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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says Starship pad abort capabilities could come sooner than later
Despite a number of technical hurdles, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk believes that the company’s next-generation Starship spacecraft could eventually be capable of pad aborts in the event of a Super Heavy booster failure before liftoff.
For a vehicle as large and heavy as Starship, this would necessitate a number of compromises, but would undoubtedly serve as a major confidence-booster for prospective passengers in lieu of an established record of reliability. If Starship were capable of pad aborts like the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, high-profile and high-value customers like NASA and other space agencies could be far more willing to place astronauts and payloads on what they perceive to be a bizarre but high-performance launch vehicle.
Although SpaceX would almost certainly prefer that Starship and Super Heavy skip the first half of Falcon 9’s life cycle (marked by two catastrophic failures), building a new launch vehicle – particularly one with all new materials, engines, and production processes – is extremely challenging, and failures are to be expected as kinks are worked out.
On the plus side, after several lessons were learned the hard way, SpaceX has demonstrated that it can build an extremely reliable launch vehicle. Since its last catastrophic failure in September 2016, SpaceX has successfully completed 49 launches of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy in barely 2.5 years, compared to 29 launches (with 2 failures) from 2010 to 2016. In short, SpaceX has simultaneously proven that it can beat almost any other single provider’s launch cadence and do so with impressive reliability, all while pushing the boundaries of reusable rocketry and constantly upgrading flight hardware.
Destroying customer payloads remains unacceptable, but the ultimate success of SpaceX’s Falcon launch vehicle family – at the cost of two operational failures – is undeniable. With Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX thankfully has several new advantages, owing to its spectacular success over the last few years. With the fruit of major fundraising in hand, an independent F9/FH launch business humming along, and the freedom to pursue significant R&D projects on its own dime, SpaceX may be able to stomach one or several Starship/Super Heavy failures and do so during internal missions.
By accepting possible (and probable) vehicle failures during development and insulating SpaceX’s external customers from any associated risk, the company should be able to develop Starship and Super Heavy in exactly the ways it wants to.
Hence CEO Elon Musk’s indication that SpaceX “is not planning for pad abort with early Starships”. In short, adding the ability for pad aborts to Starship would/will be a major challenge. Assuming a dry mass of 100 tons (220,000 lb) and a wet mass of 1000-1200 tons (2.2M-2.7M lb), Starship’s six planned Raptor engines – capable of producing up to ~1200 tons of thrust at sea level – could be barely enough to lift a fully-fueled spacecraft. In pad abort scenarios, the rocket booster would be suffering some sort of catastrophic failure, if it wasn’t already mid-explosion. As such, getting far away from said explosion as fast as possible is the name of the game, particularly if the priority is ensuring passenger/astronaut survival.
Starting a high-performance liquid rocket engine fast enough to make an abort possible is also a major challenge, though Musk says that Raptor could be capable of extremely fast start-ups in emergency scenarios. Assuming that Raptor can somehow be ignited from standstill in less than a second (preferably 0.1-0.5s) and would still be able to ignite a second time for a soft landing, SpaceX could technically give Starship the thrust-to-weight ratio needed to quickly escape a Super Heavy failure by reducing the propellant load. With the minimal propellant needed to safely reach a stable low Earth orbit (LEO) during crewed Starship launches, SpaceX would have to lean almost exclusively on rapid orbital refueling, but the combination might be enough to ensure that Starships can abort at almost any point during launch.
It’s extremely unlikely that SpaceX will pursue this capability during the prototype phase, but it may not be out of the question for the first crewed mission(s) of finalized Starships.
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Tesla fans are urging Elon Musk to file a lawsuit against fake “disabled” Cybertruck video
As per Tesla supporters, enough is enough,
Tesla supporters and retail investors are urging CEO Elon Musk and the electric vehicle maker to pursue legal action against a rapper who faked a video of a Cybertruck that was reportedly disabled remotely by the company.
As per Tesla supporters, enough is enough.
The fake video
American rapper Big Huey made headlines over the weekend when he claimed that his Cybertruck had been deactivated by Tesla. The rapper claimed that Tesla had remotely disabled his Cybertruck unless he complied with a cease-and-desist letter over a song he made about the all-electric pickup truck. In his video, the rapper even claimed that he was “stranded as f*ck” because he could not move his Cybertruck.
The video itself was immediately flagged by longtime Tesla watchers as fake. It did not take long before Tesla itself posted a clarification on its official X account stating that the rapper’s viral video was indeed fake. By this time, however, the rapper’s claims have already made their way across the internet.
Enough is enough
A look at the comments on Tesla’s clarification post shows that a good number of EV enthusiasts and retail investors are urging the company to pursue legal action against the rapper. One of the rapper’s videos, after all, featured an alleged cease-and-desist letter that featured what appeared to be a forged signature from a Tesla Legal executive. Others also noted that it is high time for Tesla to fight back more assertively against fake videos and allegations.
While Tesla North America tends to be a punching bag of sorts for false claims, the company has been adopting a more assertive approach to defend its reputation in other countries. These include China, which has proven to be very assertive when it comes to defending its legal interests and reputation. This has worked well for Tesla China, so it is no wonder that investors are now clamoring for a similar legal approach in the United States.
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Tesla launches record-breaking 830 km CLTC range Model 3 in China
The long-range rear-wheel-drive Model 3 is expected to begin deliveries in September.
Tesla has officially unveiled its longest-range vehicle to date in China: a new Model 3 variant capable of traveling up to 830 CLTC kilometers (515 miles) on a single charge.
Priced from RMB 269,500 ($37,490), the single-motor, long-range rear-wheel-drive Model 3 is expected to begin deliveries in September.
The new Model 3 RWD at a glance
Equipped with a 78.4 kWh battery pack from LG Energy Solution, the new Model 3 variant surpasses the current Model 3 long-range all-wheel-drive version’s 753 CLTC-kilometer (468-mile) range and sets a new benchmark for the company’s global lineup. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds and has a top speed of 200 km/h.
The launch expands Tesla’s Model 3 offerings in China to four versions. The lineup now includes the entry-level rear-wheel drive variant, which is powered by CATL lithium iron phosphate batteries and starts at RMB 235,500, as well as the dual-motor long-range all-wheel-drive and performance all-wheel-drive versions priced at RMB 285,500 and RMB 339,500, respectively.
Improved range upgrades
Tesla confirmed on Weibo that all Model 3 versions in China have now received range upgrades this year, part of a broader strategy to refresh its lineup. The company is launching the new variant amid intensifying competition in China’s electric vehicle market.
From January to July, Tesla delivered 304,027 vehicles in China, a 6.32 percent decline year-on-year. The drop was driven largely by the Model Y’s sales of 202,257 units, which fell 17.15%, as noted in a CNEV Post report. The Model 3’s sales rose 26.54% to 101,770 units during the same period. To boost sales, Tesla is offering incentives on most Model 3 trims, including five years of interest-free financing, an RMB 8,000 discount on paint, and an RMB 8,000 insurance subsidy, among others.
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Tesla China insurance registrations hit Q3 high at 13,400 units
Year-to-date, Tesla’s China registrations are down 6.1% versus 2024 levels.
Tesla’s insurance registrations in China surged to 13,400 units for the week of August 4–10, the highest weekly total so far in the third quarter of 2025. The figure represents a 21.8% increase from the prior week’s 11,000 registrations, as per industry tracking data.
Industry watchers weigh in
Data shared by industry watcher @piloly shows the latest week’s results were 21.8% higher than the previous week, though still down 13.5% year-over-year. After six weeks of Q3 2025, Tesla’s China registrations are tracking 70.9% higher quarter-over-quarter compared to Q2, but remain 11.0% below the same period in Q3 2024. Year-to-date, Tesla’s China registrations are down 6.1% versus 2024 levels.
Tesla China does not release its weekly domestic sales figures, though the company’s overall performance in the country can be inferred through insurance registration data. Fortunately, these registrations are closely tracked by industry watchers as well as automakers such as Li Auto.
More momentum
The August performance so far indicates Tesla may be regaining some momentum after a slower start to the year. Tesla’s sales figures this year have generally lagged behind 2024, thanks in no small part to the company’s changeover to the new Model Y, which was implemented in the United States, China, and Germany.
Tesla China seems to be doing what it can to attract as many customers as possible this quarter. Tesla recently launched a new long-range Model 3 variant in China with a CLTC-rated range of 830 km, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Priced at RMB 269,500 ($37,490), the model is about 14.44% more expensive than the entry-level version and becomes the longest-range Tesla on sale in the market. Tesla is also expected to launch the six-seat Model Y L in China this fall.
Tesla fans are urging Elon Musk to file a lawsuit against fake “disabled” Cybertruck video
Tesla launches record-breaking 830 km CLTC range Model 3 in China
Tesla China insurance registrations hit Q3 high at 13,400 units
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