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SpaceX Dragon spacecraft heads to ISS as crewed version preps for debut
SpaceX’s third flight-proven Cargo Dragon spacecraft has arrived in orbit and is currently making its way uphill to the International Space Station for the 15th SpaceX resupply, scheduled for arrival around 7 am EDT July 2nd. Meanwhile, the company’s new Crew Dragon is undergoing its own earthbound trials, split between an artificial vacuum chamber and parachute drop tests over the California desert.
Following a twilight launch that brought to a spectacular close an era of older, less-reusable Falcon 9 rockets, the Cargo Dragon capsule trunk full of several tons of supplies and scientific instruments were placed into a parking orbit roughly 200 miles above Earth’s surface, trailed by a mesmerizing rainbow plume created by Falcon 9’s first and second stage over their nine-minute journey.
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- CRS-15 minutes before an early July 29 launch. (SpaceX)
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- Nine minutes after launch, Falcon 9’s upper stage shut off its main engine and Cargo Dragon detached. (SpaceX)
After arriving in orbit, Crew Dragon separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and officially commenced its second orbital mission roughly 25 months after its first, CRS-9 in July 2016. Alongside the three that have now flown successfully, all five of SpaceX’s remaining Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1) missions will be conducted with flight-proven Dragon spacecraft, two or three of which will see the already-reused capsules fly a third time before being officially retired.
After SpaceX’s first CRS contract comes to an end, currently scheduled for early 2020 with the CRS-20 mission, the upgraded Dragon 2 will take over all future cargo launches. Dragon 2’s cargo configuration is expected to be a slightly different version of the Crew Dragon capsule and trunk, scheduled to debut as early as late 2018, but the specifics are still somewhat hazy. Most probably, recovered Crew Dragon capsules – unlikely to ever been certified to fly NASA astronauts – will instead be refurbished after their first orbital missions, modified slightly to meet the cargo requirements, and then use to complete SpaceX’s CRS-2 contract alongside their crew transport missions.
At Naval Air Facility El Centro in Southern California, SpaceX recently completed its 16th test of Crew Dragon’s parachute system—verifying the system’s ability to slow Crew Dragon and ensure a safe landing in the unlikely event of a low altitude abort. https://t.co/OOQnAtNXJ3 pic.twitter.com/kFX7Qth3AK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 26, 2018
While its predecessors continue to grow SpaceX’s experience in orbit, the Crew Dragon program is making its own impressive progress towards the first uncrewed and crewed launch debuts in late 2018 and early 2019. DM-1, the capsule tasked with that first uncrewed demonstration, is likely nearing the end of a suite of tests inside NASA’s huge Plum Brook vacuum chamber facilities, ensuring that the brand-new spacecraft behaves as expected in the extreme environment of space. If successful, the capsule will be sent on its way to Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin true prelight preparations for the first time ever, while its trunk – an expendable structure installed at the base of the craft with solar arrays, radiators, and bays for unpressurized cargo – will be sent back to the Hawthorne, CA factory to be outfitted with flight hardware, after which it will ship to Florida one to two months after the capsule arrives.
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- Crew Dragon parachute tests are likely to continue into the summer to ensure NASA certification in time for DM-1. (SpaceX)
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- Falcon 9 B1045 and it’s flight-proven Cargo Dragon head skyward, marking the end of last-gen SpaceX Falcon 9 launches. (Tom Cross)
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- CRS-15’s ‘jellyfish’ plume glowed as Falcon 9 flew above the terminator into the morning sun. (Tom Cross)
Meanwhile, the CRS-15 Dragon capsule currently orbiting Earth will dock with the International Space Station early Monday morning and is scheduled to depart, reenter, and return to Hawthorne, CA for Flight 3 refurbishment in early August, at which point the DM-1 Crew Dragon ought to have arrived in Florida. Aside from Dragon, SpaceX has three new Falcon 9 Block 5 launches scheduled between July 20 and August 2, the boosters of which will all be recovered aboard SpaceX’s fleet of drone ships
Follow us for live updates, peeks behind the scenes, and photos from Teslarati’s East and West Coast photographers.
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Tom Cross – Twitter
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Tesla has reportedly pushed the unveiling of the Roadster once again, but there are also evidently new details about the event that the company plans to show off.
The Information reported this morning that Tesla will now unveil, for the second time, the next-generation Roadster in August, a further delay from the multiple timeline that the company had previously stated.
The report has not been confirmed or denied by Tesla at any capacity.
It also states the unveiling event will take place in Texas, the same place that Tesla executives revealed in May would be the place of manufacture for the company’s highly-anticipated supercar, which boasts a top speed of over 250 MPH and 650 miles of range, according to its website.
Tesla is also expected to showcase the SpaceX package, which will be used for faster acceleration and potentially hovering capabilities, at the unveiling event, the report states. Musk has always planned for this to happen, but now it seems it is more realistic than ever
The report also states the Roadster unveiling is planned for August pic.twitter.com/By26XZIJzU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
The Roadster has had its unveiling date and manufacturing date pushed back on many occasions. It was set to start production in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic crippled supply chain operations, forcing Tesla to push its timeline back considerably.
However, COVID has been over for some time, and Tesla has still not managed to successfully schedule and execute an unveiling event, which is something fans and enthusiasts, as well as those who have put down a $50,000 deposit, have been waiting for.
The vehicle was close to completion last year, but Musk truly wanted Lars Moravy and Franz von Holzhausen to push the limits of the Roadster. In July of last year, Moravy said:
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”
It is important to note two things: Tesla has not confirmed these details, and the company has regularly pushed these dates back. Until Tesla sends out formal invitations with a concrete date, taking any unveiling event reports with a grain of salt is a good idea.
Tesla is offering a tasty Supercharging incentive on certain Model 3 trims, but the company has officially put a concrete end date on it, so those interested should act fast.
Tesla is offering Free Supercharging for One Year on the Model 3 Premium and Performance trims, the top two offerings of the all-electric sedan. There are three trims of the Model 3 that will have the Free Supercharging offer attached:
- Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive – $42,490
- Premium All-Wheel-Drive – $47,490
- Performance – $54,990
Tesla has now announced that this offer will expire on June 15, giving potential buyers about ten days to take advantage of the incentive.
This could be an additional incentive for car buyers to transition to electric vehicles. Many states are showing gas prices well over $4 per gallon, with the national average currently sitting at $4.22, according to AAA.
A free year of Supercharging miles would allow people to charge and travel for free, other than routine maintenance, which is already incredibly cheap compared to a gas car.
🚨 Tesla is now showing that it’s Free Supercharging offer for Model 3 Premium and Performance trims ends June 15 pic.twitter.com/VCLeddNSj8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
At Tesla Superchargers, peak rates, meaning prices between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., average between $0.45 and $0.60. One year of driving at an average of 12,000 miles would cost between $1,000 and $1,500 at $0.50 per kWh. It’s a pretty good deal.
Supercharging prices have also increased recently:
Many of the Superchargers in my area just had their peak rates increased from $0.44 per kWh to $0.49, $0.52, and $0.54 per kWh
If you’re looking to save on your commute/travel for the next year, this Model 3 Free Supercharging incentive might not be a bad idea https://t.co/YDwwl4xxHk pic.twitter.com/DleURW7eqa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
Tesla has used Free Supercharging to move units in the past, and it’s a great strategy for those who plan to use the car for longer commutes, cross-country drives, or do not have reliable access to home charging.
It should be noted that Tesla recommends that Supercharging be used at a minimum to preserve the life of the battery, as fast-charging is more stressful on the cells.
However, some people might not have an option, so the Free Supercharging incentive could truly be a great reason for many people to charge their cars.
The Supercharging incentive is short-term, and it is pretty rare that Tesla utilizes it, so once this offer is gone, we probably will not see it on the Model 3 for some time.
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna revealed that the Italian automaker’s future will not involve self-driving, a point that echoes that of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s — sort of.
You might be thinking, “Are you insane? Musk has been so incredibly hellbent on delivering self-driving vehicles to the public, so much so that he has even hinted that Tesla won’t need the ever-popular and widely-requested Model Y L in the U.S.”
However, when it comes to electric supercars with high-performance specs and lofty price tags, Vigna’s stance is exactly what Musk wants for Tesla’s own hypercar project, the Tesla Roadster.
🚨 Tesla Roadster vs. Ferrari Luce
Price – $250,000 vs. $640,000
Horsepower – 1,000+ vs. 1,035
0-60 MPH – 1.1s OR 1.9s vs. 2.4s
Top Speed – 250+ MPH vs. 194 MPH
Range – 620 miles vs. 280 miles https://t.co/uEgswwVLeD pic.twitter.com/XcP58ZRO6Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026
In a new interview with Australian media outlet Drive, Vigna made it clear that Ferrari’s ambitions for the future do not involve autonomy, simply because the company’s cars are not designed for anything but manual, spirited driving.
He said:
“We will not make fully autonomous cars — loud and clear. We want the people to have fun, not the [computer] chips. We want to have a steering wheel and a man or a woman behind the steering wheel. Otherwise, why do you buy a Ferrari?”
This seems to be a reasonable assertion. Ferraris are not made for daily commutes, cross-country road trips, or bumper-to-bumper traffic. They’re made for fast, spirited driving, and many of their buyers will only put a few thousand miles on them throughout their lifetime. True, exciting, fun driving is meant to be done manually.
That is not to say Full Self-Driving or other semi-autonomous suites are not “fun,” but they are meant to take the stress out of driving. They are made for the daily commutes, the rush hour traffic, and the parking lots and garages. It’s made to take the stress out of driving.
Tesla Full Self-Driving attempts 150-mile stress test: the good and the bad
Musk had stated in an interview in early 2026 that the Roadster would also be geared toward fun, manually-controlled driving. On the Moonshots podcast with Peter Diamandis, Musk said about the Roadster:
“This is not a…safety is not the main goal. If you buy a Ferrari, safety is not the number one goal. I say, if safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster…We’ll aspire not to kill anyone in this car. It’ll be the best of the last of the human-driven cars. The best of the last.”
There are cars out there that simply are meant to be driven by humans, and Ferraris and Roadsters are a few of them. Ferrari has no true advantage in developing self-driving; their cars sell at low volumes with high price tags, and their performance specs and engineering are all geared toward spirited driving.
Tesla Roadster unveiling gets pushed again, but new event details emerge
Tesla Model 3 has a tasty Supercharging incentive, but it’s ending soon
