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SpaceX scrubs Starhopper’s final Raptor-powered flight as Elon Musk talks “finicky” igniters
For unknown reasons, SpaceX’s Starhopper prototype suffered a hold just 0.8 seconds prior to its second planned flight test, a hold that was eventually followed by a decision to scrub the August 26th attempt and try again tomorrow, August 27th.
Starhopper is a full-scale, partial-height testbed for SpaceX’s next-generation Starship launch vehicle, serving more as a semi-mobile test stand for steel rockets and Raptor engines than an actual Starship prototype. The unusual vehicle took flight for the first time ever on July 25th, reaching an altitude of roughly 20m (65 ft) under the power of a single Raptor engine, capable of producing up to 200 tons (450,000 lbf) of thrust. That test also suffered a minor scrub on the 24th, followed by a successful flight one day later, a chapter that Starhopper may now mirror on its second attempted flight, a 150m (500 ft) hop.
Notably, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter just seconds after the rocket’s scheduled liftoff suffered a last-second hold to indicate that Raptor’s torch igniters were proving somewhat finicky relative to the chemical alternative used by SpaceX’s proven Merlin engines.
The CEO later confirmed that that comment was directly related to the 26th’s scrub, indicating that Raptor serial number 06 (SN06) needed to have its igniters inspected prior to a second hop test attempt, now scheduled to occur no earlier than 6pm EDT (22:00 UTC) on August 27th. The gist of the difficulties with Raptor’s igniter starts with the reason that SpaceX is attempting to integrate an entirely new form of ignition into the engine, replacing the methods successfully used over tens or even hundreds of thousands of seconds of firing with the company’s Merlin 1 and Merlin Vacuum engines.
Merlin 1D and MVacD both rely on a relatively simple, reliable, cheap, and easy method of chemical ignition, using a duo of pyrophoric materials known as triethylaluminum-triethylborane (TEA-TEB). When mixed, these materials immediately combust, generating an iconic green flash visible during Falcon 9 and Heavy launches, and thus producing the ‘spark’ needed to start Merlin engines.
Generally speaking, TEA-TEB is an excellent method of igniting rockets, even if it is more of a brute-force, inelegant solution than alternatives. It does, however, bring limitations: every single ignition requires a new ‘cartridge’ be expended, fundamentally limiting the number of times Merlin 1D (and Merlin Vacuum) engines can be ignited before and after liftoff.
This doesn’t even consider the fact that TEA-TEB are extremely complex chemical products that would be next to impossible to produce off of Earth, at least for the indefinite future.
To combat these downsides, SpaceX has designed Raptor with an entirely different method of ignition, known as torch ignition. Technically speaking, Raptor’s power, design, and methalox propellant combine to demand more than a relatively common solution, in which spark plugs are used to ignite an engine. Instead, Raptor uses those spark plugs to ignite its ignition sources, what CEO Elon Musk has described as full-up blow torches. Once ignited, those blow torches – likely miniature rocket engines using the same methane and oxygen fuel as Raptor – then ignite the engine’s methane and oxygen preburners before finally igniting those mixed, high-pressure gases in the combustion chamber.
In simple terms, the fact that Raptor is a full-flow staged-combustion (FFSC) engine means that the pressures it must operate under are extreme, verging on unprecedented in large-scale rocketry. Extremely high-pressure gases (on the order of 3,000-10,000+ psi or 200-700+ bar) are just as difficult to reliably ignite, especially if hypergolic solutions (i.e. TEA-TEB) are off the table.
To get an even ignition – critical to avoid burn-through, minor explosions, and even catastrophic engine failures – Raptor’s torch ignition may actually involve a 360-degree ring of spark plug-lit torches around the point of ignition, an undeniably complex solution.
However, as Musk notes, these significant, “finicky” challenges brought on by Raptor’s exotic ignition method are motivated by the potential benefits such a solution might bring. Relative to Merlin 1D’s TEA-TEB ignition, torch ignition – once optimized and matured into a reliable solution – will permit an almost unlimited number of Raptor ignitions before, during, and after flight.
Avoiding TEA-TEB and other complex chemical igniters also means that Starship will technically be able to launch to Mars or the Moon, perform injection and landing burns, maybe even hop around the surface, and still be able to return to Earth – all without resupply. Such a return voyage would still be predicated on the ability to generate the methane and oxygen propellant needed to fuel Starships, but – assuming that challenge can be solved – torch-lit Raptors would be ready for such a mission. In the event that, say, something like August 26th’s scrub happens to a Starship on Mars, the crew would also be able to get out, inspect Starship’s Raptors, and even replace faulty spark plugs if necessary.
Technically, one could bring lots of spare TEA-TEB cartridges and install those in space or after landing, but those cartridges are quite literally firebombs waiting to ignite, whereas spare spark plugs are entirely inert.
For now, we’ll have to wait for SpaceX technicians to get their eyes and hands-on Starhopper’s lone Raptor engine to verify that its ignition hardware is in good health. If all goes well, Starhopper will attempt its final flight test as early as August 27th.
Update (August 27th): Starhopper is reportedly set for a second attempted 150m (500 ft) flight test today, scheduled to occur no earlier than 5pm EDT (21:00 UTC) on August 27th. Stay tuned for SpaceX’s official Livestream!
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Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
Tesla’s Robotaxi app now shows ETAs, wait times and availability for Cybercab and Model Y.
Tesla has rolled out a new vehicle selection screen in its Robotaxi app, and it puts the numbers riders care about most in front of them before they book.
Version 26.11.0 of the app shows the estimated arrival time, the expected wait and current availability for each vehicle option on a single screen, according to a video shared by @gheeunit on X on November 7. Riders deciding between a Cybercab and a Model Y Robotaxi can now compare those figures side by side instead of picking a car first and learning how long it will take afterward.
Tesla first gave riders that choice on September 3, the day paid Cybercab rides began in Austin. The original version of the screen listed the Cybercab, which seats two, next to the Model Y, which seats four. A later build, 26.8.2, added a seating capacity indicator so groups knew which car would fit them. What it did not show was whether choosing the Cybercab meant standing on the curb a few extra minutes.
Newest version of @robotaxi app has a new vehicle selector UI for choosing between Cybercab and Model Y and shows you the fare for both simultaneously! https://t.co/7qoDQ0vACX — mantequilla 🧈 (@gheeunit) November 7, 2026
That question matters more now than it did two months ago. Tesla had 45 Cybercabs on the Texas DMV roster when rides started. By late October the state listed 573, alongside 631 Model Ys, and community trackers logged a record 1,576 Cybercab sightings across Austin on Halloween alone. With two large fleets sharing one service area, the closest car and the quickest pickup are not always the same vehicle.
Inline availability also changes what happens when demand spikes. If no Cybercab is free nearby, the rider sees that on the selection screen rather than after trying to book one.
For now the comparison is mostly an Austin feature. Riders in Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and the Florida markets are still matched with Model Y vehicles, though Tesla said on its third quarter earnings call that Cybercab rides would launch in Dallas this month.
The update follows a steady run of smaller changes to the rider experience. Late last month Tesla brought a quiet mode that blacks out the cabin screen to Model Y Robotaxis after first testing it in the Cybercab, and it has stretched Austin service to run from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The Cybercab side of that selection screen is about to get much busier. Elon Musk said this week that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of 2027 to make room for more Cybercab output, and Tesla has said it is aiming to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year.
Tesla has not published official release notes for version 26.11.0.
Tesla is ending Cybertruck production sometime in mid-2027, according to CEO Elon Musk.
Musk made the announcement on X last night, which came as a shock to many. He said that the Cybertruck will end production “to make room for increased Cybercab production” at Gigafactory Texas.
It is a huge blow to the fans of Tesla who have come to love the Cybertruck and identify with it as a symbol of their fandom. It has been the best-selling electric pickup, but it has had an underwhelming sales performance in terms of what was expected. This is mostly due to Tesla not meeting the prices it planned to offer the Cybertruck, as its unveiling and actual release were four years apart.
Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
Overall, the responses were mixed. Some fans understood the move toward Cybercab production, especially as Tesla is truly pushing the autonomous future through its Robotaxi platform. However, others did not understand it.
“Damn, how many Cybercabs do you guys need?” one response read. Another said it was “Sad but understandable.”Even analyst Gary Black had responded to the news, stating he hoped Tesla planned to replace it with a traditional pickup design.
It doesn’t seem like that will be the case.
Tesla is so hell-bent on delivering autonomy and eventually providing a driverless service that owning a car seems like an arbitrary idea, according to their thesis. Instead, Cybercabs will be available to pick you up and drop you off on demand, safely, without any human help.
As a result, Tesla has thinned its lineup considerably, and one can only ask where the vehicle lineup goes from here. Eventually, it seems like Cybercab could be the only vehicle that Tesla will sell.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15 and its first ship catch.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, the mission the company plans to use for its first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.
SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev shared the date on stage at the UP.Summit on Thursday, according to Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, who was in attendance. It is the first launch target to come directly from a SpaceX executive. Until now, the public schedule had relied on FAA air traffic planning slides, which listed Flight 15 for no earlier than November 8 and later November 12. SpaceX has not posted an official mission page yet, and no launch time has been shared.
The date lands inside the window Elon Musk sketched out last month. Speaking at Giga Texas on October 10, Musk said the flight would “probably launch a little bit before Thanksgiving,” as Teslarati reported. On SpaceX’s third quarter earnings call ten days later, he confirmed that Flight 15 would try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the ship, and put the odds of a successful ship catch at “more likely than not.” SpaceX also aired an animation of the maneuver during that webcast, showing the ship swinging vertical over Starbase before dropping into the tower’s chopsticks.
The hardware is ready. Booster 22 fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for a full duration static fire at Pad 2 on October 25. Ship 42 followed with a single engine burn simulating a deorbit maneuver on October 26 and a 60 second firing of all six engines the next day, according to NASASpaceflight. Ship 42 had already rehearsed the catch in September, when the Pad 2 arms lifted it into position and crews connected the quick disconnect arm while the vehicle hung from the tower.
The remaining hurdle is regulatory. The FAA’s Starship page does not yet list a Flight 15 license. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in October that, after “significant constructive engagement with the FAA,” she expects the license to cover a return to the launch site and a tower catch for both stages. Bringing the ship home means a reentry path that heads toward land, rather than ending over open ocean as every Starship flight so far has.
SpaceX has caught Super Heavy three times, on Flights 5, 7 and 8, but the ship comes back from orbital velocity and has never been caught. Flight 14 on September 28 was the first Starship to reach orbit, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down despite an early engine shutdown that Musk blamed on engine computer software.
Musk has called a successful ship catch “the first time that there’s been full recovery of an orbital class rocket,” and he has already named the step after it: a Flight 16 where both the booster and the ship fly again. NASASpaceflight reports that Ship 43, the next vehicle in line, is set for static fire testing in December.
Tesla Robotaxi app update now tells riders if Cybercab is the better choice
Tesla is ending Cybertruck production
