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SpaceX aims to ship two new Crew Dragon spacecraft to Florida in the next two months

Elon Musk says SpaceX could be ready to ship two new Crew Dragon capsules to Florida within the next two months. (SpaceX)

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Speaking in an interview with CNN shortly after presenting an update on Starship, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that the company’s next two completed Crew Dragon spacecraft are both set to arrive in Florida before the end of the year.

Specifically, Musk estimated that Crew Dragon capsule 03 (C203) and its expendable trunk would be sent from SpaceX’s Hawthorne, CA factory to Cape Canaveral, FL as early as October. Crew Dragon capsule C204 is then expected to follow around one month later, arriving in Florida for preflight preparation as early as November.

Crew Dragon is an upgraded, human-rated follow-up to SpaceX’s highly successful Cargo Dragon, an uncrewed spacecraft that has successfully completed 19 orbital launches since December 2010. Over the course of those missions, Cargo Dragon has delivered almost 40 metric tons of cargo (39.5t, 87,000 lb) to the International Space Station (ISS) under SpaceX’s NASA Commercial Resupply Services 1 (CRS1) contract.

SpaceX’s first spaceworthy Crew Dragon capsule prepares for its first Falcon 9-integrated static fire and a post-recovery test fire three months later. (SpaceX)

SpaceX executives have stated several times that Cargo Dragon (Dragon 1) and Crew Dragon (Dragon 2) barely have a single shared part between them, but Crew Dragon nevertheless shares the heritage built by its predecessor’s successful career. Like Dragon 1, Dragon 2 is comprised of two main sections – a capsule and a service section (known by SpaceX as a trunk). The capsule is designed to be recovered and reused, while the trunk is detached in orbit to eventually burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

Same as Cargo Dragon, Crew Dragon’s trunk serves three main purposes aside from its basic structural role, providing power to the spacecraft with a solar array, regulating spacecraft temperature with a built-in radiator, and storing unpressurized cargo bound for the ISS.

SpaceX published a highlight reel of Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco thruster testing on September 12th. The spacecraft is now set to perform an In-Flight Abort test as early as November. (SpaceX)

Unlike Cargo Dragon, Crew Dragon features a launch abort system (LAS) powered by eight Super Draco engines, nominally capable of carrying astronauts to safety in the event of a Falcon 9 failures at any point during launch. On April 20th, recently flight-proven Crew Dragon capsule C201 suffered a catastrophic explosion as a result of a design flaw in its high-pressure propellant system. Eventually blamed on the use of a leaky, titanium valve in a high-pressure, oxidizer-rich environment, that explosion significantly delayed SpaceX’s Crew Dragon test flight schedule.

Prior to April 20th, SpaceX anticipated launching Crew Dragon’s In-Flight Abort (IFA) test as early as July 2019, followed by the spacecraft’s crewed demonstration launch (Demo-2) in September or October 2019. Capsule C201 was supposed to support the IFA test and its destruction forced SpaceX to reconfigure its spacecraft flight order, reassigning the capsule (C203) originally intended to fly astronauts on Demo-2 to IFA, while the Dragon (C204) meant for SpaceX’s second astronaut launch (known as PCM-1) was reassigned to Demo-2.

Demo-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley train for Demo-2, Crew Dragon’s first crewed launch. (SpaceX)

As of early September, SpaceX and NASA had nearly completed Crew Dragon’s static fire explosion investigation. The next few Crew Dragon spacecraft could have almost certainly been completed months ago, but SpaceX had to pause their integration to preserve access in the event that significant modifications were needed to recertify the capsules for flight. With the IFA Dragon set to arrive as early as October, SpaceX will have up to one month to prepare for the abort test, currently scheduled to occur no earlier than (NET) November 23rd according to recent FCC applications.

Assuming that Dragon performs flawlessly during the IFA, NASA could give Demo-2 – Crew Dragon’s inaugural astronaut launch – permission to launch as early as Q1 2020.

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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 and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025

According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.

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Credit: ANCAP

The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.

According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.

The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring. 

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.

The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.  

ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.

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“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.

“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.

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Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade

Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.

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Credit: Tesla Charging/X

Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.

Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.

Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error. 

More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report. 

Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.

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Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.

Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.

“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted. 

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Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning

Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.

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Credit: Linda Yaccarino/X

Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.

Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.

Downdetector reports

Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.

As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.

Credit: Downdetector

Previous disruptions

Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.

In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.

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