One of the most persistent critiques of SpaceX, Tesla, and X CEO Elon Musk is his alleged tendency to vastly underestimate timelines and limitations, often resulting in yearslong delays for promised electric vehicle technologies like autonomous robotaxis.
In 2025, an arguably overextended Musk lent his "smash first, ask questions later" ethos to the American government, a brief foray that managed to crater Tesla's theretofore unstoppable momentum.
Musk's less-prominent projects often toddle along unnoticed as a result — including an ambitious schooling initiative in Bastrop, Texas, recently profiled by The New York Times, that was designed to help attract talent to Tesla's nearby Austin headquarters.
As the article noted, Musk opined in 2021 that lessons ought to be "as close to a video game as possible." He said that children will "play video games on autopilot all day," espousing a pedagogical philosophy not dissimilar to that of A.S. Neill, progenitor of the Summerhill School.
But those who've watched Musk's high-profile successes and failures, and the signs of which projects would end up in which category, might be able to predict how it went.
Quartz framed the progress of Bastrop's Ad Astra School without really mincing words: "The billionaire who launches rockets can't launch a Texas school." This comes, too, after the Times earlier this month pointed out that Musk's charity, with $14 billion in assets, has failed to meet the minimum donation requirement by law for the fourth straight year, with much of the money it has donated reportedly going to the Bastrop school.
Reports like these highlight Musk's current precarious position in the court of public opinion, one that can't be wholly blamed on his controversial political activities and one that isn't ideal for the face of the world's most well-known EV manufacturer.
Many of Musk's companies and projects have led to great success, but Musk's tendency to make promises and his frequent failure to follow through can harm Tesla's image and sales, erode brand trust, and, arguably, undermine EV adoption at scale.
According to the Times, Musk kicked the project off in 2023, amid ongoing efforts to relocate Tesla from California to Texas. Land was requisitioned in the area of the relocation, a nationwide talent search for teachers commenced, and in August 2024, enrollment opened to interested families. The ostensible goal was to lessen the blow of moving away from the vaunted educational programs in California.
However, as the outlet noted, Ad Astra — "to the stars" in Latin — "appears to not be operating as an elementary school today."
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Set strict regulations 🚫 The outlet visited the Bastrop-based school, which operates out of a house. Security staff "instructed a Times reporter to leave," but the paper reviewed documents indicating the facility functioned as a small day care for 10 children under the age of 5.
Per the Times, Ad Astra "ran into hiccups" and "had to resubmit its application for a permit to operate a child care program and also handle paperwork for a staff member who did not have the education credits for 'director qualifications,'" causing at least two separate opening dates to be delayed, according to emails the Times reviewed.
The Cool Down reviewed the school's website as of Dec. 18 and found that it said it was still "opening in Bastrop, Texas," with the following message: "We are excited to announce that Ad Astra will be open in the fall. We are now accepting applications for the 2024-25 school year. Currently open to all children ages 3 - 9."
It's worth noting that a SpaceX-affiliated school operated under the name Ad Astra in California until 2020, then spun off into what is now known as Astra Nova, which appears to remain up and running with high-achievement online classes for students aged 10 to 18 to supplement their normal schooling. Musk is credited for co-founding the predecessor but does not appear to remain directly involved with Astra Nova.
Austin resident Zarema Saldana lives nearly an hour away from the fledgling Bastrop-based Ad Astra school, but when enrollment began, she applied on behalf of her daughters.
Saldana "was surprised" to learn that Ad Astra didn't appear to be up and running just yet.
"They had really big plans," she told the Times.
Today, though, it's unclear whether those plans have simply taken longer than expected to get to a great school, or if they've fizzled out completely.
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