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SpaceX set for first private astronaut launch to the International Space Station

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Update: SpaceX has successfully fired up Falcon 9 booster B1062 and confirmed that Crew Dragon’s second private astronaut launch is on track to lift off at 11:17 am EDT (15:17 UTC) on Friday, April 8th. SpaceX’s live coverage will begin about three hours prior.

A flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft have rolled out of SpaceX’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Pad 39A hangar and been raised vertical ahead of the company’s second private astronaut launch.

Known as Axiom-1 or Ax-1, the mission – managed by third-party provider Axiom Space – aims to be the first fully private crewed launch to the International Space Station (ISS). That means that Ax-1 will launch a crew of private astronauts from a privately-operated launch site with a privately-owned rocket and spacecraft, all with zero direct government impetus or funding. Of course, the situation is a bit more complex just beneath the surface.

The focus of Axiom-1’s crew is three ultrawealthy customers:

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  • Larry Connor: Ax-1’s pilot and an entrepreneur who accrued his wealth through real estate
  • Eytan Stibbe: a venture capitalist and former fighter pilot who could become the second Israeli astronaut ever
  • Mark Pathy: CEO of Canadian investment and shipping companies

Each paying $55 million for the ten-day journey and eight-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS), Connor, Stibbe, and Pathy are bankrolling the mission. Crew Dragon’s fourth Ax-1 passenger, however, is Michael López-Alegría, a retired four-time NASA astronaut turned private (space) pilot who now works for Axiom Space.

Launch Complex 39A was originally built and operated by NASA from the 1960s to 2011 before it was leased to SpaceX in 2014. The development of the first versions of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were heavily funded by NASA in the late 2000s. After SpaceX won a competitive $3.1 billion contract alongside Boeing, which received $4.8 billion to achieve the same goals, NASA has almost exclusively funded Crew Dragon’s development and is (for now) its main customer. Finally, alongside Russia’s space agency, NASA has invested tens of billions of dollars to build, launch, assemble, crew and maintain the International Space Station for around three decades.

Pad 39A. (NASA)
Crew Dragon and part of the ISS. (NASA)

Calling Ax-1 “fully private” is thus more of a half-truth than the full reality. Nonetheless, the fact that SpaceX has significantly benefitted from NASA funding and resources – a vast majority of which it earned competitively – should not take away from SpaceX’s extraordinary merit and achievements. While NASA provided most of the resources, Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon are almost exclusively designed, built, and operated by SpaceX and SpaceX alone. SpaceX mainly provides services to NASA, which means that NASA is ultimately closer to a customer with refined taste and the final say than a second chef in the proverbial kitchen.

Axiom-1 demonstrates that well. Save for NASA benefitting from any data gathered from the mission and making relatively minor preparations for the private astronauts’ eight-day stay at the ISS, SpaceX will control and be responsible for almost every aspect of the launch.

Barring delays, Axiom-1 is scheduled to launch no earlier than (NET) 11:17 am EDT (15: 17 UTC) on Friday, April 8th. Prior to liftoff, the SpaceX and the Axiom crew must complete a “dry dress rehearsal” early on April 6th, replicating all the preparations needed for a launch up to the start of propellant loading. Later the same day, SpaceX intends to perform an integrated static fire test with Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon. If any issues arise during those tests, the launch date may be pushed back.

Crew Dragon is expected to finish docking with the ISS about 20 hours after liftoff, giving the Ax-1 crew a little over eight full days at the ISS before they’ll need to board Dragon and return to Earth. If the weather forecast for landing zones looks particularly bad or good leading up to undocking, SpaceX and NASA withhold the ability to expedite or delay the departure.

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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.

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Tesla Model Y becomes first-ever car to reach legendary milestone

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Credit: Tesla Manufacturing

The Tesla Model Y became the first-ever car to reach a legendary Norwegian milestone, surpassing 100,000 new registrations after gaining a reputation as one of the most popular vehicles in the country and the world.

As of May 20, Norwegian authorities have registered 100,224 units of the electric SUV, according to data from local outlet Opplysningsrådet for veitrafikken (OFV).

By population, roughly one in every 29 passenger cars on Norwegian roads is now a Model Y, underscoring its rapid rise as a national favorite.

Since the first deliveries in August 2021, the Model Y has transformed from a newcomer to a staple in Norwegian traffic.

Tesla back on top as Norway’s EV market surges to 98% share in February

Geir Inge Stokke, the Managing Director of OFV, described the achievement as “remarkable,” noting that few single models have gained such traction so quickly. “Tesla Model Y has hit the Norwegian market spot on, and the numbers illustrate how fast the EV market has developed here,” Stokke said.

The Model Y’s success reflects Norway’s aggressive push toward electrification. Nearly nine out of ten units, 87.6 percent, to be exact, are privately registered, with the remaining 12.4 percent on company plates. Owners span the country, from major cities to smaller municipalities, proving it is no longer just an urban or niche vehicle but a true “people’s car.

Who is Buying Tesla Model Ys in Norway?

Typical Model Y drivers are men in their early 40s. The average registered user age is 44, with 83 percent male and 17 percent female. Stokke noted that household usage often extends beyond the primary registrant, broadening the vehicle’s real-world appeal.

Geographically, adoption concentrates in urban centers with strong charging infrastructure. Oslo leads with 16,861 registrations (16.82 percent of the national total), followed by Bergen (7,450), Bærum (4,313), and Trondheim (4,240).

The top five municipalities—Oslo, Bergen, Bærum, Trondheim, and Asker—account for 35,463 units, or about 35 percent of all Model Ys. Yet the vehicle’s presence outside big cities highlights its broad acceptance.

Growth Trajectory and Popularity

Tesla built a lot of sales momentum in a short amount of time. In 2021, registrations closed out at 8,267, but more than doubled to more than 17,000 units in 2022 and more than 23,000 units in 2023. 2025 was the company’s strongest year yet, as Tesla managed to record 27,621 registrations.

Through 2026, Tesla already has 7,036 registrations.

Tesla’s Global Success with the Model Y

Tesla has tasted so much success with the Model Y; it has been the best-selling car in the world three times, it has dominated EV sales in numerous countries, and contributed to a mass adoption of electric vehicles across the planet.

As Stokke emphasized, the Model Y’s journey from newcomer to icon mirrors Norway’s broader success story. With robust incentives that push sales, excellent infrastructure, and consumer eagerness to transition to sustainable powertrains, the country continues setting global benchmarks in sustainable mobility.

The Tesla Model Y stands as a shining example of how quickly change can happen when conditions align.

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SpaceX reveals what Anthropic will pay for massive compute deal

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Rendering of Elon Musk overlooking a Starship fleet (Credit: Grok)
Rendering of Elon Musk overlooking a Starship fleet (Credit: Grok)

SpaceX has disclosed the full financial details of its groundbreaking agreement with Anthropic, confirming that the AI company will pay $1.25 billion per month for dedicated high-performance computing resources.

The revelation came through SpaceX’s latest securities filing in preparation for its initial public offering, shedding light on one of the largest compute deals in the artificial intelligence sector to date. The prospectus was released last night, as SpaceX is heading toward its IPO.

This arrangement underscores the fierce demand for specialized infrastructure as frontier AI models require unprecedented levels of processing power to train and operate effectively. Industry analysts see the disclosure as a significant milestone, highlighting how top AI labs are locking in massive capacity to stay ahead in a rapidly accelerating field.

For SpaceX, it feels like a massive move that pushes its perception as a company from space exploration to artificial intelligence.

SpaceX is following in Tesla’s footsteps in a way nobody expected

The comprehensive deal grants Anthropic exclusive access to SpaceX’s Colossus clusters, encompassing Colossus I and the substantially expanded Colossus II, which together deliver hundreds of megawatts of power along with more than 200,000 NVIDIA GPUs.

Payments extend through May 2029, totaling nearly $45 billion overall; capacity is scheduled to ramp up during May and June 2026 at an initial discounted rate to facilitate seamless integration. Both companies retain the option to terminate the agreement with ninety days’ notice, so there is definitely some flexibility for both.

This pact not only enhances Anthropic’s ability to scale usage limits for Claude users but also injects substantial recurring revenue into SpaceX, bolstering its expansion into advanced data center operations and future orbital computing initiatives.

Observers describe the collaboration between the two companies as strategically advantageous because it gives Anthropic cutting-edge AI development the opportunity to collaborate with SpaceX’s expertise in rapid, large-scale infrastructure deployment.

This disclosure arrives at a pivotal moment when computing resources have become the primary bottleneck for AI progress.

As leading organizations compete to build more powerful systems, securing reliable, high-density facilities has emerged as a key differentiator.

SpaceX’s sites, such as those in Memphis, offer superior power availability and advanced cooling solutions that set them apart from conventional providers. For Anthropic, the added capacity is expected to deliver tangible improvements, including extended context windows, quicker inference times, and innovative features that appeal to both enterprise clients and individual users.

Looking ahead, the partnership paves the way for ambitious joint projects, including potential space-based AI compute platforms designed to overcome terrestrial limitations on energy and thermal management. Such efforts could redefine sustainable computing at massive scales.

Financially, the deal solidifies SpaceX’s diverse revenue profile ahead of its public market debut, extending beyond traditional aerospace activities. The massive check SpaceX will cash each month opens up the idea that additional

While some experts question the sustainability of these enormous expenditures given ongoing efficiency gains in AI architectures, the commitment reflects a strong belief in sustained demand growth.

The agreement also exemplifies productive synergies across sectors, with aerospace engineering insights optimizing AI hardware performance. As global attention on technology concentration increases, arrangements of this nature may help shape equitable access to critical resources.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for

SpaceX filed its public S-1, revealing $18.7 billion in revenue and billions in losses.

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SpaceX-Ax-4-mission-iss-launch-date

SpaceX publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026, making its financial details available to the public for the first time ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.

An S-1 is the formal document a company must submit to the SEC before going public. It includes audited financials, risk factors, business descriptions, and how the company plans to use the money it raises. Companies are required to file one before selling shares to the public, and it must be published at least 15 days before the investor roadshow begins. SpaceX had already submitted a confidential draft to the SEC in April, which allowed regulators to review the filing privately before it went public.

The S-1 reveals that SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven largely by its Starlink satellite internet division, which posted $11.4 billion in revenue, growing nearly 50% year over year. Despite that growth, the company lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and has burned through more than $37 billion since its founding.

SpaceX just forced Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to team up for the first time in history

A significant portion of those losses trace back to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, which was recently merged into SpaceX. SpaceX directed roughly 60% of its capital spending in 2025 to its AI division, totaling around $20 billion, yet that division lost billions and grew revenue by only about 22%.

SpaceX plans to list its Class A common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading the offering. The dual-class share structure means going public will not meaningfully reduce Musk’s control, as Class B shares he holds carry 10 votes per share compared to one vote for public Class A shares.

The company is targeting a raise of around $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The investor roadshow is reportedly planned for June 5.

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