SpaceX swaps Cybertrucks in for MRAPs as Crew-13 pad rescue vehicles
SpaceX will swap armored MRAPs for Tesla Cybertrucks as pad-emergency crew rescue vehicles, starting with Crew-13 in September.
what happened
NASA says SpaceX will replace its armored MRAP pad-emergency evacuation vehicles with unmodified Tesla Cybertrucks beginning with the Crew-13 mission, targeted for September 12, 2026, per SpacePolicyOnline. NASA Commercial Crew deputy program manager Richard Jones said the switch gives SpaceX its own rescue capability instead of competing with other NASA launches for shared MRAPs; the Cybertrucks were certified so spacesuited astronauts can operate the doors.
why it matters
It is a small but concrete example of SpaceX running Commercial Crew ground operations with dedicated hardware rather than resources shared across NASA's launch manifest, the kind of vertical integration the company has applied elsewhere in its pad infrastructure. No cost or safety-case figures were disclosed.