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SpaceX's Crew Dragon is about to escape a supersonic rocket: here's how to watch live
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is set to attempt to escape a supersonic Falcon 9 in what will likely be the first intentional in-flight destruction of an orbital-class rocket in decades.
Known as an In-Flight Abort test, Crew Dragon’s second test flight is guaranteed to be spectacular and will thankfully be streamed live by both NASA and SpaceX. Scheduled to lift off no earlier than 8 am EST (13:00 UTC), January 18th, the IFA could also be Crew Dragon’s last uncrewed launch ever, hopefully paving the way for its first orbital flight with NASA astronauts on board just a few months from now.
For now, SpaceX’s primary focus with the IFA test is to prove that Crew Dragon can protect passengers and cargo even in the unlikely event that Falcon 9 fails in flight – after liftoff but before the spacecraft has separated from the rocket.
After several months of delays brought on by the explosion of Crew Dragon capsule C201 in April 2019 and an additional two-week slip from NASA’s first public launch date, Falcon 9 booster (B1046) and Crew Dragon capsule C205 have both completed static fire tests of their respective rocket engines and rolled out to Pad 39A on January 16th.
After at least half a year of investigation and a similar period spent redesigning and requalifying a subsection of the high-pressure propellant plumbing that feeds Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco abort thrusters, new capsule C205 successfully fired up a handful of Draco maneuvering thrusters and all 8 of its SuperDracos abort engines, simulating the burns it will have to perform during Saturday’s IFA test.
According to NASA and SpaceX, the ~48 hours between rollout and liftoff have been used to perform a dry run for future NASA astronaut launches, more or less exactly replicating the processes that will soon be used for real. Of course, Demo-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley didn’t actually board the Crew Dragon spacecraft (its interior is unfinished) and will certainly not be on board come liftoff, but everything up to the point of spacecraft ingress was performed as if they will be.
Audiences will likely be treated to a rare view from inside SpaceX’s flight operations center, recently permanently relocated to Firing Room 4 of NASA’s Flight Control Center (FCC) – a facility with substantial historical ties to US human spaceflight. It was last utilized as part of Crew Dragon’s inaugural orbital launch – “Demo-1” – in March 2019.
Approximately 90 seconds after liftoff, shortly after a point of maximum aerodynamic stress called Max Q, Crew Dragon will ignite its SuperDraco abort thrusters in an attempt to prove that it can whisk astronauts to safety in even a near-worst-case scenario. After a 10-second SuperDraco burn, the spacecraft will have to stabilize itself, reenter the bulk of Earth’s atmosphere, and deploy four main parachutes for a gentle splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
A combined SpaceX and USAF team will recover the hopefully-intact spacecraft from the ocean, likely using the opportunity to once again simulate the process of recovering a crewed Crew Dragon and safely extracting the NASA astronauts strapped inside it.
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Falcon 9 booster B1046 is expected to be “destroyed in Dragon fire”, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The Crew Dragon capsule will jettison mid-flight, leaving B1046 open to extremely abnormal aerodynamic stress that will likely tear it and the upper stage apart. NASA says SpaceX will attempt to recover as much of the expected rocket debris as possible.
Crew Dragon’s IFA test has a four-hour launch window with liftoff targeted no earlier than (NET) 8 am EST (13:00 UTC), January 18th. For a variety of reasons, this mission is uniquely susceptible to weather both at and around the launch pad and stands a good chance of slipping much later into the window, and backups are available at the same time on Sunday and Monday.
Regardless, SpaceX will provide live coverage of the test whenever it does launch, beginning around 15 minutes prior to liftoff. Teslarati photographer Richard Angle and reporter Jamie Groh will be on-site to document the events of Crew Dragon crucial – and likely spectacular – flight test.
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Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.
It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.
If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Outlet Adapter for Model Y Premium in the U.S., enabling V2L capability for all Premium trims (that’s what it appears to be as it is available for purchase with all Premium trims)
It’s available for $80. 2.4kW max power and rated for 120v, 20A pic.twitter.com/lDxlVIk5s8
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 14, 2026
For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?
They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.
Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:
Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners
You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.
It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.
You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.
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 launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.
Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information
