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SpaceX fans are launching a novel effort to invest in the company [Interview]
Spaced Ventures Founder and CEO Aaron Burnett found his calling when he saw the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landing in perfect unison during the spacecraft’s maiden voyage. SpaceX sought to inspire people with Falcon Heavy and its spacefaring Tesla Roadster, and for Burnett, the rocket’s flight definitely did.
“That thing, that image, essentially broke my brain wide open. That’s why I got involved and started doing what we’re doing today,” he said during a conversation with Teslarati.
Spaced Ventures is, to put it simply, an equity crowdfunding platform that pools money from individual investors to buy shares in privately held aerospace companies. The company is currently attempting its most ambitious initiative yet — securing enough pledges to get SpaceX’s attention and have its community members become investors in the private space company.
Aaron Burnett, Founder and CEO of Spaced Ventures
If the initiative succeeds, Spaced Ventures will become one of the few firms that were able to get individual shareholders into SpaceX. Achieving such a feat is not easy, as Elon Musk has openly expressed his reservations about taking SpaceX public in the past. SpaceX may be spinning off some of its divisions like Starlink and making those public, but for now, investing in the private space company is still an incredibly tricky endeavor.
During his conversation with Teslarati, Burnett, whose experience included leading growth for startups and a Fortune 500 company, explained that Spaced Ventures’ attempt to invest in SpaceX was the result of the community’s wishes. The Spaced Ventures community is closing in on 13,000 users, and with this growth, the company’s leadership opted to ask the community a question.
“If we could get a big space company to do a crowdfunding round, which one would you want?”
Burnett had a feeling that SpaceX would be one of the community’s top choices, but Spaced Ventures also provided other options, such as Axiom Space and Relativity Space. The choices in the survey featured aerospace companies with lofty goals, but as the results came in, it became highly evident that Spaced Ventures’ users overwhelmingly wanted to invest in SpaceX.
About 82% of the users polled wished to invest in Elon Musk’s private space company. “It was quite decisive. We could have guessed that that would happen. But this was a very nice, decisive moment for us where we said, ‘Okay, we’ll just do that,’” Burnett said.
And with that, Spaced Ventures started gathering pledges for its SpaceX initiative. The equity crowdfunding platform is looking to secure pledges worth $25 million from its users before it approaches SpaceX, and so far, it appears that Spaced Ventures may indeed have a shot. As of writing, 1,102 community members have pledged a total of $17,657,964 for the private space company.
That’s not a small amount by any means, and it’s quite impressive considering that pledges could be as low as $100. But this is only half the story, as some community members pledged amounts that were so notable that Burnett and his team had to double-check. When Spaced Ventures did, the aspiring SpaceX investors clarified that if given a chance, they would actually be investing more.
“I think what really surprised us is there are some individuals that wanna put a million or more. I’m like, ‘Ah, this seems ridiculous.’ So I call or (contact them) by email and say, ‘Wanna verify before we go to SpaceX. This is real. It’s not a joke.’ And several of them have responded that not only were they very serious, but they would increase it beyond that if we would allow that number to go bigger.
“Those individuals surprised me. Just the general interest, I think is quite crazy to me— how much people are really passionate about it— so much that they would put significant amounts of money to essentially say, ‘Hey, SpaceX, let us in any way, shape, or form you can,’” Burnett remarked.
Ultimately, it is no surprise that Spaced Ventures’ users are willing to go all-in on SpaceX. The private space company has already proven itself over the years, and its projects, such as Starship, have the potential to practically transform humanity into a spacefaring civilization. With this in mind, the idea of SpaceX eventually hitting a valuation well into the trillions of dollars is not too farfetched.
For now, Spaced Ventures continues to accept pledges from interested parties. When $25 million has been pledged, the equity crowdfunding platform would approach SpaceX and ask the private aerospace company if the amount can be invested. It’s almost like a bet of sorts, but one that could definitely have notable returns if it is successful.
Those interested in joining Spaced Ventures’ SpaceX initiative can click here.
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Ahead of its highly anticipated unveiling, Tesla’s upcoming Roadster received a new patent that aims to keep it grounded while enabling white-knuckle speeds.
The patent, which was granted on September 29, is titled “Electric Car Fan,” bluntly stating its design but not its purpose, which is further detailed in the text of the application. Interestingly, it comes two weeks before the Roadster event, which was delayed due to unfavorable weather on Thursday, which could cause issues, as Tesla revealed the event must be held outdoors.
🚨 The design uses electrically driven ducted fans, typically shown as a row of four at the rear, powered by the vehicle’s high-voltage battery.
The fans pull air from an underbody inlet, route it through ducts, and expel it from a larger rear outlet that functions as a… https://t.co/CHQB9u9UA3 pic.twitter.com/QVXmWTdggh
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 29, 2026
The purpose is to solve a problem that is relatively unique to high-performance electric cars. Instant motor torque is useless if the tires cannot plant that force, and conventional wings and underbody tunnels generate downforce only when air is already rushing past the car. At launch, in slow corners, and under hard braking from modest speed, passive aerodynamic additions contribute essentially very little to downforce.
Tesla’s filing says that its fans can produce the downforce needed, independent of vehicle velocity, then ease off so the same hardware does not pile on drag at highway speeds, an issue that can come from excessive body modifications.
The hardware outlined in the patent is a ducted-fan package that is placed into the rear of the vehicle. An underbody inlet between the rear wheels feeds a duct that rises to a wide outlet in the diffuser. In that outlet are four axial fans, which are divided by vertical strakes. They will pull air from under the floor and press the chassis onto the pavement.
The language in the patent claims it can cut drag rather than add to it while simultaneously increasing downforce.
Tesla Roadster event requires restricted airspace, and the FAA obliges
The fans run from the high-voltage battery and a vehicle control system, so output can be modulated rather than left on as a fixed penalty.
There are additional strengths that can come from this design, like extra tire load at low speed, which can contribute to even more face-melting acceleration rates, decrease stopping distance, and sharper turn-in before a wing has air to work with. Adjustable fan speed lets the car add grip only when needed, so it can be catered to the force of a turn or acceleration.
These designs were previously used, and banned, in some competitive settings. The Brabham BT46B was banned in F1 competition for using a similar fan design and being labeled as too effective.
Tesla still lists the Roadster as having a sub-two-second 0-60 MPH time and a 250-plus-MPH top speed, and there are expectations for a SpaceX cold-gas thruster package that could not only increase acceleration but potentially cause the vehicle to hover.
It is important to note that a patent is not a production part, and packaging four fans in a rear diffuser, managing noise, and potential debris are all things Tesla must consider. With that being said, the patent being granted shows Tesla is designing the Roadster to go fast, but it is also attempting to use unique strategies to combat any issues it might have at those speeds.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) showrooms have been picked clean ahead of the end of the third quarter of the year, as demand looks to be strong and delivery estimates for new vehicles are pushed into late 2026 and early 2027.
Tesla appears to have sold out of many of its Model 3 and Model Y trim levels in the United States, as only the Model Y RWD and Model Y All-Wheel-Drive are available for delivery before the end of the year.
Additionally, many showrooms are either completely empty or void of all but just one demo unit within the buildings themselves in an effort to bolster what could be one of Tesla’s best quarters in vehicle deliveries in recent memory.
I’m at Tesla right now and when I walked into their showroom I was shocked to see it basically empty.
I asked one of the people working there where all of the cars are “Gone – it’s the end of the quarter and we’ve sold out of everything… including the display vehicles”So… pic.twitter.com/rN7s3gE6sJ
— Devin Olsen (@DevinOlsenn) September 25, 2026
All the cars are gone from Tesla Century City!
All they have is Model Y L, a self-driving video playing on the background. I guess the best product is no product. Either that or they just sold the showroom cars. pic.twitter.com/mzCjWaXwww
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) September 26, 2026
Show room is empty. I asked and they have sold the demo cars too. Delivery numbers better be outstanding! pic.twitter.com/jq5N28Q6tZ
— Electric Brawl (@3lectricBrawl) September 22, 2026
Additionally, when I spoke to the guys at Tesla Mechanicsburg two weeks ago, when I returned the Model Y L, their third hauler of the week had just arrived, and every vehicle on it, along with every vehicle in their delivery lot, was accounted for and had a name attached to it for delivery.
Talking to the guys at the Mechanicsburg showroom on Friday, they couldn’t believe they had ANOTHER hauler coming in of cars for delivery—and each was accounted for
No car just sitting in inventory. They’re expecting a BIG quarter, and this is more than just the Y L https://t.co/ce801GkKVv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 21, 2026
Tesla saw a 25 percent increase in deliveries in Q2 compared to the same quarter the year before. The vast majority of the 480,126 units it delivered, 467,762 vehicles to be exact, were the Model 3 and Model Y.
In Q3 2025, Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles, once again a figure that was dominated by the company’s two mass-market vehicles. Analysts have unusually wide predictions for this quarter, likely because so many firms missed the Q2 delivery figure by such a substantial margin; Wall Street predicted 408,000 cars, while Tesla delivered 480,000.
Goldman Sachs has Tesla slotted for 435,000 deliveries in Q3, while JPMorgan said it anticipates 482,000. The median guess is about 449,000 deliveries for Q3.
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Tesla’s Automatic Collision Evasion feature can be seen in one of the first owner videos of it in action.
Tesla owner Spencer (@scotsrule08) posted on Monday that the feature “worked flawlessly,” saying FSD reengaged itself just as he was about to hit a curb. Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s AI team, shared the clip and wrote, “A guardian angel always looking out for you.”
The video arrives in the middle of a staged rollout. Tesla first shipped Automatic Collision Evasion with FSD (Supervised) v14.3.9 in software update 2026.27.6 earlier this month, which Teslarati covered as it reached cars. Update 2026.27.10, which began going out on September 19, carried the feature improvements with FSD v14.3.10, according to release notes tracked by Not a Tesla App. The newer 2026.27.11 build is now reaching another wave of vehicles.
The new Automatic Collision Evasion feature worked flawlessly! FSD reengaged itself just as I was about to hit a curb.
Kudos @Tesla_AI team! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Fbp15HhpL2
— Spencer (@scotsrule08) September 28, 2026
The feature only runs on HW4 vehicles, and it requires an active FSD purchase or subscription with both FSD (Supervised) and Automatic Emergency Braking enabled. HW3 owners receive FSD v14.2 Lite in the same updates, but that build does not include collision evasion.
Tesla’s release notes describe two triggers. The first is an imminent frontal collision that braking alone may not prevent, in which case the car can activate FSD to steer, brake or accelerate around the hazard. That scenario is limited to highways below 85 mph, with no pedestrians or cyclists detected and no slippery road surface. The second covers a driver who appears inattentive, such as reaching into the back seat, or who seems to have switched off FSD by accident. Spencer’s curb clip appears to fall into that second category.
Tesla plans big safety improvements for Full Self-Driving v15
Once the system takes over, the accelerator is muted and light brake input will not cancel the maneuver. Drivers need to apply firm, deliberate steering force to take back control, and the car chimes to hand control back once the danger has passed.
Elluswamy recently noted that earlier hazard prediction, faster reaction time and better collision avoidance would arrive with FSD v15, the next major version.
Tesla Roadster’s new patent preps white-knuckle speeds, keeping it grounded
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
