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SpaceX's Elon Musk reveals next Starship's Raptor engines, explains latest failure
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to better explain what happened when the latest full-scale Starship prototype failed during one of its first tests, while later revealing the rocket engines set to power a future prototype’s first flight.
On April 3rd, SpaceX initiated the third full-scale Starship prototype’s first cryogenic (ultra-cold) pressure test by loading the ~30m (100 ft) tall rocket’s upper propellant tank with what was likely 400+ metric tons (~900,000 lb) of liquid nitrogen. For several hours, liquid nitrogen – a chemically-neutral propellant simulant – was loaded and offloaded several times. Finally, around 2:07 am local (07:07 UTC), the liquid oxygen tank below the methane tank abruptly crumpled, reminiscent of a plastic bottle with the air partially sucked out of it. After several long seconds of gradual crumpling, gravity did what gravity does and pulled the heavy upper tank to the ground, shredding the rest of the rocket’s thin steel skin.
Both unfortunate and a positive development, Musk has recently confirmed Teslarati’s earlier speculation that based on videos of the anomaly, a bad test design and operator error(s) – rather than a technical fault of the rocket itself – could have been the cause of Starship SN3’s failure. In other words, barring future operator error-related failures, Starship SN3’s second cryogenic test went quite well and should mean no delays to Starship SN4’s ongoing assembly.
Particularly in light of Elon Musk’s statement that operator error and a bad test design caused Starship SN3’s failure, the ship’s April 3rd performance was quite impressive. That SN3 remained vertical for several seconds after its aft tank crumpled and likely lost pressure – despite carrying a load equivalent to a fully-loaded Boeing 747 passenger jet – suggests that the vehicle’s structure is extremely robust.
In his explanation, Musk revealed that the rocket failed because the lower (liquid oxygen) tank had not been pressurized enough to withstand the stress of a methane tank fully loaded with liquid nitrogen. Musk’s description almost makes it sound like one or several people failed to account for the fact that liquid nitrogen is nearly 25% heavier than the cryogenic methane it was simulating.
Thankfully, while a prototype likely worth several million dollars and at least a month of work was lost, that means that SpaceX should be able to move on to SN4 with confidence – at least as long as it can rectify whatever allowed those operator mistakes to occur.
In the same Twitter session, Musk – presumably burning the late-night oil at SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas Starship factory – also posted a photo showing three operational Raptors in the same frame, a definite first for the cutting-edge rocket engine. Had Starship SN3 survived its cryogenic proof tests last week, SpaceX’s plan was to install and static fire either one or three Raptor engines. A successful static fire campaign would have then been followed soon after by a full-scale Starship’s inaugural flight test, potentially seeing the ship fly as high as Starhopper’s final August 2019 hop.
Now, while Musk says SpaceX may still “reuse much of [SN3’s] thrust section,” the company’s Starship test plan will now rely on SN4 – the next full-scale prototype. It’s far more likely that SN4 will reuse almost no structural aspects of SN3, but even that might cause just a few weeks of delays. Based on a particular assembly step completed on April 4th, Starship SN4 is only four weeks away from the launch pad under the assumption of zero improvements to the speed of production, assembly, and outfitting. Knowing SpaceX, SN4 could be fully stacked and outfitted even sooner.
For now, it looks like we’ll thus have to wait at least a few more weeks to see Starship attempt another cryogenic proof test and – potentially – breathe its first fire with one or several Raptor engines.
Elon Musk
Tesla releases cryptic teaser for something massive and it’s coming this week
On Sunday morning, Tesla released a nine-second teaser video of what appears to be either a vehicle wheel, fan, or some sort of propeller, but there are no real clues as to what it could be exactly.

Tesla has released a cryptic teaser for something massive, and it will release details on it this week. With many different projects in the works, there is a lot of speculation going on about what it could potentially be, but we have a few ideas.
On Sunday morning, Tesla released a nine-second teaser video of what appears to be either a vehicle wheel, fan, or some sort of propeller, but there are no real clues as to what it could be exactly.
It then ends with “10/7,” meaning it will announce something on October 7, which is this Tuesday:
β Tesla (@Tesla) October 5, 2025
Given that Tesla has been working on a handful of pretty notable projects that are set for unveiling at the end of this year, and there are some clues that seem to point in their direction with this short teaser video.
There are two projects that come to mind almost immediately: the Tesla Roadster is one, and the “E41” or affordable model is the other. Here’s what we know about both:
Tesla Roadster Demo Event
Tesla said earlier this year that it would have a demo event for the Roadster to unveil some new technologies and show off what it has been working on over the past few years.
There have been a lot of crazy things in the works for the Roadster, including a SpaceX package that would use cold-gas thrusters for an insane 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate. This package was also supposed to help it hover, something CEO Elon Musk has teased for the past few years.
The Roadster was ready for release earlier this year, but after Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and VP of Powertrain Lars Moravy showed Musk what they had come up with, he wanted more.
Moravy said on theΒ Ride the Lightning podcast earlier this year:
“What we had come up with exceeded what we originally planned. So, Elon was like, ‘Wow, great. Let’s do more!'”
The Roadster event was coined as “the most epic demo,” and since it was planned for the end of 2025, it is totally feasible to believe this could be it.
Tesla ‘E41’ Affordable Model
Some believe the teaser could be the official launch of Tesla’s affordable model, which Musk said earlier this year is simply a stripped down Model Y.
There have been some sightings of this vehicle in the past few weeks, including one on Friday that showed the vehicle completely uncovered for the first time:
π¨ It looks like the new affordable Tesla Model Y was spotted near Giga Texas
Model Y body with the Model 3 fascia, no glass roof, and looks as if there is a front bumper camera!
Should be coming soon! https://t.co/UAXQMHjM23 pic.twitter.com/9lC5te9GnW
β TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 3, 2025
The launch of the affordable model makes sense, especially from a timing perspective. With the $7,500 EV tax credit officially coming to a close on September 30, many are wondering how Tesla will spark growth in its deliveries. A more affordable EV would be the perfect response, and it is something that Tesla has been working on for some time.
Other Potential Ideas
There are some pretty interesting ideas as to what the teaser could be apart from the Roadster or affordable model. Some believe it could be a cooling fan for a GPU cluster, which would make sense considering Tesla’s prowess in data.
Grok also made an interesting guess, stating it could be a propeller for a secret air taxi Tesla is developing. This seems sort of our of left field.
We do know Tesla hosted a handful of influencers at Gigafactory Texas this past week, so whatever the company showed them is likely what will be unveiled on Tuesday.
News
Tesla Optimus is learning martial arts in new video teasing capabilities
For the past few months, Tesla has been refining its capabilities and making some serious progress on what Optimus is capable of. This morning, Musk released a new video showing Optimus learning Kung Fu, perhaps its most impressive feat yet.

Tesla Optimus is learning martial arts, a new video released by CEO Elon Musk shows, a crazy development and advancement in the robotics project the company has been working on for a few years.
Optimus has been a major focus of Tesla for the past several years, especially as Musk has said he believes it will be the biggest product of all time and could be the biggest contributor to the company’s valuation.
For the past few months, Tesla has been refining its capabilities and making some serious progress on what Optimus is capable of. This morning, Musk released a new video showing Optimus learning Kung Fu, perhaps its most impressive feat yet:
Tesla Optimus learning Kung Fu pic.twitter.com/ziEuiiKWn7
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2025
The video shows Optimus working with a Kung Fu teacher, known as a Shifu, going through what appears to be some sort of routine of combinations. It’s quite impressive to see the fluidity of the movements and Optimus’s ability to keep up with Shifu.
Tesla has been “working hard” to scale Optimus production, Musk said last week, a project that has obviously confronted both AI and manufacturing teams with a variety of challenges.
The plan is to have an annual production run-rate of one million units by 2030, and there were plans to build 5,000 units this year.
Musk still believes Optimus will make up roughly 80 percent of Tesla’s value. In January, he said it would be “overwhelmingly the value of the company.”
Tesla plans to launch the Gen 3 version of Optimus soon, and although a video of a new-look prototype was released by Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, the company’s frontman stated that this was not what the next-generation prototype would look like.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla has never shown Optimus V3 design yet
This video seems to show there is still significant progress being made on the Optimus project, and it will be perhaps one of the most impressive humanoid robots available to consumers in the coming years.
Elon Musk
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 gets new release date, Elon Musk details
“Last minute bug cropped up with V14. Released is pushed to Monday, but that gives us time to add a few more features.”

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving version 14 has gotten a new release date after new details from CEO Elon Musk opened up some new perspectives on the suite.
Originally slated for an “early wide release” of v14 this past week, then a launch of v14.1 and v14.2 this week and next week, respectively, delays arose after Tesla’s Autopilot team found some issues within the software.
Tesla FSD V14 set for early wide release next week: Elon Musk
Musk detailed on X this morning that a “last minute bug” appeared before release, which has now pushed FSD v14’s release back to this Monday:
Last minute bug cropped up with V14. Released is pushed to Monday, but that gives us time to add a few more features.
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2025
Musk also said the delay would give Tesla the ability to “add a few more features,” which seems like an added advantage, although he did not provide any additional details on what these features could be.
In classic Musk fashion, he has teased the capabilities of this version of the FSD suite since it became public knowledge that Tesla was working on it. He said that it is the second most important update for the AI/Autopilot team since FSD v12.
V14 will have a parameter count that is ten times what previous iterations were, which should provide more accuracy and a more human-like operation.
π¨ Tesla is making “significant improvements” in FSD software and plans to increase parameter count by roughly 10x from what people are currently experiencing pic.twitter.com/r974W6ToGi
β TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 23, 2025
Musk has said v14 “feels alive” and has used the word “sentient” to describe its performance. The goal with the new FSD rollouts is to eliminate as many interventions as possible, making it as close to human driving as possible.
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