News
Virgin Galactic completes their first all civilian flight
Virgin Galactic has successfully completed its first all-civilian flight this morning, carrying three civilians and three crew members to space aboard their spaceplane VSS Unity.
Taking off at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time (15:30 UTC), the mothership, VMS Eve, with VSS Unity attached, began its journey to its drop point over Spaceport America in New Mexico.
VSS Unity released from VMS Eve (Credit Virgin Galactic)
VMS Eve climbed in a looping racetrack pattern over the Spaceport to an altitude of 44,300 feet before releasing VSS Unity at 9:17 am MT. Unity then dropped for a few seconds before igniting its rocket engine and beginning its climb to the edge of space. The hybrid rocket, fueled by hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and nitrous oxide, burned for around 1 minute as it climbed to its apogee of 55 miles (88.5 km) and a top speed of Mach 3.
Shortly after the engine cut off, the crew released their harnesses and began floating around the cabin, taking in the views of Earth and space. The crew was able to float around the cabin of Unity for a few minutes before returning to their seats and beginning the trip back down to Earth to Spaceport America.
The three civilians making their first flights today were:
- Jon Goodwin: The first Olympian to go to space, 2nd person with Parkinson’s, Goodwin, who hails from the United Kingdom, bought his ticket in 2005.
- Keisha Schahaff: Won trip through draw benefitting Space for Humanity and chose her daughter to fly with her, becoming the first Mother and Daughter to go to space together.
- Anastasia Mayers: 2nd youngest person to go to space, along with her Mother, became the first two astronauts from Antigua and Barbuda.
The Crew:
- CJ Sturckow: Commander, former NASA astronaut, flew on the first VSS Unity mission
- Beth Moses: Virgin Galactic Chief Astronaut Instructor, this was her fourth flight to space and
- Kelly Latimer: Pilot, first female commercial space pilot, first flight to space. This mission also marked the most women to fly on a single mission to space.
A view of the Earth from the tail cone of VSS Unity (Credit Virgin Galactic)
While the crew members were floating through the cabin, VSS Unity performed a back flip while the wings transitioned into its feathering position, which helps stabilize the spaceplane at high altitudes as it descends back to Earth. Once Unity is below 53,000 ft, the wings are transitioned to their glide mode, and the pilot brought the spaceplane back for a smooth landing.
For reference, international space starts at the Kármán line, which is 62 miles (100 km) above the mean Sea level, and the United States boundary for space is 50 miles (80 km). It should also be noted that the U.S. no longer gives astronauts wings unless the mission “demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety”.
This rule took effect in 2022.
This was the 3rd mission for VSS Unity in just over three months, with its next flight scheduled for September.
Questions or comments? Shoot me an email at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
Elon Musk
Tesla locks in Elon Musk’s top problem solver as it enters its most ambitious era
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla has granted Senior Vice President of Automotive Tom Zhu more than 520,000 stock options, tying a significant portion of his compensation to the company’s long-term performance.
The generous equity award was disclosed by the electric vehicle maker in a recent regulatory filing.
Tesla secures top talent
According to a Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tom Zhu received 520,021 stock options with an exercise price of $435.80 per share. Since the award will not fully vest until March 5, 2031, Zhu must remain at Tesla for more than five years to realize the award’s full benefit.
Considering that Tesla shares are currently trading at around the $445 to $450 per share level, Zhu will really only see gains in his equity award if Tesla’s stock price sees a notable rise over the years, as noted in a Sina Finance report.
Still, even at today’s prices, Zhu’s stock award is already worth over $230 million. If Tesla reaches the market cap targets set forth in Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award, Zhu would become a billionaire from this equity award alone.
Tesla’s problem solver
Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014 and initially led the company’s Supercharger rollout in China. Later that year, he assumed the leadership of Tesla’s China business, where he played a central role in Tesla’s localization efforts, including expanding retail and service networks, and later, overseeing the development of Gigafactory Shanghai.
Zhu’s efforts helped transform China into one of Tesla’s most important markets and production hubs. In 2023, Tesla promoted Zhu to Senior Vice President of Automotive, placing him among the company’s core global executives and expanding his influence beyond China. He has since garnered a reputation as the company’s problem solver, being tapped by Elon Musk to help ramp Giga Texas’s vehicle production.
With this in mind, Tesla’s recent filing seems to suggest that the company is locking in its top talent as it enters its newest, most ambitious era to date. As could be seen in the targets of Elon Musk’s 2025 pay package, Tesla is now aiming to be the world’s largest company by market cap, and it is aiming to achieve production levels that are unheard of. Zhu’s talents would definitely be of use in this stage of the company’s growth.
News
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
Tesla has rolled out a price incentive in Norway, effectively offsetting a notable VAT increase that hit electric vehicle buyers at the start of 2026.
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
A “Tesla bonus”
Once the VAT increase kicked in at the start of 2026, Tesla Norway’s sales cooled almost immediately, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla’s response was swift, with the electric vehicle maker rolling out what it calls a “Tesla bonus.”
This bonus effectively cuts prices by up to 50,000 kronor across eight model variants. All versions of the Tesla Model Y qualify for the incentive, along with most Tesla Model 3 trims, save for the base entry-level model.
This means that for Tesla Norway’s best-selling vehicles, the bonus effectively restores pricing to pre-VAT levels. This blunts the impact of the new tax and makes Tesla’s vehicle offerings competitive again in Europe’s most EV-saturated market.
Stabilizing demand
In addition to the “Tesla bonus,” the electric car maker is also offering a promotional interest rate for up to three years, with terms varying by model. The incentive applies to orders placed between January 9 and March 31, 2026, with delivery required by the end of the first quarter.
The stakes are high in Norway, where electric vehicles dominate new-car registrations. From the vehicles that were sold in 2025, 96% of new cars sold were fully electric. And from this number, Tesla and its Model Y made their dominance felt. This was highlighted by Geir Inge Stokke, director of OFV, who noted that Tesla was able to achieve its stellar results despite its small vehicle lineup.
“Taking almost 20% market share during a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact on the Norwegian market,” Stokke stated.
Elon Musk
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
SpaceX emerged as a clear beneficiary of the Trump administration’s renewed push to accelerate military innovation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth openly praised Elon Musk’s private space enterprise during a visit to the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
Hegseth embraces Elon Musk’s pace
Speaking at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth criticized what he described as a “risk-averse culture” among traditional defense contractors and called for faster innovation modeled after Musk’s approach. He confirmed that the Department of Defense plans to integrate Musk’s Grok AI platform into Pentagon systems, which is part of the administration’s efforts to make the U.S. military an “AI-first warfighting force.”
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon intends to deploy AI models across both classified and unclassified networks, signaling a willingness to push past earlier efforts to limit military use of artificial intelligence. His comments aligned closely with President Donald Trump’s recent call for a $500 billion increase in defense spending, Bloomberg News noted. Trump has also warned major contractors that slower production and shareholder-focused practices could put future contracts at risk.
While Hegseth criticized legacy defense firms, SpaceX was held up as an example of how aggressive timelines, vertical integration, and iterative development could reshape defense strategies. “We need to be blunt here; we can no longer afford to wait a decade for our legacy prime contractors to deliver a perfect system. Winning requires a new playbook. Elon wrote it with his algorithm: question every requirement, delete the dumb ones and accelerate like hell,” Hegseth said.
SpaceX’s expanding defense role comes into focus
SpaceX has become one of the U.S. government’s most important aerospace partners. The company holds roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts to develop Starship into a lunar lander, while also serving as a key launch provider for sensitive national security payloads using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
During the visit, Musk highlighted that his ambitions extend beyond defense contracts, reiterating long-term goals of interplanetary travel and eventual exploration beyond the solar system. Still, the optics of the event reinforced how closely SpaceX’s capabilities now align with U.S. strategic priorities.
The appearance also marked another step in Musk’s political rehabilitation after a public falling-out with the White House last year. Since leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has gradually reengaged with the administration, reconnecting with U.S. President Donald Trump during slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s tribute and attending events at the White House. Trump’s also recently suggested that Starlink could help restore internet access in Iran.
Tesla locks in Elon Musk’s top problem solver as it enters its most ambitious era
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
