

News
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon settles on Feb 9 launch debut as Falcon 9 nears static fire
Update: NASASpaceflight.com is reporting that ISS planning documents suggest that Crew Dragon’s first launch has slipped into the second half of February, perhaps February 16th.
In the midst of several confusing delays, schedule updates, and official statements, the orbital debut of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has made its way onto the Eastern range’s planning schedule for the first time, placing Falcon 9 B1051’s static fire and Crew Dragons launch no earlier than (NET) January 23rd and February 9th, respectively.
As the brand new spacecraft’s first attempted trip to orbit, the demonstration mission (Demo-1/DM-1) will be performed without crew aboard, allowing SpaceX and NASA an opportunity to fully verify performance and explore Crew Dragon’s capabilities without risking the lives of the astronauts that will step inside a nearly identical vehicle as early as June or July.
Obviously preliminary, but the Eastern Range is now showing the Static Fire for the DM-1 mission's Falcon 9 (B1051.1) as NET January 23, (and still showing NET February 9 as the launch date). As always, but especially this one, all very much subject to change. pic.twitter.com/EWOEpbpI9o
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) January 17, 2019
The US government has been shut down for more than four weeks as a consequence of the inability of elected representatives to pass and sign a funding bill, now the longest shutdown in the country’s history. As a result, more than 95% of NASA’s workforce has been furloughed, leaving around 800 people left working (without pay) across the agency in positions or groups deemed absolutely essential to avoid loss of life or property damage.
How NASA defines “essential” is unknown but it seemed improbable that the Commercial Crew Program – around six months away from actually launching astronauts and presently marked by NASA’s attempts to complete reams of approval and certification paperwork – would fall under that extremely narrow umbrella. Delays to Crew launches are unlikely to harm hardware or directly risk harm to astronauts, although a very tenuous case could be made that delays to the program now would snowball and cause the debut of operational crewed launches to slip so far into 2019 (or even 2020) that NASA could lose assured access to the International Space Station (ISS) for several months. Again, there is no obvious way that a slip like that would actually increase the risk to life or limb for astronauts and hardware/infrastructure.
Apparently, Demo-1 and 2 don't need FAA launch licenses (under auspices of NASA, like TESS launch. Post-certification missions will require FAA license, like CRS flights today
— Irene Klotz (@Free_Space) January 16, 2019
Despite the logical improbability that NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) would – at this point in time – remain operating at full capacity during an extended government shutdown, NASA provided a statement to The Atlantic earlier this week more or less implying that CCP was deemed essential and has continued to operate for the last several weeks. There is certainly some wiggle room in NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs’ comments, enough to make it ambiguous if they are primarily PR spin, frank honesty, or something in between.
A SpaceX spokesperson added [paraphrased by The Atlantic] that “if NASA made the call, the company would carry out the uncrewed [DM-1] launch”, a tactical nonanswer that redirects the impetus to NASA. It’s not clear if the people at NASA that would ‘make the call’ to launch are furloughed or not – they certainly would not be essential in the sense described by NASA’s own overview of the current shutdown’s impact. Originally targeting a launch sometime in mid to late January, an official NASA update posted on January 10th showed that Crew Dragon’s first launch had slipped into February (on the launch range for February 9th).
- DM-1 and Falcon 9 were greeted by an extraordinary – albeit mildly bittersweet – dawn during their first-ever trip out to Pad 39A. (SpaceX)
- The integrated DM-1 Crew Dragon ‘stack’ rolled out to Pad 39A for the first time in the first few days of 2019. (SpaceX)
- Falcon 9 B1051 and Crew Dragon vertical at Pad 39A. (SpaceX)
- Crew Dragon shows off its conformal (i.e. curved) solar array while connected to SpaceX’s sleek Crew Access Arm (CAA). (SpaceX)
- DM-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley train for their first flight in Crew Dragon. (NASA)
“NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than February for the launch of Demo-1 to complete hardware testing and joint reviews.” – NASA, 01/10/2019
“Hardware testing” likely refers to the need for Falcon 9 to complete a static fire at Pad 39A, a test now scheduled for January 23rd. It’s ambiguous whether SpaceX can actually perform a static fire test – a complete launch rehearsal involving full propellant loads and the ignition of all nine Merlin 1D engines – at Kennedy Space Center, a NASA operated with federal funding that does not currently exist. Although the Air Force-helmed range is operating at a normal capacity, KSC must still perform a number of basic tasks ranging from infrastructure maintenance to roadblock setup to allow a static fire test – let alone a launch – to occur. I
f SpaceX completes its NET January 23rd static fire with no problems, then it would appear to be the case that some sort of SpaceX-side delay – perhaps augmented or slowed down by NASA operating at 5% capacity – caused the slip from mid-January to mid-February. Stay tuned to find out!
Elon Musk
Tesla scrambles after Musk sidekick exit, CEO takes over sales
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is reportedly overseeing sales in North America and Europe, Bloomberg reports.

Tesla scrambled its executives around following the exit of CEO Elon Musk’s sidekick last week, Omead Afshar. Afshar was relieved of his duties as Head of Sales for both North America and Europe.
Bloomberg is reporting that Musk is now overseeing both regions for sales, according to sources familiar with the matter. Afshar left the company last week, likely due to slow sales in both markets, ending a seven-year term with the electric automaker.
Tesla’s Omead Afshar, known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, leaves company: reports
Afshar was promoted to the role late last year as Musk was becoming more involved in the road to the White House with President Donald Trump.
Afshar, whose LinkedIn account stated he was working within the “Office of the CEO,” was known as Musk’s right-hand man for years.
Additionally, Tom Zhu, currently the Senior Vice President of Automotive at Tesla, will oversee sales in Asia, according to the report.
It is a scramble by Tesla to get the company’s proven executives over the pain points the automaker has found halfway through the year. Sales are looking to be close to the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered in both of the past two years.
Tesla is pivoting to pay more attention to the struggling automotive sales that it has felt over the past six months. Although it is still performing well and is the best-selling EV maker by a long way, it is struggling to find growth despite redesigning its vehicles and launching new tech and improvements within them.
The company is also looking to focus more on its deployment of autonomous tech, especially as it recently launched its Robotaxi platform in Austin just over a week ago.
However, while this is the long-term catalyst for Tesla, sales still need some work, and it appears the company’s strategy is to put its biggest guns on its biggest problems.
News
Tesla upgrades Model 3 and Model Y in China, hikes price for long-range sedan
Tesla’s long-range Model 3 now comes with a higher CLTC-rated range of 753 km (468 miles).

Tesla has rolled out a series of quiet upgrades to its Model 3 and Model Y in China, enhancing range and performance for long-range variants. The updates come with a price hike for the Model 3 Long Range All-Wheel Drive, which now costs RMB 285,500 (about $39,300), up RMB 10,000 ($1,400) from the previous price.
Model 3 gets acceleration boost, extended range
Tesla’s long-range Model 3 now comes with a higher CLTC-rated range of 753 km (468 miles), up from 713 km (443 miles), and a faster 0–100 km/h acceleration time of 3.8 seconds, down from 4.4 seconds. These changes suggest that Tesla has bundled the previously optional Acceleration Boost for the Model 3, once priced at RMB 14,100 ($1,968), as a standard feature.
Delivery wait times for the long-range Model 3 have also been shortened, from 3–5 weeks to just 1–3 weeks, as per CNEV Post. No changes were made to the entry-level RWD or Performance versions, which retain their RMB 235,500 and RMB 339,500 price points, respectively. Wait times for those trims also remain at 1–3 weeks and 8–10 weeks.
Model Y range increases, pricing holds steady
The Model Y Long Range has also seen its CLTC-rated range increase from 719 km (447 miles) to 750 km (466 miles), though its price remains unchanged at RMB 313,500 ($43,759). The model maintains a 0–100 km/h time of 4.3 seconds.
Tesla also updated delivery times for the Model Y lineup. The Long Range variant now shows a wait time of 1–3 weeks, an improvement from the previous 3–5 weeks. The entry-level RWD version maintained its starting price of RMB 263,500, though its delivery window is now shorter at 2–4 weeks.
Tesla continues to offer several purchase incentives in China, including an RMB 8,000 discount for select paint options, an RMB 8,000 insurance subsidy, and five years of interest-free financing for eligible variants.
News
Tesla China registrations hit 20.7k in final week of June, highest in Q2
The final week of June stands as the second-highest of 2025 and the best-performing week of the quarter.

Tesla China recorded 20,680 domestic insurance registrations during the week of June 23–29, marking its highest weekly total in the second quarter of 2025.
The figure represents a 49.3% increase from the previous week and a 46.7% improvement year-over-year, suggesting growing domestic momentum for the electric vehicle maker in Q2’s final weeks.
Q2 closes with a boost despite year-on-year dip
The strong week helped lift Tesla’s performance for the quarter, though Q2 totals remain down 4.6% quarter-over-quarter and 10.9% year-over-year, according to industry watchers. Despite these declines, the last week of June stands as the second-highest of 2025 and the best-performing week of the quarter.
As per industry watchers, Tesla China delivered 15,210 New Model Y units last week, the highest weekly tally since the vehicle’s launch. The Model 3 followed with 5,470 deliveries during the same period. Tesla’s full June and Q2 sales data for China are expected to be released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) in the coming days.
Tesla China and minor Model 3 and Model Y updates
Tesla manufactures the Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai facility, which provides vehicles to both domestic and international markets. In May, the automaker reported 38,588 retail sales in China, down 30.1% year-over-year but up 34.3% from April. Exports from Shanghai totaled 23,074 units in May, a 32.9% improvement from the previous year but down 22.4% month-over-month, as noted in a CNEV Post report.
Earlier this week, Tesla introduced minor updates to the long-range versions of the Model 3 and Model Y in China. The refreshed Model 3 saw a modest price increase, while pricing for the updated Model Y Long Range variant remained unchanged. These adjustments come as Tesla continues refining its China lineup amid shifting local demand and increased competition from domestic brands.
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