Technology

Tesla Gains Approval to Start Manufacturing at Gigafactory Berlin

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Regulators granted Tesla conditional approval to begin manufacturing at Gigafactory Berlin after months of delays. Many of the delays were caused by bureaucratic red tape, challenges from environmentalists, supply chain-related challenges, and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tesla occasionally expressed frustration with the amount of red tape it had to cut through with the regulators, which slowed the process down. It had planned to open the Gigafactory last summer.

German environmentalist groups brought legal challenges alleging that Tesla did not take adequate steps to relocate an endangered snake species at the construction site and improperly cleared trees from the land at the construction site. A judge dismissed one case in which environmentalist groups claimed that they were simply seeking “clarification” of provisional permits that allowed Tesla to conduct equipment testing.

An extremist environmentalist group claimed responsibility for an act of arson that damaged power lines leading to Gigafactory Berlin.

Tesla can begin production at the Gigafactory after a required period during which interested parties can submit objections. This appears to be the German equivalent to the public comment period that U.S. regulators typically allow when making regulatory decisions.

(And, yes, the public comment period can be a nuisance for Elon Musk’s companies too. The FAA received so many comments for the planned orbital test of SpaceX’s Starship rocket that it pushed back its final decision so that it can review them all along with finalizing legally required environmental reviews.)

The conditional approval came from the Brandenburg state environment office. Many of the objections are likely to come from the same environmentalists who caused delays with the legal challenges. Environmentalists are most likely to object to the Gigafactory’s water usage, which they claim will be equivalent to a 30,000-person town.

Tesla previously agreed to reduce its water usage as much as possible. Elon Musk also introduced a more efficient method for manufacturing its EV batteries that uses less water during the “Battery Day” event in 2020. Tesla prefers to make its own batteries or own stakes in companies that make batteries for electric vehicles.

However, environmentalists could still put a kink in the works by forcing the local water utility service to pause service to Gigafactory Berlin while water usage is reviewed. The water utility service previously paused service due to an unpaid bill, which may have been a factor in Tesla’s decision to replace the site manager with a former Mercedes-Benz factory manager – something that reportedly caused a flap with a local automakers’ union.

The final opening of Gigafactory Berlin will benefit Tesla by improving its ability to build electric vehicles for the European market. It currently manufactures most of the electric vehicles that it sells in Europe at Gigafactory Shanghai.

Tesla is also currently working on construction at Gigafactory Austin, which is expected to manufacture the Cybertruck and Tesla Semi. Gigafactory Austin will employ as many as 10,000 people. Tesla employs as many as 100,000 people worldwide and has smashed a string of company records for quarterly deliveries of electric vehicles over the past year.

Space

NASA Adds More Commercial Crew Flights to SpaceX Contract

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Not long ago, NASA added three flights to the Commercial Crew contract it had awarded to SpaceX and reassigned two astronauts to the SpaceX Crew Dragon amid concerns about delays in the development of Boeing’s Starliner. Now it is adding an additional three flights to the SpaceX contract amid concerns that the current international politics climate could impact operations on the International Space Station.

The chief of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, threatened to use the Russian modules to bring the International Space Station crashing down on another country amid diplomatic tensions surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Contrary to public statements from Russia, the space station does sometimes pass over parts of Russia. Elon Musk says SpaceX could attempt to save the station if Russia follows through on its threat.

SpaceX succeeded in breaking Russia’s monopoly on crewed spaceflight with the successful Demo-2 mission last year. NASA had been paying Roscosmos up to $90 million per seat on the Russian Soyuz. Now it pays SpaceX $55 million per seat on the Crew Dragon.

Russia had previously criticized first NASA’s lack of crewed spaceflight capacity since the retirement of the space shuttle, then the SpaceX Crew Dragon. One official taunted that perhaps NASA could “use a trampoline or something” to get to the International Space Station. After the success of Demo-2, Elon Musk shot back, “Here’s your trampoline.”

More recently, Russia was considering having a cosmonaut fly on the Crew Dragon, though it’s unknown when or even if this will happen with the current diplomatic issues.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for the Crew-3 mission is currently docked to the International Space Station. It expects to launch Crew-4 in April. A Cargo Dragon full of the results of valuable scientific experiments returned in late January.

Additional planned missions to the station include a series of flights commissioned by Axiom Space to prepare for the addition of its inflatable modules to the space station. These modules will eventually be spun off into an independent station owned by Axiom Space. The first couple of Axiom Space missions will be commanded by veteran NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Michael Lopez-Alegria.

Axiom Space plans to make a total of four crewed flights to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon by 2023. The first flight is slated to launch on March 30.

Inspiration4 organizer Jared Isaacman plans to return to space as part of the Polaris missions, which will conduct a series of tests involving SpaceX’s spacesuit model and some spacewalks reminiscent of NASA’s Gemini Program of the 1960s. These tests will be critical for journeys to other worlds like the Moon and Mars.

It may annoy Russia that the United States is becoming less dependent on the Soyuz with NASA’s plans to return crews to the Moon with the Artemis Program and SpaceX’s plans for Mars. NASA didn’t express much concern that Russia could actually follow through on its threat to destroy the International Space Station. The ISS currently hosts four American astronauts, a German astronaut, and two Russian cosmonauts, all of whom could evacuate on crew-rated spacecraft docked to the station if they had to.

Technology

Daiwa Securities Upgrades Tesla Stock

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Daiwa Securities analysts upgraded their outlook on Tesla stock, citing increases in oil prices and Tesla’s upcoming expansions in production capacity.

Daiwa analyst Jairam Nathan especially cited the near completion of Gigafactory Berlin, which is simply awaiting regulatory approval to finalize construction and begin production for the European market. He also said that Tesla’s ability to manage supply chain issues like the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage was a factor.

Tesla has previously floated the possibility of taking extra steps to secure a reliable supply of semiconductor chips. Its Model 3 also earned the top “American Made” rating from Cars.com for the company’s insistence on manufacturing many parts at facilities close to its existing vehicle assembly factories and sourcing metals from countries with strong environmental regulations like the United States.

Nathan upgraded Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) from “Neutral” to “Outperform,” setting a price target of $900. On January 25, TSLA traded at $801.83

Most Tesla vehicles for the European market are currently manufactured at Gigafactory Shanghai. Tesla has occasionally expressed frustration with the slow regulatory process because Gigafactory Berlin is likely to be a major factor in breaking its reliance on China.

The Chinese government has occasionally taken an unfriendly stance toward some of Tesla’s technology, especially its vehicles’ onboard cameras, which it claimed could be used for espionage by capturing video footage of sensitive activities at government facilities. Tesla denies that its cameras are active in China but built a datacenter in China anyway.

Demand for electric vehicles is expected to continue its growth. Nathan based his analysis on Tesla being the “best positioned” to meet that demand.

Tesla was an early mover in the EV space and is credited with getting the automotive industry in general to take EVs seriously. It was the first to produce dedicated charging stations for its EVs, which it said will become available to owners of EVs made by other automakers through a special adapter. It continued to set records for quarterly deliveries with more than 300,000 vehicles delivered in Q4 2021.

The price of oil topped $100 a barrel on February 24, likely driven by worldwide events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is a major oil exporter. Increased demand for oil as some countries and regions drop COVID-related restrictions is also a likely factor in the price increase.

Besides the expected organic growth in demand for EVs, some countries and regions like the UK and the U.S. State of California legally require that automakers phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by the 2030s. Analysts say one challenge is that the UK alone will need millions of EV chargers to manage the transition.

Oxford is doing its share with the development of the Oxford Superhub, which it bills as “Europe’s most powerful EV charging hub.” Tesla has also worked with companies like Fastned to install Superchargers at charging stations in Europe and registered a trademark for a restaurant that may open at Supercharger stations in the future.

Some EV manufacturers may be more ready for the UK’s and California’s required transition to EVs than others. Although GM said it would invest heavily in increasing its capacity to manufacture EVs, it sold only 26 electric vehicles in all of 2021.

Technology

Elon Musk Activates Starlink in Ukraine

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Elon Musk activated Starlink’s satellite-based Internet service in Ukraine and says he will send additional terminals.

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had requested that Elon Musk help Ukraine maintain critical Internet connectivity amid service interruptions. He also says that Ukraine is forming an “IT army” and needs digital talent, including cyber specialists.

Internet service was especially interrupted in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, where most of the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces is occurring. This affects both military operations and civilians who remain in their home cities. Many of the latter swore that they would defend their homes against the invading Russian forces.

NetBlocks director Alp Toker said, “”We currently observe national connectivity at 87% of ordinary levels, a figure that reflects service disruptions as well as population flight and the shuttering of homes and businesses since the morning of the 24th.”

That figure briefly dropped to 20% of major Ukrainian Internet service provider GigaTrans’ normal connectivity.

Starlink already had a presence in nearby Poland with speeds ranging from 50 Mbps to 150 Mbps. SpaceX ambitions for Starlink include providing high-speed Internet service worldwide. SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell has acknowledged that revenue from Starlink could help fund the development of hardware needed to transport cargo and crews to Mars if it can gain a respectable market share for the satellite Internet niche.

Elon Musk and SpaceX had already shown a willingness to help provide critical connectivity in a crisis, including providing terminals to Kentucky to assist with tornado recovery, sending terminals to an island that lost connectivity due to a volcanic eruption, and helping Washington State combat raging wildfires at a time when cell phone service providers were throttling connectivity for the firefighters involved.

One of SpaceX’s current Starlink-related projects involves developing a terminal that can be mounted to large vehicles like RVs and buses, which could be useful for providing mobile connectivity for first responders.

The cyber group Anonymous showed a willingness to assist with the online efforts by targeting Russian sites like RT.com in an apparent denial-of-service attack. Facebook suspended advertising of Russian sites and Twitter described the steps it is taking, including suspending advertising in Ukraine and Russia and monitoring high-profile accounts, to make sure reliable information makes it through, in the Twitter thread starting in the below tweet.

Cryptocurrency insiders are also making donations to Ukraine to help it buy supplies. More than $3 million in Ether and Ethereum-based tokens have already been donated to a confirmed Ukrainian cryptocurrency address. A supporter of Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, known only as “Greg,” did ask if he could donate Dogecoin.

Space

Judge Dismisses Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against SpaceX

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A U.S. District Court for southern Texas dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against SpaceX that sought $20 million. A Texas man had been killed in an accident involving a truck that was delivering supplies to SpaceX’s test facility just outside Brownsville, Texas.

Family members of the 35-year-old man who was killed in the accident brought the lawsuit, alleging that the truck caused a dangerous situation by blocking a highway that passed close to the test facility while making its delivery.

According to the complaint, the family had been driving home from a visit to Boca Chica Beach in June 2020 when their vehicle slammed into the truck. 35-year-old Carlos Venegas died of head trauma at the scene of the accident. His wife and three children suffered spine and leg injuries.

The lawsuit alleged that SpaceX failed to provide sufficient safety measures such as stoplights, security personnel, reflective signs, or reflective markers. The section of highway at which the accident happened is allegedly not well-lit enough to allow for good visibility during the early morning hours in which the accident happened.

The truck had been attempting to make a tight turn onto a narrow access road leading to the test facility from a nearby highway. The highway was not very well-lit.

The plaintiffs also alleged that SpaceX failed to adequately warn beachgoers that it was expecting semi trucks to enter and leave the test facility. SpaceX has a permit to regularly close nearby public beaches and roads for safety reasons if there is a reasonable chance that activities like a scheduled test launch of a Starship prototype at the test facility might pose a danger to the public.

Some local residents complained last year that SpaceX exceeded the 300 allowed hours of closures last year, something that SpaceX disputed. SpaceX had also suggested that ownership of roads near the test facility could be turned over to the company. It already owns one section of road running past the facility that was renamed “Rocket Road,” though the accident occurred on a public highway and not Rocket Road.

SpaceX’s legal defense team told the district court that it wasn’t liable for the accident since it occurred off the company’s property and didn’t involve any SpaceX vehicles or personnel. The legal precedent cited by the district court said that landowners aren’t liable for accidents that occur on public roadways near their property.

US Magistrate Judge Ronald Morgan recommended that the case be dismissed, saying that “a landowner’s duty to exercise reasonable care not to endanger the safety of persons on an abutting highway does not create an obligation to guard passing motorists against the possible negligence of an independent contractor over whom the landowner exercises no control and whose competence to perform his duties the landowner has no reason to doubt.”

US District Judge Fernando Rodriguex Jr. agreed with Morgan. The plaintiff’s original court filing can be viewed on Justia.

Technology

NHTSA Investigating “Phantom Braking” Issue With Tesla Driver Assist Software

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The NHTSA is currently investigating a software issue in some Model 3 and Y vehicles that might cause “phantom braking.”

The Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software on Model 3 and Y models rely purely on a camera system. These driver assist programs are capable of forward collision warnings and emergency braking.

The NHTSA received more than 350 complaints of phantom braking. Most of the reported “phantom braking” incidents occurred after Tesla removed radar from its less expensive car models in May 2021.

The removal of radar caused several consumer safety organizations to reassess their safety ratings on Tesla vehicles. In December 2021, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the camera system a Top Safety Pick+ safety rating. The NHTSA has not yet issued a safety rating for Tesla’s systems.

Tesla has already issued a recall to fix the phantom braking issue in vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving. Both driver assist programs are optional add-ons for consumers who order a Tesla vehicle. They can also be added on later, which has led to occasional incidents involving an accidental purchase. (Unintended purchases can, fortunately, easily be reversed.)

Previous software-related recalls also include software updates to disable gaming while the vehicle is in motion and remove the “Boombox” feature, which allowed the vehicle to make customized sounds outside the vehicle. Regulators said that the “Boombox” feature would have obscured a required sound warning that a vehicle was approaching, though some Tesla fans said that it should be regarded as no different from a honking horn.

In the wake of several recalls over the past year and the SEC’s ongoing legal wrangling with Elon Musk over his tweets, Tesla accused regulators of picking on Musk. Tesla especially blasted the SEC for attempting to quell Musk’s free speech rights with an ongoing lawsuit involving a 2018 tweet in which Musk said he could take Tesla private.

Musk has since admitted that taking Tesla private would be impossible. However, subsequent tweets about Tesla’s stock included a 2021 poll in which he asked if he should sell 10% of his stock. Tesla stock plunged after the poll was posted.

Musk did end up selling billions of dollars’ worth of stock (and, yes, paying $11 billion in capital gains taxes, although that was apparently still not enough for Senator Elizabeth Warren).

Tesla attorney Alex Spiro called out the SEC for failing to distribute the $40 million in fines that were a part of the initial settlement between Tesla, Musk, and the SEC. He accused regulators of conducting an “unrelenting” campaign of harassment and intimidation because Musk is an outspoken critic of the government.

Musk had called for adding a maximum age of 70 years old to the eligibility requirements to be President of the United States, an age that would have disqualified both Trump and Biden. He went after Biden for repeatedly snubbing Tesla in discussions of electric vehicles even though Tesla was the first company to create a commercially viable electric car. He also referred to Elizabeth Warren as “Senator Karen” in a tweet after she ran attack ads against Musk on Facebook and criticized him on Twitter.

Space

FAA Delays Decision on Orbital Starship Test Again

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The FAA previously said that it would have a decision on approving SpaceX’s orbital test of the Starship / Super Heavy stack by the end of February. Now it says it is delaying its decision until March 28.

It cited a required environmental review, the number of public comments it received, and consultations with other regulatory agencies as reasons for the delay. It received more than 19,000 comments on the draft version of the review.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the company is only waiting on FAA approval to conduct the test. It already has the prototype ready for the orbital test, which will launch from its test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and land just off the coast of Hawaii.

SpaceX originally planned to conduct the orbital test over the summer of 2021. However, the test kept getting pushed back due to delays in the FAA approval process. Most of the issue might have been sparked by local environmentalist groups who expressed concern about the impact of rocket testing at the Boca Chica facility on local wildlife habitats. They especially brought up SpaceX’s alleged impact on the local bird population. Others defended SpaceX’s actions, saying that there have been no human injuries or fatalities even when things blew up.

Boca Chica residents also expressed concern about SpaceX’s impact on the local community. It has been accused of harassing residents who refused to sell it their homes and exceeding its maximum approved hours for closing local roads and beaches. SpaceX disputed both allegations and says that its beach and road closures were far less than the 300 allowed hours.

The closures are normally for safety reasons in case a rocket fails mid-flight and sends debris flying or a ground test goes wrong. Since SpaceX’s security guards were accused of improperly turning back vehicles along the road closest to the facility, it has since suggested that Texas’ Cameron County transfer ownership of a road that runs past the test facility over to SpaceX.

Musk previously expressed frustration with the FAA for “borking” or delaying high-altitude tests for Starship. After four explosions in a row, it ironed out some issues with the Raptor engines and finally nailed the high-altitude test with SN15. The tests involved launching and landing the prototypes. Most of the mishaps happened during or shortly after landing.

SpaceX is currently considering moving Starship-related activities to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is already working on a launchpad for the operational version of the Starship / Super Heavy stack and might develop additional infrastructure for Starship tests if things don’t go as planned in Boca Chica.

SpaceX plans to use Starship for Musk’s plans to transport cargo and people to Mars. It already has contracts with the U.S. Air Force to use Starship for transportation of cargo around the world and NASA to use a Starship-derived lunar lander to land crews on the Moon for the Artemis Program. Once Starship gets off the ground, it could launch as often as once a week.

Space

Jared Isaacman to Command Polaris Dawn Mission

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, Jared Isaacman commanded the Inspiration4 mission in September 2021. Inspiration4 was the first fully private crewed mission flown by SpaceX and raised more than $100 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by September 18, 2021, including a large donation by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. By the end of 2021, it raised more than $240 million.

Now, Isaacman plans to command the Polaris Dawn mission, which could be the first to test SpaceX’s spacesuit design.

The Polaris Dawn crew will also include SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon as mission specialists. Isaacman’s business associate, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, as pilot.

SpaceX’s Polaris Program aims to reach orbital altitudes comparable to NASA’s Gemini Program in the 1960s. Gemini XI, crewed by Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon, reached an orbital altitude of 853 miles. The International Space Station’s orbit has varied from 205 miles to 248 miles in altitude with occasional altitude boosts to account for the small amount of atmospheric drag at its lower altitude.

Polaris Dawn will launch as soon as Q4 2022 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center and spend five days in orbit. The high altitude will give a better understanding of the effects of radiation levels in the Van Allen belts and beyond on human health. The mission plan also includes the first commercial spacewalk and a communications test involving Starlink’s laser-based communications.

Because the Crew Dragon doesn’t have an airlock, all the crew members will have to wear pressure suits while the Dragon is depressurized for the spacewalk. Gemini used a similar procedure for its EVAs.

Starlink is SpaceX’s Internet service constellation with nearly 2,000 functional satellites currently in orbit. By the time Polaris Dawn flies, some next-generation Starlink satellites that include laser communications should be in orbit.

Like Inspiration4, the Polaris Program is also collecting donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Jared Isaacman is a pilot and entrepreneur who founded Shift4, a payment processing solution for online shops. Besides the St. Jude fundraiser, he gave away a seat to one person who tested Shift4 on an ecommerce site.

Of his welding of his enthusiasm of spaceflight with his support with St. Jude, he said, “I’m personally as committed to seeing the SpaceX vision of a world … where people can journey among the stars as I am to St. Jude and their vision that no child should die in the dawn of life.”

Scott Poteet is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel with more than 3,200 flying hours and 400 hours of combat time. Since leaving the Air Force, he became the VP of Strategy at Shift4 and served as Mission Director for Inspiration4.

Sarah Gillis oversees SpaceX’s astronaut training program as a Lead Space Operations Engineer and has worked with NASA’s astronauts on the Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions.

Anna Menon is also a Lead Space Operations Engineer for SpaceX, overseeing development of crew operations and working in SpaceX’s Mission Control as a Mission Director and crew communicator. She has helped developed emergency procedures for Crew Dragon missions. Her previous experience includes serving in NASA’s Mission Control for the International Space Station as a biomedical flight controller.

Space

Elon Musk Floats Move of Starship Testing to Florida

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In the wake of numerous regulatory delays that held up the planned orbital test of SpaceX’s Starship, Elon Musk floated the possibility of moving Starship testing from Boca Chica, Texas, to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX had initially planned to launch the orbital test of Starship last summer. It would have launched from the Boca Chica facility and splashed down just off the Hawaiian coast.

Regulatory red tape, the FAA’s intense scrutiny of potential environmental issues, and an overwhelming number of public comments caused numerous delays. The FAA now says it will release its final decision on February 28 at the earliest.

Elon Musk has previously blasted the FAA’s handling of rocket- and spacecraft-related regulation in the wake of a series of prototype rocket explosions in early 2021 that attracted unwanted attention from the regulatory agency. The unlucky streak with launching and landing Starship prototypes ended with the successful high-altitude test of the SN15 prototype.

An FAA spokesman said that regulators could pursue additional study of the impact on wetlands and wildlife if it turns out to be significant. Excessive noise is also a variable that the FAA considers. Rocket launches can get quite loud, especially for larger rockets like the Starship/Super Heavy stack.

Musk mentioned that additional scrutiny of the planned orbital test’s environmental impact could “set us back for quite some time.”

He did say that he preferred to use the Kennedy Space Center for operational launches like delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station and launching satellites. Most of SpaceX’s rocket testing takes place at its Boca Chica facility.

However, he may think it’s worth the hassle of moving Starship-related testing to Florida to get away from hostile environmentalist groups that complained about the impact on the Boca Chica bird population and accusations of excessive road and beach closures.

Kennedy Space Center has a long history of space launches, including launching the legendary Apollo moon landing missions from Launch Complex 39A and B – a launch complex that SpaceX now uses for launches of its reusable Falcon rockets.

SpaceX already started building an additional launchpad at Kennedy Space Center for Starship. Once it’s operational, it might launch Starships as often as once a week.

Kennedy Space Center technical lead for environmental planning Don Dankert hinted that SpaceX proposed building an entirely new launch complex for Starship in a recent proposal.

SpaceX already has a contract with the Air Force to trial the use of Starship for delivery of cargo from point to point on Earth. It has also floated the possibility of using its big rocket to launch next-generation Starlink satellites and clean up “space junk” that is no longer usable but remains in orbit.

Elon Musk also plans to use Starship to transport cargo and people to Mars, potentially forming a large and growing permanent city on the red planet. As he famously said years ago, “I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.” He has given regular updates of his plans for Mars at events like the annual Mars Society conference.

Technology

Tesla to Remove Boombox Feature in Software Update

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

If you own a Tesla vehicle and like to blast your music because you don’t think owning a Tesla is enough of a head-turning status symbol, you are likely to be disappointed by its latest recall. According to the NHTSA, Tesla issued a recall to remove the Boombox feature in a software update.

Boombox can play music or make sounds outside the Tesla vehicle. It could prevent pedestrians from hearing a required warning sound of an incoming vehicle.

Regulators are not aware of any accidents, injuries, or fatalities related to the Boombox feature. However, it violated safety regulations requiring that vehicles make sound when they move under 18.6 miles per hour. The NHTSA ruled that automakers can customize their vehicles’ sounds in 2019.

Although it was not immediately clear whether Boombox was involved in any citations of local noise ordinance violations, it would be easier to obscure the sound made by a Tesla vehicle. Electric vehicles are typically quieter than gas-powered vehicles.

The recall affects more than 578,000 vehicles. 2020-2022 Model S, X and Y and 2017-22 Model 3 vehicles are included in the recall.

Sound like a lot? Well, Tesla has shattered company delivery records for the last couple of years in a row as it ramps up its production capability. This includes 308,600 vehicles delivered in Q4 2021 alone.

By way of comparison, GM delivered only 27 electric vehicles in all of 2021 – something that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and some of his followers were quick to laugh at.

Tesla may also be learning how to pick its battles when it comes to regulation despite expressing occasional annoyance with regulatory red tape. That red tape includes bureaucratic slowdowns surrounding Gigafactory Berlin, which will improve its ability to make cars for the European market without having to import them from China.

Some Tesla fans did question whether the removal of a feature through an over-the-air software update even justified a recall despite the regulatory concern. Tesla could have simply announced that it was removing the Boombox feature because the NHTSA said so.

Other recent recalls of Tesla vehicles include a recall of 27,000 vehicles to fix a faulty windshield defroster. It also issued recalls to fix camera and front trunk issues. Most recalls to fix manufacturing-related defects can be addressed at a Tesla service center.

Most automakers have a few recalls of various vehicle makes and models every year to repair defects. Information on recalls for vehicles manufactured by any automaker can be found on NHTSA.gov. You can check whether your vehicle might be subject to a recall by entering its 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

Starlink Provides Internet Access for Island Hit by Volcanic Eruption

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX’s Starlink is providing emergency Internet access for the island of Tonga after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted. The eruption killed three people, blanketed as many as 170 islands with up to 1.2 inches of volcanic ash and debris, and severed the cables that delivered Internet access to the small island country via Fiji.

According to NASA, the eruption was powerful enough to generate shockwaves that reached the ionosphere.

Attorney general and communication minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has been working with a team from SpaceX to set up an interlink with Starlink satellites. The interlink will provide temporary connectivity until the Internet cables can be restored.

Some government buildings and the Tongan monarchy’s palace still have some limited connectivity. However, that coverage can’t serve the entire country.

A previous break in an Internet cable serving Tonga took two weeks to repair. This time, it might take longer, considering that the country also has to clean up debris and damage caused by the eruption. Many businesses and public services such as banks, stores, and schools are closed in the wake of the emergency.

Starlink’s experience with helping government agencies deal with a crisis includes providing communications for Washington State firefighters as they combatted severe wildfires in 2020. It also sent Starlink terminals to Kentucky to assist with tornado response efforts in December 2021.

SpaceX has been working with governments worldwide to provide Internet access to remote or low-income communities that could be hit the hardest by disasters. This includes communities in Brazil and Chile, the Cherokee Nation and Hoh Tribe, and sparsely populated areas in the United States and United Kingdom that haven’t had the same level of access as more populous areas.

It is working on a terminal that could be mounted to large vehicles like buses and RVs. This will likely be useful for emergency response efforts that will require both mobility and reliable communications. It is inadvisable to mount it on the hood of your car yet, though.

Starlink recently lost forty newly launched satellites due to solar activity. However, this is unlikely to impact its ability to deliver Internet access to Tonga and other remote areas that could easily lose Internet access due to a disaster that severs other communications outlets. It is already reaching performance levels that are close to traditional broadband.

SpaceX’s Starlink didn’t have a presence on Tonga before offering to provide temporary Internet service in the wake of the volcanic eruption. However, a demonstrated ability to help in a disaster might help open the door to a more permanent presence on the island.

Space

NASA, SpaceX to Investigate Delays in Crew Dragon Parachute Opening

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In January, one of the six parachutes on a Cargo Dragon that was bringing valuable scientific research back to Earth opened more slowly than normal. The issue previously showed up when Crew-2 returned to Earth in November 2021.

NASA and SpaceX say that they are currently investigating the issue. The performance of both Dragons was pretty normal otherwise.

A NASA spokeperson said that lags in the deployment of a parachute are common in large ringsail parachutes like the ones used on the Dragon spacecraft. The issue could be due to the other three parachutes getting in the way when they inflate.

The Dragon’s parachute system includes four main parachutes that slow the spacecraft down during reentry and two parachutes that stabilize the system.

Previous issues with the Crew Dragon include unexpected “wear and tear” of the Crew Dragon’s heat shield used for the Demo-2 mission, during which astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken flew on the final certification test flight for the Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX technicians analyzed and shored up the issue to provide additional safety.

The Inspiration4 flight experienced issues with the onboard toilet. The crew was fortunately able to fix the issue. Due to the issue, though, Crew-2 did not use the onboard toilet during its return to Earth.

Crew-3 is still docked to the International Space Station and will likely return soon after Crew-4 launches in April. Although it may experience the parachute issue, NASA did not express much concern about it since the other parachutes functioned normally during the previous two reentries.

SpaceX has contracts with NASA to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station. NASA recently added three flights to the Commercial Crew contract and transferred two astronauts from the Boeing’s Starliner to the Crew Dragon to account for delays in the development of other crewed spacecraft like the Starliner. The Dragon can carry up to seven astronauts – the same crew capacity that the space shuttle had.

Russia is also considering flying one of its cosmonauts on the Crew Dragon after years of throwing shade at SpaceX.

NASA’s private contracts include a recently expanded multi-flight deal with Axiom Space to fly private crews to the International Space Station as part of preparations to send new inflatable modules to the space station. Veteran NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Michael López-Alegría will command the first two missions. The first mission is scheduled to launch in March.

SpaceX also plans to fly an orbital test of the Starship / Super Heavy stack as soon as it can get past the FAA approval process. Most of the delays in this test had to do with regulatory red tape. Despite the frequent sparring between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and the FAA, a spokesman for the FAA has defended SpaceX during testimony before Congress before.

Reports indicate that SpaceX could fly Starship an average of once a week once it becomes operational, including using it to launch Starlink satellites and possibly deliver cargo for the U.S. Air Force. Compared to the regulatory red tape, the delay in a Dragon spacecraft parachute’s deployment may seem like a minor issue.

Space

Coast Guard Investigating Cruise Ship that Delayed Launch of Italian Satellite

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX was due to launch an Italian Earth-observation satellite on Sunday. A Royal Caribbean cruise ship named Harmony of the Seas strayed into the exclusion zone, forcing SpaceX to scrub the launch. The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the incident.

“We can confirm the cruise ship was Harmony of the Seas. The Coast Guard is actively investigating Sunday’s cruise ship incursion and postponement of the SpaceX launch,” said Coast Guard spokesperson David Micallef.

Royal Caribbean did not respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately clear why Harmony of the Seas veered into the exclusion zone.

The Coast Guard typically maintains exclusion zones during every rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. The exclusion zone provides a safety buffer in case a rocket malfunctions. A rocket or debris from an explosion might fall into the ocean.

SpaceX is authorized to periodically close roads and beaches near its Boca Chica, Texas, test facility for similar reasons despite occasional complaints about alleged excessive closures.

However, the Coast Guard doesn’t always succeed in keeping people out of an exclusion zone during space-related activities. When NASA’s and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission splashed down last year, the recovery ship was surrounded by privately owned boats while retrieving the Crew Dragon with Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board.

NASA likely sent some behind-the-scenes communications to the Coast Guard regarding making better efforts to keep that from happening again in the future.

The exclusion zones are especially important for safety during SpaceX missions because it also lands its first stage boosters most of the time. By now, SpaceX makes landing the first stage boosters look almost routine, but they have missed the drone ship and fallen into the ocean before.

SpaceX successfully launched the Italian satellite, Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2), on Monday at 6:11 pm Eastern time. It landed the first stage booster, marking SpaceX’s 104th successful landing of a booster.

This first stage booster was previously used twice as a side booster for the Falcon Heavy. It was repurposed as a booster for the Falcon 9 – a first for SpaceX.

It also recovered the fairing that protects payloads during launch for refurbishment and reuse. SpaceX used to try to catch fairings in a net suspended between two ships but gave that up due to the limited success rate.

The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation satellites represent a joint project between the Italian Space Agency, Italian Ministry of Defense and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Scientific Research. The project consists of two satellites that will observe Earth using synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This second-generation project is designed to build on the original success of the original Cosmo-SkyMed system.

CSG-2 will assist with a variety of programs and applications that include food and agriculture management, land management, emergency prevention, cartography, forest and environment protection, natural resources exploration, land management, defense and security, and maritime surveillance.

The first satellite, CSG-1, was launched on an Arianespace Soyuz from French Guinea in December 2019. It currently orbits Earth in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 620 kilometers. CSG-2 will maneuver to an identical orbit.

Technology

SpaceX Introduces “Enterprise-Level” Starlink Plan

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, SpaceX expressed little interest in having tiered plans for its Starlink Internet service. Now it is introducing a $500-per-month plan designed for businesses.

The $500 per month plan would come with speeds up to 500 Mbps. Customers will reserve their spot with a $500 deposit and the “Starlink kit,” which comes with a router and antenna, costs $2,500.

The standard plan costs $99 a month and promises speeds between 100 and 200 Mbps. The Starlink kits for the standard plan costs $499. SpaceX sells the kits at a loss and aims to bring the price down.

SpaceX plans to start delivering the premium plan as early as the second quarter of this year. Unlike the standard plan, which only provides service to a specific address, enterprise customers can connect from anywhere. This could make the plan useful for any business that relies on their employees being on the move or has a more “flexible” work environment.

“Starlink Premium has more than double the antenna capability of Starlink, delivering faster internet speeds and higher throughput for the highest demand users, including businesses,” says Starlink’s website. “Order as many Starlinks as needed and manage all of your service locations, no matter how remote, from a single account.”

Starlink terminals have already proven their ability to function in harsh winter conditions with an internal heating unit that, yes, can attract cats. SpaceX promises that the enterprise version of the terminals will be even more robust in frigid weather.

Starlink still advertises unlimited data, likely as part of its early bid to gain traction. Some competitors in the satellite Internet service niche charge by the gigabyte for access.

Unlike those competitors, Speedtest data indicates that Starlink is approaching the speed of “traditional” landline broadband Internet service. This will be useful in areas where Internet access is slow and expensive or simply non-existent. This may have sparked some jealousy from competitors like Amazon’s Kuiper Project and ViaSat, both of which have filed regulatory challenges to proposed changes to Starlink satellites and their orbits.

It had nearly 1,900 functional satellites in orbit, though a few defunct ones have deorbited and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. To combat the space junk problem, Starlink trades information on the orbits of its space assets with NASA and its satellites can maneuver to avoid a collision.

Starlink says its constellation is technically capable of reaching most of Earth with its Internet service. In typical fashion for a venture headed by Elon Musk, though, regulations have proven to be the more challenging hurdle. Russia previously considered fining Starlink users in its country. SpaceX also recently had to issue refunds to users in India due to hiccups in the process of obtaining the appropriate licensing for Starlink.

If it can get past the worldwide hurdles, though, it can deliver high-speed, low-latency satellite Internet services to the communities that need it the most. Now it seems as interested in providing enterprise-level Internet access to businesses that need extra speed as it is in bringing Internet access to remote or low-income communities.

Technology

Biden Snubs Tesla Again, Musk Fires Back

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Last August, the Biden Administration snubbed Elon Musk and Tesla by failing to send Tesla an invitation to an electric car summit. Based on comments made by Biden, some observers speculated that Biden didn’t invite Tesla because it isn’t unionized.

When confronted on why Tesla wasn’t invited, Pete Buttegieg said only, “I’m not sure.”

Now Biden appears to have deliberately ignored Tesla yet again in a Tweet in which he mentioned that GM and Ford were focused on building electric vehicles in the United States.

Elon Musk, of course, was quick to retort:

Tesla was an early mover in the modern electric vehicle niche and still purely manufactures electric vehicles. It developed its own EV charger, the Supercharger, when there was a lack of charging infrastructure for EVs. Last July, it announced plans to open the Supercharger to other EVs through a special adapter.

Cars.com gave the Model 3 the top slot on its 2021 list of most American-made vehicles. The Model Y took third place. Musk’s insistence on controlling as much of the supply chain as possible, including manufacturing parts in-house or owning stakes in companies that make EV components like batteries, is a likely factor in the high ratings for these models.

He does admit that the supply chain is a challenge, though. The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage especially put a crimp in the automotive industry’s overall ability to make the electric components of their vehicles.

In deals with mining companies, Tesla has insisted that environmentally friendly mining practices should be used and seems to favor deals with companies that operate in countries with strong environmental practices. That includes North America and Australia.

CNBC reported that GM aims to overtake Tesla in EV sales in 2025. Even setting aside Elon Musk’s snarky comments about GM, this could pose a major challenge, considering that GM sold only 26 EVs in all of 2021 and Tesla delivered 308,600 vehicles in Q4 2021 alone. Tesla is also apparently nearly ready to open Gigafactory Berlin and still working on Gigafactory Texas.

President Biden also wasn’t spared Elon Musk’s snarky tweets. Musk went on to call Biden “a wet sock puppet in human form.” He also accused Biden of being “controlled by unions,” especially in the wake of Biden giving the UAW credit for his election. He also borrowed a bit from Trump calling him “Sleepy Joe” by saying that he was “still sleeping” during the Inspiration4 mission.

Inspiration4 was SpaceX’s (and the world’s) first all-private space mission. It flew last September on the Crew Dragon “Resilience” and raised $200 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, including a large donation made by Elon Musk. A documentary on Inspiration4 titled Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space can be found on Netflix.

Musk has also expressed his disagreements with Trump over the former president’s decision to exit the Paris Climate Accords and suspend some Obama-era environmental regulations. He claimed that Trump’s suspension of the regulations hurt the carbon credit market in a lawsuit.

His blistering of politicians also includes accusing Elizabeth Warren of “freeloading off taxpayers.” Warren spent thousands of dollars on Facebook ads attacking Elon Musk and asking for campaign donations.

Musk has suggested that there should be an upper age limit “just under 70” for eligibility to be president. This requirement would have ruled out both Biden and Trump. The Constitution currently says only that presidents should be at least 35 years old.

Technology

Elon Musk Says Humanoid Robot Top Priority for Tesla, New Car Models On Hold for 2022

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk said that the humanoid robot that he presented at AI day is top priority for Tesla and new car models like the Cybertruck and Roadster might have to wait another year for production if they get made at all.

The new car models are being held up by production- and supply chain-related issues like the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips. Musk has floated the possibility of taking extra measures to secure enough chips to keep up with vehicle orders.

Tesla is nearly ready to open Gigafactory Berlin and still working on Gigafactory Texas. It plans to produce the Cybertruck, as well as the Model 3 and Model Y, at Gigafactory Texas.

The Cybertruck is on the table. Musk hinted that the more affordable, $25,000 Roadster might be canceled.

Tesla finished 2021 with record profits and delivered 308,600 vehicles in Q4 2021. Despite the silver lining, its stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped on the news that some models might be delayed or canceled altogether.

Analysts also expressed concern that Tesla might swivel away from a product that has been an increasingly strong seller for the company. JPMorgan dropped its TSLA stock price target from $325 to $295, for instance. It cited delays in the Cybertruck and uncertainty about the future of the Roadster, as well as Musk’s increased focus on the futuristic robot that Elon Musk unveiled last year.

At last year’s AI Day, Musk hinted that the humanoid robot, code named Optimus, could help with everyday tasks like carrying bags of groceries. They could also handle work in factories and carry out dangerous or repetitive tasks on other planets like Mars.

NASA previously tested a semi-humanoid robot, Robonaut 2, on the International Space Station. It performed a series of tasks to demonstrate its ability to work in microgravity.

For those who have seen the movie Terminator, Elon Musk reassured the public that the robot wasn’t dangerous. “You could outrun it” even in the unlikely event that it malfunctions and goes berserk, he said during AI Day. ″[Optimus is] intended to be friendly, of course, and navigate through a world of humans, and eliminate dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks.”

Will it take your job? Well, it would be easy to imagine Optimus-like robots flipping burgers at McDonald’s or assembling vehicles at Tesla’s Gigafactories. Musk projected that producing robots like Optimus could become a bigger business for Tesla than selling automobiles.

For now, each Gigafactory employs thousands of workers. In the future, Tesla might eliminate HR-related headaches like lawsuits alleging rampant racism at its factories and retaliation against an employee who reported theft.

It has won a lawsuit against one former employee it accused of leaking sensitive documents and settled with another former employee accused of corporate espionage. Even with the occasional victory in court, the lawsuits are likely a large part of the Tesla-caused “headaches” that Musk mentioned at one event.

For once, Musk didn’t mention an ambitious timeline for producing the Optimus robots despite its potential to solve some of his headaches by taking on the boring, mundane tasks in his factories. It could be years before Tesla actually churns them out as fast as it can produce its best-selling Model 3.

Space

Cargo Dragon Returns With Important Research From International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The 24th SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission to the International Space Station returned with the results of important research conducted on the station. It had been delayed due to poor weather at its designated splashdown site.

Notable cargo includes the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), which was sent to the International Space Station in 2009. Researchers used the LMM to study matter at the microscopic level. Experiments on the LMM included studies of plants in microgravity and observations of colloidal solutions commonly found in consumer products.

InSPACE-4 was also used to study the assembly of tiny structures in colloidal solutions. Researchers could study the results of experiments using a video feed. The research conducted using InSPACE-4 can be used for future applications of nanoparticles to manufacture new materials and sensors for robotics and create thermal shields, sound damping devices, and building foundations.

The Crew Dragon also brought back the European Space Agency’s cytoskeleton experiment. This experiment studied the effect of gravity on cell signaling in the human body. It especially focused on a molecular switch called RhoGTPases, which controls cell division, gene expression, and the cell’s shape.

The Crew Dragon splashed down just off the Floridian coast to allow for the quick delivery of the experiments to the Kennedy Space Center for distribution to researchers.

Current research on the International Space Station includes studies related to cardiovascular health, especially the “aging” of the cardiovascular system. The ongoing Vascular series of studies look more closely at the effect of radiation on cardiovascular health, the possibility of developing insulin resistance in space, and arterial stiffness in astronauts. According to the Canadian Space Agency, these studies could help improve treatment and reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular health issues for the 90% of Canadians who have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke.

The current space station crew is continuing studies on growing crops in microgravity. The current Veggie PONDS experiment tests the growth of crops like “Outredgeous” Red Romaine lettuce and mizuna mustard. The astronauts report that the lettuce is perfectly edible. The study of crops grown in space will lay the groundwork for supporting longer-duration missions like journeys to other planets, including Mars. Farming in space will have to at least partially replace NASA’s current ability to ship food and the occasional treat of fresh fruits and vegetables to the International Space Station. (Yes, this will likely include potatoes.)

SpaceX’s slate of future missions to the International Space Station includes Crew-4, which is scheduled to launch on April 15. This will be the fifth crewed mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew program and sixth crewed mission for SpaceX.

Axiom Space also plans to begin launching private crews to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon. The first couple of missions will be commanded by veteran NASA astronauts like Peggy Whitson, whose 665 days in space include increments on the space station. Axiom Space plans to start flying missions to the International Space Station later this year to prepare for providing inflatable modules for the space station.

Space

SpaceX Wins Air Force Contract to Deliver Military Cargo, Humanitarian Aid

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The U.S. Air Force awarded a $102 million contract to use rockets to deliver military cargo and humanitarian aid globally.

The Air Force and SpaceX didn’t disclose which rockets would be used. However, rocket cargo program manager Greg Spanjers said that the rockets could be specially adapted for point-to-point delivery on Earth.

The initial program outlined in the contract will demonstrate “exactly what a rocket can achieve when used for cargo transport, what is the true capacity, speed, and cost of the integrated system,” Spanjers said.

As part of the contract, SpaceX will develop cargo bay designs that permit the rapid loading and unloading of cargo.

The Air Force will develop a variety of methods for delivering cargo from space. It may look into awarding similar contracts to other rocket launch companies in the future, as well as work with private contractors to develop ground-based space cargo delivery technologies.

The lack of commercial spaceports is one particular challenge. The United States has only eight spaceports, many of which are expansions to existing airports and former military air stations. Spaceport America in New Mexico is the first purpose-built spaceport.

The idea of using rockets for point-to-point cargo delivery on Earth is unlikely to solve all the issues that have plagued the logistics industry lately. However, it could allow for the rapid delivery of critical cargo where it’s needed the most.

With current capabilities, delivery of humanitarian aid can take days to travel from the point it’s loaded onto the transport vehicle to the point it is unloaded at its destination. A point-to-point rocket delivery could slash that time to hours or mere minutes, depending on where it’s launched from and where it’s going. That could reduce the amount of time it takes to deliver material aid to a disaster zone where response times for relief efforts are critical.

Competitors that are working on a space-based rapid cargo delivery system include Neutron Labs. This aerospace company is working on an orbital payload delivery system that a Neutron Labs spokesperson said was inspired by the children’s game Hungry, Hungry Hippos. It might also remind some people of “claw machine” games. Serious space buffs might say that it looks like a variation of the “angry alligator” from NASA’s Gemini IX mission in 1966.

SpaceX is already busy working on the several government contracts it won last year, including the lucrative lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program. It will also launch the first components of the Lunar Gateway, an orbital X-ray observatory, and the Jupiter-bound Europa Clipper for NASA. SpaceX is also slated to launch robotic lunar landers for other aerospace companies like Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines.

SpaceX has displayed a particular interest in demonstrating its assets’ ability to assist with disaster recovery, humanitarian aid, and any activity where mobility is essential. This includes making Starlink available to firefighters combatting wildfires in Washington State at a time when other companies like Verizon were throttling communications for first responders in an emergency situation. SpaceX sent Starlink terminals to provide communications in areas that were hit hard by tornadoes in Tennessee. It also developed a Starlink terminal that can be mounted to large vehicles like RVs and buses.

Technology

Neuralink to Hire Clinical Trial Director

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk’s Neuralink posted job listings for a clinical trial director and coordinator for development of a chip that can be implanted in the human brain. The job listing says the clinical trial director will “work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers” and participants in clinical trials.

In 2019, Elon Musk expressed hope that Neuralink would become available in 2020. Like many Musk timelines, that proved overly optimistic, and he now expects that it will be released later this year.

Naturally, this will require regulatory approval, which comes with the risk of regulatory red tape holding up the process. This is often a source of aggravation for Elon Musk and his companies. Bureaucratic delays held up both the opening of Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin and the launch of SpaceX’s orbital test flight of a Starship prototype, both of which were expected to happen last year and are now slated for this year.

Neuralink will have to pass U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for approval, including feasibility testing and a pivotal device test. The entire process, including the clinical trials, can take several years in most cases.

Animal testing showed that monkeys could use Neuralink devices to play video games with their thoughts alone. Trials on rats indicated the ability to use Neuralink to monitor their brainwaves as they navigated mazes. The next steps typically include human trials. In Neuralink’s case, volunteers are likely to have the implant surgically implanted in their brain.

Like many possible new medical and therapeutic implants, no one really knows what the long-term effects of a Neuralink implant will be. However, people who have serious neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease may be willing to take the risk to relieve some of the symptoms. The promise was enough to net Neuralink $150 million in investments, including $100 million from Elon Musk.

Clinical trial directors typically become involved early in the process to maximize the chances of approval. Neuralink’s job openings list the “Clinical Trial Director” and “Clinical Trial Coordinator” positions in the Regulatory category.

The company says the brain implant will be available as treatment for neurological disorders, including paralysis. The trials with the monkeys indicate that it can also be used as a mind-machine interface. It could be used as a direct interface between the brain and a speech device similar to the one Stephen Hawking used, for instance. This could help individuals who have difficulty communicating verbally.

The human clinical trials for Neuralink have not been listed on clinicaltrials.gov yet, though there is typically a gap between recruitment of the first clinical trial participants and listing on the clinicaltrials.gov website. Neither Neuralink nor the FDA have responded to requests for comment.

Competitors for Neuralink could include Synchron, which gained approval for a feasibility study of its brain-machine interface from the FDA last year.

Job openings for Neuralink can be found on Greenhouse.io. Most of the job openings are based in Austin, Texas or Fremont, California.

Technology

Elon Musk Calls Leaks of Travel Plans a “Security Issue”

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk called any advance posting of his travel plans a “security issue” after Tesla insider Sawyer Merritt tweeted that Musk planned to travel to Germany, and then deleted the tweet.

When someone posted that he was likely to travel to Germany “later this week,” he was quicker to deny that he planned to travel to Germany in January than that he planned to ride around in a Model Y.

Tesla plans to open Gigafactory Berlin soon despite repeated delays, most of them related to regulatory red tape and environmentalists’ lawsuits. Rumors have circulated that Elon Musk might spice things up by attending the opening. Musk is known for putting on a show at events like “AI Day” and “Battery Day,” along with using the events to make important announcements like Tesla’s plans for a humanoid robot.

Finally getting Gigafactory Berlin open would enable Tesla to start moving away from importing vehicles from Gigafactory Shanghai in China for sale in the European market. Relations between Tesla and China have occasionally been tense despite Tesla’s attempts to placate the Chinese government through moves like establishing a datacenter in China.

Trackers can post updates on Musk’s likely travel based on the location of his private jet, a Gulfstream G650ER. Followers of Elon Musk-related news expressed concern that these trackers could put Musk and his family at risk. One follower suggested that he could obscure his itinerary (and location) simply by making sure his jet is where he isn’t when he wasn’t using it. (Plus, how sweet would it be to spend time on Elon Musk’s jet?)

Like many high-profile individuals, Musk has his share of enemies. These enemies include politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren, who ran ads on Facebook attacking Elon Musk and asking for campaign donations. Musk may be concerned that powerful enemies like Warren could inspire their supporters to cause trouble.

That trouble could include “lone wolf” incidents like the gunman who critically injured Gabby Giffords in 2011 and the gunman who attacked the Republicans’ practice session for the annual Congressional baseball game in 2017.

Actual security incidents targeting Tesla include a suspected case of arson at Gigafactory Berlin that an environmental activist group claimed responsibility for. A “hacktivist” group called the APT-69420 Arson Cats claimed responsibility for hacking into a security camera system at Tesla facilities.

SpaceX deployed robotic “dogs” to patrol its Boca Chica test facility after one incident in which a YouTuber trespassed at the facility.

Considering these incidents, some of which were politically motivated, Musk may have reason to be concerned for his safety and the safety of his family. It would make sense for him to obscure his travel itinerary as much as possible to reduce risk.

Space

SpaceX Shelves Alternative Configuration for Second-Generation Starlink Satellites

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In a move that could be seen as a partial victory for Amazon’s Kuiper Systems, SpaceX withdrew its proposal for an alternative configuration for the second-generation Starlink satellites.

Kuiper Systems filed an objection to SpaceX’s proposals for upgraded Starlink satellites with the FCC, saying that it created “two mutually exclusive configurations” that created more work for competitors. It said that its employees would have to do double the work to account for two distinct configurations and avoid possible interference between the two constellations every time it launches satellites.

The FCC approved its Kuiper Project, a proposed constellation of 3,236 Internet-providing satellites in low-Earth orbit. Amazon plans to invest $10 billion in the Kuiper Project.

“Legacy” satellite Internet services like ViaSat launched their satellites into geosynchronous orbits that stay in a fixed point relative to a specific point on Earth’s surface. One downside to geosynchronous orbits is that they are farther from Earth, which means longer response times. The higher latency opens up a competitive opportunity for constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink. They occupy lower orbits for lower latency that can be attractive to customers who use online applications that require fast response times.

ViaSat has also filed regulatory challenges and a court case in a regulatory battle against Starlink, which drew one of Elon Musk’s sharp comments on Twitter.

The current deadline for comments on SpaceX’s application is on January 24. Kuiper Systems’ request for a 30-day extension to allow for more replies got the expected back-and-forth fighting between the two parties.

SpaceX told the FCC that Kuiper Systems wanted to delay competitors “to compensate for Amazon’s failure to make progress of its own.” Kuiper Systems fired back that SpaceX and Musk seemed to believe that “rules are for other people.” SpaceX called that response a useless “diatribe.”

SpaceX now says the second configuration isn’t needed in a response to a query that the FCC sent in a letter. It says the alternative was proposed due to “uncertainty in development” and cited the length of time that it can take regulators like the FCC to process an application.

The long regulatory wait times have often been a source of aggravation for CEO Elon Musk’s companies, ranging from causing delays in SpaceX’s Starship-related test launches to holding up the opening of Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin. ViaSat’s challenge is not even the only time that Musk openly expressed frustration with the often slow and outdated regulatory process.

SpaceX’s chosen configuration contains 29,988 satellites that will be launched into orbital altitudes ranging from 340 km to 614 km. SpaceX says it could start launching them as early as March 2022, pending regulatory approval.

SpaceX is rapidly closing in on 2,000 Starlink satellites in orbit and already boasts test speeds that are close to traditional “landline” broadband Internet services. Late last year, Starlink was nearly ready to come out of the “Better than Nothing Beta.”

The Kuiper Project plans to launch its first test satellites in Q4 2022, putting it four years behind SpaceX’s first launch of Starlink satellites.

Space

SpaceX Launches Transporter-3 Mission

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX launched its third dedicated rideshare mission, Transporter-3, at 10:25am EST on January 13. This rideshare mission launched 104 small satellites into orbit.

The Falcon 9 first stage landed at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral. SpaceX’s Transporter missions typically land the first stage boosters at a nearby landing zone on land instead of one of its drone barges.

Companies that launched small satellites on this mission include Planet, Spire, Kepler, Capella Space, Unseenlabs, Iceye and Umbra. Most of the companies were adding to already existing satellite constellations.

The satellites will serve a diverse set of purposes, including adding to Unseenlabs’ maritime domain awareness capabilities and demonstrating OroraTech’s ability to use satellites equipped with infrared cameras for early detection of wildfires.

Planet had the most satellites on this Transporter mission with 44 SuperDove satellites, which it uses for its Earth observation services. The biggest satellite on Transporter-3 was the 29-kilogram ETV-A1, a satellite built by Sen for its plan to transmit ultra-high-definition video from space.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority also launched a satellite on Transporter-3. The satellite, DEWA-SAT 1, will provide services for Internet-of-Things applications for its electrical and water systems. This is the first satellite owned by a utility service.

Most of the payloads were arranged by launch aggregators like D-Orbit, Spaceflight, and Exolaunch, which provide brokerage services for organizations seeking launch services for their small satellites.

And, yes, D-Orbit is best known for that time it tested a satellite reentry system that could function independently of the satellite as a way to address the issue of “dead” satellites that can in orbit for years – even decades. The concept could help avoid issues like the International Space Station having to maneuver to avoid “space junk” or China complaining about Starlink satellites almost colliding with its space station.

SpaceX’s dedicated rideshare missions make it possible to launch more small satellites without their owners having to wait for space on a launch of a larger payload. SpaceX is planning to launch three more Transporter missions this year. The Transporter missions provide a highly affordable way for companies and research organizations to launch small satellites.

Competition for the Transporter missions includes relatively new and less well-known aerospace companies like ExoLaunch, which offers rideshare and constellation launch services. Like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Rocket Lab’s Electron is a reusable rocket. Unlike the Falcon 9, though, Electron was specifically developed to launch small satellites on rideshare missions.

Some of the originally planned payload for Transporter-3 got shuffled around to these competitors or will be flown at a later date, likely due to technical issues. A Sherpa tug provided by Spaceflight was pulled from Transporter-3 due to a leak in its chemical propulsion system. Due to the removal of the Sherpa tug, a satellite owned by the Danish research center VZLU flew on a D-Orbit flight instead.

SpaceX’s next rideshare mission, Transporter-4, will include a cluster of radio-frequency monitoring satellites for Kleos. These satellites were due to fly on Transporter-3 but were delayed. Transporter-4 is scheduled to launch in April.

Technology

Tesla Signs Deal to Buy Nickel from U.S. Mining Company

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has signed a deal with the U.S.-based Talon Metals Corp to buy 75,000 tons of nickel from Talon Metals Corp’s mine in Minnesota over the next six years. It will also buy cobalt and iron ore from Talon Metals Corp.

Over the past couple of years, Tesla has shown greater interest in sourcing raw materials from mining companies in countries with stronger environmental regulations. This includes deals to buy metals from companies in Canada and Australia.

As part of the deals that Tesla makes with mining companies, it pushes for increasingly environmentally friendly mining practices. The 2020 deal with a Canadian mining company called for “carbon-neutral” mining practices, for instance.

Nickel is a critical metal for Tesla’s EV batteries. Its longer-range vehicles use batteries with a nickel-cobalt-aluminum composite for the battery cells. It recently switched some of its batteries over to a lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry, likely as a way to save money on manufacturing costs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has urged mining companies to increase production of nickel amid the risk of supply chain shortages. During a Q2 2020 earnings call with investors, he expressed concern about possible raw material shortages, especially nickel. He said mining companies might try to limit supply to drive up the price and he was working on convincing them to focus on more efficient, environmentally friendly mining processes instead.

Following its usual practice of trying to control as much of the supply chain as possible, Tesla has also shown an interest in operating at least one mine near its Gigafactory in Nevada. In September 2020, it obtained the mineral rights to a lithium clay deposit in Nevada. At the time, Elon Musk said that there may be enough lithium in Nevada to electrify all of America.

The practice also reduces how far raw materials and parts have to travel before they are added to the final product. By making its own cathodes, for instance, Tesla significantly slashes the number of miles that a cathode has to travel to its factories. Tesla has also floated the idea of making its own semiconductor chips as a response to the global chip shortage.

Tesla’s control of its supply chain has earned two of Tesla’s car models top slots in Cars.com’s list of most American-made cars.

During the Battery Day event in 2020, Elon Musk did claim that Tesla recycles 100% of its batteries and might be able to eliminate the need to source some metals like cobalt. At Gigafactory Shanghai, the cells from returned batteries are refurbished and reused.

However, in April 2021, Germany fined Tesla for not meeting regulatory requirements for posting public notices about battery recycling. (It is possible that Germany caused a lot of Elon Musk’s Tesla-related headaches last year.)

There is a possibility that Elon Musk would secretly like to mine the trillion-dollar asteroid, 16 Psyche, once SpaceX’s Starship program really takes off. NASA estimates that 16 Psyche could be up to 30% metals and worth up to $10,000 quadrillion at today’s metals prices.

Mining that much metal could take the load off Earth (and, yes, crash metals prices lol). Until then, Elon Musk is stuck with making deals with mining companies like Talon Metals Corp and possibly having Tesla mine its own cobalt.

Technology

Tesla Beats Analyst Estimates with 308,600 Vehicles Delivered

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla delivered 308,600 vehicles in Q4 2021, beating analysts’ estimates that it would deliver only 266,000 vehicles. This rounded out a year of impressive growth for the company and caused TSLA stock to soar by 10%.

Model 3 and Model Y vehicles continue to be company best-sellers, making up the bulk of the deliveries. Tesla also delivered 11,750 Model S and Model X vehicles. In all of 2021, it delivered 936,172 vehicles, an 87% increase over the 499,550 vehicles that it delivered in 2020.

The growth was not without challenges. Tesla faced aggravating regulatory red tape, environmentalists’ lawsuits, and one suspected case of arson, all of which caused delays in opening Gigafactory Berlin. Like many automakers, it had to recall vehicles to fix various manufacturing defects, all of which could fortunately be handled at its service centers. It also faced lawsuits from unhappy investors and employees who claimed discrimination and harassment.

Elon Musk and his companies also face pushback from politicians who say that he should pay more in taxes, even though he paid billions of dollars in capital gains taxes after selling 10% of his Tesla stock in December 2021. President Biden notably failed to invite representatives from Tesla to a summit on electric vehicles, leading to speculation that Biden meant to shut Tesla out over the lack of a union presence in its factories. Elizabeth Warren even went so far as to spend thousands of dollars on Facebook ads to attack Elon Musk (and beg for campaign donations while doing so).

The challenges have not stopped Tesla’s growth from catapulting Elon Musk into the position of Earth’s wealthiest person. He beat out aerospace rival Jeff Bezos (AKA “Jeff Who?”) for the title. Bezos and Musk have duked it out over the fact that Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin are competitors for NASA contracts, both in public and in the courtroom.

Musk also claimed the title of Time’s Person of the Year. This is an award that Time gives to the most influential person of the year. Although the article on Musk in Time’s “Person of the Year” issue did not gloss over his personality flaws or the critics’ complaints about him, it also listed the reasons that Time considers him the most influential person of 2021. The reasons included SpaceX’s lead in reusable spacecraft, including having already made five crewed flights on the Crew Dragon, as well as Tesla’s success in making the electric vehicle a serious, viable alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles.

Tesla’s delivery of only slightly less than 1 million vehicles this year reflects a strong demand for electric vehicles. Although its lead in terms of market share for battery-electric vehicles shrank, it was still on top at 21.6% market share during Q1-Q3 2021.

It has established itself as a solid early mover in this space and even had to develop its own dedicated charging stations, the Supercharger, to enable Tesla vehicle owners to charge their vehicles while on the go. Most recently, it developed a charging adapter to allow owners of other automakers’ electric vehicles to charge their vehicles at a Supercharger.

SpaceX Offers Refunds to Starlink Customers in India

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Due to a new Indian policy, SpaceX is issuing refunds to Indian residents who reserved a spot to receive access to Starlink’s Internet service. India has ordered SpaceX to stop “booking/rendering the satellite internet service” without obtaining a license.

An email that SpaceX sent out to potential customers in India implies that it is working on obtaining the appropriate licenses, but the Indian government hasn’t provided any clarity on the timeline of actually issuing those licenses.

SpaceX said that it was “looking forward to making Starlink available in India as soon as possible” and “you can receive a refund at any time.”

SpaceX was considering a pilot program in India. It had as many as 5,000 Indian residents on its waitlist to receive the Starlink kits, which include a terminal that can receive signals from the company’s Internet satellite constellation. It already appointed Sanjay Bhargava as the head of Starlink operations in the country.

Starlink has a big potential market in India. Bhargava mentioned that SpaceX plans to deploy as many as 200,000 terminals in 160,000 districts by the end of December 2022. As usual for a company headed by Elon Musk, though, that schedule often depends on its ability to obtain licenses and permission to launch rockets without too much red tape. Musk has often expressed frustration with regulators holding things up for his companies’ progress.

In this case, the frustration may be warranted, especially in light of communications from Bhargava about the issue.

“At Starlink, we want to serve the underserved. We hope to work with fellow broadband providers, solution providers in the aspirational districts to improve and save lives,” he wrote in a statement.

Starlink has already shown some promise in this field. SpaceX has indicated a willingness to work with local leaders like members of the Cherokee Nation to bring reliable high-speed Internet to those who lacked very many good options for Internet access. The Cherokee Nation leadership praised Starlink’s potential to open up more opportunities and access to important online services for its members.

Nearly 500 million residents of India similarly don’t have access to reliable Internet service. Most of them live in rural areas that lack access to a broadband network.

Bhargava referred to the approval process as a rather labyrinthine one and said it was questionable whether Starlink could reach its goals of deploying so many terminals in the country by the end of the year. However, “we are optimistic that we will get approval for a pilot program or Pan India approval in the next few months” if everything goes smoothly, he said.

India may want to do something about the nearly 80 million stray cats and dogs in the country before Starlink becomes widespread. There is at least some indication that cats could be attracted to the snow melt feature on the terminals during cold winters, which could impact its ability to receive a signal or even damage the terminal.

Until then, government policy seems to be the main hangup when it comes to deploying Starlink on a wide scale in India. Some people on its waitlist may become impatient and cancel their reservation if the Indian government is too slow in approving its license.

Google Cloud Signs Deal for Access to SpaceX’s Starlink

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Google Cloud announced a deal to enable SpaceX to use its infrastructure to track Starlink ground stations through Google Cloud’s datacenter properties. This will enable the secure, low-latency, and reliable delivery of data from Starlink’s satellite constellation to locations at the network edge through Google Cloud.

Users of Google Cloud rely on their ability to connect to its datacenters pretty much 24/7. That can be difficult if their ISPs have technical issues or a natural disaster interrupts ground-based utilities.

“Combining Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google’s infrastructure and capabilities provides global organizations with the secure and fast connection that modern organizations expect,” said SpaceX President and COO Gwynn Shotwell.

SpaceX has already established Starlink’s ability to function in areas with traditionally unreliable Internet service or that have been recently impacted by natural disaster. It worked with Washington State to provide services to emergency responders during 2020’s wildfires at the same time that Verizon was throttling firefighters’ connectivity. It also sent Starlink terminals to Kentucky in mid-December to assist with tornado recovery efforts.

SpaceX inked deals with the Native American Hoh Tribe and Cherokee Nation to provide Internet service to low-income members. It is also working with Chile and Brazil to bring reliable high-speed Internet to remote communities. SpaceX has also placed bids to work with efforts by the United States and U.K. to develop Internet broadband services for isolated or low-income communities.

Adding Google Cloud enables Starlink to bring larger organizations that rely on cloud services like apps running on the cloud, analytics, and artificial intelligence on board. These organizations could use Starlink as a reliable way to provide connectivity to remote teams when other ISPs’ services might get throttled or disconnected altogether right when they need reliable communications the most. In some cases in which mobility might be an important variable, Starlink access could be added to mobile units with specialized terminals that SpaceX is developing to mount on large vehicles like RVs and busses.

(Still not a good idea to mount it on the hood of your car, though. Wouldn’t surprise me if some people at SpaceX were scratching their heads at that one guy out in California. For once, though, the headlines didn’t involve a Tesla vehicle.)

SpaceX has launched nearly 2,000 Starlink satellites and aims to launch a total of 42,000 in the future. It already gets speeds and latency that are nearly comparable to “traditional” landline broadband Internet service and way better than other satellite Internet services.

Elon Musk bragged about having more than 500,000 registrants on a waitlist to access Starlink. Demand is so great that it had to delay some deliveries of Starlink terminals to 2023. On the bright side, it has been working on improving the efficiency of producing the terminals with an eye toward bringing the cost of manufacturing each unit down. Right now, it charges $499 for each “Starlink kit,” which includes a terminal. However, Gwynn Shotwell said that SpaceX aims to get that cost down to as low as $125 per Starlink kit to make the upfront fee more affordable.

Technology

Tesla Recalls 475,000 Vehicles to Fix Camera, Front Trunk Issues

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla is recalling 356,309 Model 3 sedans to fix a cable that may separate from the rearview camera due to wear and tear, affecting the camera’s feed. It is also recalling 119,009 Model S vehicles to fix a faulty trunk latch in the front trunk.

Following standard procedure, Tesla filed both recalls with the NHTSA. The Model 3 recall affects all vehicles in the 2017 to 2020 model years. The filing indicates that Tesla expects that only one percent of Model 3 vehicles involved in the recall actually has the issue with the rearview mirror’s cable.

The Model S recall impacts the 2014 to 2021 model years. Tesla discovered the issue with the front trunk latch after a Model S vehicle’s trunk flew open due to improper latching. The company expects that fourteen percent of vehicles will actually have this issue.

Tesla has had to issue a few recalls throughout 2021 to fix issues with seat belts, suspension systems, braking systems, and rooftops. Most of the issues were caused by manufacturing defects.

It also recalled some vehicles in China to install an update for the Autopilot driver assist program that fixed an issue with the cruise control feature. Its service centers replaced faulty cameras used by Autopilot on many vehicles as a “goodwill gesture.”

When combined with delays in the construction of Gigafactory Berlin and occasional disputes with regulators, this year’s recalls may have been a factor in CEO Elon Musk’s admission that Tesla causes most of his headaches.

Tesla is not the only auto manufacturer that could have caused its CEO headaches due to recalls. Toyota recalled several of its models due to various defects throughout 2021. Same goes for Honda, Dodge and Chrysler, and GM.

Manufacturers will typically register recalls with the appropriate regulatory agency. Regardless of manufacturer, you can check whether your vehicle may be subject to a recall by entering its 17-digit VIN number on NHTSA.gov. Information on recalls of any other product can be found on Recalls.gov, which is operated as a cooperative venture between U.S. agencies responsible for regulating consumer products.

For all that, Tesla posted some impressive growth in both 2020 and 2021. It delivered 499,550 vehicles in 2020 and continued to post quarterly records for deliveries throughout most of 2021. The final numbers for Q4 2021 are not out yet.

Tesla’s and SpaceX’s growth rates were both impressive enough to catapult Elon Musk to the top of Forbes’ list of Earth’s wealthiest people despite his recent dumping of enough TSLA stock to owe billions of dollars in capital gains taxes this year. The recalls and Musk’s selloff do not seem to have hurt the value of Tesla stock much.

Space

FAA Delays SpaceX Starship Launch Due to Number of Comments

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The FAA previously said that it would have a decision on approving SpaceX’s orbital test of the Starship / Super Heavy stack by the end of February. Now it says it is delaying its decision until March 28.

It cited a required environmental review, the number of public comments it received, and consultations with other regulatory agencies as reasons for the delay. It received more than 19,000 comments on the draft version of the review.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the company is only waiting on FAA approval to conduct the test. It already has the prototype ready for the orbital test, which will launch from its test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and land just off the coast of Hawaii.

SpaceX originally planned to conduct the orbital test over the summer of 2021. However, the test kept getting pushed back due to delays in the FAA approval process. Most of the issue might have been sparked by local environmentalist groups who expressed concern about the impact of rocket testing at the Boca Chica facility on local wildlife habitats. They especially brought up SpaceX’s alleged impact on the local bird population. Others defended SpaceX’s actions, saying that there have been no human injuries or fatalities even when things blew up.

Boca Chica residents also expressed concern about SpaceX’s impact on the local community. It has been accused of harassing residents who refused to sell it their homes and exceeding its maximum approved hours for closing local roads and beaches. SpaceX disputed both allegations and says that its beach and road closures were far less than the 300 allowed hours.

The closures are normally for safety reasons in case a rocket fails mid-flight and sends debris flying or a ground test goes wrong. Since SpaceX’s security guards were accused of improperly turning back vehicles along the road closest to the facility, it has since suggested that Texas’ Cameron County transfer ownership of a road that runs past the test facility over to SpaceX.

Musk previously expressed frustration with the FAA for “borking” or delaying high-altitude tests for Starship. After four explosions in a row, it ironed out some issues with the Raptor engines and finally nailed the high-altitude test with SN15. The tests involved launching and landing the prototypes. Most of the mishaps happened during or shortly after landing.

SpaceX is currently considering moving Starship-related activities to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is already working on a launchpad for the operational version of the Starship / Super Heavy stack and might develop additional infrastructure for Starship tests if things don’t go as planned in Boca Chica.

SpaceX plans to use Starship for Musk’s plans to transport cargo and people to Mars. It already has contracts with the U.S. Air Force to use Starship for transportation of cargo around the world and NASA to use a Starship-derived lunar lander to land crews on the Moon for the Artemis Program. Once Starship gets off the ground, it could launch as often as once a week.

Space

China Claims Starlink Satellites Nearly Collided With Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

China filed a complaint with the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, claiming that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites nearly collided with its space station, Tiangong, on two separate occasions. It says that Tiangong had to maneuver to avoid the satellites on July 1 and October 21.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian says the United States should “take immediate measures to prevent such incidents from happening again.”

China alleges that the two incidents are violations of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which states that space should be used for the benefit of all humankind, not individual countries. It also says that each nation can be held liable for damage caused by objects in space that cause damage to another nation’s assets, regardless of whether the objects are owned by the government or private companies like SpaceX.

SpaceX maintains a headquarters in Hawthorne, California, which would put it within U.S. jurisdiction. It plans to eventually launch as many as 42,000 Starlink satellites into orbit and has already launched almost 2,000 of them.

Some experts say that as many as three percent of these satellites are already non-functional – essentially corpses of satellites that could easily collide with another entity’s functional hardware without even the ability to maneuver away from it.

This has led to complaints about the risk of increasing the amount of debris in orbit, which already includes numerous defunct satellites and spent rocket stages. In the past, the International Space Station has had to maneuver to dodge rocket stages that date back to the Space Race in the 1960s.

Most recently, the International Space Station dodged debris from a previous Chinese anti-satellite weapon test. The 2007 test created 3,500 pieces of debris that could be tracked from the ground and drew criticism from the international space community.

Astronomers have also complained about interference with their observations. SpaceX responded by taking measures to reduce the reflectiveness of its Starlink satellites.

Further complicating the issue, SpaceX prefers to launch the satellites into a lower Earth orbit than Internet satellites launched by competitors like ViaSat. Many existing Internet satellites orbit in a geosynchronous orbit, which requires the satellite to orbit the equator at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers.

Most already-launched Starlink satellites orbit at altitudes of between 1,110 kilometers and 1,325 kilometers. In April, the FCC approved the launch of some Starlink satellites to altitudes of 540 to 570 kilometers. This drew challenges from competitors like ViaSat and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, who both alleged that the FCC did not properly consider the potential environmental impact of launching satellites into the lower orbit.

Elon Musk fired back that ViaSat simply doesn’t like the competition. The lower orbit allows for lower latency times, which can make Starlink attractive to people who regularly use Internet-based applications that require fast response times but don’t have many good alternatives for high-speed Internet access.

For all the complaints, SpaceX has made some effort to reduce the risk that Starlink satellites will collide with somebody else’s space-based assets. Starlink is capable of maneuvering to avoid a collision, which was apparently a variable in OneWeb’s previous allegation that a Starlink satellite nearly collided with one of its own that was being launched. (SpaceX denied the allegation.)

SpaceX says the propulsion systems can deorbit a non-functional Starlink satellite and they will naturally deorbit if the propulsion system doesn’t work.

SpaceX has also signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA to share information about the orbits of Starlink satellites to help avoid collisions.

Technology

Tesla Halts Gaming on Moving Cars

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As a safety precaution, Tesla has halted gaming on infotainment screens in moving electric vehicles. NHTSA personnel had expressed concern about the possibility that drivers will be distracted by games on their center touchscreens.

Tesla refers to the gaming feature as “Passenger Play.” A software update released over the holidays will lock the feature while the vehicle is in motion.

The NHTSA communicated its concerns with Tesla and is continuing an investigation into possible safety issues involving entertainment on the central touchscreens. It has pressured Tesla to do a recall to update the software for improved safety.

“The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with defects posing unreasonable risks to safety, including technologies that distract drivers from driving safely,” the NHTSA said in a statement.

The NHTSA’s investigation involves about 580,000 vehicles from the model years 2017 through 2022. It does not have any records of wrecks in which drivers playing games on their touchscreens may have been a variable.

A Tesla vehicle owner in Portland, Oregon, apparently filed a safety complaint after discovering that drivers could play games while driving. He says he doesn’t mean it as a mark against Tesla, but “somebody’s going to get killed.”

Drivers have praised Autopilot’s ability to handle crash avoidance, including braking to avoid rear-ending somebody who brake checked them. A Tesla vehicle in Norway also demonstrated Autopilot’s ability to pull over to the side of the road if drivers aren’t keeping their hands on the wheel and may be incapacitated.

Data sent back to Tesla’s servers by Autopilot and Full Self-Driving can help provide a clearer picture of what happened when one of its vehicles is involved in a crash. The server logs indicated that Autopilot was not active in a fatal crash in Texas in which Autopilot was initially suspected, for instance.

Despite the good safety marks that Autopilot gets from users, Tesla’s own internal engineers admitted that Autopilot and FSD are not quite ready to handle all possible variables on the road in communications with California’s DMV, however.

Experts estimate that the driver assist programs are about Level 2 on the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) five-level scale of a vehicle’s autonomy. At this level, driver assist programs can handle some basic tasks like lane-keeping and cruise control. At Level 5, a self-driving program would be able to handle most situations without input from a human driver.

Tesla has frequently issued warnings about distracted driving while using the Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. It recently launched an insurance program in Texas with dynamic insurance rates based on driving data sent back to its servers by its vehicles’ onboard computers. Some Tesla owners have already praised the insurance program for saving them money on their car insurance.

It has also added a required driving safety test before Tesla owners can use the Full Self-Driving software. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says engineers are constantly improving the software and the company “hustled” to develop the first publicly available version of Autopilot after a fatal wreck in which the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

Tesla characteristically did not respond to requests for comment. It currently does not have a media relations department.

Technology

SpaceX Proposes Removing Carbon Dioxide From Atmosphere to Make Rocket Fuel

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Those who are familiar with climate change may remember that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a powerful greenhouse gas that can trap heat in the atmosphere. Now Elon Musk announced that SpaceX will conduct a carbon capture program that can remove CO2 from the atmosphere and use it to make rocket fuel.

Carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere with a variety of methods, including air scrubbers, absorption, and chemical catalysts. Then it can be combined with water (H2O) to create hydrocarbons that form the basis for petroleum and methane.

Environmentalists have criticized the aerospace industry for the greenhouse gases that rocket launches can release into the atmosphere. Some experts say that a single Falcon 9 launch generates between 200 and 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to create rocket fuel could address some of the critics, however.

It could also be useful for creating alternative fuels for other applications, even though Tesla’s electric vehicles are unlikely to get much use out of it.

“Will be useful for Mars”

The concept of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) has increasingly been seen as critical for cost-effective and sustainable human exploration of other worlds, including Mars. ISRU involves using local resources in situations in which importing resources from “back home” might be prohibitively expensive or impossible.

The most successful historical explorers of Earth often traveled light and used something like ISRU – harvesting essential resources like food and water from local sources – while they were exploring the frontier.

Mars’ atmosphere is thin but still 95% carbon dioxide. As part of ISRU efforts, air scrubbers could remove carbon dioxide from Mars’ atmosphere and store it to create fuel. In some places on Mars, it may also be possible to harvest frozen water from the planet’s surface for both drinking water and the creation of rocket fuel. This could save the expense and difficulty of sending rocket fuel to Mars for the journey home.

NASA plans to use the Moon to test some ISRU techniques, including the extraction of water at the lunar south pole. SpaceX is a subcontractor for some robotic lunar lander missions commissioned by NASA to scout for water and conduct science efforts on and around possible crewed landing sites for Artemis. SpaceX will launch lunar landers and rovers on the Moon for Firefly Aerospace, Astrobotic, and Intuitive Machines.

Elon Musk cited ISRU when announcing the CO2 removal program: “Will be useful for Mars.”

Musk plans to make his Starship rocket capable of refueling in Earth orbit. SpaceX has a contract with NASA to demonstrate this capability. However, possibly Starship-derived Mars landers are likely to be capable of refueling on Mars using ISRU-related techniques.

Musk’s ultimate goal is to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars. His development of reusable hardware seems geared toward bringing the costs of such a venture down. Musk says he could send as many as 100 Spaceship spacecraft to Mars during every launch window, which happens about once every two years.

And, yes, it does bring the costs of rocket launches down for other parties interested in sending hardware and people into space. Launches of the reusable Crew Dragons cost NASA only $55 million a seat, as opposed to as much as $95 million a seat on the Russian Soyuz.

Space

SpaceX Employees Test Positive for COVID-19

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

At least 132 employees at SpaceX’s California headquarters tested positive for COVID-19. In an internal memo, SpaceX indicated that it believes the outbreak originated in September at a non-work-related event away from SpaceX facilities. A SpaceX spokesman shared the memo and said the company believes only one of the affected employees contracted COVID-19 at work.

Los Angeles County health officials reported the official numbers, saying that they are subject to change as new information comes in. SpaceX employs 6,000 people at its headquarters in Hawthorne.

The spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant caused an overall spike in cases nationwide. Approximately 254,000 new cases were reported in the United States on Monday.

Early last year, Elon Musk famously challenged Alameda County and California state officials over COVID-19-related restrictions that impacted Tesla’s Gigafactory in Fremont. California has since declared Tesla an essential business that is exempt from restrictions.

California’s retreat from forcing the Fremont Gigafactory to close did not stop Musk from moving to Texas and selling his California homes. He mentioned that he might use the money from selling the homes to boost SpaceX’s efforts to get people to Mars. He also moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas.

Both Tesla and SpaceX are building factories in the Austin area. These companies are expected to hire thousands of new employees apiece by the time the factories are ready to open. Elon Musk has called for development of more housing in and around Austin to help relieve the housing crunch in the area.

He may not be completely enamored with Texas’ government, though. Musk sniped back at Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s claim that he approves of Texas’ social policies in the wake of the state’s passing of a controversial abortion law.

Musk also questioned the reliability of the “fast” version of the COVID-19 test after receiving two positive and two negative tests when he was tested for the virus. The fast test is less reliable than the more accurate but slower PCR test.

Last year, Musk said that he might not get the vaccine, since he wasn’t in a vulnerable demographic like senior citizens or people with already existing health conditions. There is no word on whether he changed his mind.

Los Angeles County officials requires employees to wear masks when not eating, drinking, or alone in a room. It also requires proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter bars, restaurants, and gyms. These rules may not apply to private employers like SpaceX, however.

Los Angeles County officials have not given a statement on the outbreak at the SpaceX headquarters beyond releasing the numbers.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, SpaceX is ending the year on a strong note with the launch of a cargo mission to the International Space Station early Tuesday morning. The Cargo Dragon contains holiday treats and gifts for the ISS crew. The landing of the Falcon 9 first stage on one of SpaceX’s cargo missions marks the 100th time that SpaceX has successfully landed a first stage booster for possible reuse.

Technology

Elizabeth Warren Spends Thousands on Attack Ads Against Elon Musk

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elizabeth Warren’s Warren Democrats, Inc., spent $3,340 on Facebook ads from December 11 to December 18. Who did Warren spend most of that money on? Apparently, smearing Elon Musk.

The attack ads were part of a promotion for Warren’s proposed wealth tax. They accused Elon Musk of being a freeloader who added billions in wealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also accused him of failing to pay his “fair share” of taxes and called for reform of the tax code to ensure that billionaires like Musk can’t dodge them through accounting tricks.

Some required financial disclosures filed on behalf of Warren Democrats., Inc., can be found on the Federal Election Commission’s official website. This includes information about contributions and individuals who donated.

Some recent ads supporting Elizabeth Warren and attacking Elon Musk pleaded for a $10 donation. In typical Musk fashion, he retorted by calling Warren the freeloader:

Warren’s ads frequently accused him of “whining like a baby” about it.

According to information on Facebook, organizations supporting Elizabeth Warren spent $9,764,183 on Facebook ads between May 7, 2018, and December 17, 2021. These organizations include Warren for President ($3,396,973), an apparently separate organization called Warren for President Inc. ($4,991,695), Warren Democrats, Inc. ($360,540), the Elizabeth Warren Presidential Exploratory Committee ($219,471), and Elizabeth for MA ($781,272). An unknown party ran $14,232 in ads without a disclaimer.

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will be up for reelection in 2024. Musk had this to say about it:

Elon Musk is currently best known as the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. He previously founded X.com, an online payments company that was later sold to PayPal. He later netted $165 million from the sale of Paypal and sank that money into SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. SolarCity was later sold to Tesla.

SpaceX’s notable accomplishments include becoming the first company to create fully reusable rocket boosters. It also became the first company to launch NASA astronauts on a privately owned, reusable spacecraft. SpaceX currently owns Starlink, which is currently the fastest satellite-based Internet service in existence even when the weather gets frigid. SpaceX is currently working on developing the Starship/Super Heavy rocket and spacecraft.

Tesla is especially well-known for becoming the first company to exclusively sell viable electric vehicles that, so far, have only been subject to occasional recalls to fix manufacturing defects. Electric vehicle predecessors included General Motors’ EV1, Honda EV-Plus, the Ford TH!NK, Toyota RAV4 EV, Nissan Altra, Chevrolet S10 Electric and Chrysler Epic. Most of these models were recalled and, in cases like the EV1, destroyed or donated to museums. With the explosively growing success of Tesla vehicles, however, competing auto manufacturers are taking electric vehicles more seriously.

With the acquisition of SolarCity, which is apparently controversial with Tesla shareholders, Tesla added solar power products like the solar roof to its product lineup.

Is Elizabeth Warren right about Elon Musk, and is it worth spending money on Facebook ads on attacking him? Could donors have made better use of their money? Well, here’s some things that you could do instead of donating $10 to a politician:

  • Donate five pounds of rice to a food bank
  • Pick up a cheap gift for that office white elephant gift exchange
  • Replace that charging cord you could swear you didn’t lose while traveling for the holidays
  • Enter to win one of the attractive prizes on Omaze (and, yes, make a donation to charity)

Not that I’m gonna tell you what to do. It depends on whether you’re comfortable with Elizabeth Warren giving Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg money to spread attack ads against someone who isn’t even running against her for public office.

SpaceX Sends Starlink Terminals to Assist With Tornado Response Efforts

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As part of a deal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, SpaceX provided 20 Starlink terminal kits. The State of Kentucky has also requested 30 to 40 Starlink terminals, which SpaceX expects to send out soon.

Satellite-based Internet access like Starlink’s service has shown promise for providing Internet connectivity in disaster areas. Natural disasters can create conditions that make reliable communication options like Internet access difficult to maintain.

Kentucky will operate the Starlink terminals in areas that have been hit by the recent tornados for two months. After that period, it will reassess the need to continue operating them.

Last year, Washington State used Starlink to assist with combatting wildfires in areas that included a 200-person village called Malden in which every building was destroyed.

In stark contrast, Verizon admitted throttling wireless data being used by California firefighters as they battled blazes. It denied that the rollback of “net neutrality” regulations was a factor and blamed it on a customer service issue.

Firefighters using Verizon’s data plans reported that they were being throttled to speeds that were 1/200 what they normally got while they fought wildfires that burned more than 406,000 acres. This significantly impacted their ability to receive critical information.

“[Verizon’s] throttling has had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services. Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire’s ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services,” Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District chief Anthony Bowden said in a brief supporting New York State’s lawsuit aiming to block the termination of net neutrality regulations.

SpaceX also provided Starlink terminals to assist recovery efforts in parts of Germany that have been hit by floods over the summer.

Starlink could also assist with disaster response in remote, hard-to-reach locations. Brazil and Chile have both contacted SpaceX to discuss pilot programs in which Starlink could be delivered to communities that don’t have very many options for Internet access.

Starlink’s upload and download speeds are already approaching the capacity of “traditional” broadband access. With nearly 2,000 satellites in orbit, it shows promise in eventually providing global coverage (pending, of course, operating licenses from federal and regional regulatory agencies).

The terminals have demonstrated an ability to withstand harsh winter weather. However, testers said their ability to withstand summer heat in southern U.S. States could be improved.

Starlink has also indicated plans to release a terminal that can be mounted to large vehicles like buses and trucks. This version could be especially useful for natural disaster response teams that may need to move in large vehicles and set up mobile communications quickly.

(Despite what at least one driver thinks, a terminal may not be suitable to mount on the hood of your car, though.)

As of June 2021, Starlink had more than 500,000 potential customers on its waitlist and Elon Musk bragged that it had achieved the “strategically important threshold” of 69,420 simultaneously active users.

It has also shown that Starlink might be a viable alternative to services that throttle their customers’ data plans at the worst possible times. SpaceX says it doesn’t even have plans for “tiered pricing” for Starlink access, implying that it plans to provide the same speed for all customers, no matter what.

Technology

Time Magazine Names Elon Musk Person of the Year

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In a controversial move, Time Magazine named Elon Musk its Person of the Year for 2021. It was a move that Musk critics quickly pounced on and his fans as quickly praised.

2021 was certainly a busy year for Musk. Tesla kept beating its own company records for quarterly deliveries of electric vehicles. Gigafactory Berlin is nearing completion despite issues with regulatory red tape and a suspected case of arson. Tesla moved its headquarters from California to Austin.

SpaceX is slated to have a total of 30 launches this year if none are delayed over the next couple of weeks. This includes the launch of two astronaut crews as part of the company’s Commercial Crew contract with NASA, which was recently expanded to include three more flights. NASA also awarded a high-profile contract to develop the Artemis lunar lander to SpaceX.

(Yes, rival Blue Origin did make a huge legal flap about the Artemis lunar lander contract. And lost. Twice.)

Critics were quick to lump on Musk for a variety of negatives that include alleged sexual and racial misconduct in Tesla’s workplaces. These cases may still be winding their way through the court system.

Elon Musk especially has a reputation as a notoriously tough boss. Recently leaked communications to his companies’ employees indicate that he strongly urged Tesla’s managers to execute his orders, explain why his orders are wrong, or resign.

Musk was characteristically quick to fire back at Elizabeth Warren’s accusation that he pays almost nothing in taxes. While he has managed to pay very little in federal taxes in past years, he likely paid a considerable amount of property taxes on Californian homes that he decided to unload this year. He will also pay $12 billion in capital gains taxes this year due to his selling of ten percent of his Tesla stock holdings.

Tesla stock did slide a little bit when he sold it off. Musk still remains the wealthiest person on Earth, however.

Naturally, Musk has his defenders. Inc.com tech columnist Jason Aten had this to say about Musk’s email to his managers:

“It … feels like it has a bit of an edge, as though Musk is responding to having sent out emails asking his team to do something, only to have them do nothing.”

Musk had also admitted that sometimes he’s wrong in the email, which Aten cited as something that an emotionally intelligent leader would do.

Others questioned whether the U.S. federal government would actually do anything worthwhile with any tax revenue they get from wealthy individuals like Elon Musk and reminded critics that Musk is paying more taxes than any other American taxpayer by hard dollar amount:

Of course, this did not satisfy any of the most vocal critics. Some of them resorted to insulting Musk’s defenders.

It is certainly not the first time that Time Magazine recognized a controversial or hated figure in world history. Time says that it gives its award to the most influential figures in any given year, for good or ill. This is the same magazine that gave the award, then known as “Man of the Year,” to Adolf Hitler in 1938. It also gave the award to Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942.

Space

Russia to Fly Cosmonaut on SpaceX Crew Dragon

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

After years of blowing SpaceX off, Russia has booked a ride for one of its cosmonauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon. In exchange, Russia will fly an American astronaut on the Russian Soyuz.

Cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly on the Crew Dragon in fall 2022. This will be her first spaceflight.

Russia’s Roscosmos announced the news on its Twitter account on Wednesday. In a statement, Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin said only that Kikina would fly on “an American spacecraft.”

Due to delays in the development of competing privately owned spacecraft like Boeing’s Starliner, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is currently the only American spacecraft rated to carry crew members.

NASA currently pays SpaceX $55 million per seat for crewed flights to the International Space Station. Seats on the Soyuz could cost NASA as much as $90 million.

SpaceX has already launched four crewed missions to the International Space Station as part of a contract that was recently expanded to include a total of nine flights. The first flight, Demo-2, launched in May 2020.

NASA plans to make two flights to the International Space Station on privately owned spacecraft per year as part of the Commercial Crew Program. When Boeing gets its entry into the Commercial Crew Program operational, its Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will basically take turns ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.

Russia has previously been critical of SpaceX, likely due to its breaking of Roscosmos’ monopoly on crewed spaceflight, which existed from the time NASA ended the Space Shuttle program in 2011 until the launch of Demo-2.

During times of diplomatic tension between Russia and the United States, Russian officials suggested that NASA could use a trampoline to get to the International Space Station as a response to sanctions against the Russian space program.

After the successful Demo-2 launch, Elon Musk quipped in a press conference, “The trampoline is working.”

Although many Russian officials were still skeptical, Russian Parliament member Alexey Pushkov obliquely suggested that it was not a big deal and not all a bad thing: “This is a flight to the International Space Station, not to Mars. … Russia needs spaces [on the Soyuz] for its own young cosmonauts.”

SpaceX plans to eventually send crews to Mars on the Starship spacecraft, which is currently in development. It was forced to delay the orbital test of a Starship prototype until January 2022 at the earliest due to regulatory red tape.

On the positive side, SpaceX has conducted 28 launches this year and has two more launches scheduled for December 14 and December 21. It also continues to develop its Starlink satellite Internet service, with deals with some communities like the Cherokee Nation and countries like Chile to bring Internet access to remote or impoverished communities.

With the Crew Dragon now operational, NASA has scaled back on paying to fly astronauts on the Soyuz. The last astronaut on the Soyuz was Mark Vande Hei, who launched on a Soyuz on April 9.

NASA has not yet replied to requests for comment or announced which astronaut will fly on the Soyuz.

Space

SpaceX Launches X-Ray Observatory for NASA

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Early in the morning of December 9, 2021, SpaceX launched the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) on a Falcon 9 rocket booster that had already flown four times before. The instrument will observe black holes and neutron stars.

The IXPE is about the size of a refrigerator and cost $214 million to manufacture. It includes three telescopes capable of measuring the polarization of light. Polarization is a measure of how much light oscillates compared to its direction is travel.

Scientists can use these measurements to study the structure and inner workings of some of the most dramatic objects in the universe, such as black holes or neutron stars.

According to IXPE principal investigator Martin Weisskopf, “What polarization tells us depends on the source. Black holes, for instance, don’t have a lot of properties but you can measure the spin by looking at the variation in the polarimetry of X-rays emanating from these sources.”

Existing orbital telescopes capable of making observations in the X-ray spectrum include the Chandra Space Telescope, which is capable of taking X-ray images of distant objects. IXPE is the first to be solely dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays.

The IXPE’s first target is the Crab Nebula, also known as Messier 1, which resides in the constellation Taurus. In the year 1054, Chinese astronomers reported the “guest star,” a supernova that created the nebula now known as the Crab Nebula and was visible from Earth for nearly a month.

The Crab Nebula is an especially attractive target for IXPE because the remains of the star became a rapidly spinning neutron star that emits beams of X-rays like a rotating lighthouse at a rate of 30 pulses per second.

This most recent launch marks the 28th launch of 2021 for SpaceX. NASA selected the legendary Pad 39A for the launch for its exceptional water suppression system, which could mitigate potential damage to the IXPE during launch.

Now that the IXPE is launched, it will maneuver into a nearly equatorial orbit with an inclination of 0.2 degrees. It will have a low enough orbit to provide it with some protection against radiation and communicate more reliably with ground stations.

The booster previously launched astronauts for the Crew-1 and Crew-2 missions to the International Space Station. It also launched a Cargo Dragon that sent supplies and scientific experiments to the space station in August and a radio satellite for SiriusXM.

SpaceX’s reusable rockets and spacecraft are an attractive option for saving money when launching cargo and people into space. NASA only pays $55 million per seat on the Crew Dragon, compared to $86 million per seat on the Russian Soyuz. Due to the cost savings and delays suffered by competing privately owned crew spacecraft, NASA recently expanded its Commercial Crew contract with SpaceX for three additional flights to the International Space Station.

SpaceX also has contracts to develop a Starship-derived lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program and launch components for the Lunar Gateway. Remaining SpaceX launches for this year include a communications satellite for Turkey on December 18 and an International Space Station resupply mission on December 21.

Technology

Tesla Replacing Faulty Cameras Used by Autopilot

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla is having its service centers replace faulty cameras on the Model S, X, and 3 as a “goodwill” gesture. The affected cameras have faulty circuit boards that cause blank or choppy video feeds on the main display of Tesla vehicles’ computer system, impact visibility in the vehicle’s blind spots, or generate error messages saying that the Autopilot’s functionality is limited.

The problem impacts printed circuit boards (PCBs) on several hundred Model S, X, and 3 vehicles manufactured at the Fremont, California, factory. Most modern electronics contain PCBs, which were developed in the early 20th century and improved on since then. They are favored for their small and lightweight design and reliability.

The faulty PCB in the repeater cameras used by Tesla vehicles may cause them to malfunction well before they might reasonably need to be replaced. Faults in the PCB commonly interrupts “electrical continuity” that makes it possible for the components of modern electronics to work smoothly together.

The goodwill repair is offered to customers who complain about having to replace an important component of the Autopilot’s functionality so soon. It’s usually the step taken before a voluntary recall or warranty might kick in.

An internal Tesla memo directed service centers to conduct the goodwill repair as necessary. An employee who spoke on condition of anonymity told the press about the memo.

Tesla characteristically did not respond to requests for comment about the goodwill repair of the faulty vehicle cameras.

Previous recalls of Tesla vehicles include voluntary recalls in the United States and China to fix a problem with the suspension and a recall in China to fix an issue with the Autopilot. Tesla has also issued recalls to fix issues with some vehicles’ roofs, the braking system for the Model 3 and Model Y, and a seat belt issue.

Tesla typically coordinates with regional regulators like China’s State Administration for Market Regulation and the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue formal notices of the recalls.

Current recalls related to Tesla vehicles (and any other consumer product) in the United States can be found on the very retro-looking Recalls.gov.

Despite the issues, Tesla vehicles remain top sellers among electric vehicle models, with Tesla topping its own company records for quarterly deliveries for nearly the past year. An analysis by IHS Market shows that 79% of electric vehicles sold in the United States in 2020 were Tesla vehicles.

Tesla’s branding as an early mover in the electric vehicle market has certainly been successful, with CNBC writers saying that “Americans aren’t buying electric vehicles, they’re buying Teslas.”

Consumer Reports recently restored its “Top Pick” rating for the Model 3, which also took the top slot on Cars.com’s list of most American-made cars. Tesla also manufactures some components used to assemble cars at the Fremont factory at nearby factories.

This makes Tesla vehicles especially attractive to car buyers who care about buying American-made vehicles, though it may be helpful for sales to this target audience if it could get manufacturing for the Cybertruck up and running.

Space

NASA to Add Three Flights to SpaceX Commercial Crew Contract

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA announced plans to add three more flights to SpaceX’s Commercial Crew contract as a hedge against further delays in the development of Boeing’s Starliner. SpaceX is currently contracted to provide six post-certification missions (PCMs) as part of the $2.6 billion Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract that NASA awarded to the company in 2014.

The awarding of three additional flights brings that total up to nine PCMs.

The Commercial Crew program was created to create privately owned spacecraft capable of replacing the Space Shuttle program, which was retired in 2011.

SpaceX launched the Demo-2 mission on May 30, 2020 as the final demonstration flight of NASA’s certification proceedings. Demo-2 ferried astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station.

Since then, SpaceX has launched three PCMs officially called Crew-1, Crew-2, and Crew-3. It uses the Crew Dragon spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. Each crew typically serves five- to six-month increments called “Expeditions” on the space station.

Although SpaceX does have its critics in Congress, it has become a frontrunner in competing for NASA contracts for its ability to save taxpayer dollars with its reusable rockets and spacecraft. According to a report published by NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), each of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew program costs $55 million per seat, compared to a projected $90 million per seat on Boeing’s Starliner and $86 million per seat on the Russian Soyuz.

SpaceX also has contracts to launch components of the Lunar Gateway as early as May 2024, launch the Europa Clipper, and develop a Starship-derived lunar lander for the Artemis Program.

The affordability of SpaceX’s launch services has also made it a favorite subcontractor for launching hardware provided by other aerospace contractors, such as lunar landers built by Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, and Firefly Aerospace.

NASA previously reassigned astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada from the Starliner to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon due to delays in Starliner’s development. Mann and Cassada will join the Crew-5 mission, which is expected to launch in late 2022.

Boeing was outwardly supportive of the decision to reassign the two astronauts, saying in a statement, “We fully support NASA’s decisions and remain committed to putting the safety of the astronauts who will fly on our vehicle first.”

Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and Mike Finck are still working with Boeing on the Starliner. They are likely to make the first flights on Boeing’s entry into the Commercial Crew program once the Starliner becomes operational.

The Starliner faced multiple delays due to technical issues. Most recently, Boeing and NASA delayed its Orbital Flight Test-2 due to a faulty oxidizer isolation valve on the Starliner’s service module propulsion system. The flight test is now expected to take place in the first half of 2022, though the exact schedule is still pending.

NASA expects that Boeing and SpaceX will effectively take turns flying astronauts to the International Space Station, with each company conducting one flight per year.

Space

SpaceX Begins Construction for Starship Launchpad on Space Coast

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As SpaceX continues preparations for an orbital test of Starship, Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX is building a launchpad that can handle Starship at the legendary Launch Complex 39A.

Launch Complex 39A and 39B were originally used to launch the Apollo lunar landing missions in the 1960s and 1970s. They were later modified to support space shuttle missions. SpaceX currently leases 39A for its own rocket launches, including the Commercial Crew missions that send astronauts to the International Space Station.

The construction of a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Atlantic coast indicates that Musk is confident that it will work out, though. SpaceX recently reiterated its plans to use Starship to build a permanent, crewed Mars base. A report published by NASA employees indicates that there will be demand for a large rocket like Starship for sending larger scientific payloads to other worlds like Mars.

SpaceX had previously poured concrete to form the launchpad base for its biggest rocket in 2019. However, the project went dormant due to delays in development. In the interim, it rebranded the BFR to Starship, possibly due to jokes about what the acronym might stand for.

Internal emails that Elon Musk sent to SpaceX employees indicate that Starship-related development efforts may be putting a financial strain on SpaceX. In public comments, though, Elon Musk said that bankruptcy is “unlikely” though not impossible.

Both SpaceX and Tesla have been close to bankruptcy before. A previous April Fool’s joke on Elon Musk’s Twitter account showed a picture of Musk supposedly passed-out drunk with his head resting against an electric vehicle after a Tesla bankruptcy. Both companies were able to rebound, however.

Musk especially expressed concern about development of the Raptor rocket engine. It will take 39 Raptor engines to launch a Starship engine into orbit, compared to five rocket engines for the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo astronauts to the Moon.

SpaceX’s VP of propulsion recently left the company, possibly highlighting Musk’s displeasure with progress on the Raptor engines.

Some of Musk’s frustration may have leaked over to Tesla. Another leaked email to Tesla employees warned them that they should execute his directions, ask for clarification, explain why Musk is wrong, or resign.

On the flip side, Musk has admitted that Tesla causes most of his “headaches” and he has sold billions of dollars’ worth of TSLA stock. Perhaps he plans to go all-in with SpaceX at some point?

Starship especially faced delays in important tests like the planned orbital flight due to regulatory red tape. The FAA is currently conducting an environmental review, which forced SpaceX to push back the planned launch from Boca Chica from summer 2021 to as early as January 2022.

Elon Musk especially expressed frustration with the FAA due to repeated regulatory pressure that put the brakes on Starship-related testing and development.

SpaceX aims to have as many as a dozen Starship launches in 2022. Meeting this goal will require both solving its issues with the Raptor engine and sorting things out with the FAA.

Space

Elon Musk Rejects Rumors of SpaceX Bankruptcy

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Earlier this week, a leaked email sent by Elon Musk sparked rumors that SpaceX might go bankrupt due to a shortage of its Raptor engines.

“We face a real risk of bankruptcy if next year we cannot achieve a Starship rate of at least one every two weeks,” he said in the email.

Elon Musk’s two biggest companies, SpaceX and Tesla, have both rebounded from being close to bankruptcy before. However, Musk downplayed the risk that SpaceX will go bankrupt so soon after completing a funding round that raised $755 million with a $100 billion valuation.

Elon Musk has also been selling off a significant amount of Tesla shares. It’s likely that at least some of the money will be used to pay capital gains taxes. There has also been some speculation that he’ll sink a lot of the remaining money into SpaceX.

The future of SpaceX appears to hinge on the future of Starship, which will require 39 Raptor engines apiece to reach orbit. Starship’s first orbital test flight is scheduled for as early as January 2022 after multiple delays that seem to mostly hinge on regulatory red tape. An ongoing environmental review appears to be the main hangup at this point.

SpaceX’s VP of propulsion recently left the company, which may indicate that Elon Musk is dissatisfied with the pace of rocket engine development.

On the plus side, a recent NASA review indicates that Starship is an attractive option for sending larger scientific packages to other planets like Mars once it becomes operational. It will be capable of sending payloads of up to 100 metric tons to the Moon and Mars.

Elon Musk has frequently said that the ultimate goal of SpaceX is to send humans to Mars. Early plans for what Musk calls “Mars Base Alpha” included a Starship precursor referred to as the BFR.

Starship’s larger payload capacity may make a “Mars Base Alpha” possible by sending much of the hardware in advance. Before SpaceX was even an idea, crewed Mars mission supporters like Mars Society Robert Zubrin proposed relatively low-cost missions that could make use of high-capacity rockets and In-Situ Resource Utilization to keep costs under control.

Elon Musk has also made appearances at past Mars Society conferences:

Musk may have been referring to the high upfront cost of rocket development in the leaked email. However, SpaceX president Gwenn Shotwell mentioned that the costs could be covered by additional revenue streams like Starlink’s satellite Internet service. Starlink currently has more than 500,000 reservations for service and is working with governments like Brazil and Chile to provide high-speed Internet to remote communities that have previously been neglected when developing Internet infrastructure.

That is, of course, in addition to lucrative contracts like development of the lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis Program and a multiple-launch deal with Axiom Space to send private astronauts to the International Space Station.

In the meantime, SpaceX has kept busy, with 23 launches between January 1 and September 30 2021 and nearly 30 launches projected by the end of 2021. That includes two crewed missions to the International Space Station and the recent launch of the asteroid redirect test mission DART.

Space

SpaceX in Talks With Brazil to Bring Starlink to Remote Areas

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX is reportedly in talks with Brazil’s government to bring Starlink’s Internet service to remote communities, including parts of the Amazon rainforest. The deal in progress will especially benefit schools and access to telehealth service.

Brazilian communications minister Fabio Faria confirmed a meeting with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in a tweet.

“We are talking about environmental issues and connecting people in rural schools in Brazil,” he said.

In July, Chile reached a similar deal with SpaceX for a pilot program that provides satellite Internet service in Caleta Sierra in the Coquimbo Region and Sotomó in the Los Lagos Region. Both communities are in hard-to-reach areas of Chile.

Starlink is already getting close to speeds provided by “traditional,” landline broadband Internet. In Q2 2021, testers reported speeds of 97.23 megabits per second (Mbps). Fixed broadband Internet gets an average speed of 115.22 Mbps.

This beats competitors like ViaSat and Hughesnet by a long shot. ViaSat’s satellite Internet gets an average download speed of 18.13 Mbps and Hughesnet gets 19.73 Mbps. ViaSat has reportedly not reacted well to having serious competition, filing regulatory complaints and legal challenges to SpaceX’s frequent launches of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Quite understandably, Elon Musk expressed annoyance with ViaSat’s actions at a time when SpaceX is making significant strides in bringing high speed Internet to communities that have previously been left out.

SpaceX already has more than 500,000 reservations for access to Starlink, which indicates strong demand for an “alternative” method for accessing the Internet. It aims to slash the cost of terminals and will hopefully ramp up their production.

SpaceX’s Starlink is uniquely suited to providing high speed Internet to remote communities like those in the Amazon rainforest without having to bury broadband Internet cables and new “backbones” for the worldwide Internet “grid.” Deals like this will help close the “digital divide” that have closed off opportunities for remote and low-income opportunities.

SpaceX is currently participating in government programs organized by the United Kingdom and United States to help close the divide in some remote regions within their own borders. It has also made deals with Native American populations like the Hoh Tribe and Cherokee Nation to deliver the Internet to their people. These are areas and populations that have previously been neglected during previous efforts to expand Internet access due to perceived lack of demand.

Access to the Internet has become so important in the modern world that the United Nations declared Internet access to be a human right in 2011. A report published by the UN in May 2021 highlighted the importance of Internet access for economic improvement in rural, remote, and less-advantaged areas.

Besides the economic benefits, Brazil anticipates that Starlink’s Internet access will help with other causes, including environmental ones. Brazil has especially faced international pressure to protect the Amazon rainforest, which was reportedly an especially hot topic at a recent climate summit in Glasgow.

“Our objective is to bring internet to rural areas and remote places, as well as to help control fires and illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest,” Faria said in the statement announcing talks between SpaceX and Brazil.

Space

SpaceX Launches NASA’s DART Mission

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has launched a mission that will intentionaly slam into an asteroid. The mission, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will test a proposed method for redirecting asteroids that routinely cross Earth’s orbit and may eventually slam into Earth with catastrophic consequences.

To pose a threat, asteroids have to be big enough to survive a trip through Earth’s atmosphere. Most burn up as “shooting stars.” However, as the below Discovery Channel documentary shows, there are several potential “planet-killers” floating around out there.

A prevailing theory is that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a gigantic asteroid that slammed into Earth 65 million years ago. More recently, the Tunguska event of June 30, 1908, generated the equivalent of a 12-megaton explosion, flattening 80 million trees and killing animals, including hundreds of the reindeer that were critical to the way of life of many Siberians, over a 2,150 km2 zone. The explosion was so intense that at least one person 40 miles away from the blast reported feeling like he was on fire and some locals believed that it was the action of an angry god.

One theory has it that, if the Tunguska asteroid had entered the atmosphere just a couple of hours earlier, it could have flattened the city now called St. Petersberg and killed tens of thousands of people.

NASA has also detected several enormous asteroids that have whizzed past Earth at distances that are less than the distance between the Moon and Earth. If they had been just a little closer to Earth, the results could have been catastrophic.

Individuals who have expressed concern about similar asteroids include Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk. Noted theoretical physicist Michio Kaku has also endorsed Elon Musk’s plans to settle Mars.

Musk especially is putting considerable effort into making humanity a multi-planet species as a way to “hedge our bets” and make sure we aren’t complete sitting ducks in case of an eventual asteroid strike on Earth. SpaceX president Gwynn Shotwell has even admitted that one goal for the Starlink satellite Internet service is to help fund crewed missions to Mars once it comes out of beta and starts generating a revenue stream by tapping the untapped markets for high-speed Internet in low-income or sparsely populated areas.

DART will target asteroids that do not pose a threat, but can be easily seen by Earth-based telescopes. This will make it easier for NASA’s scientists to analyze the results. NASA said in a statement:

“DART will show that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it – a method of deflection called kinetic impact. The test will provide important data to help better prepare for an asteroid that might pose an impact hazard to Earth, should one ever be discovered.”

Europe’s ESA is planning a follow-up mission called Hera, which will land a probe in the crater created by DART’s impact on one of the target asteroids. The ESA is targeting a launch date in about four years.

The twin asteroids are named Didymos and Dimorphos. DART aims to crash the spacecraft into the smaller Dimorphus, which orbits Didymos, at four miles per second when it arrives between September 26 and October 1, 2022.

Space

SpaceX VPs of Propulsion, Mission and Launch Operations Leave Company

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX’s vice president of propulsion, Will Heltsley, and vice president of mission and launch operations, Lee Rosen, have left the company. The two VPs have worked for the company since 2009 and 2013, respectively.

SpaceX’s senior director of mission and launch operations, Ricky Lim, has also left the company. He had begun working for SpaceX in 2008.

Anonymous sources told CNBC that Heltsley had been taken off development for the Raptor engine due to lack of progress.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that SpaceX’s rocket engines, while much improved, would need to be further upgraded to make life interplanetary.

Jacob McKenzie has taken over the leadership position for rocket development in the wake of Heltsley’s departure. McKenzie has worked for SpaceX for more than six years.

When combined with Musk’s tweets, the departures could be interpreted as a response to Musk’s frustration with the pace of development. For instance, SpaceX had hoped to conduct an orbital test flight of the Starship prototype SN20 over the summer, but it has now been delayed to January 2022 at the earliest.

This may be partly due to regulatory delays. SpaceX apparently likes to give the impression that nearly everything is ready except regulators’ signing off on the paperwork, including conducting a firing test for a variation of the Raptor engine that is designed for use in the outer space environment.

The FAA is currently conducting an environmental review for the SN20 orbital test and may be taking its time due to the loss of four prototypes in a row during high-altitude testing in the first half of 2021. Complaints about allegedly excessive road and beach closures and impact on local ecology may also be factors.

Most of those who commented on an FAA public hearing hosted on Zoom were supportive of SpaceX’s efforts, however. They agree with Musk’s vision of settlements on Mars as a hedge against an eventual extinction event like the dinosaur-killing asteroid strike of 65 million years ago.

Neither SpaceX nor Musk went into details about any potential internal issues that may be holding up the development of the Raptor engine or why its mission and launch operations VP and senior director both left. The departures may simply mean that they decided to move on to other opportunities.

Elon Musk does have a reputation for being a demanding boss. Most recently, he sent an email to Tesla’s managers saying that they should execute his orders, ask for clarification, give him a legitimate reason why he’s wrong, or leave the company.

In a lighter email, though, he also said that he’s okay with music in the workplace as long as it doesn’t compromise safety and workers generally agree on what to listen to.

If you are at all curious about whether the positions of the departed senior staffers are still open, be sure to check out SpaceX’s career page. Elon Musk especially anticipates ramping up hiring for both SpaceX and Tesla in Texas with progress being made on factories owned by both companies.

Space

NASA Ames Research Center Scientist Leads Authorship of Whitepaper Analyzing Starship’s Potential for Mars Exploration

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA research scientist Jennifer L. Heldmann is the lead author for a new whitepaper describing the Starship spacecraft’s potential for accelerating research on Mars and the Moon. The paper, titled “Accelerating Martian and Lunar Science through SpaceX Starship Missions,” says that Starship could change the way that NASA has traditionally conducted interplanetary research missions.

SpaceX’s primary goal for Starship is to enable transportation of larger payloads and crews to Mars. Its development has not been an easy process, with obstacles including exploding prototypes and regulatory hurdles that forced it to delay some tests. Due to the FAA’s ongoing environmental review, SpaceX was forced to delay the first orbital test of the prototype SN20 until January 2022, for instance.

However, once it gets past these hurdles, it could send payloads of up to 100 metric tons to the Moon or Mars. The spacecraft could be refueled in Earth orbit and may also be refueled on the Martian surface using ISRU techniques. The whitepaper says that Starship could be used to extract more science per dollar spent on exploratory missions.

For reference, the most recent Mars rover, Perseverance, weighs 2,260 pounds (1,025 kilograms) in Earth gravity and measures 10 feet (3 meters) long, 9 feet (2.7 meters) wide, and 7 feet (2.2 meters) tall. Perseverance is the largest and most capable rover sent to Mars to date and also included the experimental Ingenuity helicopter.

The whitepaper recommends a more rapid development schedule and higher risk tolerance to take full advantage of the Starship launch schedule. To enable the faster schedule, a revamped support system within NASA will be needed, including a “fast track” for mission approval, funding, and deployment. It also suggested that the faster launch schedule and more aggressive science efforts would provide more opportunities for women and minorities in STEM fields.

SpaceX anticipates that it could send Starship spacecraft to Mars in every launch window, which occurs once about every 26 months, once it is fully operational.

Starship derivatives include the Human Landing System (HLS) that will be used to land humans on the Moon for NASA’s Artemis Program. SpaceX has gotten the go-ahead to continue development of the HLS now that the legal battle between NASA and Blue Origin is over.

It also suggested that human crews could live on Starships for a few years until a more developed Martian base can be constructed. It mentioned a perennial concern for crewed exploration: the health effects of radiation. Past proposals for reducing exposure to radiation have included some form of radiation shielding, including the possibility of burying a Martian habitat with a few meters of regolith.

Jennifer Heldmann is a research scientist working at NASA’s Ames Research Center. She has been involved in planning several exploratory missions to Mars and is also currently involved in planning future human exploration missions to Mars. She has authored or co-authored papers published in Planetary Science Journal, Bulletin of Volcanology, Planetary and Space Sci., and Astrobiology.

Technology

Software Glitch Prevents Drivers from Accessing Their Tesla Vehicles

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A temporary outage in Tesla’s software left Tesla vehicle owners unable to unlock their vehicles using the mobile app. Some owners took to social media to report the problem. Elon Musk replied to one owner who was experiencing an issue:

At first, the problem seemed to be limited to North America. However, it soon became clear that the problem was occurring in vehicles located in Europe and Asia too. The vehicle owner that Musk replied to was based in South Korea, for instance.

The mobile app makes it possible for owners to remotely control their Teslas, including unlocking their vehicles and summoning them in a parking lot. This feature is useful not only for people who forgot where they parked, but also people with disabilities who may have difficulty walking to or (sometimes) getting into their vehicle.

The below video shows how valuable the Summon feature can be to someone with a disability when somebody else was a jerk while parking.

Musk later tweeted that the problem with the app appeared to be solved.

Tesla vehicles can also be opened with a physical key. However, as The Car Expert editor Stuart Masson told the BBC, owners may not think to carry their key fob or keycard with them all the time because outages like this are not very common.

“Technology makes things convenient, but relies on a server working 100% of the time. It’s the same as leaving the house without my credit cards, expecting to pay for things with my smartphone. If we are reliant on one mechanism all the time, we can be caught out,” he said.

In a rarity, Musk did apologize for the outage and said that Tesla would work on making sure it didn’t happen again:

The app can bypass the router using a Bluetooth connection for the unlocking feature. This obviously relies on the owner being fairly close to the vehicle before it can be unlocked. The app will still have to route a command through Tesla’s servers for things like the Summon feature if the owner is not close enough to the vehicle to connect through Bluetooth.

Tesla did recently release an update for the app that included new features like the ability to customize quick controls on the vehicle homepage, the ability to adjust Cabin Overheat Protection, Sentry Mode Live Camera Access on some appropriately equipped vehicles, and widget improvements. However, it was unclear whether the update may have had bugs that caused the temporary outage.

Tesla previously had a significant outage of both its customer-facing system and internal systems in September 2020. This caused a wider range of issues that included the mobile app’s inability to connect to the vehicles and Tesla staff’s inability to process online orders. Owners of Tesla’s solar power products were also unable to use the mobile app to monitor their solar roofs and Powerwalls.

These incidents are, fortunately, pretty rare but do highlight the risks involved in relying on a remote server for access to services.

Space

SpaceX’s Orbital Test of Starship Pushed Back to 2022

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk announced that SpaceX’s planned first orbital test of a Starship prototype will be pushed back to January 2022 at the earliest.

SpaceX had hoped to get the first orbital test in as early as summer 2021. However, it suffered repeated delays that were primarily due to regulatory bureaucracy – something that Elon Musk has frequently complained about.

The FAA has especially dragged out its required environmental review amid concerns about the ecological impact in the Boca Chica, Texas, area. Opponents especially expressed concern about the impact on local wildlife.

The FAA especially gave a generous amount of time to get comments in. It stopped accepting comments on November 1.

Alleged excessive beach and road closures were also a concern. SpaceX spent some time fending off complaints that alleged that it exceeded the approved amount of time that roads and beaches could be closed. The complaints attracted the attention of the Cameron County District Attorney’s office.

Supporters of SpaceX say that they understand the concerns but believe that SpaceX represents an effort to keep the big picture in mind. They say that SpaceX’s efforts to make humanity a multiplanetary species are critical for survival as a species.

Comments also cited the skilled jobs that SpaceX brings to the Boca Chica area, which includes a mixologist for an on-site bar. (There’s no word on whether the Boca Chica facility has a frozen yogurt stand, though.)

Recent activity surrounding Starship includes a recent engine firing test on SN20. SpaceX plans to use the SN20 prototype for the orbital test. In May 2021, the SN15 prototype successfully went through a high-altitude test flight and landed without blowing up, a problem that had plagued the previous four prototypes that went through similar tests.

Elon Musk has indicated that making the human species interplanetary could involve as many as 1,000 Starships carrying people and supplies. The first few flights dedicated to interplanetary settlements could involve sending hardware to Mars before settlers actually go.

Elon Musk’s initial plans for Mars seems to take a page from Mars Society president Robert Zubrin’s Mars Direct program, which proposes a low-cost plan to send humans to Mars for exploration missions.

One thing that Zubrin and Musk seem to have in common is bringing the cost of spaceflight down, which could make it palatable for ordinary taxpayers. Robert Zubrin has often criticized the excessively high-priced bids frequently placed by “traditional” contractors like the ULA whenever NASA has a new contract to award.

Musk is handling the job by developing reusable rockets and spacecraft, which makes it possible for SpaceX to become one of the most “affordable” aerospace companies – and currently, one of the most effective. It just recently launched its fourth crewed mission for NASA and fifth overall, Crew-3, which is now docked to the International Space Station.

It also came out victorious in its bid for development of the Artemis lunar lander and subsequent legal wrangling between Blue Origin and SpaceX. SpaceX’s bid incidentally came in at half the cost of Blue Origin’s bid.

Uncategorized

How to Complete The Moon-bathed Deep in Genshin Impact

Written By: William
Colby

To start this quest series, we will need to visit Tsuyuko, a Shrine maiden, located at Mouun Shrine in Watatsumi Island. By talking to her, we have unlocked the quest Moon-bathed Deep, a series of quests that aims “to break the barrier that blocks the connection between Enkanomiya and Sangonomiya.”

To do this, we will need to retrieve the spirit pearls from the five shrines named EYE, FANG, FIN, TAIL, and HEART around Watatsumi island. Each location is duly marked on the map for quick navigation.

The Eye Of Watatsumi

  1. This is the closest location from where Tsuyuko is and so we proceed there immediately.
  2. On the marked location we find a shrine encircled with a seal and on its side is a stone tablet. Interace with the tablet to proceed further with the quest.
  3. Use the Elemental Sight to follow energy streams and see where it leads us. We eventually arrive at a location where a strange purple glowing orb floats by the shore.
  4. We will need to use an elemental charged attack for this to break the seal. Luckily, the Traveller can easily be included in the party to do such that.
  5. Breaking the seal will attract monsters. And here we see that slimes are summoned right after the seal is broken. Defeat the slimes then proceed to the next location.
  6. Arriving on the next location, we immediately spot two Ruin Sentinels. Defeat them and use the Elemental Sight to continue our search for the seal.
  7. The seal is located just behind the boat. Break the second seal by using elemental charge attacks.
  8. After breaking the second seal, we then continue using our Elemental Sight to locate the third and final seal for the eye of watatsumi. It is located at the top of a cliff, just behind the shrine. Proceed by breaking the seal and defeating the monsters.
  9. Now that we’ve located and broken all three seals, proceed with obtaining the Spirit Pearl on the shrine.
  10. Once the Spirit Pearl is retrieved, the Eye of Watatsumi quest is now complete.

Fang of Watatsumi

  1. After completing the Eye of Watatsumi, proceed to the second marked location for the Fang of Watatsumi.
  2. Here we will find another shrine with a stone tablet on the side. Interact with the tablet and follow the instructions.
  3. Activate and protect the Ley Line Monolith from the attacking monsters.
  4. Once the monsters are defeated, head back towards the unlocked shrine.
  5. Obtain the Spirit Pearl to complete this quest.

Fin of Watatsumi

  1. Proceed to the marked location to obtain the third Spirit Pearl.
  2. Start by interacting with the stone tablet beside the sealed shrine.
  3. There are two puzzles that we need to solve in order to remove the shrines seal.
  4. What we need to do is to reposition the statues until a light appears on the floor towards the center, then interact with the only unique piece of the puzzle. Do the same with the other puzzle to remove the seal on the shrine.
  5. Once done, head back to the shrine.
  6. Obtain the third Spirit Pearl to complete the quest.

Tail of Watatsumi

  1. Head towards the marked location for the fourth and final Spirit Pearl.
  2. Defeat the Fatui stationed at the shrine.
  3. After defeating the Fatui, interact with the stone tablet.
  4. We will have to light up a few lanterns to remove the seal on the shrine. To do this, locate the electrogranum at the base of the hill.
  5. Get near the stone lanterns and instill the electrograna into them. Do this for all six stone lanterns to remove the seal.
  6. Just as the seal is broken, Fatui ambushers appear.
  7. Defeat the Fatui Ambushers and once done, return to the shrine to obtain the Spirit Pearl and complete the quest.

Heart of Watatsumi

  1. After completing the Tail of Watatsumi, go to Sangonomiya Shrine.
  2. Once there, talk with Tsuyuko for her final request.
  3. Proceed to the the marked location and find the gate to the Heart of Watatsumi.
  4. The seal can only be opened using the four Spirit Pearls we gathered from the shrines.
  5. Interact with the gate and immediately our bag opens. Click on the Spirit Pearl, click Submit then click Give.
  6. After unlocking the gate, we are now able to access this chamber. Here we find four puzzles that needed solving. All of them are the exact same ones that we solved back on The Fin of Watatsumi.
  7. After solving each puzzle, hydro elemental enemies appear at the center. Defeat them on all four puzzles.
  8. After solving the puzzles and defeating the enemies, a cut scene plays with water from each puzzle converge into an orb at the ceiling of the cave.
  9. We then grab the Key of Moon-bathed Deep and present it to Tsuyuko.
  10. Talk to Tsuyuko about the key to complete the quest series.

We hope this guide helped you with finding and completing the Moon-bathed Deep quest. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

How to Complete the Skellige Contract: In The Heart Of The Woods in Witcher 3

Written By: William
Colby

This contract was acquired at a notice board, somewhere in Skellige, and instructs us to talk to the one who commissioned the task, Sven, at the village of Fayrlund.

  1. Head towards the village of Fayrlund and look for Sven.
  2. We arrive during an argument between Sven and Harald.
  3. As our presence is acknowledged, we state our purpose for visiting the village.
  4. Harald, a devote follower of the old traditions, contested that the deaths in the village were caused by the angered Woodland Spirit. Sven on the other hand, refuses to believe in such a mythical creature and wishes to claim the forest for their own and eliminate such a creature if it ever existed.
  5. After the tense conversation, we proceed to investigate the woods using the Witcher Sense.
  6. Investigate the tracks and follow them to learn more about what is killing the villagers of Fayrlund. We will encounter wolves as we go along. Eliminate them and proceed onward following the tracks.
  7. This will lead us to this stone which was seemingly used by a large animal to sharpen its claws.
  8. After investigating the claw marks, another wolf appears. Eliminate the wolf and proceed with the search for other clues.
  9. Here we find a dead dog with thin and deep cuts.
  10. Finally, we retrace our steps and discover smashed bones on the rock.
  11. After investigating every marked location, we then press B to open the Beastiary. Under the Relicts tab we find an entry about the Woodland Spirit.
  12. After reading the entry about the Woodland Spirit we will be given the option to Talk to both Harald and Sven about the Leshen (Woodland Spirit).
  13. We chose to speak with Harald on this run and completely ignored Sven.
  14. After the conversation, we then made our towards the altar. Upon arrival we will be attacked by wolves.
  15. After eliminating the wolves, we then collect five (5) Wolf Hearts to be used as an offering.
  16. Go to the altar and place the offering.
  17. As the offering is placed, ravens begin to perch on the branches.
  18. The Leshen appears in the background, appeased by Geralt’s offering.
  19. Report back to Harald and collect the reward.
  20. Harald is reminded that the killings will continue so long as the Leshen lives.
  21. An angry Sven then appears with his mates and attempts to kill Harald. We then help the old man from being murdered by attacking Sven and his gang first.
  22. After slaying Sven, the contract is then completed.

An Alternate Ending

If you gave a fair bit of attention to what the beastiary contained about the Leshen, you would see that it says:

The leshen known as the Woodland Spirit was so powerful as to have mastered the art of marking. This meant the monster had inserted his essence into one of the residents of Fayrlund. As long as this unfortunate soul remained alive and near the settlement, the leshen would always be reborn near its lair.

Leshen – Witcher 3 Beastiary

This will be presented to us on step 11 of this guide. Equipped with this knowledge, we can safely say that the leshen has marked Harald to become the next vessel to which it will be reborn. So on step 12, players are given the opportunity to continue to side with Harald or switch to Sven’s side. Harald will be eliminated if we choose the latter, as he will definitely stand firm with his beliefs.

This forces the Leshen to appear, and Geralt will have to defeat the creature. Once done, the village Fayrlund will now be free from the Leshen’s control and will now truly be free. No more fear of dying whilst hunting in the woods.

We hope to have helped you with this Witcher Contract. Between Harald and Sven, who did you side with? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

How to Complete Skellige Contract: Muire D’yaeblen in Witcher 3

Written By: William
Colby
  1. Visit Bjorg, a ship builder at the docks, to start this contract. After the conversation, locate the witnesses of the drowner attacks.
  2. First, find the Boarwright’s Apprentice.
  3. Second, find Tove, a Skellige woman whose husband was attacked and killed by drowners.
  4. After talking with the witnesses, proceed to the area where drowners were sighted. Use the Witcher Sense to immediately locate the path.
  5. Upon close inspection, we see that another victim has fallen at the hands of the drowners. Investigate further to locate the drowners’ lair using the Witcher Sense.
  6. There are two areas, that we need to investigate, and there are also two ways to enter the lair of the drowners.
  7. First is an underwater cave. A quick dive using the Witcher Sense will immediately reveal the entrance.
  8. Second, is found on the far side of the island. We only need to swim towards the cave to enter. No Diving required.
  9. The underwater cave is be the quickest way to enter the lair. However, we took the longer route just to see what else we can find in the caves. Defeat the monsters to proceed.
  10. Once you get passed the drowners, we are then introduced to this chamber and Geralt immediately sees that this is not a drowners lair.
  11. Further investigation of the lair reveals that it is home to a Water Hag.
  12. Water Hags have a keen sense of smell, and it will refuse to come out of its lair once it senses a Witcher. We will need to concoct the Drowner Pheromones potion, to mask our scent and avoid scaring away the Water Hag.
  13. Under the potions tab of our bag / inventory, find the drowners potion and equip it for quick use.
  14. Once the potion is in effect, hide behind the rocks to meditate and await the Water Hag’s return.
  15. Defeat the Water Hag and drowners as they enter the lair.
  16. Once done, interact with the defeated water hag and take of its head as a trophy.
  17. We then proceed to meet with Bjorg. We show him proof of what caused the countless death near the docks and collect our reward.

We hope you found this article helpful! Did you find anything else interesting in the caves? What did you have trouble with when completing this contract? Let us know in the comments below!