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SpaceX's Crew Dragon astronaut launch debut schedule revealed by Elon Musk

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On the heels of a brand new animation simulating the spacecraft’s next orbital launch milestone, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a tentative schedule for Crew Dragon’s astronaut launch debut.

Known as Demo-2, short for Crew Dragon’s second orbital demonstration mission, the launch could make SpaceX the first commercial company in history to send astronauts to space (i.e. orbit), as well as the first private company to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). If things go as planned over the next several months, that should kick off a new era where NASA will routinely rely on SpaceX (and Boeing) to ensure that the US has a continued presence in space.

The International Space Station has been continuously crewed by astronauts since October 31st, 2000, representing nearly two decades that humanity has had an uninterrupted presence in space. Supported by regular NASA Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz launches that enabled space agencies to safely send astronauts to and from the space station, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner are nearly ready to pick up the torch that NASA and the United States fumbled when the Shuttle was prematurely canceled in 2011.

Over the last five years, SpaceX has been working tirelessly to design, build, and test Crew Dragon – all in the name of ensuring that it will be one of the most reliable and capable human-rated spacecraft ever flown once it begins taking astronauts to and from the ISS. As with almost all human-rated spacecraft in history, Crew Dragon’s development has not been without its hurdles and detours, ranging from challenges with the spacecraft’s parachute recovery systems to a catastrophic capsule explosion during thruster testing.

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As a result, SpaceX has put extra effort into optimizing and redesigning Crew Dragon’s many subsystems to ensure that all work exactly as intended. Thankfully, all of Crew Dragon’s development hurdles have occurred during testing specifically designed to reveal such problems, meaning that no humans have been harmed (or killed) over the course of the program. In the history of human spaceflight, it has often been the case that catastrophic spacecraft failure modes are only discovered after operational flights began, resulting in the deaths of numerous astronauts during Soyuz, Space Shuttle, and SpaceShipTwo – as well as three NASA astronauts during Apollo 1 ground testing.

Crew Dragon separates from Falcon 9’s upper stage on its way to the International Space Station. (SpaceX)

Spaceflight is nevertheless a dangerous endeavor, at least for the time being, so it’s entirely possible that Crew Dragon will ultimately suffer accidents or failures during crewed missions, evidenced most recently by Starliner’s failure to reach the space station during the Boeing’s spacecraft’s first orbital launch. Still, both companies are working hard to ensure that even in the event of a failure, their spacecraft are able to protect their astronaut passengers and safely return them to Earth.

In line with that, SpaceX (unlike Boeing) opted to perform a live In-Flight Abort (IFA) test with Crew Dragon before allowing the spacecraft to begin astronaut launches. Scheduled to launch as early as January 11th, SpaceX will launch a Dragon spacecraft atop Falcon 9 and simulate a rocket failure during the most stressful point of launch. If Crew Dragon can fire up its abort thrusters and whisk its hypothetical passengers to safety, chances are that the spacecraft will be able to do the same at any other point during launch – from before liftoff all the way to orbit.

SpaceX has been developing its first human-rated spacecraft since it began build Cargo Dragon more than a decade ago – all paths for the company have ultimately pointed towards human spaceflight. According to CEO Elon Musk, the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 launch vehicle assigned to support the company’s inaugural astronaut launch will be in Florida and ready for flight as early as February 2020, a few-month delay compared to the often overly-optimistic executive’s previous Nov/Dec 2019 target.

Although the hardware could be ready to launch three months (or less) from now, Musk believes that the NASA preflight reviews that must follow will likely take “a few more months” – unfortunately likely given that Crew Dragon’s uncrewed launch debut (Demo-1) was likely ready for flight almost two months before NASA finally cleared SpaceX to launch.

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Ultimately, as long as Crew Dragon’s IFA test goes well next month, it’s likely that the spacecraft will launch twice in the first half of 2020, potentially making history sometime in the second quarter.

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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 Cybercab production ignites with 60 units spotted at Giga Texas

Designed exclusively for unsupervised Full Self-Driving, the Cybercab promises to deliver safe, affordable, on-demand mobility without human drivers. Early units with temporary controls allow engineers to refine hardware and software in controlled settings before full autonomous fleets hit the roads.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer

Tesla Cybercab production at Giga Texas seems to have ignited, as 60 units were spotted outside of the production facility on Wednesday, with speculation hinting the all-electric ride-hailing vehicle could be headed to the lineup sooner rather than later.

Interestingly, they were also spotted with steering wheels, which Tesla said the car would be void of.

Giga Texas observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer shared on X a new post that revealed approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot—the largest concentration observed to date.

Tegtmeyer noted white seats inside several vehicles and clearly visible steering wheels on most. These are not yet the final steering-wheel-free production versions unveiled in 2024, but early units are likely undergoing validation testing for new features and real-world robotaxi operations across the country.

The timing could not be more symbolic. Tesla has consistently affirmed that mass manufacturing of the Cybercab would begin this month.

CEO Elon Musk has reiterated the April 2026 target multiple times, emphasizing that while initial output will be slow, following the classic S-curve of new-vehicle ramps, the Giga Texas line is being prepared to produce hundreds of units per week.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk outlines expectations for Cybercab production

The first Cybercab already rolled off the line in February, but April marks the official shift to volume production of this purpose-built, pedal- and steering-wheel-free autonomous vehicle.

These 60 Cybercabs signal far more than parked prototypes. They represent tangible proof that Tesla is executing on its ambitious robotaxi roadmap.

Designed exclusively for unsupervised Full Self-Driving, the Cybercab promises to deliver safe, affordable, on-demand mobility without human drivers. Early units with temporary controls allow engineers to refine hardware and software in controlled settings before full autonomous fleets hit the roads.

As production scales, Giga Texas, already home to Cybertruck production, will become the epicenter of Tesla’s autonomous revolution, targeting millions of vehicles annually in the years ahead.

For Tesla and its investors, this sighting underscores manufacturing excellence and timeline discipline. It counters skepticism about the company’s ability to deliver on next-generation vehicles amid a competitive autonomous landscape.

Broader implications are profound: lower transportation costs, reduced emissions, and safer roads as robotaxis proliferate. Musk’s vision of a future where Cybercabs operate 24/7, generating revenue for owners and riders alike, is now visibly underway.

With mass production officially ramping in April, today’s images are not just a snapshot of parked vehicles; they are the first frames of a mobility transformation. Tesla is not only meeting its commitments; it is accelerating toward an era where autonomy reshapes daily life. The Cybercab era has begun.

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Tesla makes major rebound in European market with 4x in registrations

Tesla delivered a striking performance in Germany’s automotive market in March 2026, with new vehicle registrations more than quadrupling year-over-year, according to official data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

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Credit: Raffael/Twitter

Tesla headlines will have you believe the company is dead to rights in Germany, selling nearly no cars, and stating consumers are more interested in other brands not run by CEO Elon Musk.

However, the latest data from Germany proves this might be a dying narrative.

Tesla delivered a striking performance in Germany’s automotive market in March 2026, with new vehicle registrations more than quadrupling year-over-year, according to official data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

Newly registered Tesla vehicles jumped 315.1 percent to 9,252 units, marking the company’s strongest March on record in the country and signaling a sharp rebound after earlier challenges in the European market.

The March surge accounted for roughly 72 percent of Tesla’s first-quarter total in Germany. Q1 registrations reached 12,829 vehicles, a 160 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. For context, the implied March 2025 figure was approximately 2,229 units—one of the brand’s weaker months in recent years.

These numbers underscore Tesla’s ability to capitalize on renewed demand in Europe’s largest car market, where the company had faced softening sales throughout much of 2025 amid heightened competition and broader economic pressures.

Germany’s overall new passenger car market also expanded in March, with 294,161 registrations—a 16 percent rise from the prior year. Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) performed even more robustly, climbing 66.2 percent to 70,663 units and representing about 24 percent of all new car registrations.

Tesla FSD (Supervised) stuns Germany’s biggest car magazine

Tesla’s 9,252 deliveries captured approximately 13.1 percent of the BEV segment for the month and roughly 3.1 percent of the total new car market, highlighting its continued leadership among pure-play electric brands despite growing competition from both domestic German manufacturers and Chinese entrants like BYD, which saw its own registrations surge 327.1 percent to 3,438 units.

The strong showing comes as Germany’s EV incentives and infrastructure investments continue to support adoption. Tesla’s lineup, anchored by the Model Y and Model 3, appears to have resonated with buyers seeking premium electric options.

Industry observers note that the concentrated March registrations, accounting for the bulk of the quarter, may reflect strategic inventory management, competitive pricing adjustments, or pent-up demand following a slower start to 2026.

This performance provides a much-needed bright spot for Tesla in Europe, where the brand had seen market share erosion in prior periods.

Tesla Model Y outsells all EV rivals in Europe in 2025 despite headwinds

With Q1 2026 registrations up significantly, Tesla has demonstrated resilience in a market that registered 699,404 new passenger cars for the quarter, up 5.2 percent overall. As the year progresses, sustained momentum in Germany could bolster Tesla’s European outlook, particularly if broader BEV growth persists amid evolving policy support and technological advancements.

The March 2026 data from the KBA paints a picture of Tesla’s renewed strength in Germany: a fourfold monthly leap, record quarterly gains, and a solid foothold in an expanding EV segment.

Whether this marks the beginning of a sustained recovery or a seasonal peak remains to be seen, but the numbers affirm Tesla’s enduring appeal in one of the world’s most competitive automotive landscapes.

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Elon Musk reveals unfortunate truth of Tesla Full Self-Driving development

In a candid reply to a dramatic video of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system averting disaster, Elon Musk laid bare a harsh reality facing autonomous vehicle technology.

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Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is one of the most significant technological developments in terms of passenger travel in decades, but it is not all sunshine and rainbows, even with major strides in safety, CEO Elon Musk revealed.

In a candid reply to a dramatic video of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system averting disaster, Elon Musk laid bare a harsh reality facing autonomous vehicle technology.

The clip shows a Model 3 traveling at over 65 mph on a foggy, rain-soaked highway when a pedestrian suddenly steps into traffic.

Full Self-Driving instantly detects the threat and swerves safely, preventing what could have been a fatal collision for both the pedestrian and the driver’s cousin.

Musk’s response was unequivocal:

“Tesla self-driving saves a lot of lives – the statistics are unequivocal. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, of course.” Even with a projected 10x safety improvement over human drivers, FSD would still prevent roughly 90% of the world’s approximately one million annual auto fatalities. The remaining 10%—roughly 100,000 deaths—would expose Tesla to relentless lawsuits. Meanwhile, the vast majority of lives saved would go unnoticed. “The 90% who are still alive mostly won’t even know that Tesla saved them. Nonetheless, it is the right thing to do.”

This “unfortunate truth,” as Musk implicitly framed it, highlights a fundamental asymmetry in how society perceives safety technology. Human drivers cause the overwhelming majority of crashes through distraction, fatigue, or error.

Yet when FSD errs, the incident becomes headline news and a courtroom target. Prevented tragedies, by contrast, leave no trace.

Survivors simply continue their journeys, unaware of the split-second intervention that kept them alive. The result is a distorted public narrative that amplifies failures while rendering successes invisible.

We have seen this through various headlines throughout the years, including the mainstream media’s obsession with only mentioning the manufacturer’s name in the instance of an accident when it is “Tesla.”

Opinion: Tesla Autopilot NHTSA investigation headlines are out of control

The video’s real-world example underscores FSD’s current capabilities. In near-zero visibility, the system’s cameras and neural network reacted faster than any human could, demonstrating the life-saving potential Musk cites.

Tesla’s latest safety data already shows FSD (Supervised) performing significantly better than the U.S. average, with crashes occurring far less frequently per mile driven.

Still, regulatory scrutiny, liability concerns, and media focus on edge-case failures continue to slow widespread adoption. Musk’s frank admission suggests Tesla is prepared to push forward despite the legal and perceptual headwinds.

As FSD edges closer to unsupervised autonomy, Musk’s post serves as both a progress report and a reality check. The technology is already saving lives today.

The unfortunate truth is that proving it and scaling it responsibly will require society to value statistical lives saved as much as dramatic stories of those lost. In the race toward safer roads, perception may prove as formidable an obstacle as the fog and rain in that viral video.

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