Tesla’s flying Roadster did a mid-air flip using a vacuum fan and SpaceX thrusters

Tesla unveiled the next-generation Roadster prototype during a live nighttime show at the SpaceX rocket development facility in Waco, Texas. The white car emerged from a giant vertical curved ramp in front of the headlights of a fleet of Tesla Semi, Cybertruck, Cybercab, Model S and Model 3 vehicles, hung upside down for a moment, then fired its cold-gas thrusters to complete a full flip in the air and land on its wheels. Elon Musk shared a video of the show with the note, “Looks like flying cars really are in our future.”

The vacuum fan that sticks the car to the road

Under the Roadster’s chassis is a multi-mode suction fan system surrounded by active aerodynamic skirts. The fan rapidly expels air from under the car, creating a low-pressure area that presses the tires into the asphalt. Because this vacuum engages even when the car is stationary, it largely eliminates wheelspin at launch. The same force also allows the car to cling to vertical and inverted surfaces, as seen in the show. The solution is a much more aggressive take on ground-effect designs such as the Gordon Murray T.50 and Chaparral 2J.

SpaceX thrusters keep the car balanced in the air

For lift-off and directional control in the air, it uses a cold-gas thruster architecture adapted from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Starship maneuvering systems. Carbon-composite pressure tanks mounted in the body hold compressed air at about 10,000 psi, or 700 bar. The car does not burn chemical rocket fuel; thrust is generated by releasing pressurized air through supersonic nozzles, and the tanks can be refilled by onboard electric compressors. The main thrusters in the rear license-plate and diffuser area provide straight-line acceleration, while steerable valve nozzles hidden around the body and under the chassis handle vertical lift, short hops, hovering, and balance control on the pitch, roll, and yaw axes.

Three hardware packages and a 2028 target

Tesla announced the car in three configurations rather than a single package. The two-seat Roadster Performance cuts 0-60 mph acceleration to under 1.6 seconds with active aerodynamics and the vacuum fan; it does not carry rocket thrusters and can be used on public roads. The Roadster Thrust completed the same acceleration in 0.81 seconds in testing with SpaceX thrusters mounted at the rear. The single-seat, center-cockpit Roadster Rocket aims for under 0.59 seconds with a full surround thruster set; because of acoustic shock and flight maneuvers, it will only be usable on private tracks by invitation. All three versions were announced as offering top speeds above 370 km/h and ranges exceeding 480 kilometers on a single charge. The target for series production is 2028, at the Giga Texas factory in Austin.

The show was more of an engineering demonstration than a product launch. Still, it was a milestone in Tesla’s long-delayed Roadster program, marking the first time the company physically demonstrated flight capability. The car’s legal status, final pricing, and customer delivery schedule have not yet been finalized.

Source: WebTuring