Technology

Tesla Vehicles Bought in California Now Eligible for $1,500 Rebate

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Customers who buy a new Tesla electric vehicle in California may now be eligible for a $1,500 “California Clean Fuel Reward” offered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and electric utility providers in the state. The price cut applies to eligible new battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

As one might expect, some terms and conditions do apply. The car must be registered in the State of California and the vehicle must have a battery capacity of at least 16 kWh to get the full $1,500. Smaller rewards might be available for vehicles with less than 16 kWh. Purchasers of Tesla’s Model S, Model Y, Model X, and Model 3 vehicles will be eligible for the maximum credit offered by the California Clean Fuel Reward.

The California Clean Fuel Reward program places no limitations on income or location. The program is also open to people who claim other federal, state, or local incentives, tax breaks, and rebates available to consumers who purchase an electric vehicle. Most notably, this new reward program is not replacing the already existing California Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP).

“The California Air Resources Board and your electric utility want to make it easier to own an EV. That’s why we’re providing the California Clean Fuel Reward to people who purchase or lease an eligible new Battery Electric (BEV) or Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) vehicle at participating automotive retailers. This is on top of any applicable federal, state, and local incentives, rebates, and tax credits,” CARB said in a statement.

As usual, it is a good idea to read the full Terms and Conditions, which has been uploaded to Scribd by a user named Simon Alvarez.

Tesla does have plans to make its vehicles more affordable, including the planned release of a $25,000 vehicle within the next three years and the reduction of the Model S base price to $69,420 — a price that is likely to be appreciated by the community of marijuana users as a reference to one of their in jokes. Increased affordability of electric vehicles like Tesla’s may help to combat the common perception of EVs as simply a product that feeds into the environmental virtue signaling of wealthy customers.

Although some critics of electric vehicles have said that they simply replace oil with other “dirty” energy sources like coal, Tesla has done a fair job of answering such critics with its investments in renewable energy. In 2016, Tesla announced the acquisition of solar power company SolarCity, which was especially known for its roofs with integrated solar panels. Tesla has also made investments in solar powered Superchargers, including a partnership with Fastned to establish charging stations in Germany.

Tesla’s push toward sustainability has included plans for a more efficient battery-making process that uses less water and deals with mining companies to provide “zero-waste” nickel for its vehicles. Although some of these might be seen as PR stunts to shut the critics up, Musk and Tesla have repeatedly listed environmental impact and climate change as reasons to improve the company’s vehicle making process and phase out gas-powered vehicles.

For all that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has scrapped with Californian local and state officials over matters like mandatory shutdowns that were part of the response to COVID-19 and impacted operations at his factory in the state, this additional California Clean Fuel Reward may be a good sign that California wants to keep electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla around in the long haul as part of the state’s commitment to combating climate change.

Space

NASA, SpaceX Successfully Launch Crew-1

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The first operational mission of SpaceX’s share of NASA’s Commercial Crew program has successfully launched on a Falcon 9 rocket. It is currently flying four astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month rotation.

The news comes hard on the heels after suspicions that Elon Musk might have COVID-19, spurred on by conflicting results from four tests within the same day. The tests reportedly involved the faster, but less accurate, analysis system with roughly a 50 percent failure rate. The uncertainty caused Musk to uncharacteristically stay away from an important launch.

Despite the possible infection, it is unlikely that the crew was dangerously exposed to COVID-19. All crews that are scheduled to launch will normally go through a quarantine period as part of preparations for their scheduled launch dates.

Earlier this year, crew commander Michael Hopkins announced that the Crew-1 vehicle will go by the call sign of “Resilience” in recognition of the difficult year of 2020 and the hope that the United States will rebound from challenges like COVID-19 and the contentious election cycle.

Resilience will rendezvous with the International Space Station on November 16 and is expected to dock at 11pm Eastern time. Once docked, the crew will spend six months on the space station before returning home on the same vehicle.

Crew-1 is part of a series of crewed launches that SpaceX will conduct as part of its contracts with NASA and the first operational flight of its Crew Dragon. The flight earlier this year, Demo-2, was the final test launch and the first to carry actual crew. SpaceX expects to fly Crew-2 early next year, possibly using the same spacecraft that was used to carry Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station and bring them back safely.

Competitors such as Boeing have not yet launched crews on the spacecraft that they will use for the Commercial Crew program. Boeing has had several technical issues with the Starliner, with software issues causing several glitches during its first uncrewed demonstration flight.

NASA does not have an exclusive claim on the Crew Dragon and its contracts for Commercial Crew allow private aerospace companies to fly private paying customers on the same models of spacecraft. SpaceX also plans on flying private clients such as Tom Cruise, who will film footage for an as-yet-unnamed movie project on the International Space Station. It also famously has plans to send paying customers such as Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the Moon using its Starship rocket.

Elon Musk has also indicated that he could start sending Starship spacecraft to Mars as early as 2024. This date may be typically ambitious even though testing of Starship prototypes appears to be going smoothly lately.

For now, the Crew-1 astronauts, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi, are well on their way to the International Space Station. In a move that has become almost routine for the aerospace company, SpaceX has also landed the Falcon 9 first stage booster on one of its drone ships. There is no word yet on whether it plans on reusing the booster.

Elon Musk Questions Reliability of COVID-19 Tests After Receiving Confusing Results

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In typical Elon Musk fashion, he took to Twitter to question the reliability of the “fast” version of the COVID-19 after receiving two positive and two negative results out of four tests for the coronavirus. The test is meant to test for proteins that might indicate an immune system response to the COVID-19 virus and typically takes only a few minutes to produce results.

However, it is known to be less reliable than other methods of testing for the virus with about 40 to 50 percent of results being false. Experts normally recommend using the more accurate but somewhat slower PCR testing instead.

This is not the first time that Musk has dismissed COVID-19 as a serious issue. He previously said that he would not get a vaccine if one became available because he did not regard himself as being in the “at-risk” group.

He has also gotten into legal scraps with county and state officials in California over the government-mandated shutdown of his factory in Alameda County. Government officials did seem more willing to work with him on a possible compromise after he threatened to move his factory out of the state, filed legal action against what he called an unelected “interim health officer”, and indicated a willingness to reopen the factory against government guidelines.

Response to his tweet calling the tests “bogus” were a mixed bag that ranged from calling Musk “grossly irresponsible” to agreeing that the tests were likely unreliable. Others said that local government officials and hospitals might be inflating the number of COVID-19 cases in an effort to get more funding or justify lockdowns that might otherwise be unnecessary. Especially frustrating the matter was the apparent exceptions that government officials in some cities made for large demonstrations over the summer.

Such an accusation might not be completely unfounded, considering that New York Governor Cuomo had previously mandated that nursing homes accept patients that were recovering from COVID-19, a move that was likely to increase the number of cases among vulnerable elderly residents. There have also been unconfirmed reports of hospitals listing COVID-19 as the cause of death rather than the actual cause, such as unrelated heart attacks.

Some commenters did feel the need to inject some humor into it, playing on the long-standing joke that Musk might be a robot or alien posing as human and developing advanced interplanetary rockets in an attempt to get back home:

Despite CNN’s slightly alarmist assertion that Musk’s supposed COVID-19 infection might impact the Crew-1 launch scheduled for this weekend, the health of the crew is more likely to influence the launch schedule than the health of an aerospace company’s CEO. The slip of Crew-1’s launch date to November 15 rather than November 14 was due to the likelihood of high winds at the rocket stage retrieval site, not Elon Musk’s health condition. NASA has only expressed a preference that Musk should quarantine rather than attend the launch. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has indicated that the agency will attempt to do some contact tracing for Musk to see if the Crew-1 astronauts might be at risk.

Musk has shown symptoms of COVID-19, but may simply need to go with a more reliable test to know for certain. As things stand, Musk might be one of the Schrödinger’s Cats of COVID-19: Does he, or doesn’t he, have the virus? Musk says that he will get a more reliable test, which will take about 24 hours to get results. Until then, no one will know for certain.

Technology

Tesla Releases Winter Tire and Wheel Package for Model Y

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has announced the release of a winter tire and wheel package for the Model Y just in time for preparations for snowy weather in the northern hemisphere. The new package will cover 20-inch wheels for the Model Y.

Tesla already has a 19-inch winter option for the same model that is less expensive than the new 20-inch option. 19-inch and 18-inch packages are also available for the Model X and Model 3. Although the smaller wheel size might help with the electric vehicle’s range, some users may not want to go through all the trouble of making the switch or like the idea of being able to ride just a little higher on the road.

The Importance of Good Tire Grip

Many vehicle owners may know somebody who had a spinout on icy roads in the winter if that hasn’t happened to them. Over time, even the best winter tires can lose their traction and need to replaced. However, this task is often neglected and worn-out tires can become a factor in accidents in which icy and snowy conditions or wet and slick roads were a contributing variable.

According to USDOT Federal Highway Administration data, snowy and icy roads are a factor in 1,836 deaths and 136,309 injuries caused by automobile accidents every year in the United States. This is about 3.6 times the total deaths in which all other hazardous weather conditions were a contributing factor.

Would good winter tires have prevented all these deaths? Probably not, but better grip on the road can reduce your risk of having a serious accident while driving in the winter. If you live in a place like Florida that doesn’t get a lot of snow, you’re lucky, but it’s still a good idea to check your tire tread on a regular basis in case you have to drive in rainy conditions, which can make the roads slicker than normal. However, many people are unaware that winter tires should be replaced about every six years or when the tread starts getting low. Your local tire place might be able to measure your tire tread and advise you on your tire replacement needs.

Where Can You Get Tesla Winter Tires and Wheels?

The best place to look is in Tesla’s online shop, which is most advisable if you know how to swap out the wheels and tires on your Tesla vehicle. (The do-it-yourself option can be a great money-saver if you know what you’re doing even though good winter tires are rarely cheap.) You can also ask your local tire place to find you something suitable.

Either way, it’s definitely advisable to be ready for winter driving with a new set of winter tires and wheels if you haven’t replaced them recently. Tesla’s new 20-inch wheel and tire package for the Model Y may be helpful if you prefer to be a little farther off the world or don’t want to go through the extra effort needed to switch to a smaller size.

Science

NASA Certifies Crew Dragon for Crew-1 Flight

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The SpaceX Crew Dragon that will be used for NASA’s Crew-1 flight to the International Space Station has passed its final inspections and been certified for the launch scheduled for November 14.

“It’s just a tremendous day that is a culmination of a ton of work,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations.

The crew of four astronauts is already at Cape Canaveral. They have given the Crew Dragon that will be used for the flight the call sign of “Resilience” as an acknowledgment that 2020 has been a rough year for NASA and the United States, but the space agency managed to push through with positive progress on projects like the Perseverance rover. Perseverance was launched earlier this year and is already halfway through its journey to Mars.

“We felt like if the name of our vehicle could give a little hope, a little inspiration, put a smile on people’s face, then that is definitely what we wanted to do,” said crew commander Mike Hopkins at a virtual press conference.

The crew has been in quarantine since arriving at the Cape as a way to avoid being infected with illnesses like COVID-19. Pre-flight quarantines are a traditional part of preparations for each crewed launch from American soil dating back to the Space Race of the 1960s. These quarantines are believed to be a major factor in the notable lack of astronauts getting sick in space, though notable exceptions include Apollo 7 commander Wally Schirra catching a cold in space. (This reportedly put Schirra in a chronic bad mood during the flight besides leading to the accidental discovery that mucus does not drain from the nose as effectively in microgravity.)

NASA’s weather-watchers may have their eye on Tropical Storm Eta, which is currently moving over Florida. If the flight is delayed, it is most likely to be because Eta did not clear out by November 14.

So far, SpaceX is the only private company that has actually launched a crew into space. It launched the Demo-2 mission with Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in May 2020 and brought them back down with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico in August. Based on analysis of the hardware and data from the Demo-2 flight, SpaceX has made several improvements to the Crew Dragon.

Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle, NASA had to pay the Russian space program $90 million per seat for flights to the International Space Station. This arrangement has always been vulnerable to the possibility of international tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously snarked that American astronauts could “use a trampoline” to reach space, and more recent accusations of Russian interference in American elections could have caused further tensions that could have cost NASA its access to seats on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

President Trump has also ordered NASA to work on putting astronauts on the Moon by 2024 although observers have said that SpaceX is more likely to reach the Moon first with private paying passengers instead of NASA’s astronauts.

Due to these factors, NASA has prioritized its Commercial Crew program to rebuild its capacity to relaunch astronauts from American soil. The Crew-1 flight will be the first “operational” flight of the Commercial Crew program, with two more Crew Dragon flights scheduled over the next 14 months. SpaceX will also continue to use the uncrewed version of the Dragon spacecraft to make regular deliveries of supplies for the International Space Station as part of a separate contract with NASA.

SpaceX competitor Boeing is part of the Commercial Crew program, but is currently playing catch-up with its own crewed vehicle, the Starliner, which has suffered delays due to issues such as faulty software.

If successful, the Crew-1 astronauts, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, Soichi Noguchi, and crew commander Mike Hopkins, will spend the next six months on the International Space Station as part of 20 years’ worth of continuous crewed operations on the station.

Technology

German Union Reacts to Tesla Hiring of Mercedes-Benz Chief

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has hired the head of a Mercedes-Benz factory in Germany for its Gigafactory Berlin project after firing its old chief. Normally, this would be considered just an ordinary case of someone taking a job with another company. However, a local German union seems intent on raising a flap about the matter.

At the center of the flap is a manager named René Reif, who left Mercedes-Benz in October. Although it has not yet been confirmed that he is taking charge of the Gigafactory that is still under construction, the German automobile industry union IG Metall seems to believe that he is. The timing of his hiring, so soon after the firing of Gigafactory Berlin chief Evan Horetsky, seems to support this assertion.

It’s been rumored that the Mercedes-Benz factory in Marienfelde, which is near Berlin, will go through a restructuring that could cost up to 2,500 union jobs. Although it would be logical to assume that Tesla has very limited, if any, influence over Mercedes-Benz’s business decisions, IG Metall seems intent on placing the blame on Tesla and Reif’s decision to move over to a competitor. It has even gone so far as to organize a rally outside the Mercedes-Benz factory.

A managing director for the union, Jan Otto, said of the move:

“We cannot build the future with soulless managers like this. We don’t understand why such a traditional and innovative car manufacturer like the Daimler group wants to capitulate to its American competitor. We want to shape the future in the factory. We are in talks with state politicians about this. … We will make it clear that we see the change in the plant manager as a betrayal, it is questionable whether we have not been lied to the whole time.”

It is unclear what goals the union have for discussing the move with local politicians. If IG Metall puts political pressure on the local government to investigate the matter, the investigation may simply find that Tesla did nothing illegal or unethical by hiring a new manager for Gigafactory Berlin. Such a thing could come with a rebuke against the union for interfering with the employment practices of a company that it does not have a presence in.

Politicians may also be unwilling to put thousands of jobs at stake by making Tesla feel unwelcome in Germany. They may have seen with Amazon’s decision to pull the plug on a planned headquarters in New York City that American companies are not always receptive to criticism from policymakers.

This is not Tesla’s first scrap with IG Metall. It previously managed to fend off the union’s attempt to interfere with the acquisition of Grohmann Engineering in 2017 by offering a salary increase to its employees.

On the flip side, Tesla has developed something of a reputation for being anti-union in the United States by resisting efforts by its employees to unionize. Tesla has occasionally been censored by regulatory bodies like the National Labor Relations Board for anti-union activities.

In a rational world, IG Metall’s attack on a simple hiring decision made by Tesla would go nowhere, especially considering that the union lashed out at Reif by lumping him in with “soulless managers” for his simple move from Mercedes-Benz to Tesla, which may have had nothing to do with the union at all.

Technology

Tesla Expands Warranty to Include Onboard Computers on Some Vehicle Models

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Following complaints that the computer units cease to function properly after a certain amount of time on some vehicles, Tesla has expanded the warranties on the Model S and Model X to include the main computer units (MCU).The affected vehicles were manufactured from late 2012 to early 2018, according to a mass email sent out to customers and obtained by some media outlets.

Tesla has offered to reimburse the money that owners of the affected vehicles spent to repair their units. Like most warranties, though, it is limited. Tesla will not reimburse the cost of repairing the MCU on cars that have more than 100,000 miles on them or have been owned for more than eight years. It will also not compensate customers whose warranties are nearing an end or who want to make the fix proactively.

The expanded warranty is likely to be a response to a proposed class action lawsuit filed in the state of California that alleges that Tesla violated state and federal laws regarding fair marketing and sales practices, consumer safety, and vehicle warranties. The full text of the lawsuit can be viewed here.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also currently conducting an investigation into reported issues with the MCU in older Model S vehicles. The investigation reportedly impacts approximately 63,000 vehicles that were manufactured from 2012 to 2015. Tesla does not appear to have issued an official statement on the investigation.

Model S and Model X vehicles manufactured from 2012 to 2018 are likely to contain the MCU-1, which contains Nvidia Tegra 2 and Tegra 3 processors with 4GB or 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory devices that contain a known memory device problem. The MCUs reportedly only functioned properly for a certain number of read/write cycles, after which they began to malfunction with reported blackouts and issues with the touchscreen.

The email denies any allegations that the malfunction impacts the ability to actually drive the impacted vehicle. However, Tesla owners complained on online forums that the units would black out, impacting the users’ ability to use some safety features on the vehicles like the defrost and the backup cameras. The malfunction also seems to impact navigational features and Bluetooth connectivity.

After early 2018, Tesla switched to the MCU-2, which contains an Intel Atom processor with Micron 64Gb storage chips. These units do not yet have any reported issues with the memory.

Tesla plans to send an update with reimbursement details and eligibility by February 2021. Although this is not the first time that there has been a safety issue with Tesla models caused by a manufacturing flaw, the problem with the MCUs has not yet led to an actual recall. This is simply an expansion of the warranty on some Model S and Model X vehicles.

Technology

Tesla to Launch Supercomputer in Late 2021

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has plans to launch its “Dojo” supercomputer in late 2021, according to a tweet by Elon Musk. Dojo will be used to support the neural network behind its Full Self-Driving software by processing and labeling the data it receives from vehicles’ cameras.

The data used to train the neural network is currently being processed by a combination of computer processing power and humans who can step in when the computer gets confused. Humans are still better than computers at recognizing objects in a world where the imagery would always be changing as Tesla vehicles drive along.

For instance, it may not be difficult to distinguish between road signs, but the neural network will also have to be able to tell the difference between a turn lane and a “straight” lane, recognize an exit lane (and also recognize that an exit exists and that’s not just a hill), and predict what other vehicles on the road are likely to do in an environment where it’s still normal to have a human at the wheel and they might suddenly cut a Tesla off.

Tesla may be banking on the idea that its supercomputer will help to improve the neural network’s ability to recognize objects in real-time as its Full Self-Driving software does its job. It will possess the raw ability to process petabytes’ worth of imagery generated by cameras on vehicles operating in the field.

Robotaxi Project Could Benefit

Dojo could be a major plus for Tesla’s plan to launch its fleet of Robotaxis as early as the first half of 2021. It’s been estimated that the Robotaxi could be worth billions of dollars in revenue every year as it cashes in on the “ride sharing” market.

Although some people might be leery about not having a human at the wheel when they call for a ride, autonomous driving backed by a supercomputer like Dojo could actually improve the safety of taxis and “ride share” vehicles by removing the risk of human error from the equation. Statistics show that human error could be a factor in up to 92% of traffic accidents.

Although some Teslas equipped with a prototype of Full Self-Driving have been involved in accidents, the Tesla was rarely at fault. Tesla’s AI currently possesses more than six billion miles’ worth of driving data, which is already enabling the addition of additional features like the ability to recognize speed bumps. This will mean not only a safer ride, but also a less jolting one for potential Robotaxi customers.

All this might call up images of cartoons in which the Jetsons could interact with their autonomous driving software or just trust it to drive them to their destination while they browse the news. The software does seem to have access to real-time traffic data and “road” conditions for their flying cars. It doesn’t always help them avoid traffic jams, but you also never see them get involved in a traffic accident.

Tesla may aim to do the same thing, though there is no word yet on whether it has a flying car in the works. Dojo is likely to help it improve the neural network by providing a large boost in processing power and the ability to recognize conditions on the road in real-time.

Technology

SpaceX Gains Regulatory Approval to Offer Satellite Internet in Canada

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Canadian regulators have approved SpaceX’s application to offer Internet service in Canada. The Innovation, Science and Economic Development department tweeted the announcement on November 6.

SpaceX has already opened the public beta for its constellation of Starlink Internet satellites in some parts of the United States. Beta testers have reported speeds of over 100 Mbps, which is better than the service that is available in some sparsely populated rural areas.

The company has also granted early access to emergency services in Washington State and the Native American Hoh Tribe, and has partnered with a school district in Texas to bring Starlink to low-income students who don’t have reliable access to the Internet.

Despite the new approval, users might not be able to sign up for the beta quite yet. SpaceX is still waiting for approval to install its ground stations within Canada. Some Canadian residents might be able to access Starlink if they are within range of stations in the United States, but that would require them to be in the far south of Canada.

Who in Canada Might Use Starlink?

As one might expect, most Canadians live in the southern provinces, with combined figures for Ontario and Quebec historically accounting for about 60% of the population. Estimates show that the provinces of Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories each had less than 50,000 people in the third quarter of 2020.

Traditional Internet service providers might have taken one look at the low populations of these provinces and decided that they weren’t worth the investment. Even if Internet service does exist, it is likely to be slow and expensive. Experts have referred to the lack of reliable Internet service in some regions as a “digital divide” that holds back disadvantaged populations who can’t access online educational and employment opportunities. Some less advantaged demographic groups like the Canadian First Nations might especially benefit from improved access to the Internet. This opens the door to a possible opportunity for satellite Internet services like Starlink.

This assumes that SpaceX can make it affordable enough to be attractive to the people living in the northern provinces. The high up-front cost of accessing Starlink’s “Better than Nothing Beta” is likely to be a turnoff for people who don’t have $600 to plunk down for equipment and the first month of access.

On the flip side Elon Musk may soon face some competition from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, a longtime rival who also owns the rocket company Blue Origin. Amazon plans to launch its own satellite Internet service called “Project Kuiper,” which employs former SpaceX executives who once worked on Starlink. If successful, competitors like Project Kuiper could force SpaceX to bring prices down.

Until that happens, adoption of Starlink’s Internet service might be slow in regions with low average household income despite SpaceX’s insistence that satellite Internet can help less advantaged populations.

Even so, Canada’s regulatory approval will be seen as a step in the right direction for Canadians who have occasionally expressed impatience with how slow the government bureaucracy has been in granting it.

Space

SpaceX Could Use Starship to Clean Up Space Debris

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Amid accusations that SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is contributing to the space debris problem, including an estimate that up to three percent of the Starlink satellites might have ceased to function, SpaceX chief operating officer and president Gwynne Shotwell says that Starship could help to clean up dead satellites and spent rocket stages that are still in orbit.

“It’s quite possible that we could leverage Starship to go to some of these dead rocket bodies – other people’s rockets, of course – basically, pick up some of this junk in outer space. It’s not going to be easy, but I do believe Starship offers the possibility of going and doing that,” she told Time Magazine.

Space Debris a Problem for Space Operations

As early as 1978, aerospace officials and NASA scientists like Donald Kessler warned that space junk could cause a series of collisions that could severely damage the ability to make use of space-based capabilities like GPS, Earth observations, and communications satellites. Satellites typically orbit Earth at speeds of over 17,000 miles per hour and even the smallest ones can do serious damage to still-functioning hardware if they collide. This effect came to be known as Kessler Syndrome.

Kessler Syndrome was an important plot point in the movie Gravity, in which a fictional space shuttle was destroyed by debris. In the real world, the International Space Station has had to maneuver to avoid collisions with spent rocket stages and defunct satellites. The Federal Communications Commission has fined companies like Swarm for launching satellites without a permit out of concern that they could contribute to a Kessler Syndrome event that could damage satellites owned by other nations.

Some private organizations are already attempting to do something about the problem. A company known as D-Orbit, for instance, has proposed a reentry system called D-Sat that could be attached to satellites and used to deorbit them when they have reached the end of their useful lifespan. A demonstration mission for D-Sat was launched in June 2017.

How Could Starship Be Used to Reduce Risk of Kessler Syndrome?

Shotwell mentioned that Starlink is being launched into a lower orbit than most Internet satellites, which will make them easier to deorbit when they’ve reached the end of their useful lifespan. Because they are small enough to launch 60 at a time on a Falcon 9 and don’t come with heat shields, they are likely to burn up on reentry. This reduces the risk that debris from deorbiting satellites could cause property damage.

(It can happen if the reentering object is big enough. When NASA’s Skylab reentered, enough pieces of the space station fell on Australian soil for Australia to fine the United States for littering. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries.)

Although SpaceX has launched nearly 900 Starlink satellites into orbit, it’s been estimated that only 820 of the satellites in orbit are still functioning because some have failed. This is enough to for SpaceX to launch public beta testing for its Internet service, but also enough to contribute to the space junk problem.

Could Starship be used to sweep up defunct satellites like the failed Starlinks or attach a reentry system similar to D-Sat? It’s possible, but might take a few years and probably isn’t a priority for SpaceX’s Starship program. Elon Musk said at the recent virtual Mars Society conference that Starship could reach Mars as early as 2024 even though SpaceX is still preparing for high-altitude tests of its Starship mock-up.

However, experts aren’t entirely ruling out the possibility that Starship could help with the problem.

“Starship could prove to be an important way to combat the threat of collision between massive space debris objects,” said Center for Space Standards and Innovation director Daniel Oltrogge. Pictures of the Starship spacecraft show “a substantial amount of cargo space, so the Starship vehicle could in principle facilitate Active Debris Removal (ADR) of many potentially large space objects.”

Technology

Elon Musk Launches New Tequila Line

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla fans who have to wait for the $25,000 model to be able to afford a Tesla of their own now have a Tesla-themed way to drown their sorrows until that day. Elon Musk and Tesla have launched a new tequila line known as Tesla Tequila, which retails at $250 per 750-milliliter bottle.

The idea of a tequila line started as an April Fool’s joke in 2018. Elon Musk posted on Twitter that Tesla had gone bankrupt — “so bankrupt, you believe it” — along with a picture of himself leaning, eyes closed, against a Tesla Model 3, allegedly passed-out drunk on “Teslaquilla.”

Sharp-eyed followers might have guessed that it was a joke when he said that Tesla had filed for “Chapter 14 and a half bankruptcy,” a category of bankruptcy that does not exist.

Of course, longtime Elon Musk followers may remember that his companies have had financial woes in the past. He recently revealed that the Tesla Model 3 came close to bankrupting Tesla before it was able to bounce back. SpaceX’s near-bankruptcy a few years ago may have sparked its legal wrangling with the U.S. military over accusations that cronyism involving companies like Boeing and the United Launch Alliance was shutting newer aerospace companies out of contracts.

The new tequila line comes in a thunderbolt-shaped bottle that represents Musk’s goal of powering his vehicles with sustainable electricity. Such a goal isn’t something he is just giving lip service to, as evidenced by Tesla’s investment in solar-powered Superchargers in locations like Düsseldorf, Germany. Such investments in the infrastructure needed to support Tesla’s electric vehicles may be partly a way to make certain that the company does not come that close to the brink again.

According to Tesla’s official website, Tesla Tequila is brewed in small batches and consists of 100% de agave tequila añejo made using sustainably sourced agave. It is brewed for 15 months in French oak barrels, which implies that the tequila brand has been in the works since shortly after the success of Musk’s April Fool’s joke.

Due to industry regulations, the tequila can only be shipped to the U.S. states of Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia.

However, you might have to wait a while to actually get your hands on some. It has reportedly already sold out with no word on when more Tesla Tequila will become available.

Technology

NASA, SpaceX Delay Launch of Sentinel-6 Satellite

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA and SpaceX have decided to delay the launch of the ocean-mapping satellite Sentinel-6 that was scheduled to launch on November 10. Sentinel-6 is now scheduled to launch on November 21.

The delay will give SpaceX extra time to ensure that its Falcon 9 rockets will no longer be affected by an issue that stopped the launch of a GPS satellite on October 2. The problem was tracked down to a substance coating an engine gas generator on the first stage booster. According to NASA statements, SpaceX will replace two engines on the Falcon 9 that will be used for the Sentinel-6 launch.

“After completing engine testing and inspections, teams from NASA and SpaceX have determined that two engines on the Sentinel-6 rocket’s first stage would need to be replaced to ensure optimal performance during launch,” NASA said in a press release.

Improved Data Modeling Can Help With Taking Climate Change More Seriously

Improvements to modeling and predictions of climate change can help scientists convince the world to take climate change more seriously. One problem that the issue has had is that inaccurate modeling can present alarming scenarios. Politicians can also exaggerate the problem for their own gain.

For instance, Al Gore has been accused of contributing to the perception that climate change is a fraud because he parlayed the problem into a personal fortune, presented several doomsday scenarios rather than attempt to address the problem rationally, and fired at least one scientist who went on record as protesting against his alarmism.

This could be compared to Elon Musk’s approach of quietly sinking a fortune into the development of the popular Tesla electric vehicles and investment in solar powered Supercharger stations. He doesn’t need alarmism. He is simply attempting to solve the problem by making electric vehicles that can begin the process of moving away from fossil fuels. He has also made deals with North American mining companies for “zero-waste” sourcing of nickel.

Sentinel-6 is part of a series of satellites meant to study the effects of climate change on Earth, especially the planet’s oceans. It will especially add to the understanding of rise in ocean levels that could impact coastal regions and inhabited islands, as well as track the motion of deep ocean currents.

Data from satellites like Sentinel-6 can help scientists make their modeling of the effects of climate change more accurate. This can help solve the common criticism that predictions about the future effect of climate change are often inaccurate and exaggerated so that they can be used by politicians running for office to effectively “cry wolf”.

The historical geological record does indicate that extreme climate change can and has happened in the distant past. Improved data produced by satellites like Sentinel-6, as well as better predictions by scientists rather than the simple presentation of imaginary worst-case scenarios by politicians who want to use it for their own gain, can help humanity plan for the most likely scenarios.

No Other Changes in Launch Schedule

The change in launch scheduling is not likely to affect the launch of the crewed mission, Crew-1, to the International Space Station scheduled for November 14. Crew-1 had also been delayed from its original October 31 launch date due to the same issue with the GPS satellite launch.

SpaceX believes that it has the issue with the engine gas generator resolved. The delay in the Sentinel-6 launch is simply a precaution that gives it time to replace engines.

Activists Protest SpaceX Launch of Turkish Satellite

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A crowd of activists has been seen at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, protesting the launch of Turksat 5A, a communications satellite that is scheduled to be launched on November 30. The protesters say that the satellite will be used to target Armenian civilians with unmanned aerial vehicles as part of ongoing tensions between Turkey and Armenia.

Some very unofficial estimates put the number of protesters at about ten thousand. Official reports, however, say that there were only several hundred people. The crowd was certainly large enough to cause traffic disruptions as they waved the Armenian flag and signs with slogans like, “Don’t Terrorize Space.”

Turkey has been openly supplying arms and training to Azerbaijan in a dispute over territory with Armenia. The nations did recently agree to a “humanitarian cease-fire,” but the fighting continues and has caused more than 350 casualties since the cease-fire was signed. Accusations of war crimes have flown on both sides, including Azerbaijan’s assertion that Armenia has hit its cities with missiles and Armenia’s accusation that Azerbaijan has used deadly cluster bombs against Armenian civilians.

Most of the public sentiment around the world has come down on the side of Armenians as historical victims of genocide. Most recently in the United States, protesters temporarily blocked traffic on 170 Freeway in North Hollywood in an attempt to raise awareness of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Tensions between Turkey and Armenia date back to the days of the Ottoman Empire, which committed genocide against Armenians. Turkey has denied that the deaths of the 1.5 million Armenians in what was called “systematic mass murder” qualifies as genocide even though it does apparently meet official definitions of genocide.

Turksat 5A was built by Airbus Defense and Space for the satellite operator Turksat to provide Ku-band and Ka-band communications for customers in Turkey, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. A second satellite, Turksat 5B, is currently being built. Although the satellites are not owned by the Turkish government, Turksat has not denied that Turkey is a customer or might become one in the future.

The activists have also engaged in a mass email campaign urging SpaceX not to launch the satellite. SpaceX has not yet issued an official response to the emails or the demonstration. It is not likely to renege on its contract to launch Turksat 5A at this late date.

Space

Starlink Recognizes Mars as “Free Planet” in Terms and Conditions

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Alert users of Starlink have spotted an interesting component in Starlink’s Terms and Conditions document: SpaceX and Starlink refuse to recognize the authority of Earth-based nations on other planets like Mars. SpaceX apparently plans to define a set of governing principles that might apply to any future Martian settlement that it has a hand in.

The document states, “For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.”

Closer to Earth, it’s a different story and SpaceX will follow the regulations laid out by the United States and State of California when operating Starlink in Earth orbit.

Is the Outer Space Treaty a Factor?

When the Outer Space Treaty came into force in 1967, perhaps its signatories did not anticipate that private entities who weren’t already established government contractors would become major players in space anytime soon. It only established that signatories would be liable for any attempts to launch hardware by parties based within their borders that caused damage in other countries.

Such damage does not happen often. One notable incident had one American launch that failed and rained debris on Cuba, which fortunately only killed a cow. Cuba was compensated for the damage caused.

More recently, the Federal Communications Commission fined a private company called Swarm $900,000 for an unauthorized launch of experimental communications satellites. This fine was apparently a response to concern that the unauthorized satellites could cause damage to other satellites in the increasingly crowded space around Earth.

So Earth-based nations may use the Outer Space Treaty to claim jurisdiction in cases where there is a risk of damage to assets owned by other nations or private entities within those nations. SpaceX might, for instance, be very annoyed in the unlikely-but-possible event that Swarm’s unauthorized satellites damage any of the more than 800 Starlink satellites that it currently has in orbit.

At the very least, it would pay to at least make certain that annoying paperwork is filled out appropriately. It can reassure the Federal Communications Commission to show that the company involved has enough attention to detail to avoid crashing into somebody else’s satellite or killing another cow.

What About Beyond Earth Orbit, Though?

That’s a fair question. In the event that someone on Mars does something that Earth-based nations don’t like, who would have jurisdiction, and how far would they be willing to go to enforce their laws on another planet? If someone swipes the Sojourner Rover, brings it back to their hab, and restores it, how far would the United States of America be willing to go to reclaim its property?

From a practical standpoint, future Martians may have to get used to a fair amount of autonomy in their activities. Send a radio distress signal back to Earth and it can take as long as forty minutes to get a radio reply, assuming that any control center back on Earth has fast reactions. An ideal launch window to Mars only opens up once every 26 months and most probes take six months to get from Earth to Mars. And then there’s the little annoying fact that most missions to Mars cost billions of dollars and politicians can decide that it’s not worth the expense at any time even if the hardware is already being built. If an Earth nation’s law enforcement arm does not already have an established presence on Mars, there might not be much that it can do in a timely or cost-effective manner.

So any reply to interplanetary piracy might amount to little more than attempting to censor the pirates’ backers on Earth, if applicable. That would leave future Martians more or less on their own when it comes to settling disputes.

That can leave it wide open for SpaceX to claim that any future Martian settlements that it backs are independent of Earth rule once the settlements are established and reasonably self-sustaining, and Earth might not be willing to do much about it besides make some noise and issue some fines. The Starlink Terms and Conditions seems to indicate that SpaceX is already thinking ahead and making preparations for such an event.

SpaceX Launches Beta Version of Starlink Internet Service

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has officially opened the public beta version of its satellite Internet service, made possible by the Starlink satellite constellation. However, there’s a catch: Beta testers have to pay $99 a month for access, plus buy equipment that will enable the connection for $499.

The $499 reportedly buys a phased-array downlink antenna, a mounting device for the antenna, and a Wi-Fi router. Some prospective beta testers have indicated that they might be willing to pay more for better equipment.

The beta version of Starlink will initially only be available in the northern United States and southern Canada. SpaceX intends to expand coverage as it launches more satellites. With the most recent launch of 60 satellites, Starlink currently consists of over 800 satellites out of a planned constellation of 12,000 satellites.

Better Than Nothing

SpaceX refers to the public beta as the “Better Than Nothing Beta,” possibly referring to regions around the world, and even in the U.S., that suffer from unreliable, slow, or non-existent access to the Internet. Existing satellite Internet service providers often charge subscription fees that are prohibitively high to low-income populations that might otherwise consider using them.

Even when ground-based services are available in rural or low-income areas, they are often slow and expensive. Residents of some areas have to pay as much as $60 a month for download speeds as low as 60 Mbps. Starlink has already far surpassed that speed and currently stands at an average of 100 Mbps with response times as low as 20 milliseconds.

SpaceX has previously made the case that inexpensive, high speed, low latency satellite Internet can be attractive to people like the Native American Hoh Tribe and low-income students at Texas’ Ector County Independent School District. These populations can take advantage of virtual learning opportunities, telehealth services, and possibly even online job opportunities that they would not be able to find without Internet access.

Possible Competition Could Bring Prices Down

So why the price of $99 per month and $499 for the equipment? It may be that SpaceX is attempting to recoup the cost of launching so many satellites and could bring the price down when more competition hits the market.

Amazon, for instance, is also planning to launch its own satellite Internet service, which it calls Project Kuiper. Interestingly, Project Kuiper employs former SpaceX executives whom Elon Musk sacked for being too slow in developing Starlink. Amazon may plan to include Project Kuiper as part of select Amazon Web Services packages.

Although OneWeb did have to file for bankruptcy, it was recently purchased by a group of investors that includes the British government. OneWeb’s original goal was to bring the Internet to less advantaged populations around the world, including some developing countries. Its original investors included the Virgin Group, which makes a wide variety of products ranging from phones to soda and originally had plans to provide launch services for OneWeb through Virgin Galactic. Coca-Cola had also been a surprise investor, perhaps hoping that a chance to increase the opportunities available in “digital deserts” would also increase sales of the beverage and snack brands that it owns.

So SpaceX may eventually have incentive to bring the monthly cost of its Internet access down to be more on par with “traditional” ground-based Internet services. It may also choose to pursue partnerships with nonprofit organizations and schools to help provide access to low-income populations who have trouble getting reliable Internet access. Until then, beta testers who are willing to pony up a few hundred bucks for equipment can help SpaceX with its public beta of Starlink.

Technology

Tesla Launches UK Energy Plan

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has launched its Energy Plan in the United Kingdom, which could make it a major player in the UK’s utility industry. IT professional and environmentalist Mark W. Tebutt posted screenshots of an email he received from Tesla about the Energy Plan on Twitter.

Tesla will implement its Energy Plan in partnership with Octopus Energy. Octopus Energy’s plans for its business includes delivering electric power that, according to its website, will “disrupt the status quo with energy that’s good for the planet, good for your wallet, and honestly, good for your soul.”

Tesla plans to sell power at 11 pence per kilowatt-hour for non-Tesla owners and discount that to 8 pence per kilowatt-hour for Tesla owners. Octopus Energy says this is the lowest import, or charging, rate offered by utility companies in the UK.

Although Tesla’s solar roofs are not yet available in the UK, the Energy Plan also works with Tesla’s Powerwalls and solar panels. The email does not seem to indicate whether the plan will work with devices that aren’t produced by Tesla.

Tesla’s plans in the UK includes using its Megapacks to store energy produced by renewable sources to help balance the power grid during peak hours. The Megapacks are already in use in some places such as the Holes Bay energy storage plant in Dorset. Elon Musk has cited batteries like the Megapacks as an important component in sustainable energy production and usage.

“There’s like three elements of the sustainable energy future. Wind and solar sustainable energy generation, battery storage, and electric transport. Those three things. And the mission of Tesla is to accelerate sustainable energy. So that kind of says enough.”

This goal, along with criticism that Tesla vehicles still make use of energy produced by coal, may have sparked Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity in 2016. Tesla’s actions, which include partnering with companies like Fastned to build solar powered charging stations and sourcing low-carbon nickel from Canadian mining companies, could be seen as a sharp response to the critics that Tesla and Musk take sustainably seriously.

It may sometimes seem like the solar power wing of Tesla has been lurking in the shadows. This has led one critic and reporter named Linette Lopez to express doubts that the Powerwall even exists, all because she’s never actually seen one. She has apparently deleted those tweets since, possibly due to backlash basically saying that just because you’ve never seen them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Of course, somebody got screenshots.

Such criticism doesn’t seem to slow Elon Musk or Tesla down much, however. Solar Roof V3 installations have been accelerating fast in regions where Solar Roofs are available. Total deployments of the energy products formerly produced by SolarCity and (now) improved upon by Tesla have reached a total production capacity of 759 MWh.

Tesla’s expansion of its Energy Plan to the United Kingdom will help it ramp that capacity up still further, even in regions like the northern latitudes where it may not necessarily seem like solar power is viable. The Powerwall and Megapack components will be critical components of this plan for their ability to store power for balancing the energy grid.

Space

NASA, SpaceX Reschedule Crew-1 Launch for November 14

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA and SpaceX have rescheduled the launch of Crew-1 for November 14. If successful, the first operational launch of the Crew Dragon will deliver four astronauts to the International Space Station.

The Demo-2 mission successfully launched Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in May and returned them to Earth in early August. The Crew Dragon is designed to splash down in the ocean in a manner reminiscent of NASA’s early crewed space missions of the 1960s and 1970s.

NASA was satisfied with the performance of the final official test of the Crew Dragon despite evidence of greater than expected damage to the heat shield that has since been resolved. The launch of Crew-1 was pushed back from October 31 due to a possible issue with an engine gas generator in the first stage booster that was detected in an uncrewed launch earlier this month.

Faster Rendezvous, Happier Crew

The current launch window will allow everything to line up just right for the crew to rendezvous with the International Space Station in 19 hours. By way of comparison, the recent launch of Soyuz MS-17 was considered record-breaking with an “ultrafast” rendezvous time of three hours. The Russians were testing a faster rendezvous method that could take over from the old standard method that had the crew in the cramped Soyuz cabin for as long as two days.

Nineteen hours in the relatively spacious Crew Dragon seems like a happy medium between the two rendezvous models used by the Soyuz. To NASA and SpaceX, actual crewed flights of the Crew Dragon are still new even though NASA has been mastering rendezvous since the days of the Gemini missions. So they may simply be thinking: “What’s the hurry?”

Continuous Occupation of International Space Station

The Crew-1 crew will include NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They are scheduled to stay on the International Space Station for a standard six-month rotation. They will join Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins as part of Expedition 64.

NASA is currently gearing up for celebration of 20 years of continuous operations on the International Space Station. Although there has been occasional concern that the station would have to be temporarily or permanently abandoned due to the risk of anything from budget cuts to technical problems, it has actually been occupied by rotating crews since the year 2000.

The station has been a source of valuable scientific data for a wide variety of studies, especially in the fields of biology and medicine. Most famously, the “astro-twins” Scott and Mark Kelly, both astronauts, volunteered for a series of experiments in which Scott Kelly spent nearly a year on the International Space Station and Mark Kelly remained on the ground as a control.

Crew-1 continues NASA’s efforts to launch astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station rather than rely on the Russian Soyuz at a time in which relationships with Russia may have been strained by accusations of interference with American elections. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has even been heard to snipe, “Here’s your trampoline,” in response to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s comment that Americans could perhaps launch astronauts into space using a trampoline after the Space Shuttle was retired.

NASA will stream the audio of a media teleconference covering this event on its live streaming feed, NASA TV, at 4 p.m. on EDT Wednesday, Oct. 28. NASA personnel attending the event will be Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate associate administrator Kathy Lueders, Johnson Space Center Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich, and SpaceX Build and Flight Reliability vice president Hans Koenigsmann. If interested in watching this event, it will be on the below embedded video.

Technology

Tesla to Build Next Gigafactory in United States

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to Tesla’s Q3 10-Q Form for 2020, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla plans to build its next Gigafactory in the United States. The information appears to show up in the section headlined “Management Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks,” in which Tesla lists its four existing factories in California, Shanghai, Berlin, and Texas, plus one factory listed as “U.S. Location(s) TBD.”

The available information indicates Tesla apparently plans to manufacture its Semi and Roadster models at the planned Gigafactory. The status is listed as “In Development.”

Elon Musk has dropped hints that a third U.S. factory was possible as early as August, when he told Automotive News‘ podcast, “I think at some point there will be a third Gigafactory. … I think that’s very likely.”

Musk has also indicated plans to enter the India market “next year for sure,” which has led to speculation that he might have changed his mind and planned to put the new Gigafactory in India instead. That would have helped Tesla consumers in India get around tariffs that can be as high as the original cost of the vehicle. Tesla already has plans to open a research and development center in India.

There is some possibility that Tesla will place the new Gigafactory somewhere in the United States’ East Coast region. This will help to reduce wait times for the delivery of new Tesla orders to be delivered in the eastern United States. Currently, new Tesla owners have to wait for their vehicles to be delivered from the Fremont, California factory.

The 10-Q filing also indicates an interest in ramping up the production capacity of its new battery technologies: “Moreover, we must meet ambitious technological targets with our plans for battery cells as well as for iterative manufacturing and design improvements for our vehicles with each new factory.”

It remains to be seen whether the new Gigafactory will manufacture of Tesla’s new “tabless” lithium-ion battery, which reportedly requires fewer moving parts and less water to make. It would seem likely, considering that Musk has recently shown an interest in sustainability. Tesla has made deals with Canadian mining companies to supply “low-carbon” nickel produced in a way that would reduce the amount of mining-related waste that needs to be discarded, for instance.

Tesla’s pattern of acquisitions seems to indicate that it is very interested in keeping control of the sources of its batteries. Most recently, it acquired a 10 percent stake in LG Energy Solution and made a deal to acquire a battery assembly factory called German ATW Automation.

Tesla does plan on making batteries at its new Gigafactory. Using the new “tabless” technology may help Tesla avoid issues like the unpaid bill that led to the water temporarily being shut off at the Gigafactory under construction in Berlin.

Elon Musk has indicated that construction at the new United States Gigafactory could begin within four or five years, though it would be a good idea to take nothing for granted, considering that a location has not yet even been decided on.

Technology

Tesla Improves Cabin Noise in Latest Version of Model Y

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Tesla owner and Reddit member known as “OrbitalATK” noticed elements in the latest version of the Model Y that are designed to improve noise inside the cabin. He snapped a picture of new double-paned windows to share on the TeslaMotors subreddit.

Excessive noise within the cabin, where passengers and their cargo ride, is a fairly common complaint for electric vehicle and hybrid vehicles. Most of the noise comes from air that the vehicle has to effectively “push out of the way” while in operation and wind that hits the vehicle. As the above video shows, the noise can get quite annoying for Tesla owners who like that the moving parts under the hood make less sound but dislike the noise being made by the Tesla’s interaction with air outside the vehicle.

There are some aftermarket kits that can address this problem. Making more aerodynamic vehicles might also help some, but there is a limit to how much aeronautical engineers can do to reduce noise in vehicles that might have to hold up to 7 adults and can’t fly (yet).

The cabin noise appears to be especially bad in the Model 3. One consumer brought data showing that the Model 3 was in the bottom 50% of cabin noise ratings to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attention in October 2019. At the time, Musk said that Tesla was aware of the issue and was working to improve the ratings in all his vehicles.

Musk has apparently decided to address the noise problem head-on by making noise-deadening features like the double-paned windows standard in new versions of his vehicle. Last year, Tesla made significant updates to the Model 3’s noise-deadening features, including improved insulation and lining for doors and windows.

Tesla is developing a decent track record for listening to consumers as part of its continuing effort to improve its vehicles and the double-paned windows to combat excessive cabin noise is merely the latest example. The company is also voluntarily recalling parts in models imported to China that could reduce drivers’ ability to control their vehicle. The Neural Network AI that will be used for the Full Self-Driving feature that is due for release by the end of the year has already collected data from more than 3 billion miles driven, which will help improve the performance of Full Self-Driving.

This may be part of the reason that Tesla vehicles hold their value well enough that, if consumers are considering buying one, then they might as well buy a new one that comes with the improved noise-reducing features. Sharp-eyed Tesla fans like OrbitalATK might even spot new features that Tesla hasn’t touted much in its frequent news releases and product reveal events.

SpaceX’s Starlink to Provide Internet Access for Texas School District

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

By now, you’ve probably heard the story of the boy who walked miles to his school every day so he could log into its Wi-Fi to do schoolwork. The good news is that his family now has Internet access thanks to a generous donor who also set up a GoFundMe to provide Internet access to other families in need.

His story has highlighted one of the biggest challenges for low-income families who were forced into “virtual learning” due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Very often, they do not have reliable access to the Internet and hanging out in public venues with Wi-Fi access has not been a viable option because many of them were also closed and would have had limited capacity even if they were open.

SpaceX aims to demonstrate the capacity of its Starlink satellite constellation to solve situations like these in which lack of Internet access may pose a major hurdle for less fortunate families. It has arranged to provide free satellite Internet access for dozens of families in Texas’ Ector County Independent School District beginning in early 2021.

The plan will initially connect 45 families to Starlink, with plans to add another 90 families soon afterward. The project will last one year and cost $300,000, with half that money being provided by Chiefs for Change.

The school district has cited lack of broadband Internet access as a major concern for its students. A recent survey indicates that 39% of its families do not have reliable Internet access. Officials have called the partnership between SpaceX and the school district a great reprieve for students who may still have to stay home until COVID-19 subsides, but it is still only temporary.

“We need solutions that provide permanent solutions, permanent opportunities for kids not only in ECISD but across our state and across our nation,” said school superintendent Scott Muri.

Experts have referred to lack of Internet access in impoverished regions in the United States and around the world as the “digital divide”. The United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that 4.1 billion people, about 53.6%, of the world’s population, were “using the Internet” at the end of the 2019. In this case, “using the Internet” could be interpreted rather loosely: Some of those people could have been lucky enough to get close to a wireless hot spot with their cell phones at some point in the past year and that got logged as new devices logging onto the Internet, with presumably new people using them.

Even allowing for that, it means that nearly half of the human population still does not have access to the Internet on a regular basis even though, according to United Nations documentation, Internet access was declared a human right in 2016. This simply highlights the complexities involved in actually providing services that most people might call a “human right,” especially for less advantaged populations.

Some private corporations such as the ones that were initially involved in OneWeb have shown an interest in making the investment to bring Internet services to these populations, though it likely wasn’t purely about charity. The Virgin Group, for instance, might have benefitted from both providing launch services for OneWeb and selling cheap cell phones in regions that could have been reached by the OneWeb constellation. However, as evidenced that OneWeb has recently been bought out of bankruptcy, the cost can be prohibitively high.

Companies like SpaceX aim to solve that problem by using satellite technology to help close the digital divide. Starlink is already being used by the Native American Hoh Tribe to access virtual learning opportunities and telehealth options, with the possibility of future online job opportunities in the near future. Competitors like Amazon’s Project Kuiper could theoretically begin launching satellites of their own within the next few years if things go smoothly.

The COVID-19 epidemic has especially highlighted the need for reliable Internet access for students who have to do some or all of their schoolwork online. Many families, especially low-income ones, may not have been prepared for at-home learning and the lack of Internet access was a big part of that. SpaceX’s Starlink is aiming to change that by bringing low-cost satellite Internet access to families that may suffer the effects of the digital divide.

Technology

Tesla Recalls Vehicles With Suspension Issue in China

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has recalled nearly 30,000 Model X and Model Y vehicles that were imported to China due to a suspension issue. The defect was discovered in vehicles that were manufactured at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, and then shipped overseas.

According to a news release issued by China’s State Administration of Market Regulation, the affected vehicles have a crack in the ball studs of the rear connecting rod in the front suspension. The crack could have grown over time and, in extreme cases, cause the ball-end cone seat to separate from the steering knuckle. This could have impacted the driver’s ability to control the vehicle.

The recall covers vehicles manufactured at the Fremont factory from September 17, 2013, to August 16, 2017. Tesla has indicated that it will replace the part in affected vehicles for free. The new parts will likely have to be shipped from the U.S. to China.

This appears to be a voluntary recall on Tesla’s part, which may indicate a better attitude toward consumer safety than many publicly traded companies take. BP suffered a public relations nightmare due to its poor response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in which the CEO said that he “wants his life back,” a statement for which he later apologized. Pedigree came under fire in 2015 for claiming that fibers in its dog food that were making dogs sick were actually “harmless”.

Due to less than stellar decisions like this, regulators usually reserve the option of issuing an involuntary recall if necessary. Tesla has simply decided not to wait for the government to take action.

It may be that Tesla takes the long view regarding its own reputation. Investors would not react well if sales plummet because its vehicles develop a reputation for being unsafe. It’s easier to send parts to the 24 service centers that Tesla has in China and have technicians spend a few hours replacing a part than to spend years patching things up because a part broke and contributed to an accident.

On the flip side, this could come off as another notch in Tesla’s push to have some of the safest vehicles on the road. The same incentive could be part of CEO Elon Musk’s push to pursue a wide release of the Full Self-Driving software by the end of the year. Normalizing self-driving vehicles could go a long way in reducing traffic accidents and fatalities in which human error is a factor. For reference, a 2015 study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 94% of traffic accidents were caused by human error.

According to the news release, a total of 29,193 vehicles will have the affected parts in their suspension units replaced. Consumers are, of course, encouraged to check the appropriate government website whether any item they are considering purchasing may be subject to a recall. (In the United States of America, that site is Recalls.gov.) This is equally true if they are considering buying a used item because the seller may be unaware that there is a recall and simply does not need the item anymore.

Technology

Tesla Announces Plans for Wide Release of Full Self-Driving By End of 2020

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk announced plans for Tesla to release the Full Self-Driving (FSD) software for all customers who purchase the capability by the end of 2020 at the Q3 earnings call for stockholders. The latest version of FSD, which is currently in beta, will be capable of “zero-intervention drives”.

“We’re starting very slow and very cautiously because the world is a very complex and messy place,” Musk said of the relatively slow pace of beta testing and updates to FSD. “We put it out there last night, and then we’ll see how it goes, and then probably release it to more people this weekend or early next week. Then gradually step it up until we hopefully have a wide-release by the end of this year.”

Some drivers have already received FSD as part of a limited early release and the ongoing beta testing. The early release is already sending data back to the AI-based Neural Network, which will help to improve FSD’s performance over time. At first, drivers may notice that the system becomes more accurate over time.

The Neural Network has already received data from over 3 billion miles’ worth of driving and, based on the strong and rising sales of Tesla vehicles, is likely to rapidly accelerate its collection of data. Tesla is also ramping up its production capacity and is likely to have the ability to produce as many as 1 million electric vehicles per year in the near future. Elon Musk has even hinted that the Gigafactory will soon be made “obsolete” by the upcoming Terafactories.

The planned rollout is in line for Tesla’s plans, which include a fleet of Robotaxis that will require both the ability to handle zero-intervention drives and the “Car Access” feature, which will enable Tesla owners to decide who is authorized to enter and use the Tesla. As one might imagine, the “Car Access” feature can work alongside the onboard cameras as part of Tesla vehicles’ security system.

Elon Musk has become known for his overly optimistic timelines, which currently include the idea that SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft could start flying to Mars as early as 2024. For reference, NASA currently plans to start flying crews to Mars sometime in the 2030s and even that may be questionable, considering that NASA’s funding relies on the whims of D.C. politicians.

It’s very possible that the full release of Full Self-Driving could slip to next year. This, however, may not hurt Tesla’s sales or stock place very much, considering that Musk has also announced plans to expand to India and Tesla continues to develop infrastructure to support Tesla owners with new charging stations in Germany and Pasadena, California.

Microsoft Azure Announces Partnership With Starlink for Cloud Computing

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Microsoft Azure has announced a partnership with the satellite Internet providers SpaceX Starlink, SES, and KSAT to enhance its cloud computing services. Microsoft has developed the Azure Modular Datacenter (MDC) specifically to operate smoothly with a satellite Internet connection.

The Azure MDC has been described as a data center built into a mobile, satellite-connected shipping container. It can function on its own or through satellite constellations like Starlink that will have the capacity to deliver low-latency Internet.

Like Starlink, the MDC could be used for applications that require mobility and the ability to function even when ground-based infrastructure and utilities might be limited or absent altogether. Microsoft has indicated that it might be useful for “mobile command centers, humanitarian assistance, military mission needs, mineral exploration, and other use cases requiring high intensity, secure computing.” Private companies and the U.S. military are already conducting trials of the MDC.

SpaceX has indicated that it would be interested in pursuing more enterprise-level partnerships for Starlink to develop applications for its satellite Internet constellation. This may be a response to potential competition from projects like Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which plans a similar constellation that might be able to work with Amazon Web Services.

Project Kuiper is, interestingly, being run by former SpaceX executives that Elon Musk fired for moving too slowly on Starlink. Such slowness may make it difficult for Project Kuiper to keep up with Musk’s preference to move quickly. Experts do not rule out the possibility that it could compete successfully with SpaceX in the satellite Internet service niche in the long run, however.

Stanford University assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics told IEEE Spectrum, “With Amazon, it’s a whole different ballgame. The thing that makes Amazon different from SpaceX and OneWeb is they have so much other stuff going for them,” such as the already-developed services being offered by Amazon Web Services that could be integrated into an Internet service package.

Just the fact that Musk fired the executives for being too slow indicates that he is not inclined to sit on his hands. SpaceX has launched almost 800 Starlink satellites just in the past year and recent information indicates that it could support up to 40,000 operational satellites if successful. (According to FCC filings, the original plan was for 12,000 satellites.) It can already reach speeds of 100 Mbps. Once complete, the constellation may be able to reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps with latency low enough to suit gamers and anyone else who like fast “response times” in their Internet service. Partnerships with companies like Microsoft Azure may simply mean that Musk is not ignoring the potential competition.

Not that the satellite Internet access business is an easy or cheap one. OneWeb had goals similar to SpaceX’s Starlink that included providing Internet access to regions where such access is simply nonexistent, but recently went through bankruptcy proceedings and has been bought out by a coalition that includes the British government. Existing satellite Internet service providers charge prices that could be seen as exorbitantly high for regions where satellite Internet is likely to be most popular because they have made such a high initial investment.

SpaceX may wind up finding Starlink a similar financial drag if it cannot reach target markets that include underserved and often impoverished “digital deserts.” Success will mean keeping its promise of providing satellite Internet service that most people can afford even in regions where the median household income is low.

Enterprise partners like Microsoft Azure will likely give Starlink the boost it needs to achieve that success in a sustainable way. Although some public entities like Washington State’s emergency services have had some success with helping to beta-test Starlink, the Azure Modular Datacenter may become the first widespread private use of Starlink.

Space

HBO to Create Scripted Series About SpaceX

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

HBO has announced plans to film a scripted series about SpaceX. Elon Musk came up with the idea of the series to showcase both the history and the sometimes lively discussion about the pros and cons of the still relatively-new aerospace company. The series will also highlight Musk’s plans to provide the transportation for eventual colonization of Mars.

As recently as Musk’s most recent appearance at the virtual Mars Society conference on October 16, Musk was quick to tout the benefits of future colonies on Mars. While he acknowledged that Mars might never be regarded as a second Earth, he says that Martian colonies would be new and exciting and give humanity a shot at surviving an “extinction level event”.

He says SpaceX could begin sending its Starship spacecraft to Mars as early as 2024 if testing goes smoothly and expressed a little frustration at the limitations imposed by orbital mechanics. An ideal launch window for sending hardware and, eventually, human crews to Mars opens up only once every 26 months. The Perserverance rover took advantage of the last launch window during its launch on July 30 for a February 2021 landing.

On the flip side, many people question why companies are so willing to spend money on space when there are so many problems on Earth. The detractors are often dismissive of the launch of satellites like SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which is already providing Internet access for Washington State’s emergency services while they fight wildfires and closing the “digital divide” for less advantaged populations like the Native American Hoh Tribe. SpaceX also plans to launch a satellite that can measure the effect of climate change on the ocean on November 10.

There have been very few details on how involved Musk is going to be in the production of this series. With some luck, it will stick to the facts and present a reasonably balanced view of Musk and SpaceX. On the one hand, SpaceX has already overcome obstacles ranging from a near-bankruptcy and exploding rockets, met its goal of demonstrating the viability and especially the cost savings of reusable rockets, and successfully flew two astronauts to the International Space Station on the Demo-1 demonstration of its Crew Dragon.

On the other, Elon Musk may wish to consider hiring a good personal social media manager to prevent the fallout of public meltdowns on Twitter. His unfounded accusations of pedophilia against a diver involved in the rescue of a Thai soccer team that had been stuck in an underground cavern caused some concern about his impulse control. Some of his tweets regarding Tesla’s stock price cost him his membership on Tesla’s board due to accusations of market manipulation.

Will this series reveal new information about SpaceX’s journey and Musk’s ambitions for space and especially Mars? Or might HBO’s handling of the series cause unintended consequences for SpaceX, as Carol Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue says happened with the documentary “Tiger King?” Statements from Big Cat Rescue accuse Netflix of misrepresenting its intentions for the filming of the documentary, which spread the unproven accusation that Baskin killed her estranged husband and fed him to a tiger.

Musk may be interested in avoiding a similar trap in his negotiations with HBO for the SpaceX series. If he’s smart, he’ll be okay with presenting a balanced view of SpaceX. However, he may want to keep at least enough creative control to make certain that HBO keeps its facts straight.

Space

Elon Musk Discusses Mars Plans at Mars Society Conference

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk made an appearance at the International Mars Society’s first-ever 100% online conference to discuss progress being made on the Starship rocket and SpaceX’s plans for Mars. He says that Starship could make its first test launch to Mars in as little as four years.

According to Musk, launch windows are as big a limiting factor as the ongoing development of Starship. An ideal launch window for trips to Mars opens up once every 26 months.

“[SpaceX] would maybe have a shot of sending or trying send something to Mars in three years, but the window is four years away,” he said.

Early development of Starship has not been without its challenges. In May, a prototype blew up shortly after an engine test. The more recent cryo test in early October revealed a leak when filled with super-cold nitrogen that could have been dangerous during launch.

However, SpaceX has also resolved enough of the challenges to recently conduct a successful “hop test” to an altitude of 150 meters. Its upcoming tests include the launch of the SN8 prototype to a height of up to 20 kilometers in the near future. If everything proceeds more or less smoothly, it could begin point-to-point flights on Earth as early as 2022 and fly people around the Moon as early as 2023.

Although SpaceX and Musk are known for their ambitious timetables, which have sometimes slipped from their previous dates, the Mars Society has been complimentary of their plans. At Musk’s previous appearance at the Mars Society conference in 2012, he received the Mars Pioneer Award.

“SpaceX is taking on the biggest single challenge, which is the transportation system. There’s all sorts of other systems that are going to be needed,” said Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin.

Robert Zubrin has a background in aerospace engineering and is particularly known as the author of several books on Mars, especially The Case for Mars, in which he outlines the argument in favor of exploring and eventually colonizing Mars, and Mars Direct, which describes a relatively low-cost plan for landing the first few crews on Mars. Besides serving as president of the Mars Society, he has testified before Congressional committees in support of exploring Mars on several occasions.

Another big challenge is finding the will to go to Mars, which the Mars Society thinks it can help provide. Many of the videos from this year’s virtual conference have already been uploaded to the Mars Society’s YouTube channel and some of them already have thousands of views in just the past couple of days. Elon Musk’s appearance currently stands at more than 37,000 views.

Musk did dismiss the idea that a Mars settlement will be self-sustaining almost as soon as boots hit the Martian regolith, saying that it might not happen in his lifetime. He says that his plans for Mars are very much about giving humanity hope for the future by helping to solve the technical issues and get the process started.

“This is really about eliminating existential risk for civilization as a whole. … Being confined to Earth until some eventual extinction event is depressing. We need things that make you want to get out of bed in the morning.”

The Mars Society’s live streaming on its YouTube channel and Facebook page will continue until about 12 pm PDT on October 18. Its previous live streamed videos can also be found on YouTube.

FCC Approves Opportunity for SpaceX to Bid in Broadband Auction

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved SpaceX as one of 386 Internet service providers that can place bids in a federal auction for funding to develop broadband access in rural regions.

According to FCC statements, companies must “demonstrat[e] to Commission staff that their networks can deliver real-world performance to consumers below the Commission’s 100ms low-latency threshold.”

The FCC program, titled the “Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)”, will provide up to $16 billion in funding to develop improved Internet access for areas in the United States that have suffered a lack of affordable high-speed Internet access. The money will be used to develop Internet access in areas where no Internet service provider has reported offering at-home Internet access speeds of at least 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed. Based on preliminary census data, there are approximately 5.3 million homes and businesses in these areas.

Internet service providers might have previously hesitated to invest in infrastructure for these regions for a variety of regions, such as low population density or low median income. The RDOF grants will at least offset some of the costs of developing Internet access for unserved areas.

SpaceX is one of only two companies with the capacity to provide satellite Internet access to win approval to bid. The other is a company known as Hughes, which has invested in OneWeb and its plan to launch satellite Internet service for regions on the wrong side of the “digital divide”. If Hughes’ bid is successful, it may help financially revive OneWeb, which has recently gone through bankruptcy.

If its final bid is successful, SpaceX will make use of its Starlink constellation to develop broadband access for areas that don’t already have ready access to high-speed Internet. It has already overcome the FCC’s doubts about its ability to provide low-latency Internet access. Due to these doubts, the FCC had previously placed SpaceX on its list of companies that have not shown that they are capable of delivering the capacity needed to deliver within the performance and latency tiers that they intend to place bids for.

With the recent launches of more Starlink satellites, SpaceX has achieved low enough latency to qualify under these standards. Recent statements from its engineers indicate that Starlink may already be capable of achieving low enough latency and high enough speed to suit high-demand applications like gaming and HD video streaming.

SpaceX is already working on a public beta for its Starlink constellation and providing satellite Internet access for the Hoh Tribe in Washington State. Hoh Tribe officials have expressed enthusiasm about the increased opportunities for access to online learning, telehealth services, and online employment through affordable high-speed Internet access.

The FCC will open formal bidding on October 29 and will require a “long form” application with more detail on how companies will fill their obligations if they win a cut of the funding. SpaceX is, fortunately, used to jumping through similar paperwork-related hoops, considering that it has recently passed NASA’s design reviews for its planned Starship-based lunar lander. With its ability to jump through this level of bureaucratic hoops and the publicly available data on Starlink’s existing performance, it stands a good chance of netting a cut of the $16 billion budget that the FCC has set aside for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

Space

SpaceX Receives $53 Million Contract for Orbital Refueling Test

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA has awarded SpaceX a $53 million contract for a full-scale test of refueling in space. Language in the contract calls for a “large-scale flight demonstration to transfer 10 metric tons of [liquid oxygen] between tanks on a Starship vehicle.”

The contract is part of NASA’s fifth round of the commercial development of “tipping point” technologies that will be important for deep space operations such as future crewed missions to other planets. Lockheed-Martin and the United Launch Alliance have also received contracts valued at $89.7 million and $86.2 million, respectively.

NASA regards the capacity to refuel spacecraft in space as a critical component of these future missions. Its planned Deep Space Gateway will be capable of making use of materials harvested on the Moon to refuel passing spacecraft. This will theoretically save on long-term costs compared to having to launch everything needed for a deep space mission from Earth’s gravity well, including the rocket fuel for return trips.

Supporter of crewed missions to other worlds also advocate for the use of “local” resources on other planets using In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) methods as a cost-saving measure. The Mars Society, for instance, says that creating rocket fuel on Mars is simply a matter of harvesting the necessary elements from the Martian atmosphere and applying a little basic chemistry.

Public vs. Private Rockets?

Supporters of NASA’s SLS program say that investment in “commercial space” is a distraction from development of the publicly owned hardware developed for the purpose of reaching the Moon and Mars. Commercial space is especially likely to annoy politicians who have seen the SLS as a valuable publicly funded “jobs program” for their districts.

On the flip side, private aerospace companies are not limited to selling their hardware to NASA. Besides NASA’s Commercial Crew program, which has already launched two astronauts to the International Space Station and returned them safely with SpaceX’s Demo-1 mission, SpaceX has plans to send private clients to lunar orbit as early as 2023. Investment in commercial space applications can help to boost the tech sector of the economy without relying solely on taxpayer dollars.

SpaceX is already showing signs that it can save taxpayer money through its reusable rocketry and the price tag of its planned refueling demonstration that is millions of dollars lower than Lockheed-Martin and the ULA seem capable of offering. It has also recently saved the U.S. Space Force $52.7 million by agreeing to use previously flown boosters to launch two GPS satellites as part of an existing contract.

Will SpaceX win out in the contest to send professional and private astronauts to the Moon and eventually to Mars? If the attractiveness of cost savings becomes a larger factor for taxpayers, politicians, and private individuals who want to go into space, it could very well happen. At least one Las Vegas bookmaker also says that the smart money is on SpaceX getting to Mars first. The $53 million refueling demonstration for NASA certainly won’t hurt.

Technology

Elon Musk Announces Plan to Deliver Seven-Seat Model Y in December

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk has announced a plan to begin manufacturing a seven-seat Model Y in November and begin delivering it in December. Currently, the only available Model Y versionsare five-seat vehicles.

Consumers have been wondering when the seven-seat version would be available since March. However, the official Tesla website would only say that the Model Y version that it refers to as Seven Seat Interior was due for release in 2021. Musk have remained largely silent on the matter other than a June tweet saying “probably early Q4” until he responded to an October 14 Tweet posted by the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley Twitter account. This does seem to indicate that Tesla is getting better at projecting product release dates.

Tesla enthusiasts have theorized that the Seven Seat Interior Model Y might have the additional two seats rear-facing. Official Tesla materials show a front-facing back row in the seven-seat Model Y. This does not mean that a version with rear-facing seats won’t be available, as some early production units have been seen to sport seat mounts set up for rear-facing seats in the back row. Some observers did note that the rear seats might be a tight squeeze for some people unless Tesla can add additional room in the back.

Reacting to visuals of what a Model Y with a rear-facing back row of seats could look like, Disqus user Andrew Watson said, “The seats look fine for kids but a tight squeeze for adults, especially for ones who like BBQ and comfort food.”

It is not yet clear whether the rear row of seats will fold down for better cargo hauling capacity. If Tesla does add this capacity, the Model Y with additional seating may become popular with people who want the additional space for carrying larger items but feel like the four-seat Cybertruck would be a step back as far as carrying people is concerned. Despite the room issue, the Model Y is likely to be popular with families whose parents want a Tesla that can haul more children and their gear.

“A seven seat Model Y might be [the] second Tesla in my family,” said Disqus user Taylor Marks, though she did also indicate that she might opt for a used Model X instead if the price comes down.

The Model S has already sported rear-facing jump seats that are suitable for younger children. Elon Musk has indicated in another tweet that the base price of the Model S is changing to $69,420, though it is difficult to tell at first glance whether he was joking or not.

The seven-seat version will add $3,000 to the price tag of existing Model Y models. The base price of the Long Range is $49,990 and the Performance has a base price of $59,990.

Technology

Tesla Model X to Get Increased Range With 2021 Model

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla appears to have given its Model X electric vehicle an increased range with the recent release of its 2021 model. The new model is rated for a range of up to 371 miles, compared to a range of 351 miles in previous models.

The increased rating was noticed by a member of the Tesla Motors Club, who spotted it on the Monroney sticker of a Model X that had been delivered to its new owner. Monroney stickers are the “window stickers” that show the fuel economy rating of new vehicles. They are required by the Energy Independence and Security Act. The Tesla Motors Club member known as ColdWeatherEV said of the increased rating,

“I wonder if the 371 mile rating is due to a chemistry change in the 18650’s cells from Japan. I haven’t charged to 100%, but when I extrapolate my current state of charge % to miles, it should give 351 miles at 100%. I’m hoping that a future software update will unlock additional range.”

Tesla has recently announced new battery technology that is more efficient to manufacture and can charge faster than its existing batteries. During its Battery Day event, Elon Musk said that the batteries will make their first public appearance in a planned $25,000 model that is slated to be released in three years.

The increased range on the Monroney stickers is more likely to reflect recent increases in the Japanese battery’s energy density. The battery in question is manufactured by Panasonic, which has said that it has plans to improve the energy capacity of the batteries used for electric vehicles within the next five years. Panasonic may already be making progress in that regard.

Recent acquisitions by Tesla like the buyout of a German battery assembly plant indicates that it is interested in making more of its batteries in-house. However, it still relies on third party battery manufacturers until it can increase its manufacturing capacity with the completion of factories like the Gigafactory being built in Germany and its planned Terafactory.

Would it be possible for updates to Tesla software packages like the Full Self-Driving software to increase range? Tesla plans for Full Self-Driving to rely on a neural network that uses data sent from its electric vehicles to improve its performance. It would not be too far-fetched to imagine that the neural network will eventually be capable of planning for traffic, road, and weather conditions in real-time to increase safety on the road, create more efficient routes and improved driving performance, which would increase range.

The increased range of the 2021 Model X has not yet been confirmed by FuelEconomy.gov, though it may be that Tesla simply has not submitted the information yet. Tesla has also not yet updated its website to reflect the increased range. So the information provided by the user known as ColdWeatherEV might still be regarded as unofficial or perhaps even a typo on the Monroney sticker. If true, however, this may be a positive sign of progress being made toward Elon Musk’s prediction that electric vehicles will be able to replace gas-powered vehicles for most driving needs.

SpaceX Obtains License to Provide Satellite Internet in Australia

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has obtained a license to make its planned satellite Internet service available in Australia. The service will be available through its Starlink satellite constellation once it is fully operational.

Paperwork related to the license indicates that SpaceX previously planned to operate its Internet service using a subsidiary company named TIBRO. It later changed the name of the subsidiary to Starlink Australia PTY LTD.

Starlink is currently in its private beta phase with more than 700 satellites in orbit. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has indicated that it will open a public beta in the northern United States and possibly southern Canada “very soon.”

Leaked reports indicate that early beta testers have gotten download speeds of up to 60 Mbps. Statements from SpaceX engineers indicate that the launch of more satellites since then has helped to boost the speed to as high as 100 Mbps. Once fully launched, SpaceX has indicated that the satellite constellation will be able to deliver speeds up to 1 Gbps.

“They show super-low latency and download speeds greater than 100 [megabits] per second. That means our latency is low enough to play the fastest online video games and our download speeds are fast enough to stream multiple HD movies at once,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tice.

Starlink is already successfully providing Internet service to emergency personnel in Washington State and the Native American Hoh Tribe. SpaceX may be using this to demonstrate the capacity of Starlink to provide Internet access in conditions where utilities and “traditional” ground-based Internet are unreliable or existing Internet service providers neglected to invest in impoverished or sparsely populated areas.

Similarly neglected regions in Australia can benefit from SpaceX’s plan to offer high-speed satellite Internet service. According to 2017 statistics, Australia’s average population density is a surprisingly low 3.1 people per square kilometer, with wide swaths of land at less than 0.1 people per square kilometer once one moves away from coastal areas. It would be no surprise if people living in those areas have trouble getting Internet access due to service providers not bothering to make the investment.

Observers have praised the speed at which Australia approved Starlink’s license and also expressed frustration at the slowness of the regulatory agencies of other countries such as Canada, which has not yet made a decision on SpaceX’s Starlink application. A Disqus user known as Schmoe had this to say:

“The Canadians’ CRTC authority, on the other hand, has been dragging their feet and still hasn’t granted Starlink a license, despite the fact that Southern Canada right now has the best Starlink coverage due to the satellites’ 53-degree inclination orbits!”

Musk has also indicated that bringing the public beta to Canada is pending regulatory approval. Now that Australia has given Starlink its stamp of approval, however, future launches may put satellites into an orbit that can more effectively cover Australia’s Outback regions.

Space

NASA, SpaceX Delay Next Crew Dragon Launch

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The launch of the next crewed mission for SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has been delayed from its original October 31 launch date to early- to mid-November, according to a news release posted on NASA’s website. SpaceX will use the extra time to perform additional hardware tests and data reviews.

Dance With Historical Deja Vu on Demo-2 Flight

SpaceX had previously announced that it resolved an issue with the heat shield from the previous crewed flight, Demo-2, which went by the call sign of “Endeavour”. Technicians inspecting the spacecraft discovered a greater than expected amount of wear and tear in the area where the crew module had been attached to the trunk containing engines used to maneuver the spacecraft while in orbit. The trunk is jettisoned before reentry.

For some longtime space enthusiasts, the issue may have brought back memories of the John Glenn’s Friendship 7 flight for the Mercury program, in which a signal caused concern about the condition of the heat shield. Flight controllers decided to keep the retro-rockets attached to the spacecraft in an attempt to keep the heat shield bolted in place. Although John Glenn referred to the visual effect of the heat produced by reentry as “a real fireball,” the supposed heat shield problem turned out to be a faulty signal.

NASA Unconcerned About Delay

NASA expressed confidence that SpaceX could resolve its current issues with the Crew Dragon and the space agency has access to all of SpaceX’s data. The company is simply pinning down an issue with an engine gas generator in the first stage booster used for a recent launch. Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of NASA’s human exploration and operations mission directorate, said of the issue:

“With the high cadence of missions SpaceX performs, it really gives us incredible insight into this commercial system and helps us make informed decisions about the status of our missions. The teams are actively working this finding on the engines, and we should be a lot smarter within the coming week.”

SpaceX’s remaining uncrewed launches remain on track for the rest of the year. On November 10, SpaceX is slated to launch the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite for the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observation program. This launch will provide additional data to ensure that the issue with the engine gas generator is resolved.

Once ready to launch, the Crew Dragon will deliver astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi to join Expedition 64 to the International Space Station. The crew recently announced that “Resilience” will be the call sign for their spacecraft while in flight.

Crew commander Michael Hopkins referred to “performing well in times of stress” while acknowledging that 2020 has been a challenging year for many people, including the employees of NASA and its contractors. Some of NASA’s ongoing programs have faced delays due to difficulty in making progress in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Although a new target launch date has not yet been set, the crew anticipates that the Crew Dragon “Resilience” will perform well when it finally launches in November.

Space

SpaceX’s Starship Successfully Passes Cryo Testing

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Heidi

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the Starship high-altitude model SN8 has successfully passed cryo testing. The tests were meant to determine how the fuel tanks and associated hardware would hold up to the super-cold temperatures that they will have to endure when filled with super-chilled liquid rocket fuel.

SpaceX ran SN8 through its paces over the course of a few days, beginning with an apparently aborted test on October 5 and 6 in which it filled the rocket’s fuel tanks with super-cold nitrogen gas and a small amount of liquid oxygen. SN8 also moved its aft flaps under its own power for the first time.

During the first attempt to fill its tanks with nitrogen, SN8 apparently suffered a small leak near the engine mounts. SpaceX personnel noticed the link at a pressure of about 7 bar, or 100 pounds per square inch. According to a tweet from Musk, the leak was apparently due to differential shrinking, which is a common concern when handling materials in extreme temperatures. The severely cold weather on the day of the 1986 Challenger disaster is believed to have been a factor in the loss of the Space Shuttle and its crew during launch.

In this case, the rocket was never in any danger of exploding and the leak was fixed within 24 hours. The second and third tests went smoothly while SpaceX ran its rocket model through simulations of the stresses that it will go through when launched using Raptor engines.

The next test is likely to be a full rundown of how SN8 would hold up to a static firing of the Raptor engines, each of which are capable of a thrust of 440 klbf. If things go as planned, the fully operational version of Starship will make use of three Raptors that are rated for operation at sea level and three more Raptors that can operate in the vacuum of space.

The successful cryo tests mark one more milestone in preparation for a possible high-altitude test that could go to an altitude of 15 kilometers. A previous “hop test” of a test rocket sent it to an altitude of about 150 meters.

The fully operational rocket will be capable of launching 100+ metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit and will also be capable of sending payloads to the Moon and Mars. Current contracts with NASA include a customized “lunar Starship” that will be capable of sending cargo and astronauts to the Moon. Information on SpaceX’s official website also indicates that fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa’s planned flight around the Moon on Starship is still slated for 2023.

Technology

Tesla Opens Charging Station With 20 Superchargers in Germany

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has opened a new charging station in Düsseldorf, Germany, with 20 Superchargers and 8 additional chargers for electric vehicles manufactured by other automakers. The new charging station is powered by solar and wind energy, including a large solar roof. For those familiar with the area, the new charging station is located at the intersection of the motorways A3 and A46.

The new station is the result of a partnership with Fastned, a company with the stated purpose of building a network of electric vehicle charging stations across Europe. Fastned is providing the 8 additional chargers, which can provide up to 300 kW in charging speed. The company claims that it can add 300 miles’ worth of range to an average electric vehicle in as little as 15 minutes.

Although the new Fastned station currently has 28 chargers, it can apparently only handle up to 8 vehicles charging at the same time. The company has said that it will prefer to get that up to 22 cars.

According to a statement from the company, Fastned is currently seeking real estate to complete its planned network of 1,000 stations and begin possible expansions to existing stations. CEO Michiel Langezaal said:

“In order to power the exponentially growing number of electric vehicles, we need a lot of big fast charging stations. I call upon landowners that share this vision to contact us, so we can join forces and see if we can realise a Fastned station on their site. Together we will build the infrastructure of the future!”

Snacks and beverages from the Seed & Greet Bakery will be available to customers while they wait for their vehicles to charge.

Progress Also Being Made on Gigafactory Berlin

With the increasing demand for more environmentally friendly options like Tesla’s electric vehicles, Tesla is also pushing forward with completing Giga Berlin, a factory that will be capable of manufacturing up to 500,000 cars every year. Tesla expects the factory to be ready for production as early as July 2021.

The new Fastned simply gives CEO Elon Musk a head start in building the renewable energy-powered charging stations needed to power the cars that will be manufactured at Giga Berlin in a more sustainable way. Elon Musk has indicated that one of his goals is to make gasoline-powered vehicles obsolete. While measures like California’s requirement that all new cars sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035 certainly won’t hurt, infrastructure like Fastned’s new charging stations will be even more critical for keeping up with the demand in a sustainable way. Fastned is positioning itself to take advantage of a possible future in which electric vehicle charging stations will be as common as gas stations are today.

Technology

Elon Musk Announces Plan to Release New Beta for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Software

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In response to a Tweet from ARK Invest’s Tasha Keeney, Elon Musk confirmed plans to release a new limited beta version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. He also acknowledged progress being made by other creators of self-driving and driver assist software such as Waymo, which he referred to as an “impressive but highly specialized solution.”

Musk indicated that the new FSD version will be capable of managing drives without any input from a driver. If successful, the FSD will be capable of managing fleets of cars for applications like its planned Robotaxi.

The Robotaxi is intended to be Tesla’s in-house ride hailing service that could theoretically compete with existing services like Uber, Lyft, and the highly localized Via. Owners of Tesla models with the FSD suite could make as much as $30,000 per year by leasing their vehicles to the Robotaxi network. Musk has indicated that it could be ready for a limited rollout as early as 2021.

Recent progress on Robotaxi-related features includes the release of “Car Access” controls that owners can use to determine who can access the vehicle. Car Access includes the ability to locate a Tesla vehicle, unlock it, and start it remotely. It can also grant the ability to control the vehicle directly from the app.

The FSD is likely to require fine-tuning through intense beta-testing and collection of data for Tesla’s Neural Network, an AI application designed to learn from data sent to it by Tesla vehicles on the road. The Neural Network will be especially useful for enabling vehicles to react to unsafe conditions such as ice on the road or an incoming blizzard in real-time.

If the FSD becomes representative of a new industry standard of fully autonomous self-driving cars, it is likely to improve safety on the road by taking human error out of the equation. With applications and infrastructure the Neural Network, cars can effectively update one another about conditions on the road.

Native Americans Use SpaceX’s Starlink to Close Digital Divide

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Native American Hoh Tribe is making use of SpaceX’s Starlink to gain affordable access to high-speed Internet service. The tribe says that the access is being used for access to online learning and assistance with health care.

On Tuesday, SpaceX launched 60 more satellites for a total of 700 Starlink satellites currently in orbit. When fully deployed, the constellation will have as many as 12,000 satellites and, SpaceX claims, will be capable of speeds up to 1 Gbps with a latency, or signal response time, as low as 20 milliseconds.

Elon Musk says that Starlink now has enough capacity for a public beta. SpaceX has previously conducted a private beta that reportedly achieved download speeds of up to 60 Mbps — roughly comparable to speeds that Internet access in rural areas can achieve.

SpaceX’s plans for Starlink include reaching these rural areas and impoverished populations that have been neglected by “traditional” Internet service providers. These Internet deserts have been cited as a factor that holds back populations who live there simply because they can’t access the same services and opportunities as those who live in the connected world.

Observers have referred to the lack of Internet access in some areas, including the Hoh Tribe’s reserve in Washington, as a “digital divide” that makes it difficult for their residents to access the same services as those in more connected regions. Many people in these areas do not even have an email address. Hoh Tribe Vice Chairman Melvinjohn Ashue described attempts to make do with previously existing communications infrastructure as “paddling up-river with a spoon.”

Services like Starlink can help close the gaps caused by the digital divide despite complaints from astronomy enthusiasts that the large constellation will interfere with viewing. Some skywatchers have reported that they could spot the satellites on occasion.

Public officials reported that setting a Starlink terminal up takes no more than ten minutes and they can get latency of less than 30 milliseconds. This is already better than existing satellite Internet services, which can take longer to set up and usually makes use of satellites in a distant geostationary orbit, which can slow down signal response times due to the “speed of light” limit set by Einsteinian physics. Starlink can improve latency by keeping its satellites in low Earth orbit, which is likely to make it popular with gamers and individuals who want to use Zoom or Skype to videochat with distant relatives and friends, but unfortunately live in an Internet desert.

Hoh Tribe officials are certainly enthusiastic about the new connectivity. “We’re helping create partnerships and find resources so every community in our state can access this critical bridge to jobs, education, healthcare and so much more,” said Ashue.

Space

SpaceX Receives $149 Million Custom Satellite Contract From Space Development Agency

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded a $149 million custom satellite contract to SpaceX. The contract will leverage SpaceX’s experience with building and launching satellites for its Starlink constellation to add capacity to the Department of Defense’s efforts to detect and track missile launches using wide field-of-view (WFOV) overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensors.

The SDA is part of the United States Department of Defense. According to its website, it “orchestrates the development and fielding of DoD’s future threat-driven National Defense Space Architecture.”

Under the new contract, SpaceX will direct the construction of four OPIR satellites. It has already indicated that it plans to outsource the creation of hardware components like the OPIR sensors to unnamed subcontractors.

Space Development Agency director Derek Tournear said that the selection of SpaceX was based on its “extremely credible proposal” that builds on its experience with the Starlink assembly line. SpaceX has already launched hundreds of Starlink satellites out of a planned constellation of 12,000 satellites in order to achieve its goal of high-speed, low-latency Internet service that can compete with ground-based Internet service providers and also provide Internet-based communications services for disaster response teams. The ability to stick to an established schedule took top priority as a consideration for the awarding of the contract.

Another company, L3Harris, was also awarded a similar contract for another four satellites in the same constellation. It plans to build the satellites in-house. L3Harris will receive $193.5 million for the successful completion of the satellites.

According to Tournear, the successful completion of the assigned contract will demonstrate the capacity for newer commercial aerospace companies like SpaceX and L3Harris to take a larger role in providing the technical expertise for accomplishing Department of Defense missions.

“The SDA model is based on leveraging commercial technology. We have leveraged commercial tier 2 suppliers. This is an example of how we are leveraging commercial tier 1 suppliers,” said Tournear.

The new satellites could launch as early as September 2022 and will become part of a planned 30-satellite constellation that DARPA is calling “Tracking Layer Tranche 0.” It will integrate with a 20-satellite “Transport Layer” constellation currently being built by Lockheed-Martin. The Transport Layer satellites will be capable of relaying data from the Tracking Layer satellites to the ground-based military units that need it to quickly and effectively respond to threats posed by possibly weaponized missiles launched by other nations. The SDA is currently considering bids to integrate the two layers.

Technology

Tesla to Bring Full Self-Driving Capacity to Japan

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk has indicated that Tesla has plans to bring the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite to Japan “soon” in response to a query from the Twitter account known as “model3teslaJAPAN”. Tesla had previously delayed the international release of its autonomous driving features so that it can fine-tune the features for each market.

International markets are especially tricky due to varying “rules of the road” that each nation can have. Failing to account for variables like many countries’ use of “kilometers per hour” instead of “miles per hour” for speed limits can cause Tesla models with self-driving features to be responsible for traffic violations and possible accidents if these varying rules are not accounted for. Although tests of self-driving software for international markets look promising, Tesla often issues disclaimers that owners of its models should stay alert in case of conditions and local ordinances that its self-driving vehicles may not yet be programmed to handle.

Recent updates to Tesla’s self-driving features for the international market includes a Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature that can appropriately follow traffic light signals. Statements from Tesla indicate that this feature, along with other upcoming features, may be fine-tuned based on data that its cars send to the Neural Network.

The Neural Network is an Artificial Intelligence application meant to make Tesla vehicles with autonomous driving features more capable of handling conditions on the road. It gets much of its data from onboard cameras that also function as part of Tesla vehicles’ security system. This is a different approach from other automobile manufacturers that rely on pre-mapped data. Tesla says that its reliance on cameras is superior because it improves the Neural Network’s access to real-time data such as the possible presence of undesirable conditions like ice on the road or traffic jams.

The tech-friendly Japan was Tesla’s first foray into the Asian market when it announced plans to ship its first model, the Roadster, to the country in 2010. At the time, it said in this press release:

“Responding to growing demand, Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley-based automaker of the world’s fastest highway-capable electric vehicle today shipped a dozen Japan Signature Series Roadsters from Port Hueneme, California. The well-appointed right-hand drive Roadsters will arrive in Yokohama in May for delivery to select customers throughout Japan.”

Although Tesla has grown faster in other Asian markets like China since then, the Model 3 is currently the fifth most popular electric vehicle in Japan, behind only models produced by Japanese automakers like Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. Combining electric vehicle technology with improved and safer self-driving capability is likely to make Tesla even more popular in Japan.

Tesla has not yet set a specific date for bringing its Full Self-Driving capabilities to Japan. Considering Musk’s promise of “soon,” it may simply be doing some fine-tuning of the software to account for the unique needs of the Japanese market.

Technology

Tesla to Acquire German Battery Assembly Manufacturer

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has announced an agreement to acquire a German battery assembly company named German ATW Automation. German ATW Automation makes battery modules and packs for automobile manufacturers like Tesla.

ATW was previously a subsidiary of Canadian ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc, which has suffered a financial hit due to a slump in orders. ATS had previously announced that the German subsidiary had been sold to an unnamed third party. ATW and ATS have reportedly not replied to requests for comment on the sale to Tesla.

ATW’s 120 employees have completed more than 20 battery production lines for international automakers, according to information on ATS’ website. The acquisition may be part of Tesla’s efforts to ramp up its battery production capacity and reduce the cost of manufacturing battery packs for its electric vehicles over the next three years. The new battery assembly plant could be used to support Tesla’s planned vehicle manufacturing facility in Berlin.

Statements from Tesla indicate that it has delivered 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter of 2020 and is on track to deliver over half a million vehicles by the end of the year. Its planned future model releases include the Cybertruck, a Semi truck, and a $25,000 model that has been rumored to be capable of traveling 300 miles on a single charge. CEO Elon Musk previously canceled a model with a 250-mile range, saying that the range was likely to be “too low” to be attractive to buyers.

Cheaper, more capable batteries are likely to make all three models attractive to discerning consumers. Walmart Canada recently tripled its Semi truck order in the wake of Tesla’s announcement of an improved battery manufacturing process, which would be attractive to Walmart Canada’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Tesla also announced a new “tabless” lithium-ion battery at its Battery Day event. Manufacturing the new batteries will require less water and fewer moving parts than the production of its existing batteries. Musk has indicated that innovations in battery technology for automobiles, plus investments in improved infrastructure for electric vehicles, could help his electric vehicles compete with gas-powered cars and eventually make them obsolete.

Some tech insiders did express doubts that electric vehicles would ever be suitable for long-range trips like the multi-day hauls of long-distance semi trucks, however. Bill Gates had this to say:

“The problem is that batteries are big and heavy. The more weight you’re trying to move, the more batteries you need to power the vehicle. But the more batteries you use, the more weight you add and the more power you need.”

However, this seems to leave out the fact that Tesla’s electric semi trucks can already get a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge while hauling loads that are several times heavier than the battery. That’s suitable for many of the single-day round trips conducted by retailers like Walmart.

The acquisition of German ATW Automation could simply be one of several moves that Tesla has made recently that could reduce its reliance on third parties in its supply chain and better enable the production of its improving technologies. It has also shown an interest in making its supply chain more environmentally friendly by making deals with “zero-waste” mining companies like the Canada-based Giga Metals.

Technology

Elon Musk Confirms Plans to Bring Electric Vehicles to India Market

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed plans to bring electric vehicles to India “next year for sure”. The news comes from Musk’s response to a Twitter account called Tesla Club India, which asked if Tesla was making any progress on previous hints that Tesla was interested in expanding to the Indian market.

Tesla is already in discussions with Indian officials to open a research and development center in the country. Statements from officials indicate that the state of Karnataka, in the south of India, is a front-running contender for the location of this center. Karnataka is the first state to adopt a policy for electric vehicles.

“Tesla has shown initial interest to invest in a research and innovation center in Karnataka, and the talks are at a preliminary stage,” an official told the Indian Times.

Musk has previously sited regulation and import taxes as reasons that electric vehicles manufactured by Tesla are not seen often in India yet. The taxes alone could as much as double the price of a Tesla vehicle, making them unaffordable to many Indians who might otherwise consider buying one. The cheapest model currently starts at $35,000, though Tesla does have a new $25,000 model coming down the pike.

Besides the regulation issue, India’s electrical infrastructure may not yet be able to support an enormous influx in electric vehicles. As many as 300 million Indians did not have access to power or had only limited access as of October 2015 due to challenges in producing electricity and delivering it to customers. A less fortunate electrical consumer might only be able to draw enough power to keep a single low-wattage light bulb going. The issue has often been blamed on outdated and deteriorating infrastructure.

However, India is currently making inroads toward solving this issue. Over the past few years, India has worked on making upgrades to its power grids and retrofitting homes with access to electricity. Official government policy calls for the development of renewable and sustainable energy sources like nuclear, solar, and wind power so that its entire population can have access to electricity without significantly increasing its carbon emissions.

Private industry insiders have also indicated enthusiasm for electric vehicles as part of a path to energy independence for India. The challenge will be the development of the infrastructure needed to support them.

“We all accept that the future is electric, it is now time to embrace electrification as an opportunity to create a self-reliant and cleaner India,” Avendus, an Indian financial services firm, said in a July statement.

On the positive side, Tesla does have the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2015, Musk gave Modi a tour of Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. News reports at the time indicated that they broached the topic of opening a similar factory in India as a fix for the import tax issue. However, regulations appear to have held up any plans to build the factory.

That may change now that twelve Indian states, including Karnataka, have adopted policies for electric vehicles that may be friendlier toward Tesla’s planned expansions.

Science

NASA Awards IMAP Probe Launch Contract to SpaceX

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA announced that it has awarded a $109.4 million contract for launch of its Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) to SpaceX. Upon launch, the probe will proceed to a stable position at Earth’s L1 Lagrange point.

The contract also includes several secondary payloads for NASA and NOAA, including NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, a compact scientific package that will investigate the presence of water on the Moon. NOAA is including a probe called Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) among the secondary payloads to collect upstream solar wind data and coronal imagery and improve its ability to predict space weather. Space weather events like coronal mass ejections can impact the performance of electronics if they are aimed at Earth.

IMAP represents the third probe launch contract in a row that NASA has awarded to SpaceX. In February 2020, it awarded contracts to launch the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, which will provide data on the impact of climate change on Earth’s oceans, and the Psyche mission, which will study a unique metal-rich asteroid named Psyche. These two missions are scheduled to fly as early as December 2022 and July 2022, respectively.

The three contracts total $307 million. The Psyche launch contract is the highest of the three at $117 million, which implies that SpaceX will be using a new Falcon 9 rocket instead of one that has already been flown and may not attempt to land the first stage. The PACE launch contract is considerably lower at about $80 million. Landing and reusing rockets has very nearly become a trademark for SpaceX as it attempts to bring launch costs down.

By way of comparison, the United Launch Alliance is charging $165.7 million to launch the GOES-T climate satellite on an Atlas V 541 rocket and charged $230 million to launch the GOES-R and GOES-S satellites on rockets of the same model. SpaceX can save NASA an average of $50 million per launch simply by relaunching previously flown rockets, which has helped considerably in making SpaceX a serious competitor for established launch providers like the United Launch Alliance.

Not that NASA is SpaceX’s only potential customer by any means. International billionaires have expressed an interest in booking rides on upcoming flights of its interplanetary rocket, Starship, once it becomes operational. In late September, SpaceX announced that Tom Cruise’s flight to the International Space Station to film scenes for an as-yet-unnamed feature film has been scheduled for October 21.

IMAP will be capable of studying the heliosphere, a region at the edge of our solar system at which the solar wind begins to interact with the solar winds of other stars. The heliosphere is believed to be a sort of shield against interstellar radiation that would be harmful for life on Earth. IMAP can capture neutral particles that make it through this shield and study the ways that particles are accelerated in space. The launch of this probe is expected to occur in October 2024.

Space

SpaceX Fixes “Erosion” Issue With Crew Dragon Heat Shield Ahead of Halloween Launch

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has announced a fix for an issue with the heat shield for the Crew Dragon that caused unexpected “erosion” during reentry at the conclusion of the Demo-2 mission on August 2. Testing of the heat shield revealed more than the expected wear and tear due to the extreme heat of reentry. Although the crew was never in any danger, the redesign offers extra layers of protection for future astronauts flying on the Crew Dragon.

Most of the damage occurred in the area where a series of bolts connect the crew module to a trunk containing engines that assist with maneuvering in space. The trunk is discarded before reentry. Commercial Crew insiders say that the damage did not show up in Demo-1 because the uncrewed Crew Dragon was lighter and the mission profile was different.

The friction of reentry is high enough to create a sheath of plasma around the Crew Dragon, which can interfere with radio communications. This is a phenomenon that was previously experienced during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s and can put on quite the light show for the crews. John Glenn described it as “a real fireball” after the successful conclusion of his Mercury mission, during which a false signal of a possible issue with his heat shield caused concern for flight controllers.

SpaceX’s thermal protection system contains an array of heat-resistant tiles that can handle the 3500-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures of reentry. Although SpaceX and NASA deny that astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were in any danger during Demo-2, the loss of heat-resistant tiles on the Space Shuttle Columbia during launch was a critical factor in its breakup during reentry in 2003. The redesign will provide additional safety for upcoming missions like Crew-1.

“We’ve gone in and changed out a lot of the materials to better materials [and] made the area in between these tiles better,” said NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich.

This is one of several upgrades and changes in procedure made following the Demo-2 flight, which was officially the final flight test of the Crew Dragon before it was declared operational. Decision-makers also loosened weather restrictions for launch and splashdown, as well as made improved arrangements with the U.S. Coast Guard to better enforce a 16-kilometer restricted zone around the planned splashdown site in which privately owned boats will be forbidden during reentry and retrieval operations. The intrusion of private boats during Demo-2’s splashdown was cause for concern.

The Crew-1 flight is scheduled to occur on October 31 and will carry astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi to the International Space Station. It was delayed from October 23 for better traffic management to allow for the next flight of a Russian Soyuz, which is set to launch three new crew members for International Space Station on October 14 and return on October 21 with the same number of crew members who are currently on board the ISS. NASA officials say that they will use the extra time for reviews to ensure that the Crew-1 astronauts will stay safe during their mission.

Space

Washington State Uses Starlink to Assist With Combating Wildfires

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX is currently lending Starlink’s Internet service capacity to Washington State’s Emergency Management department to assist with the wildfires that have been ravaging the United States’ west coast. This has helped with coordination of efforts in an environment where ground-based utilities are frequently inaccessible.

Starlink is already being used in cases like Malden, WA, a small village of 200 residents in which every building was destroyed by the wildfires. Satellite-based Internet access can be made available on a limited basis without unduly taxing emergency management resources.

“Glad SpaceX could help! We are prioritizing emergency responders & locations with no Internet connectivity at all,” Elon Musk said in a tweet responding to Washington Emergency Management’s official Twitter account.

Recent unofficial reports from beta testers indicate that Starlink was capable of speeds of up to 60 Mbps as of mid-August 2020. SpaceX has launched more satellites since then and currently has 640 of the planned 12,000 satellites in the Starlink constellation in orbit. When completed, SpaceX promises speeds of up to 1 Gbps with latency times as low as 20 milliseconds.

There are hints that SpaceX is using its close relationship with the military to expand the beta testing of Starlink. Some observers are already speculating that this explains why Washington State Emergency Management, a military department, was able to procure the early access.

SpaceX and Elon Musk have repeatedly stated that Starlink exists for reasons like this, to serve communities that have been neglected by “traditional” Internet service providers or have lost their Internet access due to disasters like the currently ongoing wildfires. The 60 Mbps speeds is already comparable to the best Internet speeds that many rural Internet users can access. Eventually, Starlink may compete with Internet service providers in more densely populated regions.

Musk has indicated that SpaceX may eventually consider spinning Starlink off as its own company, possibly with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). He does not expect this to occur until Starlink has cash flows that will be more attractive to investors, which he anticipates may take several years if an IPO happens at all. His recent kerfuffles with regulators over Tweets that were interpreted as attempts to manipulate Tesla’s stock value may cause him to hesitate when it comes to issuing publicly traded stock in any other of his companies, however. He has occasionally said that he prefers to keep SpaceX private, with only a few venture capitalists involved, in order to avoid the pressure of prioritizing quarterly reports over technical innovation. Venture capitalists are often more patient than traders of publicly traded stocks when it comes to earning a profit.

In the meantime, the Washington Emergency Management department is likely to become a good case study for how satellite Internet service can help communities that have been hit hard by natural disaster and lost access to the Internet on top of everything else. Residents can still communicate with the outside world even in cases where their Internet access and phones may not otherwise work and emergency services can still communicate even when utilities are out.

Technology

Walmart Canada Triples Order of Tesla Semi Trucks

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Walmart Canada has more than tripled its order of Tesla semi trucks to 130 units in an increasing effort to make its fleet of trucks more sustainable. As announced at Climate Week events earlier this month, Walmart’s ultimate goal is to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2040.

With this order, Walmart Canada is on track to convert 20% of its long-haul trucks to electric power by the end of 2022 and switch its fleet entirely over to renewable energy sources by 2028.

“Tripling our reservation of Tesla Semi trucks is part of our ongoing effort to innovate the business and prioritize sustainability. By converting 20% of our fleet to electric vehicles by the end of 2022 and committing to alternative power for all fleet vehicles by 2028, we are putting safety, innovation, and sustainability at the forefront of our logistics network,” said Logistics and Supply Chain Vice President John Bayliss in a press release.

Walmart Canada cited safety features, advanced equipment, improved performance over diesel-powered semi trucks, and low operating costs as major factors in the choice to increase its order. The 500-mile range, autopilot, and inclusion of cameras to improve driver safety were especially attractive.

The idea of electric vehicles for long haul trucking has occasionally been criticized as not having much potential for long-distance, multi-day hauls. Most notably, Bill Gates went on record with his doubts that electric vehicles can ever perform as well as their biofuel-powered counterparts. Battery size especially seemed to be an issue, even though the batteries used for Tesla’s semi trucks are not expected to be nearly as heavy as the loads that Walmart’s truck drivers haul every day.

“The problem is that batteries are big and heavy. The more weight you’re trying to move, the more batteries you need to power the vehicle. But the more batteries you use, the more weight you add and the more power you need,” he said.

However, most of Walmart’s semi truck operations involve single-day round trips that are not expected to be overly taxing on Tesla’s batteries and will allow for overnight charging. Tesla expects to solve some of the limitations of large electric vehicles like semi trucks with improvements to its battery technology that Elon Musk announced at a Battery Day event.

Walmart Canada expects to invest a total of $3.5 billion over the next five years in pursuit of its goal to reduce carbon emissions and streamline customer service. It also intends to open two zero-waste distribution centers and release new digital tools to assist with more efficient customer service. Walmart’s charity arm, the Walmart Foundation, has announced plans to preserve or restore 50 million acres of natural land and one million square miles of ocean as part of its efforts to reduce the ecological impact of its operations.

Technology

Tesla Reportedly Pursuing 10 Percent Stake in LG Energy Solution

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to anonymous sources in Korea, Tesla is currently discussing the acquisition in LG Energy Solution, which is set to be spun off from parent company LG Chem. The move is apparently motivated by a desire to secure a reliable source of batteries and own a stake in an existing supplier. Although these reports are not official yet, this may be another move in Tesla’s attempts to ensure the quality of its electric vehicles by controlling as much of its supply chains as possible.

“It’s quite early to tell if Tesla has an actual plan to acquire a stake in LG Energy Solution. But given Tesla’s growing attempts at cost cuts and moves in producing round batteries, it does make sense that Tesla would explore an opportunity to buy a stake in LG Energy Solution,” said one anonymous source.

LG Chem is a longtime supplier of batteries to automobile manufacturers like Tesla and General Motors. Its global share of the market for EV batteries recently surged from 11 percent to 25 percent, which vastly outpaced competitors like CATL and Panasonic. A spokesman stated that it is the “right time” to spin off the battery manufacturing side of the business now that batteries for electric vehicles are becoming more profitable.

Tesla does have plans to make battery manufacturing part of its operations at factories like the upcoming Terafactory, which will boast a higher manufacturing capacity than its existing Gigafactories. Taking a stake in LG Energy Solution will help it secure additional battery production capacity without having to entirely rely on third parties for manufacturing. This will help remove some of the risk of a third party turning in subprime work or actively sabotaging the product.

This can especially be a concern with imported products from countries that may not have the same consumer protections that the United States does. For instance, a 2012 case of poisoned dog treats that could cause kidney failure in dogs was eventually tracked down to a disgruntled employee in a Chinese plant that made them. Even in cases where no sabotage is intended, inspectors are often stretched too thin to be effective with preventing harmful or defective imports from slipping through the cracks and brands like Tesla could take the same hit to their reputation as Purina did in the dog treat case if a third party is sending out subpar parts.

Tesla is already addressing some of these issues by discussing the sourcing of metals with mining companies based in North America and Australia. It is also reportedly building a lithium refinery in Texas. This may seem like a lot of effort being put into the supply chain side of things, but CEO Elon Musk once saw a multi-million-dollar rocket blow up because a part provided by the United Launch Alliance failed. So from the perspective of someone accustomed to working in industries where mishaps can get expensive, it makes sense to at least own a stake in one’s suppliers.

Tesla has not yet made an official announcement about any possible acquisition of a stake. However, there are hints that it may want to diversify its sources of batteries as part of its attempts to bring down costs in the wake of its announcement of an upcoming $25,000 model that will be its cheapest yet. The acquisition of a stake simply means that it won’t have to worry about the risks of outsourcing its manufacturing.

Space

SpaceX to Use Previously Flown Boosters to Launch GPS Satellites

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to a recently rewritten contract with the U.S. Space Force, SpaceX will reuse previously flown main boosters to launch two GPS satellites. This is a departure from previous U.S. military policies that did not allow for reused boosters or retrieval of flown boosters for GPS satellite launches.

The Space Force says that this new revision will save the military $52.7 million in launch costs over the course of two launches. The change will impact the fifth and sixth launches in this series of launches of GPS satellites. Three satellites have already been launched and the fourth, scheduled for September 29, will feature an attempt to recover the main booster for possible reuse.

“I am thrilled to welcome SpaceX’s innovative reuse into the National Security Space Launch program,” Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, said in a statement.

The launches with previously flown boosters are scheduled to occur in 2021. Once the current series launches ends, the military plans to award a contract for what it calls Phase 2 of its planned upgrades to the GPS satellite constellation. The Phase 2 GPS satellites are already being built by Lockheed Martin and will bring the total of new satellites in this constellation up to 10 once they are launched. The Space and Missile Systems Center has hinted that there is a high chance that the launch contract will go to SpaceX and will allow for the reuse of more boosters.

“[The modified contract] will set us up for our partnership with SpaceX for Phase 2 over the next year,” said SMC’s Falcon Systems and Operations Division chief Walt Lauderdale.

Cost Savings Good for Taxpayers

Spending on the U.S. military often seems to be the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. In 2019, military spending accounted for 64.5% of the U.S. discretionary budget at $730 billion. This is more than the next ten countries combined in total military spending. A savings of $52.7 million might seem insignificant in comparison, but can be seen as a good sign that some parties in the military have an interest in reducing wasteful spending. This is good for taxpayers and advocates of government-run social programs who say that more tax revenue should be used to help the American people.

The modification in SpaceX’s contract with the Space Force does not reduce the number of launches, but does allow for better cost efficiency, possibly to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars saved. Refurbishing and reusing boosters is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than building a new one from scratch every time a new satellite needs to be launched.

The decision to reuse boosters for the last two boosters has the added bonus of letting officials in the Space Force observe SpaceX’s cost-saving processes before it commits to the new contract for Phase 2. The Space Force has agreed to delay launch of the fifth and sixth GPS satellites to as early as June of 2021 in order to ensure design validation and better understand the process by which SpaceX refurbishes rockets for reuse.

Space

SpaceX, Blue Origin, Dynetics Lunar Landers Pass NASA Design Reviews

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA has approved designs for lunar landers submitted by SpaceX, Blue Origins, and Dynetics. Officially dubbed the “certification baseline reviews”, the approvals mark a significant step toward finalizing the design that will ultimately be used for the Human Landing System (HLS) and Artemis programs. The certification baseline reviews are used to establish the minimum level of expertise and capacity needed to successfully build a working lunar lander.

Modified Starship Design

SpaceX submitted a modified version of its planned Starship spacecraft that will be capable of landing and taking off from the Moon without making use of modules similar to the Apollo Lunar Lander’s landing stage and ascent stage. Most of the landing stages of the Apollo Lunar Landers used for the actual lunar landing missions are still on the lunar surface. The exception is the Apollo 13 Lunar Lander, which burned up in Earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceX appears to have taken an early lead over Blue Origins and Dynetics. It has already performed successful “hop tests” of full-scale Starship prototypes. Barring any serious delays, it could start performing orbital tests as early as 2021.

It also has an edge on making launch services more affordable through its development of reusable hardware. SpaceX has already reused the first stage rocket that it used for the first crewed launch of its Crew Dragon, for instance.

Commercial Space Program

The cost savings are likely to be attractive to decision-makers in NASA’s commercial space program, which awards grants for the private sector’s development of technology that can be used in space-based applications. This grant program is especially attractive for private industry because the companies involved are not strictly limited to selling products based on these new technologies to NASA. SpaceX can use the technology to send private customers to the Moon and Mars besides filling its current contract of sending NASA’s astronauts to the International Space Station.

Former NASA administrator Charles Bolden oversaw the start of the commercial space program and praised its track record of success:

“America’s best days in space exploration are ahead of us thanks to the grit and determination of those in government, and the private sector, who dare to dream big dreams and have the skills to turn them into reality. … The commercial space industry will be an engine of 21st century American economic growth and will help us carry out even more ambitious deep space exploration missions.”

SpaceX has received several grants for development of hardware that can be used for the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024. The current certification baseline review simply moves it one step closer to the possibility of providing launch services for the Artemis program.

Technology

Tesla Issues Plans for Supercharge Stations for Cybertruck

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla is currently planning pilot Supercharge stations specifically designed for its upcoming Cybertrucks. The station will feature longer and wider parking spaces for the larger Cybertrucks and will be located at a city-owned parking lot at 85 E. State Street in Pasadena, CA.

The information comes from paperwork filings with the Pasadena Water and Power Department that includes plans for a total of 20 charging stations, six of which will be designated for the Cybertruck. If Pasadena approves the installation, the stations will be in place for at least five years with a possible two-year extension.

According to the filing, “Under the recommended Agreement, Tesla will install and operate 20 Tesla Supercharging charging stations at their expense. PWP will install up to seven DCFC EV charging stations, and up to 20 Level 2 chargers, that may be used by all types of electric vehicles.”

The Cybertruck dimensions did raise some eyebrows with a reported 82-inch width, which is wider than most cars and available residential parking spaces. Some potentially interested customers questioned whether the Cybertruck could fit into a typical garage. Elon Musk did address the issue in a Tweet:

“We can prob reduce width by an inch & maybe reduce length by 6+ inches without losing on utility or esthetics. Min height is below 75 inches when air suspension set to low. Will post exact number soon.”

The Cybertruck is not the only truck with dimensions that might make it too large for most standard parking spaces. Some pickup truck owners have reported difficulty with fitting longer trucks like the Ford F-150 Supercrew and Dodge RAM into their garages and finding adequately sized parking spaces in public parking lots. Owners of smaller cars have also reported that it can be inconvenient to park next to a larger vehicle in a busy parking lot.

Pasadena Water and Power has already held a meeting with government officials in which it stated that it could install seven universal DC fast chargers and up to 20 Level 2 chargers for electric vehicles made by other manufacturers. This is in addition to Tesla’s planned Superchargers. The planned site will also include lighting, security cameras, and Wi-Fi capability.

Designated charging lots for electric vehicles, especially large ones like the Cybertruck, are likely to be popular with Tesla owners who would like to have the same convenience as gas-powered car owners enjoy. If successful, Tesla may consider adding Cybertruck charging stations to its already existing network of Supercharge stations.

This does not seem to have slowed down pre-orders of Cybertrucks. At a recent event, Elon Musk indicated that pre-orders have already surged well past 500,000 and dropped a comment hinting that it is approaching 600,000.

Space

Tom Cruise Schedules Ride on SpaceX Crew Dragon for Film Project

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tom Cruise has booked a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for a film project that is part of a partnership between NASA, SpaceX, and Universal Studios. The project will be directed by Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman, who also plans to ride along. The trip is currently scheduled to take place in October 2021.

Cruise and Liman will travel to the International Space Station to take advantage of the microgravity environment for filming. Current techniques for simulating microgravity for movies have been criticized as unrealistic or have to make use of techniques that only provide “weightlessness” for a few seconds at a time.

Universal Studios plans to provide $200 million in funding for the project, a currently-untitled action-adventure movie that takes place in outer space. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Tweeted of the collaboration:

“NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”

Crew Dragon Now Officially Operational

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon saw its first successful crewed mission earlier this year, when it launched astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in May and landed in August. Following its normal procedure of reusing hardware, it plans to refurbish the already-flown Crew Dragon for reuse as early as May 2021.

With the successful test flight, the Crew Dragon is officially considered operational. SpaceX and NASA are scheduled to launch astronauts Soichi Noguchi, Michael S. Hopkins, Victor J. Glover, and Shannon Walker in the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon on October 22.

Increasing Interest in Producing Media in Space

Due to the difficulties in simulating weightlessness on Earth outside of NASA’s giant training pools and potentially nausea-inducing parabolic arcs on specially designed jet planes, media companies and entertainers are showing an increased interest in going into space. Lady Gaga has indicated interest in performing the first concert in outer space on Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft once it becomes fully operational. A production company known as Space Hero, Inc., also has plans to produce a reality TV show in which contestants compete for a slot on the Crew Dragon to travel to the International Space Station. Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa has expressed interest in flying himself and a few lucky artists around the Moon on an upgraded version of the Crew Dragon.

Most recently, Apollo-era astronauts have won Emmys for their photography and videography while on the Moon. Several astronauts have opined that poets may have a place among the ranks of astronauts and astronauts like Alan Bean and Michael Collins have turned to painting as a way to better represent what they saw in space.

Tom Cruise may simply become the first actor to produce an actual film on the International Space Station.

Technology

Elon Musk Announces More Efficient Battery Manufacturing Process

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk has announced that Tesla has developed a faster, cheaper battery making process and expects to offer a $25,000 electric vehicle with improved battery technology within the next three years. The announcement was made at his Battery Day event, in which he said that Tesla plans to begin building Terafactories with greater manufacturing capacities than the current Gigafactories.

The new battery is an improved “tabless” lithium-ion battery that is less time-consuming to manufacture and can be charged more quickly than the batteries that are currently used in electric vehicles. The battery can be manufactured using less water and fewer moving parts.

“This is not just a concept or a rendering. We are starting to ramp up manufacturing of these cells at our pilot 10-gigawatt-hour facility around the corner,” said vice president Drew Baglino, who is in charge of powertrain and energy engineering for Tesla.

Tesla anticipates that, eventually, electric vehicles will make gasoline-powered vehicles obsolete. It aims to outpace most electric vehicle manufacturers in the quality of its manufacturing techniques. To that end, Musk also announced the creation of a new aluminum alloy that will allow the casting of the front and rear sections of its cars in larger segments. The battery will act as a structural element in between the two sections.

“Eventually, every car company will have electric cars, but not every company will be great at manufacturing,” Musk said. “Tesla is aiming to be the best at manufacturing of any company on Earth.”

Tesla expects that the increased capacity and improved mass production of batteries will help bring the cost of electric vehicles down. It expects that the cheaper price tag will help to improve sales by making it affordable to more consumers. Its current least expensive model, the Model 3 sedan, currently has a base price of $35,000.

Musk estimated that it could take one to two years for the first of the new Terafactories to reach full manufacturing capacity. He indicated that the Gigafactories, although only a few years old, can be considered obsolete and will likely be replaced once the planned Terafactories are up and running: “The Gigafactory is too small, and it costs too much.”

At the Battery Day event, attendees could sit in Tesla vehicles parked at the event venue and honk their horns to show approval. The announcement of more efficient battery production techniques generated several honks.

Materials Sourcing in North America

Tesla has already indicated an interest in sourcing its raw materials from carbon-neutral mining operations in North America. It has already opened talks with the Canadian-based mining firm Giga Metals for sustainable sourcing of nickel. Tesla has also identified a site in Nevada with sizable deposits of silicon and lithium and has obtained a mining permit covering 10,000 acres at the site. This will help Tesla avoid some of the costs, complications, and potential public relations pitfalls that come with importing raw materials from other parts of the world.

“There really is enough lithium in Nevada alone to electrify the entire U.S. fleet,” said Baglino at the Battery Day event.

Meanwhile, sales of existing and upcoming Tesla models continue to plug along. Musk indicated that preorders for its planned Cybertruck has passed 500,000 and Tesla may produce a smaller version.

Technology

Tesla Scores Victory in Lawsuit Against Former Employee

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A Nevada district court has ruled in favor of Tesla in a lawsuit against a former employee who allegedly stole sensitive company-owned information and distributed it to third parties in 2018. Tesla representative allege that the information was presented in a manner that made working conditions in the Gigafactory in Nevada out to be more dangerous than it actually is.

The district court ruled that the former employee, Martin Tripp, violated cybersecurity laws by taking the data from Tesla’s servers. When the incident occurred, Tesla described Tripp as an anonymous “saboteur” and disgruntled employee. When the leak was traced back to him, he was fired.

The company also accuses short sellers of Tesla stock (TSLA) of financially backing Tripp in the legal battle. He initially had a team of attorneys, but reportedly dismissed them in order to represent himself.

Tripp filed a countersuit against Tesla, claiming that the company defamed him and tapped his phone lines in order to track his activity and build a case against him. Tesla denies the allegations.

Tripp reportedly also got into very public fights with CEO Elon Musk, including a series of emails that were leaked to the Guardian. It’s not unusual for Musk to exchange heated words with others on social media and is especially well-known for his ill-considered accusations against others on Twitter. His ongoing public feud with Blue Origin chief Jeff Bezos is especially well-known, as Elon Musk is also the CEO of Blue Origin rival SpaceX. However, this particular public fight drew unusual commentary in court documents filed by presiding judge Miranda Du:

Tripp, a single, non-executive-level employee, got into a very public dispute directly with the CEO of his former employer that generated its own news cycle. That is unusual. And in addition to exchanging threatening emails, both Tripp and Musk were attempting to influence public perception of the other by emailing their dispute directly to reporters, most notably at the Guardian.

The lawsuit asked $167 million to compensate for the beating that TSLA took in the stock markets in the wake of news of the alleged poor working conditions at Tesla’s factory. However, the court did not rule that the information leaked by Tripp was in any way responsible for the drop in the stock value. The ruling indicates that it felt that the links between his actions and the stock price drop were too flimsy.

The court found that Tripp’s actions were in violation of the Nevada Computer Crimes Law, which bans unauthorized use of data. It also dismissed his defamation lawsuit. In doing so, it rejected his defense that, as an employee, he was authorized to access the information. According to the ruling, he was not authorized to distribute that information to third parties or the public. In an interview with Gizmodo, Tripp denied any wrongdoing and defended his actions:

“I saw something wrong and I felt it was my duty to give that evidence to the public. I think there were public safety concerns.”

Tesla has not yet issued a statement on the ruling. Tripp has not indicated whether he will appeal the ruling.