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SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft set to static fire SuperDraco abort thrusters after delays

Crew Dragon hovers with its SuperDraco abort thrusters. (SpaceX)

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Originally scheduled for early November, SpaceX now plans to static fire a Crew Dragon capsule’s SuperDraco abort thrusters no earlier than Wednesday, November 13th. Success would pave the way for SpaceX to launch the spacecraft’s in-flight abort (IFA) before the end of 2019.

In April 2019, a bad design choice finally reared its head, triggering an oxidizer leak and exotic titanium chemical fire that lead to the catastrophic explosion of Crew Dragon capsule C201, the first upgraded spacecraft to successfully launch, dock with the ISS, and return to Earth. That explosion occurred shortly after a successful Draco maneuvering thruster test and just milliseconds before the planned ignition of C201’s eight SuperDraco abort thrusters.

SpaceX planned on reusing flight-proven Crew Dragon capsule C201 to complete its In-Flight Abort (IFA) test, in which the spacecraft will attempt to escape from Falcon 9 during Max Q, the most aerodynamically stressful period of launch. After C201’s premature demise, SpaceX was forced to reassign new Crew Dragon spacecraft already in production, and capsule C205 – previously assigned to Dragon’s Demo-2 astronaut launch debut – was delivered to SpaceX’s Florida launch facilities in early October.

C205 will now support SpaceX’s IFA test. However, prior to launch, SpaceX (or NASA, or both entities) want to ensure that the fixes and upgrades retroactively applied to Crew Dragon will prevent C201’s failure mode from reoccurring. This proof will come in the form of a static fire test identical to the one that caused C201’s explosion. Dragon capsule C205 will be loaded with liquid dinitrogen tetroxide (also known as NTO or N2O4) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH) fuel and fire its much smaller Draco maneuvering thrusters.

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Seven of Cargo Dragon capsule C113’s Draco maneuvering thrusters are visible here. Crew Dragon uses similar thrusters. (Pauline Acalin)

Lastly, C205 will ignite its eight SuperDraco abort thrusters – capable of producing more than 570 kN (128,000 lbf) of combined thrust – to conclude the static fire acceptance test. NASA and SpaceX will likely analyze the results together, while SpaceX will refurbish and refuel the spacecraft as expediently as possible. If everything goes as planned, Crew Dragon C205 will be integrated with its disposable trunk section and transported to Launch Complex 39A sometime in late-November or December.

In an impressive demonstration of SpaceX’s ability to work fast, the company managed to determine the cause of C201’s explosion, correct design flaws, prove those corrections with extensive testing, modify Crew Dragon C205 in light of those changes, and ship the completed spacecraft to Florida in less than six months. NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders, rare to heap praise, deemed SpaceX’s response “a pretty phenomenal turnaround.”

NASASpaceflight reporter Michael Baylor says that Crew Dragon’s static fire is now scheduled no earlier than the morning of November 13th, a delay of 11 days from the static fire’s first known target, November 2nd. It’s unclear what triggered the delay, but it would be unsurprising for SpaceX to be treading with extreme caution in a bid to avoid another serious Crew Dragon anomaly.

SpaceX recently began the installation of SuperDraco abort thrusters on the Crew Dragon capsule set to support Demo-2, SpaceX’s first astronaut launch. (SpaceX)
Crew Dragon capsule C205 and Falcon 9 booster B1046 arrived in Florida around October 3rd ahead of SpaceX’s critical In-Flight Abort (IFA) test. (SpaceX)

If all goes as planned during the test and the post-test inspections raise no red flags, SpaceX and NASA will likely be ready to launch Crew Dragon’s IFA test some 4-6 weeks after. Stay tuned for updates.

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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 FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.

The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.

Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.

The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.

The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. 

As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.

At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.

With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.

The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.

Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.

Credit: Tesla

The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.

The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. 

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As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.

At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.

With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.

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Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”

Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”

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UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.

Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”

Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality. 

“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.

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When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.

After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”

“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.

Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.

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During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.

As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.

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Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike

The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.

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Credit: Tesla Charging

Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.

The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.

While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing. 

“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely. 

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“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said. 

The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.

Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”

Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker. 

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“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all. 

“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said. 

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