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SpaceX aces fifth astronaut launch in a year and half
Less than 18 months after its first crewed launch, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket have successfully completed their fifth astronaut launch, sending a crew of four on their way to the International Space Station (ISS).
After ~10 days of weather and sequencing delays and two days after Crew-2 astronauts returned to Earth in a separate Dragon, once-flown Falcon 9 booster B1067 and new Crew Dragon capsule C210 (christened Endeavour) lifted off at 9:03pm EST on Wednesday, November 10th with four Crew-3 astronauts aboard.
For NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, the launch is just the beginning of a more than six-month stint in low Earth orbit. When they arrive at the ISS around 7pm EST, November 11th, they’ll join one other NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts – temporarily left for three days as a bit of a skeleton crew after Crew-2’s departure. Nominally, Crew-3 would have launched before Crew-2 to allow a true on-orbit hand-off with zero interruption, but poor weather ultimately led NASA to flip the order of operations at the last minute.
With just a few days to prepare, SpaceX and NASA managed to make that significant change happen and Crew-2 returned around 10pm EST on November 8th. Less than two days later, thanks to a near-perfect recovery, Crew-3 lifted off and is now in orbit and on the way to the ISS. SpaceX’s 24th launch of the year, Crew-3 is also its fifth astronaut launch since Demo-2, which saw the company launch its first crewed test flight – carrying two NASA astronauts – on May 30th, 2020.
Relative to other crewed spacecraft, completing the first five astronaut launches in less than a year and a half is no small feat. Crew Dragon is by no means the fastest to reach that five-flight milestone and is actually middle of the pack but a simple list of names and numbers belies the fact that every other spacecraft on that list was developed by a government agency with far more power over their budgets. Crew Dragon’s development, on the other hand, was funded and overseen by NASA but it was fully managed, designed, and built by private company SpaceX under a fixed-price contract.
Spacecraft Time to 5 Crewed Flights Gemini 267d | 8 months 22 days Apollo CSM 278d | 9 months 5 days Soyuz 7K 351d | 11 months 16 days Soyuz MS 386d | 12 months 21 days Mercury 516d | 16 months 28 days Crew Dragon 529d | 17 months 11 days Soyuz TM 571d | 18 months 24 days Shuttle 578d | 18 months 30 days Soyuz TMA-M 646d | 21 months 7 days Soyuz TMA 715d | 23 months 14 days Soyuz T 749d | 24 months 19 days Vostok 793d | 26 months 2 days Shenzhou 3542d | 116 months 11 days
SpaceX is also on track to launch Axiom-1 (the first all-private astronaut mission to the ISS) and Crew-4 – Dragon’s sixth and seventh astronaut launches – before the second anniversary of Demo-2. Of those seven scheduled launches, four will have been completed for NASA in less than 18 months – a launch cadence the space agency never expected its Commercial Crew Program partners would need to support. However, partner Boeing has unfortunately mismanaged its Starliner spacecraft development, causing multiple in-flight anomalies and ultimately incurring years of delays. Originally scheduled to perform its equivalent of Dragon’s Demo-2 test flight (CFT) in 2020, Starliner’s first crewed launch is now highly unlikely to occur before 2023.
As a result, NASA has been forced to lean entirely on SpaceX and SpaceX has had to pick up the slack and rapidly learn how to operate Crew Dragon at twice its planned cadence. Thankfully, despite the fact that Crew Dragon will ultimately cost NASA ~40% and $2 billion less than Starliner, SpaceX has more than managed to rise to the challenge and ensure that NASA has had uninterrupted access to the ISS since November 2020. Crew-3 continues that uninterrupted access – a service that Crew Dragon and SpaceX alone are now likely to provide until at least early to mid-2023.
Tesla executive Lars Moravy appeared today in front of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to highlight the importance of modernizing autonomy standards by establishing a federal framework that would reward innovation and keep the country on pace with foreign rivals.
Moravy, who is Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, strongly advocated for Congress to enact a national framework for autonomous vehicle development and deployment, replacing the current patchwork of state-by-state rules.
These rules have slowed progress and kept companies fighting tooth-and-nail with local legislators to operate self-driving projects in controlled areas.
Tesla already has a complete Robotaxi model, and it doesn’t depend on passenger count
Moravy said the new federal framework was essential for the U.S. to “maintain its position in global technological development and grow its advanced manufacturing capabilities.
He also said in a warning to the committee that outdated regulations and approval processes would “inhibit the industry’s ability to innovate,” which could potentially lead to falling behind China.
Being part of the company leading the charge in terms of autonomous vehicle development in the U.S., Moravy highlighted Tesla’s prowess through the development of the Full Self-Driving platform. Tesla vehicles with FSD engaged average 5.1 million miles before a major collision, which outpaces that of the human driver average of roughly 699,000 miles.
Moravy also highlighted the widely cited NHTSA statistic that states that roughly 94 percent of crashes stem from human error, positioning autonomous vehicles as a path to dramatically reduce fatalities and injuries.
🚨 Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, appeared today before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to discuss the importance of outlining an efficient framework for autonomous vehicles:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 4, 2026
Skeptics sometimes point to cybersecurity concerns within self-driving vehicles, which was something that was highlighted during the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, but Moravy said, “No one has ever been able to take over control of our vehicles.”
This level of security is thanks to a core-embedded central layer, which is inaccessible from external connections. Additionally, Tesla utilizes a dual cryptographic signature from two separate individuals, keeping security high.
Moravy also dove into Tesla’s commitment to inclusive mobility by stating, “We are committed with our future products and Robotaxis to provide accessible transportation to everyone.” This has been a major point of optimism for AVs because it could help the disabled, physically incapable, the elderly, and the blind have consistent transportation.
Overall, Moravy’s testimony blended urgency about geopolitical competition, especially China, with concrete safety statistics and a vision of the advantages autonomy could bring for everyone, not only in the U.S., but around the world, as well.
Tesla launched a new configuration of the Model Y this week, bringing more complexity to its lineup of the vehicle and adding a new, lower entry point for those who require an All-Wheel-Drive car.
However, the broadening of the Model Y lineup in the United States could signal a somewhat uncomfortable reality for Tesla fans and car buyers, who have been vocal about their desire for a larger, full-size SUV.
Tesla has essentially moved in the opposite direction through its closure of the Model X and its continuing expansion of a vehicle that fits the bill for many, but not all.
Tesla brings closure to Model Y moniker with launch of new trim level
While CEO Elon Musk has said that there is the potential for the Model Y L, a longer wheelbase configuration of the vehicle, to enter the U.S. market late this year, it is not a guarantee.
Instead, Tesla has prioritized the need to develop vehicles and trim levels that cater to the future rollout of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service and a fully autonomous future.
But the company could be missing out on a massive opportunity, as SUVs are a widely popular body style in the U.S., especially for families, as the tighter confines of compact SUVs do not support the needs of a large family.
Although there are other companies out there that manufacture this body style, many are interested in sticking with Tesla because of the excellent self-driving platform, expansive charging infrastructure, and software performance the vehicles offer.
Additionally, the lack of variety from an aesthetic and feature standpoint has caused a bit of monotony throughout the Model Y lineup. Although Premium options are available, those three configurations only differ in terms of range and performance, at least for the most part, and the differences are not substantial.
Minor Expansions of the Model Y Fail to Address Family Needs for Space
Offering similar trim levels with slight differences to cater to each consumer’s needs is important. However, these vehicles keep a constant: cargo space and seating capacity.
Larger families need something that would compete with vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, or Cadillac Escalade, and while the Model X was its largest offering, that is going away.
Tesla could fix this issue partially with the rollout of the Model Y L in the U.S., but only if it plans to continue offering various Model Y vehicles and expanding on its offerings with that car specifically. There have been hints toward a Cyber-inspired SUV in the past, but those hints do not seem to be a drastic focus of the company, given its autonomy mission.
Model Y Expansion Doesn’t Boost Performance, Value, or Space
You can throw all the different badges, powertrains, and range ratings on the same vehicle, it does not mean it’s going to sell better. The Model Y was already the best-selling vehicle in the world on several occasions. Adding more configurations seems to be milking it.
The true need of people, especially now that the Model X is going away, is going to be space. What vehicle fits the bill of a growing family, or one that has already outgrown the Model Y?
Not Expanding the Lineup with a New Vehicle Could Be a Missed Opportunity
The U.S. is the world’s largest market for three-row SUVs, yet Tesla’s focus on tweaking the existing Model Y ignores this. This could potentially result in the Osborne Effect, as sales of current models without capturing new customers who need more seating and versatility.
Expansions of the current Model Y offerings risk adding production complexity without addressing core demands, and given that the Model Y L is already being produced in China, it seems like it would be a reasonable decision to build a similar line in Texas.
Listening to consumers means introducing either the Model Y L here, or bringing a new, modern design to the lineup in the form of a full-size SUV.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reiterates Tesla Optimus’ most sci-fi potential yet
Musk shared his comments in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Elon Musk recently reiterated one of the most ambitious forecasts for Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, stating it could become the first real-world example of a Von Neumann machine. He also noted once more that Optimus would be Tesla’s biggest product.
Musk shared his comments in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Optimus as a von Neumann machine
In response to a post on X that pondered on sci-fi timelines becoming real, Musk wrote that “Optimus will be the first Von Neumann machine, capable of building civilization by itself on any viable planet.” In a separate post, Musk wrote that Optimus will be Tesla’s “biggest product ever,” a phrase he has used in the past to describe the humanoid robot’s importance to the electric vehicle maker.
A Von Neumann machine is a class of theoretical self-replicating systems originally proposed in the mid-20th century by the mathematician John von Neumann. In his concept, von Neumann described machines that could travel to other worlds, use local materials to create copies of themselves, and carry out large-scale tasks without outside intervention.
Elon Musk’s broader plans
Considering Musk’s comments, it appears that Optimus would eventually be capable of performing complex work autonomously in environments beyond Earth. If Optimus could achieve such a feat, it could very well unlock humanity’s capability to explore locations beyond Earth. The idea of space exploration becomes more than feasible.
Elon Musk has discussed space-based AI compute, large-scale robotic production, and the role of SpaceX’s Starship in transporting hardware and materials to other planets. While Musk did not detail how Optimus would fit with SpaceX’s exploration activities, his Von Neumann machine comments suggest he is looking at Tesla’s robotics as part of a potential interplanetary ecosystem.
Tesla exec pleads for federal framework of autonomy to U.S. Senate Committee
Tesla Model Y lineup expansion signals an uncomfortable reality for consumers
