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SpaceX Crew Dragon NASA astronaut launch debut will carry a surprise payload
SpaceX has plans to include a surprise payload aboard Crew Dragon’s inaugural NASA astronaut launch, scheduled to lift off as soon as May 27th.
Per a NASA update published on May 13th, SpaceX and the space agency remain on track for what will arguably be the company’s single most important mission since its founding in 2002. Over the last 6-9 years, depending on how one counts, SpaceX and NASA have worked relentlessly to develop the next-generation Crew Dragon spacecraft, a dramatically different variant of the extensively flown Cargo Dragon (Dragon 1).
Although the spacecraft’s next launch will be both its and SpaceX’s first crewed launch ever, Crew Dragon has already completed two successful abort tests in 2015 and 2020, as well as a flawless orbital launch debut in March 2019. Just shy of 16 months and no shortage of technical hurdles since that uncrewed orbital debut, the third Crew Dragon spacecraft completed by SpaceX (capsule C206) and a brand new Falcon 9 rocket are ready to make history. Now, on top of the many historic milestones attached to Crew Dragon’s Demo-2 mission, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be joined by a mosaic of Earth created by tens or even hundreds of thousands of students – both young and old – from around the world.
As of May 15th, per NASA’s latest blog post updates, SpaceX’s plethora of Crew Dragon Demo-2 hardware appears to be just shy of 100% ready for flight, at least from a technical perspective. As of May 12th, NASA and SpaceX officially cleared Crew Dragon’s interior and both astronauts’ space suits for flight, effectively closing out the crew capsule. That reusable Crew Dragon capsule was attached atop an expendable trunk section – responsible for providing power with a solar array and thermal management with radiators – around May 1st.
Meanwhile, a brand new Falcon 9 Block 5 booster – B1058 – and expendable upper stage are just shy of ready to go inside SpaceX’s main Launch Complex 39A (Pad 39A) hangar. Both were shipped from California to Florida only after both their Merlin engines and each integrated stage completed static fire acceptance tests in McGregor, Texas. As of April 1st, they appeared to be just shy of fully integrated, with B1058 missing only its titanium grid fins (and possibly landing legs).
Now T-12 days to launch, SpaceX could attach the spacecraft to that Falcon 9 rocket at any moment – if it hasn’t already. Before the rocket is fully ready for launch, SpaceX will need to perform a routine wet dress rehearsal (WDR) and static fire test at Pad 39A – partially unique for Crew Dragon because the spacecraft attached during them. Given that Demo-2 is far from a normal SpaceX launch, Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 could roll out for that critical preflight test at any moment.
NASA has assigned astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to fly Crew Dragon’s inaugural crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and both astronauts have been training more or less 24/7 for the last 12-18 months, as well as advising SpaceX on Crew Dragon’s design. Now, according to SpaceX, those astronauts will be joined by a mosaic image comprised of thousands of photos uploaded by students around the world, ranging from kindergarten to graduate school and more.
Deemed “Class of 2020”, the project is meant to celebrate the class of 2020 – anyone and everyone set to graduate this year. Although unmentioned, the celebration comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic will almost certainly preclude or dramatically curtail (for good reason) large public gatherings for the sake of public health, disrupting or fully canceling graduation ceremonies around the world. SpaceX says that photos submitted by students will be added to a mosaic of Earth and “will be printed and flown aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft during its upcoming mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board.”
While it won’t replace the events themselves, having a photo physically sent to space certainly won’t hurt for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of students around the world. If you are a student or know one, you can submit your photo at SpaceX.com/ClassOf2020 before the end of May 20th.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Thursday night to deny a ridiculous rumor regarding the sale of the company’s Chinese vehicle production plant, Gigafactory Shanghai.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed in a scathing new report that Tesla was exploring a potential sale of the entire China business in an effort to help bolster a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk immediately denied the rumor not once but twice, initially calling it “fake news,” and then calling it “absurdly fake news” in a separate post just a few moments later:
This is fake news
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The original poster of the Wall Street Journal article that Musk saw deleted the initial post sharing the headline and the rumored sale of Tesla’s China business.
This has never even come up in a discussion ever.
Absurdly fake news.
People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026
The report seemed absolutely and unequivocally false to begin with; Tesla’s business in China is among the most important pieces of the company’s business. Not only does the factory supply vehicles for the domestic market, but also for various other markets in Asia and Europe.
China is also one of the largest automotive markets in the world, and Tesla has performed well there despite the robust competition.
The speculation regarding a Tesla and SpaceX merger has started to gain steam this year as the space exploration company went public just a month ago. There has been speculation that Musk will bridge all of his companies under one “umbrella company,” and analysts believe this could happen before the end of the decade.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
This is the latest iteration of Musk’s very evident war on mainstream media. Reports regarding any of Musk’s companies are quick to get the dreaded “false” or “fake news” response from the CEO when they are unfounded.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner
Tesla CEO Elon Musk denies ridiculous Gigafactory Shanghai rumor
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
