priorities, creating a memorable visual and functional statement at this landmark regional event.
Elon Musk explains why he cannot be fired from SpaceX
Tesla discloses two Robotaxi crashes to NHTSA
