Tesla Roadster engineering: The hidden hardware behind its flying demonstration

To store the necessary propellant for flight, Tesla replaced the rear passenger seats with two Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels. These lightweight, aerospace-grade carbon-fibre tanks are the exact same storage units SpaceX uses for its orbital rockets.

The internal COPV tanks safely hold roughly 600 litres of atmospheric air, weighing approximately 250 kilogrammes. To pack this massive volume of air into a small physical space, the system operates at an extreme internal pressure of 10,000 PSI.

The stored air feeds into a network of 10 cold-gas thruster nozzles strategically positioned around the vehicle's perimeter. Instead of using flammable chemical combustion, these thrusters simply vent the highly pressurised gas outwards to generate massive reaction force.

Maintaining stability during a mid-air barrel roll requires constant, microscopic aerodynamic corrections. The vehicle uses advanced all-electric actuators to control the thruster nozzles, managing vectoring pulses and pitch adjustments within fractions of a second.

Beyond rocket propulsion, the Roadster utilises a multi-mode fan sealing system underneath the chassis. This active downforce generator pulls air out from beneath the car, creating a vacuum seal so powerful it can hold the vehicle upside down.