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SpaceX, Boeing astronaut spacecraft working towards orbital meet-up in 2020
According to Boeing’s new Starliner testing plan, the spacecraft could potentially meet SpaceX’s own Crew Dragon astronaut spacecraft in orbit at the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.
Following Starliner’s near-catastrophic December 2019 orbital flight test (OFT), Boeing and NASA have finally announced that – at a minimum – a second uncrewed flight test will have to be completed before the company will be allowed to launch astronauts. According to the Washington Post, Starliner’s return to flight is expected to occur no earlier than October or November 2020, 10 or 11 months after it suffered several major software failures during its first spaceflight. While delays to that flight schedule are incredibly likely, it does mean that there’s a chance that SpaceX’s second crewed Crew Dragon launch could coincide with Starliner’s second orbital mission — a first for the two NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) providers.
Just one week before NASA and Boeing revealed plans to refly Starliner’s uncrewed flight test, NASA announced that SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon launch now has a full four astronauts assigned to it. Scheduled to launch no earlier than Q4 2020, the spacecraft will carry three NASA astronauts and one Japanese (JAXA) astronaut to the ISS, remaining in orbit for at least six months before returning its crew back to Earth. Now, there’s a chance that SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon will be joined in orbit by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft sometime soon after arriving on station.
As previously discussed on Teslarati, Boeing’s Starliner OFT suffered several near-catastrophic close calls in the few days it spent in space, all of which appear to have egregiously shoddy and unqualified software to blame.
“Starliner launched atop a ULA Atlas V rocket on its orbital launch debut (OFT) on December 20th, 2019. Atlas V performed flawlessly but immediately after Starliner separated from the rocket, things went very wrong.
Bad software ultimately caused the spacecraft to perform thousands of uncommanded maneuvering thruster burns, depleting a majority of its propellant before Boeing was able to intervene. Starliner managed to place itself in low Earth orbit (LEO), but by then it had nowhere near enough propellant left to rendezvous and dock with the ISS – one of the most crucial purposes of the flight test. Unable to complete that part of the mission, Boeing instead did a few small tests over the course of 48 hours in orbit before commanding the spacecraft’s reentry and landing on December 22nd.
The Starliner spacecraft also reportedly almost suffered a second major software failure just hours before reentry. According to NASA and Boeing comments in a press conference held only after news of that second failure broke, a second Starliner software bug – caught only because the first failure forced Boeing to double-check its code – could have had far more catastrophic consequences. NASA stated that had the second bug not been caught, some of Starliner’s thruster valves would have been frozen, either entirely preventing or severely hampering the spacecraft’s detached trunk from properly maneuvering in orbit. Apparently, that service module (carrying fuel, abort engines, a solar array, and more) could have crashed into the crew module shortly after detaching.”
Teslarati.com — February 11th, 2020
The only sane response was obviously for NASA to require Boeing to successfully complete a second Orbital Flight Test (OFT), a necessary decision the space agency and card-holder was bizarrely hesitant to acknowledge. Now, almost four months after Starliner was nearly lost on its first orbital flight test, NASA and Boeing have finally stated the obvious and confirmed that a second OFT will be required before astronauts can fly on Starliner. Even then, if things go wrong during OFT2 or Boeing completes the mission but still fails to rectify all faults identified by a joint failure investigation, NASA may still delay the spacecraft’s astronaut launch debut.
SpaceX has undeniably had its own stumbles while developing Crew Dragon, most notably when the first successfully flight-proven spacecraft violently exploded moments before a static fire test in April 2019. SpaceX was able to rectify the responsible design flaws and successfully complete an identical static fire test less than seven months later, followed by a second successful launch less than three months after that. Based on WaPo’s indication that Starliner’s second OFT is scheduled for Q4 2020, Boeing is now anywhere from 12-18 months behind SpaceX with its efforts to launch NASA astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX successfully completed Crew Dragon’s OFT equivalent in March 2019.
Regardless, if Crew Dragon performs flawlessly during its Demo-2 astronaut launch debut – scheduled no earlier than mid-to-late May – and Boeing’s Starliner OFT2 mission launches on time in Q4 2020, there is a great chance that both spacecraft will be simultaneously docked to the space station. Better circumstances would be unequivocally preferable but it will still mark an important symbolic milestone for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and assured access to the ISS.
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Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.
It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.
If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Outlet Adapter for Model Y Premium in the U.S., enabling V2L capability for all Premium trims (that’s what it appears to be as it is available for purchase with all Premium trims)
It’s available for $80. 2.4kW max power and rated for 120v, 20A pic.twitter.com/lDxlVIk5s8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?
They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.
Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:
Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners
You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.
It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.
You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.
Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”
Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.
The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.
🚨 The Information is reporting this morning that Tesla is ready to unveil the “flying” Roadster as soon as this month
It’s almost here, folks. pic.twitter.com/IdL4atsucQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.
According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.
We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”
We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.
The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.
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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.
Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.
Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.
Tesla has received its Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority says that operations are limited to a maximum fleet of 10 fully autonomous vehicles and shall be conducted only within the Authority-approved Operational Design… https://t.co/Cxfd6GIfDk pic.twitter.com/iOO6wSZkHF
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 13, 2026
The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.
Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.
Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.
Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.
Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information
