News
SpaceX upgrading Starship noses and domes for easier assembly
While a separate team closes in on the completion of a new and improved Starship nosecone, SpaceX also appears to have begun assembling upgraded ‘tank domes’ that feature a similar underlying design change.
On the nose front, SpaceX has been working on a new and improved version of Starship’s nosecone for at least a year and assembling pathfinders and prototypes of varying fidelity since mid-2020 – around the same time when Starship SN15 became the first (and only) prototype to successfully launch and land. Further down the rocket, hints of Starship dome upgrades are a much more recent development.
Excluding Starship Mk1, which never had its far flimsier nose fully installed, the Starship nose design has been extremely consistent ever since SpaceX began building the first prototypes in mid-2020. Early prototypes were inevitably scrapped as SpaceX quickly iterated on the nose design and assembly process, culminating in Starship SN8, which became the first prototype to have its basic structure (tank section, nose, and flaps) fully assembled.
Though improvements and changes have almost certainly been made in the last ~18 months, the early unflown prototypes and the noses of Starships SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, SN15, SN16, S20, and S22 have all been constructed in roughly the same way. SpaceX would first produce a series of thin, stamped sheets (gores) of steel. Once aligned on custom-built jigs, each of those gores would be welded together to form a slightly conical ring. Five total ‘rings’ would be assembled, each narrower and more conical than the last. The five sections would then be stacked one by one and welded together along their circumferences.
Altogether, something like 120 complex vertical welds would be needed just to assemble the most basic structure of a nose, followed by four or five no less complex circumferential welds to turn those sections into one cone. SpaceX’s upgraded design seeks to simplify that process mainly by increasing the size of the gores. Aside from modestly reducing the number of longitudinal sections needed to form the cone, SpaceX has also reduced the number of stacked sections from five to two, slashing the total number of gores needed by at least a factor of two or three. While not quite as substantial, the same simplification also reduces the length of vertical and circumferential welds needed to assemble a nosecone.
The spirit behind SpaceX’s new dome design appears to be very similar. Presumably doubling down on the stretch-forming production method developed for nosecone gores, SpaceX appears to have also decided to increase the size of dome gores and reduce the number of stacked sections required for dome assembly – albeit from three to two instead of five to two.
Collectively, this behavior is mostly predictable. With increasing confidence in the current design of Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX now appears to be looking for ways to streamline and simplify manufacturing while simultaneously optimizing Starship’s design. Regardless of whether one is dealing with a highly advanced rocket factory or a smartphone assembly line, part count reduction is a very common and desirable way to reduce both cost and complexity. Additionally, drastically reducing the number of individual welds – and, to a slightly lesser degree, the total length of welds – required should also reduce the number of possible points of failure and the time needed for weld inspection and repair.
Having already scrapped a number of new nose pathfinders, it appears that Starship S24 will be the first to feature the new design. The process of stacking the ship has already begun. For domes, SpaceX appears to have only just begun assembling the first prototypes. If past dome changes are indicative of future behavior, one or several new ‘test tanks’ will likely be built to ensure that the new dome design performs as well as present-day hardware. It’s also unclear if SpaceX aims to replace all domes with a more spherical design or if, say, current Starship and Super Heavy thrust domes will remain the same for the time being.
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
