Tesla unveils Roadster with SpaceX thrusters, raising certification questions

Tesla showed off a new Roadster on Thursday at SpaceX's engine test and development facility in McGregor, Texas. The presentation included a demonstration of the vehicle lifting off and landing under thruster power.

Chief executive Elon Musk called it a street-legal vehicle capable of flight, and said the project brought Tesla and SpaceX engineers together. He described the Roadster as the culmination of that joint work and said production would begin in 2028. Before the flight demonstration, Musk said success was not guaranteed.

According to the presentation, the vehicle uses SpaceX thrusters to get off the ground and to land softly. Musk said it would be an actual car that is on the roads.

Whether owners could fly it outside tightly controlled settings remains an open question. The FAA has issued certification criteria for a separate class known as powered-lift aircraft, a category that covers electric vertical takeoff and landing designs being developed by companies including Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation and Beta Technologies. Those aircraft are meant to lift off vertically from dedicated vertiports and then transition to fixed-wing flight, rather than operating as cars.

The FAA established the powered-lift category in 2024, the first new aircraft category since helicopters. Manufacturers of eVTOL models have spent years working to meet the agency's certification guidance and its initial pilot and operational requirements.

According to the report, the flying Roadster could create new complications for regulators. The engineering drew attention, but it is not clear whether the vehicle's aerial capabilities will ever be permitted on public roads.