Tesla Launches Roadster at SpaceX Site in Latest Merger Hint

Tesla Inc. finally rolled out its long-delayed Roadster sports car — or rather, launched the vehicle into the sky.

The automaker late Thursday held a product reveal unlike any other, showcasing a prototype designed in collaboration with SpaceX outfitted with air thrusters that jumped over other cars and flipped in midair. The electric vehicle performed a series of aerial stunts for a crowd of onlookers and Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of both Tesla and SpaceX, who called it “something that you haven’t seen in any movie.”

“We need an audience to prove that it’s not AI or SI,” Musk said on stage at the livestreamed event, held at SpaceX’s 4,000-acre rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. “You’re going to see the results of what happens when you have a collaboration with the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company.”

It’s been a long time coming for the mooted EV model, the initial version of which Tesla stopped producing in 2012. The company said almost a decade ago that it would bring back the high-end vehicle, and it will still be another roughly two years before Roadster goes into production.

Tesla’s auto business could use a boost, after consecutive annual sales declines and criticism over a stagnant product lineup. While Musk is working to reorient the company around futuristic business lines such as artificial intelligence and robots, EV sales still account for the majority of the company’s revenue and profit.

With a high price tag, the Roadster won’t be a big seller, but analysts say it could help bring back some excitement for the brand. It also serves as another notable example of collaboration between Musk’s two biggest companies, which the investment community broadly believes is headed for a merger.

Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, said in a social-media post after the Roadster reveal that it “was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers.” His other major takeaway: Musk “can’t wait” to bring Tesla and SpaceX together.

Tesla shares rose 0.9% at 9:31 a.m. Friday in New York, while SpaceX was down 2.8%. Both companies are set to give investors a closer look at their performance in the coming days, with SpaceX planning to report quarterly earnings Oct. 20, followed by Tesla the day after.

The vehicle, which was designed with a nod to aerospace aesthetics, features two seats and Cybertruck-style steer-by wire-system. Tesla showed a video of the vehicle accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in under 1 second.

Still, the long-overdue vehicle isn’t expected to start production until 2028, and frustrated commuters won’t be able to fly over traffic jams just yet.

The Roadster website allows reservations for the performance road-ready version of the vehicle, and a limited-release “thrust” race-ready package that adds the acceleration thrusters and multi-mode suction system.

The flying version is reserved for the invite-only “Rocket” package, and that isn’t approved for public roads.

The flashy stunt brings attention to the company and underscores Tesla’s efforts to be seen as a boundary-pushing, tech-forward company. Executives have also emphasized that the Roadster is an ode to manual driving, even as the company increasingly focuses on autonomy.

The vehicle has been subject to numerous delays since it was first announced in 2017. The original Roadster, Tesla’s first product, was launched in 2008 and discontinued in 2012.

Garrett Nelson, a senior equity research analyst at CFRA, said the revived Roadster is “long overdue” and the Tesla brand could use a buzzy new model.

“They’ve had this lull in their product pipeline for years now,” Nelson said.

These aero features aren’t just for looks: they provide the best passive downforce package of any road car (approaching F1 levels!) with wing actuation driven by the @Tesla_Optimus actuator system pic.twitter.com/AqrC4qUga9

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 16, 2026

The new version adds to Tesla’s limited consumer vehicle lineup, which currently consists of the Model 3 and Model Y, as well as the slow-selling Cybertruck. Tesla, which discontinued two consumer models earlier this year, also makes the commercial Semi truck and is producing a two-person robotaxi known as the Cybercab, which is being deployed in a company-owned fleet.

Tesla has suggested for years that the next Roadster could include a SpaceX option package. Some investors and analysts have cited overlap between the companies as justification for a merger.

Musk has talked recently about the ways that his two largest companies interact, including on a recent earnings call when he said Tesla overlaps “on so many fronts with SpaceX.” He pointed in particular to Terafab, a joint effort by the companies to build a semiconductor plant.

“We’ve seen the companies grow closer and closer,” Nelson said. “It’s approaching the point where Musk can make the argument that the companies collaborate so closely that it just makes sense to merge.”

Top photo: The electric vehicle maker unveiled its new Roadster sports car Thursday in Texas. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg.