SpaceX pushed back firmly against former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine after he questioned the agency’s reliance on Starship for the Artemis 3 moon mission. 

In a detailed thread on X, SpaceX argued that Bridenstine’s comments should be taken with a grain of salt as he is working as a paid lobbyist for companies competing for NASA contracts.

Bridenstine’s comments on Starship and Artemis 3

Bridenstine and fellow former NASA chief Charlie Bolden noted during a recent symposium that NASA’s current Artemis strategy is approaching zero chance of beating China to the Moon. Bridenstine expressed skepticism that NASA’s current architecture, which is expected to use Starship to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface, could succeed in time. 

“Starship is a tremendously important vehicle for the future,” Bridenstine said, as per Space News. “It’s going to deliver large mass to low Earth orbit for a long time, and it’s going to drive down costs and increase access. But if you need a moon lander, it’s going to take time.” 

SpaceX responds to the former NASA administrator’s comments

In a series of posts on X, SpaceX noted that while the company is very thankful to the former NASA administrator for helping create the Artemis Program, his comments about Starship might not necessarily be coming from a place of objectivity. 

SpaceX’s comments are as follows: “Like many Americans, we are thankful for Mr. Bridenstine’s service leading NASA at one point. He deserves credit for spearheading the creation of the Artemis Program. After departing NASA, he created a lobbying firm called the Artemis Group, representing a host of aerospace companies vying for NASA business. 

“Mr. Bridenstine’s current campaign against Starship is either misguided or intentionally misleading. SpaceX was selected to design and develop a Human Landing System for Artemis along with Blue Origin and Dynetics during Mr. Bridenstine’s tenure as NASA Administrator. 

“Starship was then selected by NASA for the Artemis III mission through fair and open competition after being identified as the best and lowest risk technical option – and the lowest price by a wide margin – by the civil servant team appointed to lead the agency’s exploration mission by Mr. Bridenstine himself. 

“The decision to select Starship was confirmed repeatedly following protest and litigation from the companies not selected which delayed the start of work on the contract for many months. Mr. Bridenstine’s recent musings promoting a new landing system – going so far as to invoke the Defense Production Act – are being misreported as though they were the unbiased thoughts of a former NASA Administrator. They are not.

“To be clear, he is a paid lobbyist. He is representing his clients’ interests, and his comments should be seen for what they are – a paid lobbyist’s effort to secure billions more in government funding for his clients who are already years late and billions of dollars overbudget,” SpaceX wrote. 

Elon Musk dropped a huge detail on the Tesla Roadster on his latest appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Tesla has been teasing the Roadster for years. The company has constantly delayed the vehicle, hoping to push its limits past anything that is even imaginable by the human mind.

Earlier this year, the company said it would put on a “most epic demo” for the Roadster, displaying and unveiling all its capabilities, some new, some previously talked about. However, nobody really knows what to expect.

On the JRE Podcast, Musk joined Rogan for an over three-hour conversation about a variety of topics, but Tesla was something that was evidently on the agenda.

One of the parts of the Tesla conversation that is getting a lot of attention is Musk’s new teasing of the Roadster, saying it has “crazy technology” that might not even qualify as an automobile in the classic sense.

Musk confirmed that Tesla is “getting close to demonstrating the prototype,” and said he can guarantee the demo “will be unforgettable.”

He continued:

“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.”

Musk went on to say, with a smile, that Joe would have to “wait and see” what Tesla had come up with.

He went on:

“I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil 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.”

Tesla has said for years that the Roadster would be able to at least hover, thanks to a SpaceX package that would feature cold gas thrusters that would help the vehicle get in the air.

The new Tesla Roadster will be able to fly: Elon Musk

Musk seemed very confident in his answers and very excited to show off what the Tesla Roadster is capable of. The real question is: how long will it take Tesla to get the car to market after the launch and unveiling? How many units will it manufacture? How much will it cost?

All of those things are details we will have to wait for Tesla to reveal at the Roadster event.

Tesla is targeting gas car owners with a crazy new promotion launched on October 31, its latest move to boost sales amidst the loss of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, which went away on September 30.

Tesla is now offering 2,000 free Supercharging miles to any gas car owner who chooses to trade their car in on a Tesla. The promotion requires a gas or hybrid electric vehicle to be turned in for any of the vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.

If you do that, you get 2,000 free miles of Supercharging, which can be utilized at any of the chargers on the Tesla network within the next two years:

🚨 New Tesla Incentive Just Dropped!

Trade in your gas/hybrid vehicle & get
FREE Supercharging ⚡️

• Must trade in a gas or hybrid vehicle
• 2,000 miles of Supercharging, valid for 2 years

Would you trade in your gas car for 2,000 free miles? pic.twitter.com/8uEQySr1py

— DennisCW | wen my L (@DennisCW_) October 31, 2025

Supercharging is rarely a Tesla owner’s primary source of charging, but for some owners, it is critical to their ownership experience.

While many homeowners or apartment dwellers are able to utilize charging infrastructure they either installed themselves or were provided by their property management company, others are totally reliant on the wide variety of charging options that are available today.

🚨🚨 Owning an EV without home charging can be CHEAP with Tesla Superchargers!

Watch til the end to see how much I spent to charge my @Tesla Model Y@TeslaCharging @MdeZegher pic.twitter.com/jRIWkdJvY6

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 31, 2025

Tesla’s Supercharging Network has expanded rapidly over the past few years, mostly in preparation for the company to open it to other EV manufacturers, most of which have adopted the company’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) in the United States.

Its latest quarterly earnings Shareholder Deck revealed a 16 percent increase in stations in Q3 compared to the same timeframe in 2024. Meanwhile, connectors have increased by 18 percent in the same timeframe. There are over 73,800 connectors in the Tesla Supercharger Network globally.

The move could be looked at as a way to incentivize people to switch to electric vehicles, and it is something we have seen Tesla experiment with over the past month.

It has played with leasing terms, and we will likely see more incentive offers, like this Supercharging one or even Full Self-Driving trials for those who choose to make the switch over the next two months.

Tesla routinely offers some tasty deals in Q4 as it aims to round out the year with a strong delivery and production report for investors. Q4 is statistically Tesla’s strongest three-month period in any given year. However, Q3 was Tesla’s strongest performance in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history, as it narrowly missed the elusive 500,000 mark for a quarter.