Fact Check: Tesla Roadster Briefly Flies on Rocket-Style Thrusters, but Only in a Test RunFact Check: Tesla Roadster Briefly Flies on Rocket-Style Thrusters, but Only in a Test Run
Key Highlights
- Claims that Elon Musk has shown a car that can fly are partly true: Tesla's new Roadster left the ground and steered itself in mid-air using rocket-style thrusters at a Texas test site.
- The flights lasted seconds, with no driver on board, and the car did not take off, travel a route and land in the way people picture when they hear the words flying car.
- Tesla engineers say 10 cold-gas thrusters push out compressed air from 600 litres of onboard tanks, the same reaction principle rockets use, though nothing is burned to make the thrust.
- Reservations cost KSh 6.5M ($50,000) and KSh 32.49M ($250,000), but there is no price, no aviation approval, and production is not due until 2028.
Claims that Elon Musk has unveiled a car that can fly are partly true: Tesla's new Roadster did leave the ground on 15 October, using rocket-style thrusters to flip, steer and hover for a moment in mid-air, but only in a test run of a prototype, not as a flying car anyone can buy or travel in.
That distinction matters because much of the coverage online suggests a new kind of transport has arrived. The real story is narrower and still remarkable: a road car that can briefly fly under its own thrust, shown in a controlled demonstration with nobody inside it.
Tesla staged the demonstration at SpaceX's test site in McGregor, Texas, and Mwenendo checked the claims against the event footage.
Verdict: Partly true. The Roadster really did fly for a few seconds, rocket style. Calling it a flying car in the everyday sense, one that takes off, travels and lands, overstates what Tesla has shown.
The claim
Posts and headlines since Thursday night say Musk "unveiled a flying car". Musk encouraged the idea on stage, saying "flying cars are real" while adding that success is "not guaranteed", CBS News reported.
What is true
The car did fly. In the first stunt it drove up a curled, inverted ramp, left the end of it upside down, used its thrusters to roll upright, hovered briefly and landed on its wheels. In the second it jumped a row of Tesla vehicles, including a Cybertruck and a Semi, flipped in mid-air and landed.
The thrusters work like a rocket's. Tesla engineering vice-president Lars Moravy said the system uses 10 cold-gas thrusters fed by about 600 litres of compressed air in carbon-overwrapped tanks, which the car can refill itself. Like a rocket, the car moves by pushing gas out at speed in the opposite direction. Unlike most rockets, it burns no fuel to do so.
The product is real, at least on paper. Tesla is taking refundable reservations of KSh 6.5M ($50,000) for the Performance model and KSh 32.49M ($250,000) for the Thrust model. The single-seat Rocket version, the one built around the full thruster system, is invite-only.
What is misleading
It is not a flying car in the usual sense. A flying car is generally understood as a vehicle that can take off, hold controlled flight over a distance and land, approved by an aviation regulator such as the US Federal Aviation Administration. The Roadster's flights were short bursts after leaving a ramp, and no height or time in the air has been published.
It was a test run. The stunts were staged at a closed test site, the car drove itself, and Musk said nobody was on board so that no one would be hurt if the manoeuvre failed.
It is not ready for sale. Tesla has announced no price, and no FAA approval or certification plan for the thruster system has been disclosed. In Kenya, any vehicle that flies would fall under the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.
What is still unproven
Tesla says the Roadster reached 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds in a live test, has a range of about 300 miles and can exceed 230 mph. None of these figures has been tested independently.
Musk says production starts in 2028. The Roadster was first shown in 2017 and its launch has slipped several times since, including in 2025 and 2026, so that date is a target rather than a promise.
What it means for readers
For investors, the event was a showcase for Tesla and SpaceX at a time when Musk's fortune is tied heavily to both companies, as Mwenendo reported when his net worth topped KSh 129.5T ($1T) again. Musk himself calls the Roadster a halo car that will not move Tesla's revenue much.
For anyone sharing the viral clips, the accurate line is this: the Roadster can fly for a few seconds like a rocket in a test, but it is not yet a flying car anyone can own.
In Summary
- Did Elon Musk unveil a car that can fly?
- Partly. Tesla's new Roadster flew for a few seconds using rocket-style thrusters in a test, but it is not a flying car that can take off, travel and land.
- When and where was it shown?
- On Thursday 15 October 2026, at SpaceX's test site in McGregor, near Waco, Texas.
- How does it fly?
- Ten cold-gas thrusters push out compressed air from about 600 litres of onboard tanks, moving the car by reaction like a rocket, without burning fuel.
- Why is the flying car label misleading?
- The flights were brief stunts in a driverless test run, with no aviation approval, no price and production not due until 2028.
- Who can buy one?
- Anyone can reserve the Performance or Thrust models for KSh 6.5M ($50,000) or KSh 32.49M ($250,000). The thruster-led Rocket version is invite-only.
