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SpaceX drone ship departs for upgraded Cargo Dragon launch debut

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SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) has departed Port Canaveral ahead of an upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft’s Falcon 9 launch debut.

Scheduled to lift off no earlier than (NET) 11:39 am EST (16:39 UTC) on Saturday, December 5th, SpaceX’s 21st NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) launch will mark several major firsts.

Drone ship OCISLY and Falcon 9 booster B1058 are pictured returning to port on October 8th. (Richard Angle)

First and foremost, CRS-21 will debut an upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft. Derived from Crew Dragon (also known as Dragon 2), Cargo Dragon 2 will also dock with the ISS, utilizing a smaller docking (versus berthing) port that unfortunately limits the width of cargo Dragon will be able to deliver. Aside from improved reusability, SpaceX’s newest cargo spacecraft will otherwise be largely the same as Dragon 1 as far as cargo delivery goes.

Compared to SpaceX’s 20 CRS1 space station resupply missions, Cargo Dragon 2’s CRS2 launches will also be substantially more expensive, on average, though still NASA’s most affordable option. SpaceX executives have explained that cost increase as a result of the company’s growing confidence and greater awareness of its competition. NASA has only guaranteed six CRS2 contracts for three selected providers, leaving the space agency a great deal of leverage to analyze the playing field and issue at least as many new contracts to cover International Space Station (ISS) operations from at least 2023 to 2025.

NASA’s three CRS2 providers: Cygnus, Cargo Dragon, and Dreamchaser. (NASA/SpaceX/SNC)

Thanks to experience gained through joint NASA-SpaceX CRS1 contract modifications that allowed multiple Falcon 9 booster and Cargo Dragon capsule reuses, reusability – while again not built in to SpaceX’s CRS2 contract – will assuredly play a central role for most of the company’s future space station cargo missions. Unlike Dragon 1, which was only modified for reuse with an upgrade that debuted several launches into CRS1, the Dragon 2 capsule is designed from the start to fly at least five orbital missions.

NASA has already given SpaceX permission to reuse a more complex Crew Dragon spacecraft to launch astronauts as early as March 2021, so it’s all but guaranteed that the space agency will allow SpaceX to extensively reuse Cargo Dragon 2 capsules to complete its CRS2 contract. If so, it will likely save NASA a significant amount of money when it comes time to award additional CRS2 contracts.

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Equally significant, NASA also appears to be upgrading its confidence in SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets with CRS-21, permitting the company to reuse Falcon 9 booster B1058 on Cargo Dragon 2’s launch debut. While B1058 did support SpaceX’s Crew Dragon astronaut launch debut back in May 2020, the booster has since flown two more commercial missions, carrying a South Korean communications satellite and a batch of SpaceX’s own Starlink spacecraft in July and October. CRS-21 will be the first time NASA has allowed SpaceX to fly a space agency mission with a booster that’s supported non-NASA missions, implying a new level of trust in SpaceX.

Falcon 9 booster B1058 completed its third launch on October 6th. (Richard Angle)

It will also be the first time in history that a new spacecraft has debuted on a flight-proven rocket, as well as NASA’s first flight on both a twice-flown and thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster. If CRS-21 is a sign of things to come, life will be made much easier for SpaceX, reducing or eliminating the need to operate separate booster fleets for commercial and institutional customers.

Finally, CRS-21 will also mark the first time in history that two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft have been in orbit – or at the ISS – at the same time. A senior SpaceX Dragon manager recently noted that after Crew-1’s successful November 15th launch, all future Dragon launches would leave the company with two Dragons in orbit.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla Robotaxi appears to be heading to a new U.S. city

Things are expanding for Robotaxi, but the big sign that it is really moving along greatly will be with the expansion to a new city. Tesla has not gone outside of Austin or the Bay Area as of yet, and launching in a new city will be a great indicator of progress.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Robotaxi appears to be heading to a new U.S. city, and although the company has revealed plans to launch in six new metros this year, it has yet to establish a new location outside of Austin and the Bay Area of California, where it has operated since last Summer.

A lot full of Model Y vehicles was spotted in Henderson, a town just north of Las Vegas, but there seems to be more than just this hint indicating that the Sin City will be the next location to offer potentially driverless rides in a Tesla using its Full Self-Driving suite.

These Model Ys are not your typical vehicles, as they are fitted with hardware that is only on Robotaxis: a rear camera washer is the dead giveaway:

The photos and video of the lot were taken by TheZacher on X, who spotted the Model Y fleet in the Henderson parking lot.

The rear camera washer is the main piece of evidence here that indicates Tesla could be looking to expand Robotaxi to Las Vegas, a major ride-hailing hot spot, as it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the United States. Ride-sharing is a major industry in Vegas, especially for those who are staying off the Strip.

Tesla has also been extremely transparent that Vegas is on its radar for the Robotaxi fleet, as it revealed last year that it was one of five new U.S. cities that it planned to launch the ride-hailing service in this year.

Tesla confirms Robotaxi is heading to five new cities in the U.S.

The others were Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and Miami.

Things are expanding for Robotaxi, but the big sign that it is really moving along greatly will be with the expansion to a new city. Tesla has not gone outside of Austin or the Bay Area as of yet, and launching in a new city will be a great indicator of progress.

It will also give Tesla a new benchmark against rival company Waymo, which has operated in Las Vegas for some time.

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Tesla Roadster gets new unveiling date once again

Musk announced last year that the unveiling, which initially happened back in 2018, would take place on April Fool’s Day. Initial deliveries at the 2018 event were slotted for 2020, but delays in the project, as well as prioritization of other things, continued to push the Roadster back.

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A red Tesla Roadster driving around a turn
(Credit: Tesla)

The Tesla Roadster is perhaps the most anticipated vehicle in the company’s history, but those who have been waiting anxiously for it will have to push their timelines back once again.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the company is once again pushing back the unveiling event that was originally planned for April 1. It will now take place “probably in late April.”

Musk announced last year that the unveiling, which initially happened back in 2018, would take place on April Fool’s Day. Initial deliveries at the 2018 event were slotted for 2020, but delays in the project, as well as prioritization of other things, continued to push the Roadster back.

There has been so much hype about the Roadster that people are right to be excited about the prospect of its existence.

Musk’s most recent rumblings about the vehicle came last Fall, when he appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he once again hinted the car would be able to hover for a short period.

He said:

Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveiling ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

Additionally, he said the vehicle would not be something that would prioritize safety. Musk said that “If safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster.” It’s made for speed and excitement, not for grocery-getting.

Elon Musk just said some crazy stuff about the Tesla Roadster

As the April 1 unveiling event that was originally planned was nearing without any communication to fans, media, or anyone who would potentially be in attendance, it seemed to be pretty obvious that Tesla was not ready to pull the trigger on the event quite yet.

There could be some last-minute things to finalize, or it could be something else. One thing is for certain, though: we are not super surprised that things were moved back.

Tesla has definitely been putting some things in motion for the Roadster. A few months back, Tesla started to ramp up hiring for the Roadster, and earlier in March, it submitted a patent application for a new seat design.

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Tesla named by U.S. Gov. in $4.3B battery deal for American-made cells

What began as an open secret in the energy industry was confirmed by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday: Tesla is the buyer behind LG Energy Solution’s blockbuster $4.3 billion battery supply agreement.

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What began as an open secret in the energy industry is becoming more real after the U.S. Department of the Interior named Tesla as the stakeholder in the LG Energy Solution’s blockbuster $4.3 billion battery supply agreement.

Tesla and LG Energy Solution are expanding their partnership to build a LFP prismatic battery cell manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan, launching production in 2027. The announcement, made as part of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Summit results, ends months of speculation.

“American-made cells will power Tesla’s Megapack 3 energy storage systems produced in Houston, creating a robust domestic battery supply chain.”, notes a press release on the U.S. Department of the Interior website.

Tesla starts hiring efforts for Texas Megafactory

Tesla has long utilized China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), the world’s largest LFP battery maker, as one of its primary suppliers. That relationship made financial sense for years, considering that Chinese LFP cells were cheap, abundant, and reliable. But with escalated tariffs on Chinese imports and an increasingly growing Tesla Energy business that’s particularly reliant on LFP cells for products including its Megapack battery storage units designed for utilities and large-scale commercial projects.

The announcement of a deepened partnership between LG Energy Solution and Tesla has strategic logic for both parties. For Tesla, it secures a tariff-compliant, domestically produced battery supply for its fast-growing energy division. LGES, now producing LFP batteries in Michigan, becomes the only major supplier currently scaling U.S. production, outpacing rivals like Samsung SDI and SK On. LG Energy Solution’s Lansing plant, formerly known as Ultium Cells 3, was previously operated as a joint venture with General Motors. LGES acquired GM’s stake in May 2025 and now fully owns the site, with a production capacity of 50 GWh per year. LG Energy said the contract includes options to extend the supply period by up to seven years and boost volumes based on further consultations.

For the broader industry, the ripple effects are significant. This deal signals that domestic battery manufacturing can be financially viable and not just aspirational. Utilities, energy developers, and rival automakers will take note as American-made LFP supply becomes a competitive reality rather than a distant promise.

For consumers, the benefits will take time but are real. A more resilient, U.S.-based supply chain means fewer price shocks from trade disputes, more stable Megapack availability for the grid storage projects that reduce electricity costs, and long-term downward pressure on energy storage prices as domestic production scales.

Deliveries are set to begin in 2027 and run through mid-2030, and as grid storage demand accelerates, reliable, US-made battery supply is no longer a future ambition. It is becoming a core requirement of the country’s energy strategy.

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