News
SpaceX repairing heat shield, reinstalling Raptors on first orbital-class Starship
SpaceX has begun reinstalling three of the six Raptor engines that will power the first orbital-class Starship and repairing the heat shield that will hopefully protect it on its first trip to space.
Known as Starship 20 or S20, the 50m (~165 ft) tall steel rocket prototype has been stationed at one of SpaceX’s two suborbital testing pads since August 13th. No testing has been done, though, and a small army of SpaceX technicians and engineers have instead spent the last three or so weeks effectively turning a collection of steel tanks, tubes, and parts into a functional rocket. While it’s unclear why SpaceX chose to do that outfitting work at an unsheltered launch pad, new activity suggests that it may be almost complete.
Exactly one month ago, SpaceX stacked Starship S20 on top of Super Heavy Booster 4 (B4) on August 6th, briefly creating the largest rocket in history and completing a fit test that was admittedly just as much a photo op. Ship 20 was rapidly destacked and returned to SpaceX’s Starbase factory, where all six of its Raptor engines were removed. About a week later, Ship 20 returned to the pad and has remained installed on Suborbital Pad B ever since.
At the time, the implication was that SpaceX had removed Ship 20’s engines to allow the prototype to complete cryogenic proof testing with hydraulic thrust simulators. However, despite having carefully modified Pad B over several weeks for that exact purpose, those modifications were rapidly removed before Ship 20’s second rollout. Precluding a proof test with thrust simulation, the next logical conclusion was that SpaceX would still perform a cryogenic proof test before reinstalling Ship 20’s Raptors and moving on to a static fire campaign.
Now, even that appears to have been p1recluded. Instead, as if Ship 20 were the second or third or fourth in a series of prototypes, SpaceX rolled three center Raptors to Pad B on September 5th and began installing the engines on Starship on the 6th. It’s hard to say anything with confidence given how chaotically Starship S20’s to-be-determined qualification testing has changed in the last several weeks but, with plenty of uncertainty, Raptor installation implies that the vehicle will perform its first ambient pressure and cryogenic proof tests with engines installed.
It remains to be seen if Ship 20’s three vacuum-optimized Raptor engines will also be installed over the next few days (seemingly the logical assumption) or if SpaceX will instead complete proof tests and center Raptor static fire testing before finally moving into new territory. SpaceX has never static fired more than three Raptors at once and certainly never tested multiple Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines in close proximity – let alone all six simultaneously.
Meanwhile, much of the focus of the last few weeks appears to have been on finishing Ship 20 plumbing and avionics wire runs, though it’s hard to say exactly what has been done. What is extremely visible and easy to follow, though, is the process of finishing the first orbital-class Starship heat shield and repairing a few hundred tiles broken during its pathfinder installation. SpaceX has installed 500-1000+ tiles on flown Starship prototypes like SN15 but the company has never come close to the ~15,000 needed to cover the entire windward side of the world’s largest rocket upper stage.
SpaceX has undertaken that process for the first time over the last six or so weeks and unsurprisingly seen a number of successes and failures. At some point along the way, a significant fraction of the ceramic, dinner-plate-sized tiles SpaceX technicians installed chipped, broke, shattered, or ran into other fitment issues. Over the last month or so, a great deal of progress has been made fixing those problem tiles and SpaceX has also more or less completed tile installation on the angular ‘aerocovers’ that protect Starship’s flap mechanisms – requiring dozens of custom tiles with complex shapes and curves.
As of September 6th, Starship S20’s heat shield appears to be around 95% complete and the installation of Raptor engines implies that the rocket’s plumbing, avionics, and tankage are also nearly finished. In other words, after many weeks of work, SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship prototype could be ready to kick off cryoproof and static fire testing just a week or so (and maybe less) from now. Stay tuned for updates!
Featured
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Asia says Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai this month.
Tesla’s Cybercab is heading to Asia. The official Tesla Asia account posted on X Thursday, inviting Cybercab fans to “Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai.” The post went up within hours of Tesla’s own Cybercab milestone in Texas, where the company said Thursday it had begun offering rides in across Austin.
Exact dates and venues for the Asia tour haven’t been released yet, though Tesla Hong Kong replied to the announcement with “Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong soon,” while Tesla Japan’s response pointed fans to a sign up page for updates. Neither post mentions test rides or a service area, and nothing so far suggests Tesla is launching Robotaxi operations in any of the four cities. Based on how Tesla has run past Cybercab tours, in Europe in late 2024 and at US shopping centers that same December, the Asia stops are almost certainly static displays at Tesla stores or public venues as a means to stimulate buzz for its future driverless ride-hailing service in the big cities.
Cybercab will be on display in Asia this month!
Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/wGmmEastfX— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) September 4, 2026
The timing lines up with Tesla’s only prior Cybercab appearance in the region, a booth at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last November, which Teslarati covered at the time. At that event, Tesla’s regional general manager for Shanghai framed the car as evidence of the company’s broader mission, a message Tesla has since formalized in its Master Plan Part IV, which states that “autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities.” The same document is where Tesla lays out its “sustainable abundance” framing for Cybercab and Optimus alike, describing the two as the hardware behind an AI driven push to cut the cost of transportation and labor at scale.
Whether Cybercab actually operates as a robotaxi anywhere in Asia remains an open question, considering China has already pushed an autonomous ride-hailing market that’s run on homegrown players like Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony AI. For now, the four city tour reads as a marketing push timed to Austin’s momentum.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Update: Tesla has announced Cybercab will enter the public fleet on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. CT. The article and headline have been updated to reflect this.
Tesla Cybercab rides will officially open to the public in Austin, Texas, on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. CT, as the company confirmed on Thursday following its launch event that the two-seater would be available in the company’s Robotaxi fleet.
Cybercab is Tesla’s first vehicle completely void of any manual controls. It has no steering wheel and no pedals, and it will utilize Tesla’s Full Self-Driving fleet to operate. The first rides have already happened, as those at the event were able to hail a Cybercab to any location within the company’s geofence in Austin.
Tesla’s $25K car is the Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals
The addition of Cybercab to the public Robotaxi fleet is a major statement in Tesla’s trek to launch fully autonomous driving. For years, critics have complained about the need for drivers to continuously supervise the vehicle.
With Cybercab, there are no manual controls in the cockpit other than to control the seat, the center screen, and the climate. The vehicle is fully geared toward being a living room on wheels in a sense: equipped with Starlink V5 satellites, CEO Elon Musk said the vehicle would enable 4K live video, gaming, and other entertainment options during travel.
Cybercab is basically a super comfortable lounge on wheels with a great TV and epic sound https://t.co/X1aWKoJdJV
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 3, 2026
Musk noted that Cybercab is “designed and built for maximally efficient autonomous operation.”
Tesla continues to push the envelope on autonomy, and over the next several months, the company could start selling Cybercab units to the public.
The company opened up a public interest form on its website to gauge demand, and many have already submitted requests to purchase a fleet of Cybercab units for their own personal ride-hailing side hustle.
The launch of Cybercab in this area marks a major accomplishment for Tesla, as it also announced that it has reached 1 million unsupervised autonomous miles since launching driverless rides on the Robotaxi fleet.
Things are moving along at a fine pace, and although we have waited for this for some time, the day has finally come when Tesla is offering self-driving rides of some kind to the public.
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
