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SpaceX sends two drone ships to sea for back-to-back Starlink, astronaut launches
Update: SpaceX has rolled out Crew-4’s Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon in anticipation of prelaunch testing. However, due to poor weather in landing regions, NASA and SpaceX have also delayed the private Axiom-1 crew’s return to Earth a second time.
Without the undocking time confirmed, it’s likely that Crew-4 will be pushed back to April 24th or 25th at the earliest. Starlink 4-14, nonetheless, appears to remain on track for an April 21st launch attempt.
SpaceX has sent both of its East Coast drone ships to sea to support an upcoming pair of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches and landings.
The ‘autonomous spaceport drone ship ‘ (ASDS) Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) left first, exiting Florida’s Port Canaveral with the help of a tugboat on April 16th. On April 18th, drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) followed suit, shadowing JRTI en route to a similar location northeast of Cape Canaveral. Both should arrive at their respective Atlantic Ocean landing zones within a few days.
No earlier than (NET) 11:16 am EDT (15:16 UTC), Thursday, April 21st, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a well-worn Falcon 9 booster carrying a new upper stage and the latest batch of ~50 Starlink V1.5 satellites. Less than two full days later, a different Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a new Crew Dragon spacecraft and four NASA and ESA astronauts on their way to the International Space Station.
Starlink 4-14 – the 14th mission carrying satellites destined for the fourth of five Starlink orbital ‘shells’ – will be SpaceX’s 9th Starlink launch and 15th launch overall in 2022, averaging just shy of one launch per week. The mission should also leave SpaceX with more than 2100 working Starlink satellites in orbit – likely not far off from half of all operational satellites in Earth orbit.
SpaceX appears to have assigned Falcon 9 booster B1061 to the launch after the rocket – already integrated with a new upper stage – was spotted on the way to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) on April 18th. Starlink 4-14 will be B1060’s 12th launch since June 30th, 2020, tying Falcon 9 B1051’s booster reuse record but accomplishing the feat almost 15 months faster. It’s unlikely that B1051 will ever retake its crown from B1060. Based on past performance, B1060 could easily fly another 4-6 times before the end of 2022 if it survives Starlink 4-14.
As few as 42 hours later, Falcon 9 booster B1067 could lift off for the fourth time with a new Crew Dragon capsule – C212 or “Freedom” – and a team of four professional astronauts as part of NASA’s Crew-4 mission at 5:26 am EDT (09:26 UTC), April 23rd. Crew-4 will be SpaceX’s seventh astronaut launch since May 2020 and its fourth operational crew transport mission for NASA. A few days after Crew Dragon C212 docks with the International Space Station (ISS), four Crew-3 astronauts will board a different Crew Dragon and return to Earth, handing off the US segment to Crew-4.
However, two Crew Dragons are already docked to the ISS, taking up both available International Docking Adapter (IDA) ports. Before Crew-4 can launch, Axiom-1 – SpaceX’s first all-private astronaut mission to the space station – must undock and return to Earth. On April 18th, that undocking was delayed about 15 hours by poor weather to 10 pm EDT, April 19th, pushing splashdown and recovery off the coast of Florida to mid-afternoon, April 20th. NASA and SpaceX will then have about 60 hours to analyze any data gathered from the completed Axiom-1 mission and determine whether or not to proceed with Crew-4 on April 23rd.
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’
