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LIVE BLOG: 2023 Tesla Investor Day
There’s a lot of excitement around Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day, and for good reason. From Elon Musk’s Master Plan Part 3, details on the company’s third-generation platform, and discussions on how Tesla could each extreme scale, Investor Day promises to be an event that is one for the books.
Elon Musk has emphasized that Investor Day is really a lot bigger than the company’s shareholders. In past comments, the CEO noted that the “investors” Tesla is referring to in the event are pretty much all life on Earth. Yes, everyone, Tesla is thinking *that* big.
Following is a Live Blog of Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day. Please refresh this page regularly for the most recent updates.
18:59 CST – And that’s a wrap, everyone! This is Tesla’s longest event yet (I believe) and in typical Tesla fashion, it’s overflowing with information. There’s a lot to unpack from this event, so please so stay tuned for our coverage of the 2023 Investor Day’s specifics. Till the next time!
18:59 CST – A question about Tesla’s next-gen vehicle was asked. Any details that Tesla is willing to share? Elon declined to answer the question. He noted that Tesla would have a proper product event for the next-generation vehicle.
18:54 CST – A question about Tesla’s dry battery electrode efforts was asked. Drew Baglino noted that Giga Texas already makes dry electrode batteries. Every week, the program makes progress.
18:48 CST – Barclays asks to what extent the cost strategies outlined today differ by region. Tom Zhu noted that Tesla tries its best to be as localized as possible. The same is true for the labor force. This is especially notable in Shanghai.
18:41 CST – Elon Musk noted that one thing that for the vast majority of people, things are affordability driven. He noted that sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of how consumers acquire vehicles. It’s not that people don’t want a car. Most times, it’s a matter of whether people can afford one. “Affordability is what matters,” Musk said.
18:36 CST – A question was asked about Tesla and how China and the US’ tensions could affect the company. Ton Zhu noted that Tesla China has ample demand, sometimes more than the company can produce. Tom Zhu noted that he does not see much risk for Tesla overall
18:34 CST – Jefferies asks how many models Tesla plans to have to reach 20 million units. A question about bidirectional charging was also asked. Elon Musk noted that bidirectional charging is not that useful since Powerwall is better. Musk noted that Tesla does not plan too many models to reach 20 million cars. He estimates 10 models or so should be enough.
Musk noted that cars today just have variants for the sake of having variants. believes that cars will be like phones.
18:28 CST – Another question is asked about Tesla and its mining efforts. Elon noted that Tesla would address whatever is the limiting factor at any given point in time. Tesla would prefer not to get into mining, but the company will do so if needed. Drew Baglino referenced the company’s Corpus Christi lithium refinery. If Tesla could prove that things can be done faster, then the company’s suppliers could follow suit.
Elon mentions a cathode refining facility just down the road from Giga Texas as well. Drew Baglino noted that there’s no large-scale cathode refining facility in the US for now, so Tesla had to build one.
18:23 CST – Rod Lache from Wolfe Research asks about the timeline for Tesla’s plans. He notes that Investor Day doesn’t just seem like it’s for a vehicle. Elon noted that the most profound architectural changes would be in future vehicles. There will be changes for existing vehicles, of course. Lars Moravy noted that Tesla would be improving, especially in the next couple of years.
18:21 CST – The break ended up taking nine minutes. But the team is back, and Elon comes out and shows a render of Giga Mexico. Musk notes, however, that the capacity of Tesla’s existing factories will be ramped. Giga Mexico will be built in Monterrey.
18:10 CST – Five-minute break! After this, a Q&A session.
18:04 CST – Kirkhorn discusses Tesla’s improvement in interior process efficiency. He noted that ultimately, Tesla’s vertically integrated software that helps run the company. Kirkhorn is also confident in Tesla’s ability to generate the income needed to make investments to achieve Master Plan Part 3’s goals.
18:01 CST – Kirkhorn highlights Tesla’s Open and SG&A.
17:59 CST – Kirkhorn highlights that the next-gen platform is expected to enable a 50% reduction in costs. This means that the total cost of ownership of the next-generation platform would also be lower than the company’s current vehicles today. This is a big deal since the Model 3 is already cheaper to own than Toyota Corolla today.
17:56 CST – Kirkhorn notes that cost reductions come from everywhere. He states that Tesla reduced the cost of the Model 3 by 30% since 2018 as of 2022.
17:54 CST – Zach Kirkhorn returns to the stage. This will be the final part of the Investor Day presentation. He notes that this is the first time that Tesla brought out its specific leaders to discuss their work. He thanks the Tesla team as well.
17:51 CST – Laurie Shelby takes the stage to talk about the sustainability for Tesla for employees. Tesla seems to be taking a pretty cautious strategy here. The company wants to emphasize how the company values its team. She thanks the global Tesla team. She also noted that Tesla is aligning with the TSFD to release better reports to investors.
She notes that Tesla now has 129k employees. Almost 60% are based in the US.
17:47 CST – Tesla Electric is rolling out in Texas too! The company plans to bring Tesla Electric market by market like Tesla Insurance. The service’s rollout in Texas will include $30 charging at night for customers who sign up for Tesla Electric.
17:45 CST – The Megafactory in Lathrop may not be as high profile as the company’s Gigafactories, but it was built in less than a year. That’s pretty incredible. Project installations are also getting faster, with the company achieving 4X installation and commissioning speed since 2019.
17:37 CST – Mike Snyder joins Drew Baglino the stage to talk Tesla’s Megapack. He noted that Tesla is now on its sixth generation of energy products, the Megapack XL and the Megapack 2. There’s been a lot of demand for the Megapack, and the Lathrop plant is ramping. This was only made possible by a maniacal focus and effort.
“This is the product that retires fossil fuels. One power plant at a time,” Baglino said.
17:33 CST – A photo of Tesla’s 50 GWh/year Corpus Christi Lithium Refinery was shared. The facility starts commissioning at the end of 2023.
17:32 CST – Drew Baglino provides a quick update on Tesla’s battery program. No more spoons! There’s over 20x productivity from the tools the company showed during Battery Day at the pilot line in Kato Road. He also showed how Tesla’s battery factories are getting more and more efficient and simple, so they’re only getting better.
17:29 CST – Tom shares some states on Tesla service.
17:27 CST – Tom notes that ramping a Gigafactory is all about overall equipment effectiveness and cycle time. Fremont is a rockstar here, since it’s an older factory. But despite this, it’s getting better. Tom notes that Fremont just reached a new daily record recently.
17:26 CST – Tom notes that ramping a Gigafactory is all about overall equipment effectiveness and cycle time.
17:25 CST – Tom highlights that Tesla can build its factories extremely quickly. He noted that this is accomplished through many optimizations, such as an in-house team that constructs factories. He noted that the team behind Giga Shanghai was also the same one that did Giga Berlin.
Tom Zhu also confirms that Tesla has reached the 4 million vehicle mark. The vehicle was made in Giga Texas. The last 1 million cars were made in less than 7 months.
17:22 CST – Tom Zhu and Drew Baglino take the stage. They will be discussing how Tesla would make more cars, and how much faster the company could do it. Tom notes that Tesla currently have 65,000 manufacturing employees. Tesla’s factories are also ultra high-volume.
17:19 CST – The Tesla execs noted that the company’s Heat Pump assembly highlighted supply chain issues. Tesla solved heat pump assembly issues through automation.
17:16 CST – The Tesla execs noted that Tesla will not break the semiconductor industry if it grows to 20 million vehicles. The semiconductor industry can support the electric vehicle maker’s growth, even if Tesla slows down — which would likely not happen.
17:14 CST – Tesla is also working with suppliers closer to their factories to decrease transportation time and reduce diesel use throughout the supply chain. This also decreases full productions stall times.
17:10 CST – The Tesla executives discuss the challenges that the company and its suppliers faced during the Covid pandemic. The ordeal was tough, though the company and its suppliers powered through to deliver.
17:04 CST – Tesla executives Karn Budhiraj and a colleague discuss the company’s supply chain. They provide an overview of Tesla’s current supplier setup.
17:01 CST – Overall, while Tesla has already been building Superchargers for the last ten years, the company is still just starting. Tesla Supercharger V4 is being installed in Europe, and it will be optmized for charging all electric cars, not just Teslas. Amidst all this, Tesla will never forget to do some cool things in the process.
16:54 CST – Rebecca Tinucci takes the stage to discuss Tesla’s Superchargers. She highlighted that Tesla has spent the last ten years establishing its Supercharger Network across the world. Thanks to this experience, Tesla Superchargers have the lowest deployment costs. She notes that prefabricated four-post Superchargers are being produced at Giga New York. She also hinted that Tesla plans to improve Trip Planner by projecting potential customers that might use nearby charging stations.
16:51 CST – Elon notes that Optimus utilizes Tesla’s expertise in manufacturing. Actuators, battery packs, and Optimus’ other key components are custom designed by Tesla. Elon also noted that Tesla was shocked that not a lot of parts to make a humanoid robot can be bought “off the shelf.” The CEO is also confident that Tesla can bring a working, useful humanoid robot to scale faster.
16:48 CST – Elon returns to the stage for some more updates. A video of Optimus is shown. The humanoid robot seems more refined compared to its iteration during AI Day 2022. The robot is now walking, and working on another robot. Multiple Optimus prototypes are also working.
16:42 CST – Ashok highlights that Tesla’s approach to AI systems is quite different from before. This allows the company to solve complex planning problems using artificial intelligence, among others. He also noted that manual labeling is insufficient, so Tesla is adopting an automated labeling system. Also, Dojo will perform better than current “compute” capabilities at Tesla.
16:38 CST – Ashok Elluswamy takes the stage to discuss Full Self-Driving. he notes that self-driving is actually a critical part of a sustainable future. He noted reiterated Elon Musk’s points in Master Plan Part 2, where unused cars could be used by other commuters.
16:34 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau noted that during the days of the Model S, it did not take long before it because evident that it was easy to misassemble the car. These were adjusted in later vehicles. Today, mistakes in assembly are caught while the vehicle is being produced.
16:32 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau discussed how Tesla’s software and connected cars enable the company to roll out improvements at speed. This is especially useful for vehicles’ safety, which Tesla excels in. The Model S and Model X’s predictive air suspension system is a good example of this.
16:26 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau show the path toward the next-generation platform.
16:23 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau discuss more optimizations that have been done over the years. These include the shift e-fuses, as well as the replacement of lead acid batteries to lithium-ion. Costs are coming down too, such as in components like the Model 3’s center display, which has gotten cheaper over time.
Cybertruck, Optimus, and future vehicles will also use 48-volt architecture. Cybertruck is also designed with a local controller for better wire pathways.
16:23 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau discuss more optimizations that have been done over the years. These include the shift e-fuses, as well as the replacement of lead acid batteries to lithium-ion. Costs are coming down too, such as in components like the Model 3’s center display, which has gotten cheaper over time.
16:20 CST – Pete Bannon and David Lau take the stage. Pete Bannon highlighted that low-voltage electronics in vehicles have been messy so far. The executives noted that from Model S to Model 3, Tesla was able to reduce its wire harnesses by 17 kilograms. Shared controllers also helped simplify the supply chain.
For Cybertruck, Tesla is designing 85% of the controllers in the car. In the next-gen platform, Tesla is designing 100% of the controllers.
16:17 CST – Colin noted that Tesla’s next-gen vehicle will not use rare earth materials at all. They will be built in compact and high-efficiency factories. The executive stated that these are only possible because of the hard work of the Tesla team.
16:15 CST – Colin also discusses the importance of Tesla’s power electronics and software. He also highlighted that Tesla excels in manufacturing line and automation design. This enables Tesla to design products that are both high-performance and easy to assemble.
Tesla’s next-generation platform will have 75% less silicon carbide. Any battery chemistry will be accepted as well. The vehicle will feature a 50% reduction in factory footprint.
16:11 CST – Colin Campbell, leader of powertrain engineering, takes the stage. He noted that Tesla is known for speed. He highlighted that Tesla is all about efficiency. He noted that Tesla is able to achieve its efficiencies by moving as one company. Changes can then be made to both vehicles and factories. Everyone works together.
16:07 CST – Franz and Lars noted that in the next-generation vehicle, more people (or robots) should be able to work simultaneously. Lars noted that this gives more operational density. More space time efficiency. This makes automation a lot easier. Tesla lists this as an “unboxed process.”
Franz and Lars noted that Tesla’s next-gen manufacturing would reduce 50% of costs.
16:04 CST – Franz and Lars discuss the traditional way to assemble a vehicle, from stamping, body, paint, and final assembly. Lars note that this is great, but delays in one line stops the entire thing. He stated that there are a lot of inefficiencies in the process. Lots of areas for improvement.
16:02 CST – Franz and Lars noted that Cybertruck is a completely different animal. It is then a vehicle that needs to be approached in a completely different manner. Cybertruck was designed with the manufacturing process in mind. Lars added that the Cybertruck actually makes its manufacturing footprint small, since it doesn’t need paint or stamping. Franz reconfirms Cybertruck is coming this year.
16:00 CST – Franz and Lars noted that as time went on, Tesla had to approach its vehicles more differently. This was the case with the Model 3. The executives discussed production hell, which involved Tesla looking to manufacture a product designed to be built manually being built on an automated line. There were lots of lessons learned there.
15:58 CST – Franz notes that during Tesla’s early days, it was a lot different. There were only a handful of people then, but Tesla was already dead set on making a difference. Franz noted that Tesla’s small teams before allowed the company to really focus on the nitty-gritty details of the car. The Model S is one of these, Franz and Lars said.
15:56 CST – Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy take the stage for Part 2.
15:55 CST – Drew Baglino addresses the question of mineral use as the Earth shifts to a sustainable energy economy. Elon also reiterated his previous statements about lithium.He notes that the lithium in the United States is already very abundant. It’s the refining of lithium that’s a limiting factor today.
Elon also noted that nickel is needed for aircraft, boats, and long-range cars. The vast majority of transportation will need iron. And with recycling in the picture, the resources that the world will need to shift to sustainability will be even more efficient.
15:53 CST – The Tesla executives highlighting that transitioning to a sustainable economy will actually involve less fossil fuels compared to what’s currently being spent today. Here’s a nifty little graphic.
15:49 CST – Elon and Drew noted that these estimates for the investments needed to propel the world to sustainability are completely feasible.
15:46 CST – Drew Baglino noted that heat pumps would go a long way toward making homes sustainable. From an industry perspective, heat pumps pave the way for efficiencies. He also discusses high temp heat delivery and hydrogen. Elon notes that hydrogen will be useful for industrial processes, but it is NOT something that should be used for cars. He also sheds light on the need to shift the shipping industry to sustainability.
15:43 CST – Tesla gives a quick overview of how Tesla could create a global electric vehicle fleet. The company shows an assumption for a fleet of about 85 million vehicles. That’s already substantial.
15:40 CST – Elon notes that all forms of transport will probably be electric. But not rockets, at least for now.
15:38 CST – Elon and Drew show a slide showing what’s needed to reach a sustainable economy. The executives noted that while these numbers may seem large, they actually are not if they’re compared to the global economy. Just about $10 Trillion investment to build sustainable energy economy.
“For a remarkably small land area, we can go fully sustainable,” Musk said. “The electrified economy will use less resources than the (fossil fuel) economy.”
15:33 CST – Drew Baglino notes that today’s energy economy is dirty and wasteful, and that 80% of global energy comes from fossil fuels. Musk highlights that the use of fossil fuels actually waste a lot of energy. He also noted that calculations for a sustainable world typically assumes the same wastage as a world powered by fossil fuels. This, Elon Musk noted, is not accurate.
15:31 CST – Elon Musk notes that there is a path towards sustainability, where the Earth could support the 8 billion people today. “There is a clear path to a sustainable energy Earth with abundance,” Musk said.
15:30 CST – Elon Musk and Drew Baglino take the stage for the event’s first part. Elon jumps right into it. This is Master Plan Part 3. Here we go.
15:28 CST – And it’s starting! CFO Zach Kirkhorn is opening the event. Kirkhorn noted that today, Tesla is not just talking about the near future.
There will be three parts of the event. One, Tesla’s macro vision. Next, it will be focused on Tesla’s function. The third will bring everything back.
15:25 CST – Well, it seems like the stage is ready for the Investor Day keynote.
15:23 CST – Elon said the presentation starts in about 5 minutes — 8 minutes ago.
15:20 CST – Never change, Tesla. And never change, Elon.
15:19 CST – Check out these Model Y castings outside Giga Texas. Definitely highlighting this “extreme scale” theme Elon Musk referenced.
15:17 CST – What are you most excited for in Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day? Master Plan Part 3? More Cybertruck deets? The third-gen platform? Please sound off on our comments section below! I’m personally biased for the third-genp platform, but only because I’m a cheap guy by default.
15:14 CST – Well, Tesla is late, and the EV community has a great sense of humor. Who’s playing the 2023 Investor Day Bingo? I have a feeling the “wears trademark jacket” and “cracks joke” are getting crossed out really fast.
15:13 CST – I just noticed that the light show graphics that Tesla has been showing in its livestream are shaped like body panels. Look at that, it’s the rear seats of the Model Y. It is a Model Y, right?
15:10 CST – The stream for Investor Day has not really started yet, but there are already some nice updates from attendees of the event. Take the Cybertruck production beta, for example. That beast looks pretty good. I’m not sure how to feel about the five-seat layout, though. I kinda miss the six seats in the original prototype.
15:07 CST – A close-up of that Investor Day graphic shows that the EV bodies may be Model Y crossovers, at least based on the shape at the rear. The event is now a few minutes late, which, in Tesla terms, is still pretty early.
15:05 CST – By the way, if you’re just joining us, welcome! Here’s a livestream of the event too.
15:02 CST – Tesla’s intro video for Investor features the graphic in the event’s invite. They were not kidding about this “scale” thing. It reminds me almost of “The Matrix.”
15:00 CST – Tesla’s livestream link for Investor Day is live! Here we go!
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s Q1 delivery figures show Elon Musk was right
On the surface, the numbers reflect a mature EV market facing competition, softening demand, and the loss of certain incentives. Yet they also quietly validate a prediction Elon Musk has repeated for years: Tesla’s traditional auto business is becoming far less central to the company’s future.
Tesla reported its Q1 delivery figures on Thursday, and the figures — solid but unspectacular — show that CEO Elon Musk was right about what the company’s most important production and division would be.
We are seeing that shift occur in real time.
Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026, according to the company’s official report released April 2.
The figure represents modest year-over-year growth of roughly 6 percent from Q1 2025’s 336,681 deliveries but a sharp sequential drop from Q4 2025’s 418,227. Production reached 408,386 vehicles, while energy storage deployments hit 8.8 GWh.
On the surface, the numbers reflect a mature EV market facing competition, softening demand, and the loss of certain incentives. Yet they also quietly validate a prediction Elon Musk has repeated for years: Tesla’s traditional auto business is becoming far less central to the company’s future.
Musk has long argued that vehicles alone will not define Tesla’s value.
Optimus Will Be Tesla’s Big Thing
In September 2025, Musk stated bluntly on X that “~80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus,” the company’s humanoid robot.
He has described Optimus as potentially “more significant than the vehicle business over time.” Those comments were not abstract futurism. In January 2026, during the Q4 2025 earnings call, Musk announced the end of Model S and X production, framing it as an “honorable discharge,” he called it.
Those are the biggest factors.
~80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2025
The Fremont factory space, once dedicated to those flagship sedans, is being converted into an Optimus manufacturing line, with a long-term target of one million robots per year from that single facility alone.
The Q1 2026 numbers arrive at precisely the moment this strategic pivot is accelerating. Model 3 and Y deliveries totaled 341,893 units, while “other models” (including Cybertruck, Semi, and the final wave of S/X) added 16,130.
Growth is no longer explosive because Tesla is no longer chasing volume at all costs. Instead, the company is reallocating capital and factory floor space toward autonomy, energy storage, and robotics, businesses Musk believes will command far higher margins and enterprise value than incremental car sales.
Delivery Hits and Misses are Becoming Less Important
Wall Street’s pre-release consensus had pegged deliveries near 365,000. Coming in below that estimate might have rattled investors focused solely on automotive metrics. Yet Musk’s thesis has never been about maximizing quarterly vehicle shipments.
Tesla, he has insisted, “has never been valued strictly as a car company.”
The modest Q1 auto performance, paired with the deliberate wind-down of legacy programs and the ramp of Optimus, underscores that point. While EV demand stabilizes, Tesla is building the infrastructure for Robotaxis and humanoid robots that could dwarf today’s car business.
The future is here, and it is happening. It’s funny to think about how quickly Tesla was able to disrupt the traditional automotive business and force many car companies to show their hand. But just as fast as Tesla disrupted that, it is now moving to disrupt its own operation.
Cars, once the only recognizable and widely-known division of Tesla, is now becoming a background effort, slowly being overtaken by the company’s ambitions to dominate AI, autonomy, and robotics for years to come.
Critics may still view the shift as risky or premature. But the Q1 figures, solid but unspectacular in the auto segment, illustrate exactly what Musk has been signaling: the era when Tesla’s valuation rose and fell with every Model Y delivery is ending.
The company’s long-term bet is on AI-driven products that turn vehicles into high-margin robotaxis and factories into robot foundries. Thursday’s delivery report did not just meet the market’s tempered expectations; it proved Elon Musk was right all along.
The car business, once everything, is quietly becoming an important piece of a much larger puzzle.
Investor's Corner
Tesla reports Q1 deliveries, missing expectations slightly
The figure, however, fell short of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 365,645 units, reflecting ongoing headwinds in the global EV market.
Tesla reported deliveries for the first quarter of 2026 today, missing expectations set by Wall Street analysts slightly as the company aims to have a massive year in terms of sales, along with other projects.
Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 6.3 percent increase from 336,681 vehicles in Q1 2025.
The figure, however, fell short of Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 365,645 units, reflecting ongoing headwinds in the global EV market. Production reached approximately 362,000 vehicles, with Model 3 and Model Y accounting for the vast majority. The results come as Tesla navigates softening demand, intensifying competition in China and Europe, and the expiration of key U.S. federal tax incentives.
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in Q1 2026
Tesla also reported record energy deployments of 8.8 GWh
Wall Street had delivery consensus estimates of 365,645 pic.twitter.com/EVNAu5L3UT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 2, 2026
Energy storage deployments provided a bright spot, hitting a record 8.8 GWh in Q1. This underscores the accelerating momentum in Tesla’s energy segment, which has become a critical growth driver even as automotive volumes stabilize.
Year-over-year, the energy business continues to outpace vehicle sales, with analysts noting strong backlog demand for Megapack systems amid rising grid-scale needs for renewables and AI data centers.
Looking ahead, analysts project full-year 2026 vehicle deliveries in the range of 1.69 million units—a modest 3-5% rise from roughly 1.64 million in 2025.
Growth is expected to accelerate in the second half as production ramps and new incentives emerge in select markets. However, risks remain: persistent high interest rates, price competition from legacy automakers and Chinese EV makers, and potential margin pressure could cap upside.
Tesla has not issued official full-year guidance, but executives have signaled confidence in sequential quarterly improvements driven by cost reductions and refreshed lineups.
By the end of 2026, Tesla plans several major product launches to reignite momentum. The refreshed Model Y, including a new 7-seater variant already rolling out in select markets, is expected to boost family-oriented sales with updated styling, efficiency gains, and interior enhancements.
Autonomous ambitions remain central to Tesla’s mission, and that’s where the vast majority of the attention has been put. Volume production of the Cybercab (Robotaxi) is targeted to begin ramping in 2026, potentially unlocking new revenue streams through unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) deployment.
A next-generation affordable EV platform, possibly under $30,000, is also in advanced planning stages for 2026 or 2027 introduction. On the energy front, the Megapack 3 and larger Megablock systems will drive further deployment scale.
While Q1 highlights transitional challenges in autos, Tesla’s diversified roadmap, spanning refreshed consumer vehicles, commercial trucks, Robotaxis, and explosive energy growth, positions the company for a stronger second half and beyond. Investors will watch Q2 closely for signs of sustained recovery, especially with new vehicles potentially on the horizon.
Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
Tesla’s Q1 delivery figures show Elon Musk was right
Tesla reports Q1 deliveries, missing expectations slightly
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
Elon Musk says Tesla is developing a new vehicle: ‘Way cooler than a minivan’
Elon Musk launches TERAFAB: The $25B Tesla-SpaceXAI chip factory that will rewire the AI industry
