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SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft sails home after flawless in-flight abort test
SpaceX’s newest Crew Dragon spacecraft has successfully returned to port aboard one of the company’s dedicated recovery vessels, neatly wrapping up what appears to have been a completely flawless in-flight abort (IFA) test.
Designed to prove that Crew Dragon can safely escape a failing Falcon 9 rocket at essentially any point from the launch pad to orbit, SpaceX voluntarily chose to perform a full-fidelity IFA test – something NASA left up to both it and Boeing. Boeing instead decided to extrapolate from a pad abort test – which SpaceX completed in 2015 – and a presumably large number of digital simulations to verify that Starliner would survive an in-flight abort.
To be clear, NASA is explicitly okay with this, but space agency officials did not shy away from openly embracing the superiority of integrated flight testing at several points both before, during, and after SpaceX’s second Crew Dragon launch. Although it will almost certainly remain (publicly) unsaid, there should be little doubt that for astronauts scheduled to fly on either Crew Dragon and Starliner, the successful completion of in-flight abort and pad abort tests almost certainly engenders at least a little more confidence in the vehicle they will be entrusting their lives to.
It’s worth noting that although NASA argues – perhaps soundly – that digital modeling, a pad abort test, and an orbital flight test are enough to determine whether any given spacecraft is safe enough to launch US astronauts, the unspoken reality – or at least a large part of it – is that cost is a major concern. At this point in time, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) contracts are expected to cost a total of $3.1B for SpaceX and $5.1B for Boeing – both including at least four total orbital launches of their respective spacecraft.
In simpler terms, despite the fact that SpaceX has received a full $2 billion (~40%) less than Boeing to accomplish the same tasks in the same time, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon completed a flawless orbital launch debut and space station rendezvous with Crew Dragon almost 10 months before Boeing’s Starliner suffered a serious partial failure in space. Simultaneously, for $2 billion less, SpaceX has now given NASA a seemingly flawless full-up in-flight abort test of Crew Dragon before the space agency will fully entrust the spacecraft with the safety of its astronauts.
In the last 10 or so weeks, Boeing has thus suffered a minor Starliner parachute failure, a far more concerning spacecraft failure during its first orbital flight test (OFT), has no plans to perform an in-flight abort test, and nevertheless still wants Starliner’s next launch to carry NASA astronauts.
A clear path ahead
SpaceX, on the other hand, has now completed two seemingly-flawless integrated launches of Crew Dragon on a Falcon 9 rocket – one of which successfully rendezvoused with the ISS and returned to Earth; the other of which has now proven that Crew Dragon can whisk astronauts to safety from a failing supersonic rocket. SpaceX says it will carefully inspect capsule C205 and eventually refurbish the spacecraft, although it’s entirely unclear what kind of mission the company could foreseeably reuse it on in the near future.
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Speaking shortly after Crew Dragon’s second flawless launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that he had spoken with NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine just prior to the post-launch press conference and together came up with a response to the most obvious question: when will SpaceX fly astronauts? In short, Musk was almost certain that all the hardware needed for the Demo-2 astronaut test flight – Falcon 9 booster, F9 upper stage, Crew Dragon capsule C206, and a Dragon trunk – will be completed, tested, and delivered to Cape Canaveral by late-February 2020.
If everything goes exactly as planned, NASA – prior to launch – indicated that an early-March 2020 launch was actually within reach. After launch, Musk tempered expectations, stating that SpaceX would almost certainly launch its first NASA astronauts sometime in Q2 – perhaps as early as April. Regardless, it looks like we wont have to wait more than a few months to find out.
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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 Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information
Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss
