Technology

Chile Becomes First Latin American Nation to Gain Access to Starlink

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Chilean Subsecretariat of Telecommunications (SUBTEL) has granted SpaceX an experimental license for non-commercial operations of its Starlink Internet service providing satellite constellation. SUBTEL, the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT), and SpaceX are cooperating on a pilot program that will provide Internet access to rural and hard-to-reach communities in Chile.

According to communications between SpaceX president Glynn Shotwell and SUBTEL, Shotwell promoted Starlink as a service that can provide connectivity for remote communities like Caleta Sierra in the Coquimbo Region and Sotomó in the Los Lagos Region.

Starlink can provide “high-speed connectivity [that] can have a transformative impact on these communities and we are eager to support these pilot programs, starting with local schools,” she said.

If the pilot program is successful, SUBTEL and SpaceX plan to extend the collaboration to other remote communities and eventually the entire nation. SpaceX has already provided Starlink Kits to officials in Caleta Sierra and Sotomó. A Starlink Kit includes a phased-array dish antenna, Wi-Fi router, power supply, and mounting equipment. Normally, SpaceX manufactures the kit for about $1000 apiece and sells it to customers for $499. Elon Musk has recently discussed bringing manufacturing costs down even further.

The Chilean government will cover the costs of Internet access for one year, after which the municipal governments will take over the costs. Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Gloria Hutt promoted the plan as a way to rectify the lack of reliable high-speed Internet access that has held back some remote or low-income communities.

“Sometimes our geography makes the deployment of traditional broadband networks complex. For this reason, we are proud that the Starlink company has chosen Chile as a pioneer country in Latin America to start the deployment of its satellite internet project, providing capacity and high-speed connectivity to two locations in the country,” she said in a press release issued by the Chilean government.

Undersecretary of Economy Julio Pertuze cited the COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide governments’ response to it as proof of the necessity of reliable Internet access. Many governments closed public schools and mandated the closure of most workplaces, which forced people to find alternatives like virtual learning for children and remote work over the Internet. However, this proved difficult for many families, which was highlighted by a story of one child who walked several miles to his closed school and back every day so that he could access its Wi-Fi.

SpaceX has previously worked with one school district in Texas to provide Internet access for low-income families living in the district and has a deal with Washington State’s Hoh Tribe to provide Internet access. The Hoh Tribe leadership said that it could provide its members with access to virtual education, telehealth services, and possible online job opportunities. It also has agreements with the United States and United Kingdom to develop broadband Internet service for rural communities.

Julio Pertuze called the new collaboration between Chile and SpaceX a “fundamental step so that each town and each community in our country has the possibility of connecting with the rest of the world. When we talk about the post-pandemic future, we cannot project it without cross-cutting connectivity that allows both productive sectors and citizens to develop wherever they are.”

Technology

Tesla Proposes Expansion of Sustainable Energy Grid in Report to Australian Government

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In March 2019, the Australian government gave the Energy Security Board (ESB) the task of advising on new designs for the national electricity market. In reports and a letter to the Energy Security Board, Tesla responded to an invitation by the ESB to give its input on the 2021 Options Paper, which was published in April 2021. In the letter, Tesla Energy’s Head of Energy Policy and Regulation, Emma Fagan, highlighted two points:

  • Tesla is opposed to extending the life of oil and gas generators. Tesla especially highlighted the ESB’s goal of reducing emissions in energy production. “Tesla does not support the introduction of PRRO or any other mechanism to artificially extend the life of the existing thermal fleet of generation,” Fagan said in the letter.
  • Tesla supports incentives for the development and implementation of new technologies that can support a more sustainable grid. “Tesla [Energy’s] mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. In Australia, forward looking market design will be critical to achieving this outcome,” said Fagan.

Fagan proposed a “flexibility market” that could help to streamline the transition away from coal and toward other forms of energy. A special concern was the phasing out of coal plants without having the infrastructure and energy production capacity needed to replace them.

The risk of what Fagan described as “disorderly coal plant exits” was especially highlighted in a recent incident in which a coal-fired power plant exploded in Australia in May 2021. The loss of Callide Power Station in Queensland, Australia, caused a cascading effect that knocked out power for 470,000 customers. Luckily, a large Tesla Powerpack battery farm called the Hornsdale Power Reserve stepped in with its 150MW/194MWh system. The battery farm was able to respond in under two seconds because it was already ready to go when the power plant exploded.

In response to the incident, Monash University’s Dr. Behrooz Bahrani noted in a webinar that the incident highlights the need for grid operators to grow beyond the “We’ve always done it this way” mindset so that more robust and less risky energy production systems can be built.

“We need to go beyond synchronous generators. We need to think what else the batteries can do and not just focus on mimicking synchronous generators,” he said.

A white paper that Tesla Energy sent to the ESB referred to the incident highlighted the importance of integrating batteries capable of storing “clean” energy, like the Powerpacks, into the energy grid. The executive summary for the white paper highlights the importance of batteries for both reliability and system services on power grids that will increasingly rely on renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Tesla Energy made the case that batteries eliminate the need for synchronous assets in a low-cost, reliable, secure and zero emission grid.

Tesla Energy emphasized that Australia has an opportunity to get it right the first time when it comes to upgrading its power grid to allow for more sustainable energy sources.

“As the ESB progresses towards its final recommendations, it should use this rare window of opportunity for structural reform to be visionary and design a future-focused market that facilitates investment in new technologies,” said Fagan.

Technology

SpaceX Issues Official Response to Allegations of Illegal Road Closures

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz sent a letter to SpaceX alleging that it had illegally closed public roads and beaches within the Texan county. The district attorney said that SpaceX was operating outside of its permit to close roads and beaches for up to 300 hours a year for safety reasons related to its operations. These operations include test flights for the Starship rocket prototypes, which have previously gotten explosive enough to attract unwanted attention from the FAA.

Now SpaceX has published its official response to the allegations, saying that the initial reports of illegal closures were based on “misunderstandings” and “misinformation” regarding the evidence used in the report and subsequent investigation. It says that the company hasn’t exceeded the number of hours that it is permitted to close off beaches and roads every year, as was alleged in the complaint. In a letter signed by SpaceX Senior Director Shyamal Patel, one such misunderstanding involved investigators encountering a security guard who is alleged to have blocked off a road leading to SpaceX’s privately owned property.

Patel says that the security guard was a new hire who was certified for his position and may have simply been making sure that no unauthorized personnel entered SpaceX’s test facility near Boca Chica. The letter stated that SpaceX will work on enhancing training protocols for its security guards and emphasize to its employees that they shouldn’t close off public roads without authorization from the company.

The most likely explanation is that SpaceX has tightened its security since a YouTuber named Caesar Galaviz trespassed in the test facility and was able to walk around the test yard and get up-close footage of SpaceX hardware, including the SN11 prototype, which had not yet flown at the time. Authorities issued a warrant for Galaviz’s arrest in May after identifying the man behind the “Loco VlogS” YouTube channel.

Since then, robotic “dogs” were seen patrolling the facility. SpaceX normally uses them for hazardous tasks such as inspecting the debris from the prototypes that exploded during or shortly after landing.

SpaceX suggested that the street that is apparently in question in the alleged road closure, Remedios Street, go through the county’s formal abandonment process so that the company can maintain it for its own purposes. According to SpaceX, Joanna Street had been renamed Rocket Road as part of a similar process, including a new street sign installed by the County Engineering Department.

According to SpaceX’s own internal paperwork, it has closed public roads and beaches for 226 hours and 9 minutes so far this year, well under the 300 hours allotted by the FAA. The original complainant, an organization known as Save RGV, claimed that the closures totaled more than 385 hours, which SpaceX says is “not accurate.”

Saenz says that his office has received the letter responding to the allegations and is still reviewing the matter. In an official statement to local media, he said, “While I wish SpaceX nothing but the best in their endeavors, I will continue to be responsive to concerns raised by the public and to ensure the safety of the community.”

Technology

Tesla Adds Four-Wheel Steering for Cybertruck

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In a bid to compete with the Hummer’s “Crab Mode” and R1T’s tank turns, Tesla is adding four-wheel steering to the Cybertruck. Tesla promises that the new feature will provide “high agility,” including the tightest possible U-turns for a vehicle that looks like a pickup truck from a low-resolution video game. It’s also been hinted that the new four-wheel steering will also be suitable for off-road maneuvering.

Elon Musk says the design will be “almost exactly” what the prototype looked like during its introduction in November 2019. When it was introduced, it looked big even for a truck and almost as tall as Musk himself at its highest point. It will be heavy enough that Tesla previously issued plans for a Supercharger designed specifically for the Cybertruck.

The rear-wheel steering might be necessary for some “tight quarters” steering, including driving around a parking lot. This might be especially important for buyers of the Cybertruck who opt for the Autopilot, which includes the “Smart Summon” feature that will require it to navigate the parking lot on its own.

The company still plans to start producing Cybertrucks in late 2021. Gigafactory Texas will be the first location in the United States to produce larger vehicles like the Cybertruck and Tesla Semi. Elon Musk has also floated the idea of producing an electric city bus at Gigafactory Texas, though the concept seems to come and go. Gigafactory Texas is expected to employ 10,000 people when it opens.

In bids to attract qualified employees for his companies, Elon Musk has previously called for more housing in the Austin area and donated $30 million to the Boca Chica, Texas, area for education and community improvement projects. Musk has referred to Austin as “America’s next boom town,” which may be backed up by soaring real estate values in the area and his own decision to build manufacturing facilities for Tesla and SpaceX in the area. Open positions at the factory can be found on Tesla’s website.

Some observers expressed concern that Tesla might not be able to keep up with the technology available to rivals if it gets too hyperfocused on programs like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. Although it seems to be a leader in this department and has even discussed licensing the driver assist programs to competitors and adding an optional subscription model for the software, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are not quite ready for “prime time” when it comes to operating with minimum input from the driver.

Rivals for the Cybertruck include planned electric pickup trucks that will be manufactured by Ford, GMC, and Rivian. The available specs indicate that they will be able to match or beat the Cybertruck in their features’ capability. Now that Tesla is no longer alone in the electric vehicle market, this might be a sign that the company is working on keeping up with competitors for features outside of its driver assist programs, including more advanced steering options for the Cybertruck.

Driver Pulled Over With Starlink Terminal on Hood

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has said that it is developing a “mobile” version of its Starlink satellite-based Internet service for larger vehicles like RVs, boats, and airplanes and is currently in talks with some airlines to provide in-flight Internet service but says that the service won’t be suitable for smaller vehicles. However, that hasn’t stopped one Californian driver from trying it out by mounting a dish that looked a lot like a Starlink terminal to the hood of his vehicle, according to a recent California Highway Patrol report.

According to a Facebook post made by the California Highway Patrol of Antelope Valley, the exchange between the officer and the driver went something like this:

“Sir I stopped you today for that visual obstruction on your hood. Does it not block your view while driving?”

“Only when I make right turns.”

The vehicle was apparently a red Toyota Prius, which implies that, for once, it wasn’t a complete Elon Musk and Tesla fanboy pulling an attention-seeking stunt. Previous incidents involving Tesla vehicles include at least two separate cases of a Californian Tesla vehicle owner riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla vehicle with the Autopilot engaged.

In fact, the driver told the California Highway Patrol that he uses the dish to pull Wi-Fi for a business that he runs out of his Prius, although he apparently didn’t give the officer very many details about what that business might have entailed.

SpaceX currently has more than 1,800 satellites in orbit with more being launched frequently. Elon Musk has recently admitted that the company is taking a loss on developing Starlink and building terminals for customers, although he has said that he plans to get the cost of the terminals down. SpaceX currently spends $1,000 per customer to manufacture the equipment and sells the “Starlink Kit” for $499 apiece. The “Starlink Kit” includes the user terminal, a mount, a Wi-Fi router, and a power supply. The terminal can be mounted to a house’s rooftop for an additional cost.

Demand for Starlink is already strong, according to Elon Musk. He recently tweeted that the company reached the “strategically significant milestone” of 69,420 beta users connected to Starlink at the same time. Starlink already has more than 500,000 reservations for service when it comes out of the “Better than Nothing Beta.” In regions that have previously limited to slow, non-existent, or unaffordable Internet service, a service like Starlink’s might truly be “better than nothing,” considering that some customers have recorded excellent service in harsh winter conditions. (In the Arizonan summer? Apparently, not so much. Tesla does say that it’s working on improvements so that its terminals can withstand the summer heat, though.)

SpaceX anticipates that Starlink will reach the capacity for global coverage in September. In some cases, this may pose a challenge, largely due to technological and regulatory obstacles. Regulators in only 12 countries have approved Starlink to operate within their respective countries and only the United States and UK currently have deals with SpaceX to develop broadband Internet services for rural and low-income areas. Russia took the completely opposite attitude, saying that it will fine people who use Starlink within its borders.

So it will still be a long time before it becomes normal for a satellite Internet dish to be mounted to the hood of a vehicle even if SpaceX starts manufacturing terminals that would be suitable for the purpose. Tesla might even have breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t one of its vehicles, considering that Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are still quite a way from being ready to operate without input from a driver. As is typical for Elon Musk’s companies, SpaceX has not responded to a request for comment related to the satellite Internet terminal mounted to a hood of a Toyota Prius.

Technology

Tesla Sets New Quarterly Record for Deliveries

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has delivered 201,250 vehicles worldwide in Q2 2021, setting a new quarterly record for the company. Although it fell slightly short of the 201,850 deliveries that analysts had predicted, this was enough for Tesla shares to jump by 1.5% in Friday morning trading. This beats Tesla’s previous record of 184,800 vehicles delivered in Q1 2021.

The number of deliveries were especially impressive considering recent challenges that included slow sales in China, a massive recall of Tesla vehicles in China to fix issues with the Autopilot, and regulatory delays for Gigafactory Berlin, the latter of which is putting a crimp on Tesla’s ability to ramp up production capacity in Europe. Tesla currently relies on importing vehicles sold in Europe from Gigafactory Shanghai.

Like most manufacturers of electric vehicles, Tesla has had to cope with a shortage of the semiconductor chips that are necessary for the production of EV batteries. Most of these chips are manufactured in Taiwan. Tesla officials say that they might pay in advance for the semiconductor chips or acquire its own semiconductor chip manufacturer. Given Elon Musk’s history of wanting to control as much of the supply chain for his companies as possible, the latter may be the more likely option.

Musk did blame design changes and hikes in the base price of Tesla’s vehicles on challenges in the supply chain, including the chip shortage and difficulty obtaining raw materials. Tesla had previously considered mining nickel in a location not far from its factory in Nevada.

The company has also seen the departure of a few key executives, including longtime Tesla executive and (most recently) chief of heavy trucking Jerome Guillen. He had overseen heavy trucking, including overseeing the development of the electric Tesla Semi, since March 11.

On the bright side for Tesla, a German court recently rejected a bid by environmental groups to “clarify” provisional permits issued by the state of Bradenburg to allow for testing of equipment. Environmental groups’ efforts to nix construction of Gigafactory Berlin were also recently tarnished by a case of arson targeting the factory in which an extremist environmentalist group is a suspect. Tesla expects to begin manufacturing vehicles in Gigafactory Berlin by the end of the year.

Consumer Reports also restored the “Top Pick” rating to the Tesla Model 3 based on recent tests of the braking system conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS gave the system high ratings for avoiding other vehicles and pedestrians. Two Tesla models were also included in Cars.com’s Top 3 on its most recent list of top American-made vehicles, likely due to Tesla’s insistence on making some parts like batteries in factories that are only a short distance from the Gigafactories at which the vehicles are actually assembled.

Most of the vehicles delivered in Q2 2021 were Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with 204,081 of these two models rolling off the assembly line. 2,340 Model S and Model X vehicles were also delivered. Elon Musk had promised that deliveries of the new Model S ″should be at several hundred cars per week soon,” but did not expect to ramp up deliveries to thousands a week until an unspecified date in Q3 2021.

Judge Orders SpaceX to Turn Over Documents Related to Employment Discrimination Investigation

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A federal judge has ruled that SpaceX has 21 days to turn documents related to employment over to the Department of Justice, which is investigating allegations that the company discriminated against non-U.S. citizens in its employment practices. SpaceX had previously objected to a magistrate judge’s similar ruling, saying that the court failed to consider whether the Department of Justice’s probes had cast too wide a net in relation to the original complaint.

The Department of Justice claims that SpaceX has stonewalled efforts to investigate the discrimination allegations. The company has already provided a Form I-9 document containing information about employees dating back to July 2019 but failed to turn over copies of employees’ identifying documents such as passports, Social Security cards, and driver’s licenses.

Although SpaceX has not said so aloud, it might not be unreasonable to assume that it is concerned about possible violations of the privacy of its employees, considering how recently Elon Musk’s tax returns were leaked to the press by an as-yet-unknown government employee or contractor. The leaking of employees’ information like Social Security numbers and addresses could open them up to anything from harassment by anonymous “activists” to identity theft.

Without much context, this could have easily come across as a case of SpaceX being caught between a rock and a hard place. It has several launch contracts with the Department of Defense and branches of the military, which have strict regulations requiring the employment of non-U.S. citizens in positions that could give them access to classified information such as the details of payloads being launched. According to US International Traffic in Arms Regulations, non-U.S. citizens can only work for a company like SpaceX if they have a green card.

However, the original complainant says that he applied for a position related to SpaceX’s Starlink Internet satellite constellation in March 2020 but was turned down after interviewers asked questions about his dual Austrian-Canadian citizenship. Although SpaceX may not be against the government becoming a Starlink customer like everybody else and is currently working with the United States’ FCC to develop broadband access for rural areas, Starlink is not directly a military project. He filed a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights (IER) in May 2020.

SpaceX claims that the interviewers were simply unimpressed by the applicant’s answers to their questions and simply chose not to fill the role that he had applied for. However, the IER says that the interviewer wrote on a document related to the application, “Not a US citizen which is going to make it hard.”

It also claims that the IER unduly escalated the investigation to demand documents related to everybody from baristas working at food stands in SpaceX facilities to rocket engineers. SpaceX says that it has already spent more than 1,000 man-hours complying with the IER’s requests, which it called “the very definition of government overreach” with “the flimsiest of justifications.”

Neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk has issued a statement on the federal judge’s ruling or whether the company plans to appeal despite Musk’s occasionally sharp temper with regulators whom he often sees as getting in his way.

Technology

SpaceX Aims to Reduce Cost of Starlink Terminals as Signups Accelerate

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Not long ago, Elon Musk bragged that SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service had more than 500,000 reservations around the world. Starlink currently has more than 69,000 active customers, with Elon Musk bragging that the company achieved 69,420 “simultaneously active users” in a June 25 tweet.

The company currently operates in 12 countries with plans to have Starlink capable of operating online by September. This is, of course, pending regulatory approval, which has often been a cause of frustration for Elon Musk’s companies. Elon Musk has frequently made sharp comments about regulatory agencies while dealing with investigations and delays in scheduling caused by bureaucratic slowdowns. He has also blasted Starlink rivals like ViaSat for filing regulatory objections to the launch of Starlink satellites:

Now Elon Musk acknowledges that SpaceX has been bleeding money while getting the infrastructure in place for Starlink. Besides the always-costly launch costs even when SpaceX can reuse Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has been selling Starlink terminals at a loss. The equipment needed to connect to the Starlink constellation costs consumers $499, but Elon Musk says that the equipment costs SpaceX $1,000 each to manufacture.

If so, SpaceX has already managed to bring the cost down from the $1,500 apiece that SpaceX president Glynn Shotwell said they cost in April. Musk says that the company is working on getting that cost down still further.

“Obviously, selling terminals for half price is not super compelling at scale to millions. We’re working on next-generation terminals that are providing the same level of capability [and] roughly same level of capability, but it costs a lot less,” he said while giving a presentation at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.

In the past, the high cost of entry has been discouraging to both companies that may be interested in establishing an Internet-providing satellite constellation and the people who would benefit the most from having access to reliable, high-speed satellite Internet service but don’t have any affordable way to access existing Internet satellites. If access to reliable broadband Internet can be made more affordable, the market could include billions of potential customers that live in rural or low-income regions. According to the below video by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the “digital divide” caused by the previous lack of investment in rural and low-income regions could be closed by 2030 with an aggressive push to close it.

A consortium that includes the UK government bought Starlink rival OneWeb out of bankruptcy, to the annoyance of Virgin Galactic, which previously owned a stake in the company and planned on providing launch services for it. (Elon Musk may be annoyed by the move, too, considering that OneWeb falsely claimed that a Starlink satellite nearly collided with a OneWeb satellite while the latter was being launched.) Efforts to close the digital divide also include partnerships between SpaceX and the UK and United States governments to bring improved broadband Internet access to rural areas.

Due to the financial and regulatory obstacles, Elon Musk has expressed concern that SpaceX could go bankrupt while attempting to complete the Starlink constellation and establish itself in the satellite Internet market. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Musk’s companies were nearly bankrupt. SpaceX’s legal team went to bat to break up cronyism that gave the United Launch Alliance (ULA) a near-monopoly on launches of military satellites in a last-ditch effort to save the company from bankruptcy. Tesla nearly went bankrupt due to challenges in developing and manufacturing the Model 3 electric sedan, which is now its consistently highest-ranked model in safety tests conducted by Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Both companies have bounced back from the edge of financial ruin since then. For SpaceX, though, bouncing back this time may mean gaining a healthy market share of what president Glynn Shotwell estimates to be a $1 trillion market. If Starlink can be made profitable, she says, it could help fund Elon Musk’s ultimate goal of establishing a thriving settlement on Mars.

Technology

Consumer Reports Restores “Top Pick” Rating for Tesla Model 3

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Consumer Reports has restored the “Top Pick” rating for the Tesla Model 3 after it passed a rigorous test of the automated braking system. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has also restored the Top Safety Pick+ rating for the Model 3 after previously expressing concerns about Tesla’s decision to remove radar from its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software for the Model 3 and Model Y in favor of a purely camera-based system.

The IIHS’s latest tests gave the Model 3 its top rating of “superior” for avoiding other vehicles and second-highest rating of “advanced” for avoiding pedestrians. These tests were good enough for Consumer Reports to restore its rating.

“We work closely with IIHS on many things. We are very confident in their testing protocol,” says Consumer Reports head of connected and automated vehicles Kelly Funkhouser. On the topic of Tesla’s switch to a camera-based system, she said only, “We don’t see an issue with it being camera-based systems. All we care about is that it works.”

The U.S. regulatory agency NHTSA seems less than impressed with the high ratings of the Model 3’s braking system, however. It recently added a requirement that manufacturers of vehicles with driver-assist programs like Tesla’s Autopilot report all accidents in which the driver-assist program was active within ten days of becoming aware of them. The NHTSA claims that this is purely for data collection purposes to analyze the safety of driver-assist programs.

Last November, Consumer Reports had downgraded the Model S and questioned the reliability of the newer Model Y in its Auto Reliability Survey. The survey relies on reported consumer experiences that have included concerns about safety. The Model Y got dinged for issues with body hardware and paint and owners of the Model S reported problems with the air suspension, main computer, and touchscreen controls. The Model 3 remained on Consumer Reports’ “recommended” list with very few reported issues.

Consumer Reports has also expressed concerns that Tesla vehicles’ interior cameras could be used to compromise privacy by sending footage of activity that would reasonably be expected to remain private to one of the company’s servers. These privacy concerns could be exacerbated by Tesla’s decision to turn on a camera mounted to the rearview mirror to track driver alertness in response to safety concerns surrounding the Autopilot. Tesla also publishes a disclaimer that drivers should remain alert at all times while using its driver-assist programs on its official website and has booted Tesla owners from the beta testing program for Full Self-Driving because they weren’t staying alert while using it.

The exterior cameras have already proven instrumental in cracking crimes that include vandalizing Tesla vehicles, one case of vehicles on a Californian highway being shot at with a BB gun, and another case that involved a string of hate crimes against members of a primarily African-American church in Missouri. The capture of footage that helped crack these crimes was made possible by Tesla’s Sentinel Mode, which can act as a security monitor for Teslas when their owners were away from the vehicle.

Tesla lacks a public relations department and has not responded to requests for comment on the new Consumer Reports rating of the Model 3.

Technology

U.S. Regulator Requires Automakers to Report Accidents Involving Advanced Driver Assist Software

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ordered automakers to report vehicle accidents that involve advanced driver assist software like Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software. The order comes in the wake of a series of crashes in which the use of Tesla’s Autopilot was suspected to have been a factor.

Tesla already maintains logs of the use of its driver assist programs. In some cases, such as a fatal wreck in Texas, the Autopilot was initially suspected to have been active at the time of the crash. However, analysis of the data transmitted subsequently revealed that the Autopilot was not in use at the time.

According to a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver error is a factor in 94% of automobile wrecks. This does not necessarily mean that a driver is at fault if he or she only had a split second to react to an unexpected condition while driving. It may simply mean that the driver overcompensated or otherwise misjudged the situation. One of the selling points of driver assist programs is that they can cut down on the risk of driver error with features like lane-keeping assistance, recognition of road signs and stop lights that the driver may not always notice in poor visibility conditions, and alerts of a potentially hazardous condition like another driver drifting into the lane.

At the current level of driver assistance programs like Tesla’s Autopilot, the primary hazard involves Tesla owners relying too much on them. There have been cases of Tesla owners pulling dangerous stunts like riding in the back seat of a driverless vehicle. Tesla employees have quietly admitted to the California DMV that the company and CEO Elon Musk overstate the capabilities of its Full Self-Driving software. In response to the recent safety issues, Tesla has turned on a camera mounted to the rear-view mirror on its vehicles with Autopilot or Full Self-Driving activated to track driver alertness.

Then why does the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration want automakers to report accidents, especially when they might not always be aware that there was a wreck involving one of their vehicles? According to the regulatory agency, it’s purely a matter of data collection.

“By mandating crash reporting, the agency will have access to critical data that will help quickly identify safety issues that could emerge in these automated systems. Gathering data will help instill public confidence that the federal government is closely overseeing the safety of automated vehicles,” says NHTSA acting administrator Steven Cliff.

According to the NHTSA’s new mandate, automakers will be required to report accidents involving their driver assist programs within 10 days of becoming aware of them and submit a report on all crashes involving their software every month. Tesla may find it a simple matter of collating the data that was transmitted from Tesla vehicles to its supercomputers, including its newest one, which is officially the fifth most powerful supercomputer in the world.

Technology

German Court Rejects Bid to Block Gigafactory Permits

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Heidi

A German court has tossed a previously filed complaint brought by two environmentalist groups aiming to block provisional permits that the state of Brandenburg issued to Tesla for the construction of Gigafactory Berlin. The permits allow for time-sensitive testing of equipment at the Gigafactory. A lawyer representing the environmentalist groups claimed that they were only seeking “clarification” of the permits.

The legal fight continues Tesla’s ongoing wrangling with German-based environmentalists both inside and outside the courtroom. Environmentalists had previously won a partial legal victory in a case that they had brought alleging that Tesla had not done enough to protect endangered species near the construction site. An extremist environmentalist group is a suspect in a case of arson that damaged power lines leading to Gigafactory Berlin.

Environmentalists have criticized Tesla’s electric vehicles for not being as “green” as advertised because some of the electricity that they run on is produced using fossil fuels. Tesla’s second biggest market, China, still produces most of its electricity using coal, for instance.

Tesla has expressed a desire to use the solar power side of its business to charge its electric vehicles, though. It has recently opened a solar powered charging station with on-site electricity storage capacity in China. This may be a test run for similar stations throughout China and possibly the world that could address complaints about its vehicles simply replacing gasoline and diesel with coal. The company is also providing Superchargers for a solar powered charging station being operated by Fastned in Germany.

Elon Musk has also announced a more efficient battery-making process that uses less water and fewer moving parts at last year’s “Battery Day” event. Tesla’s push to make more vehicle parts in-house, which gives it better control over the process, was a major factor in two of its models making the Top 3 in Cars.com’s American-Made Index. This also makes it possible for Tesla to make certain that the manufacturing process follows more environmentally friendly procedures, as opposed to using third-party manufacturers for parts.

Tesla is also ramping up efforts to source raw materials from countries with strong environmental regulations. It expects to source $1 billion in metals from Australian mining firms this year and has also held talks with Canadian mining firms that use “zero-waste” mining processes to extract nickel.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Tesla hasn’t had trouble with environmental regulators. The United States and Germany both recently accused Tesla of violating environmental standards. Tesla pushed back at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s allegation that the paint shop at the Fremont, California, factory does not meet emissions standards. Germany fined Tesla for not meeting bureaucratic requirements related to the return of car batteries that have outlived their usefulness.

Tesla has not released a statement related to its victory in the latest round in what appears to be a growing feud with German environmentalists. Neither has Elon Musk published a tweet about it, either good or bad, though he may simply be playing it cautious considering that previous Tesla-related tweets have caused trouble with the SEC and stockholders before.

Technology

Tesla Recalls Vehicles in China to Update Autopilot

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Heidi

Following reports of Chinese Tesla vehicle owners accidentally activating their Autopilot’s cruise control feature, Tesla is recalling 285,000 vehicles in the country to fix the issue. The recall covers 249,855 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that were manufactured at Gigafactory Shanghai and 35,655 imported Model 3 vehicles. The vehicles covered by the latest Tesla recall were manufactured between December 2019 and June 2021.

Regulators say that accidentally activating the Autopilot could cause the Tesla to speed up unexpectedly. This issue seems to be different from reported instances of sudden unintended acceleration that is allegedly caused by a flaw in manufacturing the actual vehicle. In those cases, the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ruled that the sudden unexpected acceleration could have been caused by operator error – essentially drivers hitting the wrong pedal in their cars by mistake.

Although Tesla doesn’t have a press office that can respond to media requests, it did post an apology for the issue on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Tesla has had numerous public relations issues in China, including previous recalls for problems like suspension issues, protests over poor customer service that included one woman climbing on top of a Tesla vehicle on display at a car show, and the Chinese government’s ban on parking Tesla vehicles at government-owned facilities due to concerns about spying.

Tesla is currently wrangling with Chinese bloggers whom it accuses of spreading malicious lies about the company. Some bloggers say that Tesla threatened to sue them for what it says are defamatory comments that included questions about the same unintended acceleration that so many vehicles are now being recalled for. It has also filed a lawsuit against a Chinese news outlet that accused the company of using “sweatshop” practices at Gigafactory Shanghai. The latter could easily be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, as China often uses forced labor practices against “undesirable” populations like the Uighur Muslims.

The publicity issues has led to weak sales in China recently, although deliveries picked up in May. Despite the problems, Tesla plans to manufacture as many as 500,000 cars a year at Gigafactory Shanghai and opened a data center in China in an attempt to address the concerns that its cameras could capture footage of sensitive activities at Chinese government facilities.

Regulators do say that Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are not quite ready to independently operate a vehicle despite Tesla’s and Elon Musk’s bragging about its capabilities. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers’ scale of self-driving vehicles, a fully autonomous car would be at Level 5. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software is currently at Level 2, capable of performing some limited functions like navigating a parking lot in a relatively predictable environment. Despite disclaimers to that effect on Tesla’s websites, that has not stopped a few Tesla owners from pulling dangerous stunts like riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla.

Technology

Tesla to Allow Other EVs to Charge at Supercharger Stations in Norway

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In a first for Tesla, it has announced that it will allow electric vehicles manufactured by other automakers to charge at its Superchargers in Norway. This may be due to regulatory pressure to make chargers available to all EVs, just like any gas-powered car can fill up at a gas station due to industry standards that apply across all brands.

German officials have also joined the effort to encourage Tesla to make its Superchargers available to other EVs. German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer confirmed that he is talking with Tesla officials regarding the possibility of making the Supercharger capable of supporting models made by other manufacturers, though he said there were a few technical issues to solve.

Tesla was the first to have charging stations for its electric vehicles due to its early recognition of the phenomenon called “range anxiety,” which could have slowed down adoption of electric vehicles due to consumers’ concern about getting home to charge their cars before the battery ran out and left them stranded.

Its charging stations typically have between 8 and 40 Superchargers capable of handling charging batteries at a power rating of 150 KW or 250 KW, depending on location, which reduces the time it takes to add charge to a Tesla vehicle. Tesla is also currently planning bigger charging stations, including one in Santa Monica, California, that will have 62 Superchargers (and may include Elon Musk’s concept of a 1950s-themed restaurant at some point in the future if a recent trademark application is any indication).

Tesla charging stations also come with additional features like the ability to manage the charging process, including billing and starting or stopping the charging process, with a mobile app.

Tesla initially made charging free for its vehicles in an effort to encourage sales, but now charges a price for charging that it says is “at-cost.” This early mover advantage made it possible for Tesla Superchargers to become the most used out of any brand of EV charger.

Now more generic charging stations are being rolled out, an effort that is especially being supported by Volkswagen’s and Electrify America’s investment in standardized chargers in the United States. The European side is being covered by private companies that include Fastned, which is planning a network of 1,000 charging stations across Europe and is also a partner in the Oxford Superhub.

For other EV owners in Norway, this may simply mean having the advantage of being able to charge their vehicles at any station even if it has the Tesla branding. This can help them skip the risk of hooking up to a malfunctioning charger, which seems to happen fairly often with more generic charging stations. At Tesla’s larger Supercharger stations, its usually considered no big deal if one or two of them are down because there will usually be at least six more up and running.

Smaller charging stations with other brands on them typically have not much more than four or five chargers, which can make having a couple of them down really inconvenient for EV owners who may have to wait for one to open up or go on to the next charging station. This can be as much of a hassle as having to drive to the next gas station in a vehicle that is already running on fumes. At a Tesla charging station, dealing with this issue may be no more of an issue than having to pull forward to the next charging station if one isn’t working.

Technology

Panasonic Sells Stake in Tesla

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Panasonic has sold a $3.61 billion stake in Tesla as part of a broader push to raise funds for future investments. Although Panasonic officials say that they aren’t going to dump Tesla as a buyer of batteries and electronics, they say that the move is in line with its corporate governance protocols.

Panasonic bought its Tesla shares for $30 million in 2010. Since then, relations between the two companies have occasionally been tense, with senior officials from both occasionally trading barbs publicly. However, Tesla has been one of Panasonic’s biggest customers, though Panasonic now seems interested in moving away from relying solely on Tesla.

This may not be difficult if Panasonic continues to manufacture batteries for automakers. In some countries like the UK and U.S. States like California, new regulations aim to push for the phasing out of sales of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by the 2030s. Some automakers are already manufacturing or working on electric vehicles of their own with an eye toward competing with Tesla. Some reports even say that these automakers could catch up in market share despite Tesla’s early head start in manufacturing electric vehicles.

Experts say that the biggest challenge will be having enough infrastructure like EV charging stations in place before electric vehicles go fully mainstream. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the UK will need 2.3 million chargers to support regulators’ demand that all new vehicles should be free of gas and diesel by 2030. Setting all these chargers up by the end of this decade is likely to be a challenge.

Fortunately, some municipalities and private companies like Fastned seem willing to make the upfront investment as much as they can. U.S. President Biden’s infrastructure investment proposal also includes support for greater adoption of electric vehicles. Tesla is also in the process of getting Supercharger stations like one in Santa Monica, California, up and running and has floated the possibility of opening these stations up to vehicles made by other manufacturers (and, yes, eventually adding a 1950s-themed restaurant complete with waitstaff on roller skates).

Tesla is also diversifying its sources of batteries, including buying stakes in automotive battery manufacturers like German battery assembly manufacturer German ATW Automation. Tesla recently pursued a 10% stake in South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and also made a deal with China’s CATL, the latter of which is expected to supply Gigafactory Shanghai. Tesla is also working on developing its own battery-making capacity, including filing updated plans for Gigafactory Berlin to include more details on product lines and the ability to assemble batteries in-house.

Elon Musk has previously announced a more efficient battery-making process at the company’s Battery Day event last year. His insistence on manufacturing some parts for Tesla vehicles in-house helped Tesla earn two of the top three slots for Cars.com’s most recent American Made Index, which rates the top American-made vehicle models.

The increased demand for electric vehicle batteries among companies that aren’t as interested in manufacturing their own may be an opportunity for Panasonic despite its willingness to dump its Tesla shares.

Technology

New Crypto Scam Uses Elon Musk, YouTube Advertising to Look Legit

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A new, particularly convincing crypto scam using Elon Musk’s name is now using YouTube advertising, the MetaMask web browser extension that serves as a functional Ethereum wallet, and the decentralized exchange UniSwap to look legitimate. The scam has already raked in $430,000 in cryptocurrency and could top $1 million if users are not cautious.

The scam makes use of a convincing-looking fake tweet by Elon Musk saying that he is launching a new crypto-based token called $SpaceX and a 3- to 5-minute-long video ad promoting the fake coin. It plays off both Elon Musk’s ambitions of establishing a large and growing Martian settlement and his recent plugging of cryptocurrencies on Twitter and during his guest hosting stint on SNL. The fraudulent ad promises that Elon Musk will donate a portion of each transaction using $SpaceX to “space-research companies” in order to “help Elon’s mission.”

The scammers also reportedly seeded $SpaceX’s Etherscan page with fraudulent comments in an attempt to make it look legitimate and active. Etherscan is a popular block explorer for Ethereum, which makes it easy to create a new token on its blockchain.

The advertising was legitimately purchased through YouTube, which has not responded to requests for comment from sites like ThreatPost. The websites that the ads direct to include instructions for installing the surprisingly legitimate Metamask extension. When dealing with anything involving crypto, it’s usually a good idea to not install anything based on instructions from an unknown site because it could lead to the installation of malware and fraudulent apps and extensions.

Uniswap is one of a few decentralized exchanges that are popular with crypto enthusiasts who worry that “centralized” exchanges like Gemini might be vulnerable to adverse actions taken by regulators. Some exchanges have been forced to implement KYC/AML procedures that can be difficult for people who have issues uploading a good photo of their ID, may not have a valid photo ID to begin with, or like the relative anonymity of using pure cryptocurrency.

On the flip side, decentralized exchanges are especially vulnerable to scam tokens, especially when anyone can add a token of their own with little to no confirmation that it’s from a legitimate source. Wary crypto insiders may have remembered all the fake Elon Musk Twitter accounts promising to send back 2X, 5X, or 10X the coins sent to a specific address – which should have been an obvious Ponzi scheme even if it wasn’t an outright scam – and law enforcement officials have arrested a Tampa teenager and a couple of adults on charges related to hacking high-profile Twitter accounts, including Elon Musk’s, in order to carry out their scam.

What makes this one new is that the brains behind this particular scheme found a way to get past whatever checks YouTube has to prevent fraudulent advertising, and they made use of legitimate names in the crypto space like MetaMask and UniSwap. Experts recommend making sure to confirm any news of a token being issued with legitimate sources before getting one’s feet wet with any token and, even then, waiting a bit to make sure that a Twitter account hasn’t been hacked to spread bogus news.

The $SpaceX scam was a particularly convincing scam due to the YouTube advertising and additional steps taken by the scammers. However, it is not officially associated with Elon Musk or SpaceX. Worried that you might fall for a convincing scam like this? The below video should help you avoid them.

Technology

Tesla Opens First Charging Station With Solar Power, On-Site Energy Storage in China

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has opened a charging station with solar power and on-site energy storage in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, according to a social media post on Weibo. Although Tesla doesn’t have a showroom in Tibet, it cited the region’s ample sunlight as a reason for the move.

China is Tesla’s second largest market despite recent weak sales and tensions between the United States and China that can blow over to private U.S.-based companies like Tesla. The Chinese government recently banned Tesla vehicles from parking at government-owned facilities due to concerns about their cameras capturing footage of sensitive activities. Although Tesla denies that the cameras are active, it recently opened a data storage facility in China in an effort to address the issue.

China heavily relies on coal rather than renewable energy for its electricity, which may have fed into criticism that Tesla still relies on fossil fuels to recharge its electric vehicles. Efforts to remedy the matter include a recent partnership with Fastned to develop a network of 1,000 solar powered charging stations across Europe, most of which will likely include Tesla’s Superchargers.

Tesla also purchased SolarCity for $2.6 billion in 2016, which gave the company access to the Solar Roof and Powerwall battery. These two products are currently sold together on Tesla’s website and could still go mainstream despite Elon Musk’s recent admission that the company bungled pricing badly enough for residential customers to file lawsuits related to unexpected price hikes that may be rolled up into a class-action lawsuit by a Californian court.

Despite the challenges, Tesla has indicated that it plans to expand its solar energy business. These technologies may make it possible for commercial applications like electric vehicle charging stations to make use of solar energy 24/7. Tesla recently posted job openings for solar and energy storage project managers in China, which could indicate that the company plans to build a respectably sized network of solar powered charging stations within the country if the station in Tibet is a success.

Tesla does not seem to plan to sell many Teslas in Tibet, an impoverished region whose population has been the victim of China’s human rights abuses. China’s actions against leading Tibetan religious figures like the Dalai Lama has caused contention around the world. China has especially sparked controversy by saying that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation must “comply with Chinese laws and regulations.” The Dalai Lama has hinted that he may choose not to reincarnate rather than allow China to use any possible future incarnation as a political pawn.

“They say they are waiting for my death and will recognize a 15th Dalai Lama of their choice. It is clear from their recent rules and regulations and subsequent declarations that they have a detailed strategy to deceive Tibetans,” he said.

Tesla’s new charging station may purely benefit visiting Chinese residents who work for the government or are passing through Tibet, as it is unlikely that there will be strong demand for its electric vehicles in the impoverished and downtrodden region. From an environmental standpoint, though, it could help to negate the appearance that electric vehicles sold in China will rely too much on coal for their electricity.

Technology

Tesla Model 3 Tops List of American-Made Cars

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Cars.com has released the 2021 edition of its American Made Index with the Tesla Model 3 topping the list this year and the Model Y coming in third place. The American Made Index makes use of publicly available information that includes, though isn’t limited to, assembly location, part sourcing logs from the American Automobile Labeling Act, and US factory employment.

The Ford Mustang took second place, and the Jeep Cherokee and Chevrolet Corvette took fourth and fifth, respectively. Honda did respectably with its vehicles filling out most of the rest of the American Made Index’s list, and the Toyota Tundra took tenth place.

Tesla currently has factories in Nevada, New York, and California, with another one being built in Texas. The Model 3 and Model Y are manufactured at the Gigafactory in Fremont, California, with some parts being made at a former Chrysler factory in Lathrop that Tesla had taken over in 2014.

According to Cars.com’s research, the “Made in America” stamp is a major factor in the decision-making of 72% of car buyers, with 29% of those polled saying that they consider it “unpatriotic” to buy a foreign-made vehicle. These consumers “consider a car’s US economic impact a significant or deciding factor in their vehicle purchase.”

The “Made in America” factor could sway these consumers toward a Tesla-made electric vehicle even if they don’t consider other factors like the rising price of gasoline or growing regulatory pressure to move away from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. California, for instance, plans to require that all new vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission vehicles by 2035, which basically means electric vehicles at this point.

Tesla is certainly planning for it, starting with a planned Santa Monica charging station that will include 62 Superchargers and may include Elon Musk’s desired “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” in the not-so-distant future if Tesla’s recent trademark filing for a restaurant is any indication. Such a thing would be a great bit of nostalgic Americana for people who would strongly consider buying one of the cars that Cars.com says rank highly on its American Made Index.

This is part of Tesla’s growing push to address “range anxiety” that might cause people to hesitate to buy one of its electric vehicles. Those who are considering an electric vehicle purchase might worry about being stranded due to the lack of publicly available electric charging stations or the amount of time it would take to recharge their vehicles while they’re on the go. Some private companies like Fastned are attempting to solve this problem with a continent-wide network of charging stations. Some government officials like Germany’s Transport Minister are also currently talking to Tesla to make its Superchargers available for electric vehicles manufactured by other automakers.

Coincidently, the Tesla Model 3 still retained its “recommended” status on Consumer Reports’ Auto Reliability Survey last November even though the Model S and Model Y were downgraded. Model S and Model Y owners had reported manufacturing flaws affecting the air suspension, main computer, and touchscreen controls in the Model S, as well as body hardware and paint in the Model Y. The Model 3 seemed to have the fewest number of reported issues out of Tesla’s currently available offerings.

Technology

Tesla Taxi Fleet Denied Access to New York

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has voted to reject new for-hire licenses for electric vehicles in a 5-1 vote. The decision covers one proposal by the ride share service Revel, which planned to launch its fleet of 50 Tesla Model Y vehicles in New York City.  Revel blasted the decision as being anti-competitive, as it had planned to compete with existing ride share services Uber and Lyft.

“We’re offering exactly what this commission has been asking for for years: fair treatment and stable pay for drivers — who are all W-2 employees with benefits — and a plan to drive EV adoption in the city,” said Revel CEO Frank Reig in a statement made before the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Reig contrasted his company’s employment practices with Uber’s and Lyft’s practice of regarding their drivers as independent contractors who use their own vehicles and often earn less than minimum wage when all of their operating expenses are accounted for. These ride sharing services had once been regarded as disruptive of New York City’s traditional yellow taxis because they could offer lower fares by not operating their own vehicles.

Reig went on to accuse the commission of ramming the measure through with a minimum of input from the public or any consideration for the environmental impact of operating gas-powered vehicles. The commission would have allowed Revel to operate if it bought an equal number of gas-powered cars and swapped out the licenses for electric vehicles.

He indicated that Revel might hit New York City’s streets anyway, saying that the law is on the company’s side despite the commission’s decision: “Never in Revel’s history have we operated illegally.”

Those who voted against allowing Revel to operate in New York City expressed concerns about increased congestion in a city that already has heavy traffic. Bill Aguado, who represents the Bronx, was the sole commission member to vote against the measure.

“It is not sustainable to allow an unlimited number of new vehicles to the road in a city that is all too familiar with the choke of traffic congestion. What we will not allow is the opportunity for another corporation — venture capitalists or otherwise — to flood our streets with additional cars,” said Taxi and Limousine Commission chairperson Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk.

Elon Musk’s previous prediction that there may someday be a ride sharing network consisting of self-driving Tesla vehicles may lead to some speculation that Revel may find a champion in the Tesla CEO if things come down to a legal battle between Revel and the Taxi and Limousine Commission. If Revel can set the precedent that the commission overstepped its bounds in banning the company from operating on NYC’s streets, that could open the door for a future Tesla-backed ride sharing service in which privately owned vehicles could simply pull out of their owners’ driveways to go pick up a passenger.

This concept does depend on Tesla being able to bring its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software up to the level at which it could handle most conditions on the road with a minimum of driver input. Automotive experts say that it would have to be brought up to Level 5 on SAE International’s scale of autonomous driving before a fleet of self-driving vehicles used for a ride share service would be feasible. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software is currently at Level 2.

The obvious benefits of a self-driving fleet of vehicles leased to a ride share network may include a decline of accusations of sexual misconduct and kidnapping that have plagued existing ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Uber has previously faced class-action lawsuits alleging that lax background checks for its drivers led to a string of drivers sexually assaulting female passengers, for instance.

By classifying its employees as employees rather than contractors, Revel may have a better chance of avoiding issues like these by keeping tighter controls over those who drive for them along with addressing common complaints among activists who accuse Uber and Lyft of shortchanging their drivers. However, that won’t necessarily help those who might be interested in driving a Tesla for a ride sharing service if the Taxi and Limousine Commission won’t allow Revel to operate on New York City’s streets.

Space

SpaceX President Says Starlink Could See Global Coverage by September

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX President Glynn Shotwell says SpaceX has launched 1,800 Starlink satellites, the minimum necessary for global coverage, and could start providing that coverage outside of the “Better than Nothing Beta” as early as September. Some of the most recently launched satellites are still maneuvering into their final orbits.

This is, of course, still pending regulatory approval by many countries. SpaceX has previously groused about the slow pace of Canada’s regulatory approval for placing the hardware needed to access Starlink within the country. This means Starlink is only accessible from the parts of Canada that are closest to its border with the United States.

Starlink’s beta is currently approved in 11 countries, including the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and parts of Europe. SpaceX currently has deals with the U.K. and United States to develop broadband infrastructure for rural areas and low-income regions that have previously been neglected by ISPs and Internet infrastructure developers.

According to the FCC, 19 million Americans did not have access to the Internet in 2020. Some experts say that this number might have been overly conservative and as many as 42 million Americans don’t have reliable Internet access. They may be able to access it in public spaces and businesses that offer free Wi-Fi, but not at home. 3.7 million students run the risk of falling behind in their studies because they don’t have Internet access or even a home computer.

This is a problem that was especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which students were expected to access virtual learning but couldn’t because their parents couldn’t afford Internet access and places that would have normally provided free Wi-Fi were all closed. At least one student hiked to school every day even though it was closed just so he could access the Internet. Attempts to solve this problem included a deal between SpaceX and one school district in Texas to provide Internet access for low-income students.

So it wouldn’t be hard to see how global coverage for the Internet could benefit people who don’t have reliable access, though dealing with the regulators is always a challenge if Elon Musk’s companies’ experience is any indication. Tesla has previously complained about the slow pace of regulatory approval for the completion and opening of Gigafactory Berlin and SpaceX has certainly had its share of flaps with the regulators in the wake of four fiery losses of Starship prototypes in a row. Now the FAA is demanding an environmental review that could delay the launch of an orbital test of Starship, though SpaceX was seen stacking the prototype that will be used for that test despite that.

Beta testers have reported speeds up to 209.17 megabits per second and good performance even in harsh winter conditions. On the flip side, Starlink terminals apparently go into frequent thermal shutdowns in intense summer heat in some U.S. States like Arizona. This could cause problems in some regions that would benefit the most from reliable access to high-speed Internet if SpaceX won’t fix the overheating problem with its terminals.

Despite the issues, Elon Musk said that demand for Starlink access is strong, with preorders exceeding 500,000. Shotwell previously mentioned that Starlink could help fund Musk’s ambitions for crewed missions to Mars if its ambitious schedule of launching more satellites every couple of weeks pays off. SpaceX plans to have a constellation of 42,000 Internet satellites in low Earth orbit when it is complete.

This has caused occasional annoyance for competitors who are launching their own satellites despite OneWeb being caught exaggerating the close call that one of its satellites had with a Starlink satellite. Elon Musk has previously expressed annoyance with competitors’ regulatory challenges, including a recent challenge to the FCC’s approval of SpaceX’s application to launch some satellites into a lower orbit.

The current pricing for Starlink access is $99 a month plus $499 for the equipment needed to access it and SpaceX has previously denied plans for tiered pricing, though it later said that it might be willing to consider a reduced rate for low-income customers.

Some Starlink Terminals Shut Down in Extreme Heat Conditions

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, beta testers for Starlink’s “Better than Nothing Beta” reported that Starlink terminals hold up well in extreme winter conditions that include high wind and frigid temperatures. Now some Starlink users say that their terminals are experiencing shutdowns in hot weather conditions.

The thermal shutdowns are causing users to lose access to Starlink’s satellite Internet service. Some members of Reddit’s Starlink subreddit say that they received alerts that their terminals that informed them of the issue. The terminals are officially rated to a temperature of 122 degrees Fahrenheit, but some users reported seeing the thermal shutdown issue before weather conditions reached that temperature.

This seems to have thrown some shade on Starlink’s ability to function in rural regions that may need it the most. One Redditor who lives in Arizona grumbled, “By July we get 125-131 most days. I’m gonna have to switch away if what I just heard back from support is accurate. … I’m gonna have to spray it with a garden hose to reboot my internet.”

Some users theorized that high ultraviolet light exposure could be part of the issue. Higher potential ultraviolet exposure often coincides with higher temperatures due to the increased intensity of the sun’s rays during summertime. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published information on the UV Index Scale, which predicts the potential intensity of ultraviolet exposure. The National Weather Service often works with the EPA to include the expected UV Index in its weather reports.

These reports of Starlink terminals shutting down due to heat are coming in time for summer solstice, which could pose a challenge to efforts to bring broadband service to parts of the world that get intense heat during the summer months. This could especially provide an obstacle to efforts to bring reliable broadband Internet access to rural areas in the southern United States as part of SpaceX’s preliminary deal with the FCC’s RDOF program to establish service in about 642,000 locations throughout the U.S.

SpaceX already has a deal with one school district in Texas, a state that may be impacted by this issue, to provide Internet service for low-income families. Elon Musk also mentioned that SpaceX already has 500,000 preorders for Starlink service, though it was not immediately clear how many of those preorders came from customers who live in areas that can reach heat levels that might cause an overheating issue in the summer.

Starlink’s customer service indicated that moving the terminal to a cooler location such as a place with some shade could be one possible solution. SpaceX has not said whether it has plans to integrate a way to cool down overheated terminals in the near future. However, if SpaceX can figure out how to make Starlink terminals function in conditions that would normally freeze their electronic components, then it should also be able to figure out how to make them capable of withstanding conditions that seems to be air-frying them, as well.

Technology

Tesla Brings Supercomputer Online

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla has spun up the world’s fifth most powerful supercomputer, which will be used to train the neural nets powering the Autopilot and the AI that will be used for its Full Self-Driving software. The supercomputer is actually less powerful than its planned Dojo supercomputer, which will be capable of a full exaflop, or 1018 operations per second.

Elon Musk has previously said that Dojo is likely to be ready by the end of this year. Until then, Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving programs rely on its existing computing power. This most recent supercomputer is the third one that it has created in-house and was unveiled by the company’s AI chief, Andrej Karpathy, during a presentation at the 2021 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. According to the presentation, this supercomputer’s specs include:

  • 720 nodes of 8x A100 80GB. (5760 GPUs total)
  • 1.8 EFLOPS (720 nodes * 312 TFLOPS-FP16-A100 * 8 gpu/nodes)
  • 10 PB of “hot tier” NVME storage @ 1.6 TBps
  • 640 Tbps of total switching capacity

“For us, computer vision is the bread and butter of what we do and what enables Autopilot. And for that to work really well, we need to master the data from the fleet, and train massive neural nets and experiment a lot,” Karpathy said during the presentation.

Tesla vehicles have sent back enough real-time driving data to make a solid start on that, with more than a billion miles driven since its electric vehicles started hitting the road. The Autopilot and Full Self-Driving engineering team were working on labeling of objects seen through the onboard vehicle camera systems. That labeling is currently being done by humans. The software can already recognize most road signs, turn lanes, and lane markings on the road.

Despite some privacy concerns, the transmission of data to Tesla’s supercomputers helped investigators determine that the Autopilot was not engaged at the time of a recent fatal wreck in Texas despite authorities initially speculating that it was. Data from Tesla’s cameras have also cracked criminal cases like a string of shootings with a BB gun in California and a series of hate crimes against members of a primarily African-American church in Missouri.

Besides using Dojo’s predecessors to train Tesla’s neural nets, Elon Musk has indicated that it would be willing to lease their processing power to other companies to train their own neural nets and AI programs. Karpathy didn’t elaborate much on progress made on Dojo or what its final specs would wind up being besides saying that the upcoming supercomputer would be optimized for neural nets.

According to communications between Tesla employees and the DMV, development of Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software is likely to take longer than Elon Musk seems to expect. Tesla’s website includes the disclaimer that drivers should remain alert at all times while using the software and has recently backed that up by activating a camera mounted to the rear-view mirror. The latter may have been sparked by recent incidents in which California residents were seen pulling stunts like riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla vehicle with Autopilot engaged.

These incidents were blamed on people being dumb rather than any allegedly overstated capabilities of Tesla’s software. Tesla is continuing to improve on the software with the use of supercomputers to train the neural nets and AI that power them and Full Self-Driving itself is still in beta.

Space

U.S. Air Force Expresses Interest in Possibly Starship-Based “Rocket Cargo” Concept

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The U.S. Air Force has expressed interest in the possibility of using a rocket and spacecraft similar to SpaceX’s Starship, as evidenced by a $200 billion budget request that included $47.9 million for the study of a “rocket cargo” system that can transport cargo from anywhere to any point on Earth.

The proposal didn’t mention SpaceX or Starship by name, but the Air Force’s descriptions of the planned system seem to closely match the company’s plans for using Starship for point-to-point travel on Earth. The proposed $47.9 million would be used to “test the capability to leverage a commercial rocket to deliver AF cargo anywhere on the Earth in less than one hour, with a 100-ton capacity … with full reusability.”

Elon Musk has made no secret of the idea that Starship could be used for the transport of cargos and sometimes passengers between two points on Earth that can currently only be reached by flights that require several hours in the air and the likelihood of multiple layovers. The proposed use of Starship could easily transport up to 100 tons of cargo between points on Earth in as little as an hour.

At this point, the most likely plan is that these flights would be launched from ocean-based platforms that are far enough away from population centers that any mishaps or sonic booms from the rockets are unlikely to damage nearby buildings. SpaceX is currently converting two oil rigs into experimental ocean-based launch platforms named “Phobos” and “Deimos”, the same names as the two moons of Mars and a reminder of CEO Elon Musk’s ultimate ambitions for Mars. Elon Musk recently issued an effective progress report on these platforms.

Once Starship becomes operational, it could easily be used for the delivery of cargo that is time-sensitive or could be vulnerable to attacks on other ground- or air-based cargo delivery systems. The Air Force’s requirements include the idea that its contractors for a “rocket cargo system” could develop “novel trajectories” and other ways to reduce the risk of a delivery being detected and attacked by an enemy.

If the Air Force wants this to happen anytime soon, however, it may have to put some “behind the scenes” pressure on the FAA to lay off SpaceX a little bit. The FAA is currently jeopardizing SpaceX’s schedule for planned Starship tests like an upcoming orbital test that will launch from its Boca Chica, Texas, facility as early as July by demanding a study of its potential impact on local wildlife. Although an FAA senior staff member has defended SpaceX before a Congressional hearing recently, the regulatory agency has sparred with SpaceX and Elon Musk often enough that his public praise may not have been very believable.

The U.S. Transportation Command currently relies on a variety of private companies like FedEx, UPS, American Airlines, and Delta Airlines to supplement its ability to move cargo. The Transportation Command’s current contracts with these companies add up to $3.3 billion. While SpaceX’s Starship is unlikely to entirely kill the business of “traditional” shipping companies and airlines, it could easily snag a slice of the pie by getting its “high-speed premium” cargo service up and running.

Space

SpaceX Could Delay Starship Orbital Test Due to FAA’s Environmental Concerns

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As part of SpaceX’s continuing up-and-down relationship with regulators, the company could be forced to delay its planned orbital test of a Starship rocket prototype. The FAA has expressed concern about the test’s potential impact on local wildlife.

Debris from the past, fiery losses of four Starship prototypes in a row has rained down on local beaches, which could explain why SpaceX has closed local beaches and public roads often enough to attract unwanted attention from Cameron County officials. SpaceX has blamed what the county officials say are excessive road closures on overzealous security guards.

Now that SpaceX has finally nailed the landing with a high-altitude test flight of the 16-foot-tall SN15 prototype, it feels more confident in testing a bigger, 23-story-tall Super Heavy booster, which will be capable of sending Starship into orbit.

The FAA may be concerned that a failure during launch of the orbital test could have an impact on local wildlife and ecosystems. An exploding rocket could send debris for miles and create a shockwave strong enough to shatter windows in nearby residential buildings.

Due to this, the FAA is requiring that SpaceX conduct an environmental study to ensure that the risk to local ecosystems will be minimized. The regulatory agency will have to sign off on it but is unlikely to do so before SpaceX’s target launch date of early July. Some experts say that a new environmental statement is likely to take as long as three years, which could punt Elon Musk’s goal of sending uncrewed Starship spacecraft to Mars in 2024 and crewed missions in 2026 even further into the future.

Musk and his companies have frequently criticized regulators for decisions that Musk doesn’t agree with and bureaucratic red tape that causes delays for his plans. Tesla has been forced to delay the opening of Gigafactory Berlin from July to as early as late 2021 due to the snail pace of getting regulatory approval, for instance. Musk has also said that the FAA’s space division “has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure” in the wake of the FAA’s investigation into the string of explosions of Starship prototypes.

More recently, though, FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith did tell Congress that SpaceX seems to take safety concerns more seriously in the wake of the string of Starship prototype losses that started with the loss of SN8 in December 2020. A House of Representatives subcommittee had been holding a hearing on how the FAA could improve support for the growing demand for space launches.

Now SpaceX simply needs to address the environmental concerns that must have been so frequently annoying for Elon Musk lately. Part of the bureaucratic delays with Gigafactory Berlin could be due to recent legal challenges from environmental groups. Local law authorities are investigating a suspected case of arson that damaged power lines leading to Gigafactory Berlin in which an extreme environmentalist group claimed responsibility. It would not be at all surprising if some of Elon Musk’s annoyance with them spills over to his response to the FAA’s environmental concerns that could lead to a delay in the Starship orbital test that is expected to launch from Boca Chica and come down somewhere near Hawaii.

Technology

Fake Elon Musk TikTok Account Fools Fan

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A fraudulent TikTok account going by the handle of @elonmuskdad fooled a fan into thinking that he could get a free Tesla if he ate pizza every day for 420 days or until he reached 420 pounds, whichever came first. The fake account somehow had a “Verified” tick mark, indicating that some social media platforms still have a ridiculously low bar for “verifying” an account.

The Elon Musk fan, named Kyle Young, managed to reach a streak of 99 days of eating pizza from the crust first, often seen as the “wrong” way to eat a pizza, before the @elonmuskdad account was deleted from TikTok. It is unclear whether the account was banned or its owner deleted it. Young goes by the handle of @foodthewrongway on TikTok. Followers had expressed concern about the effects that taking the @elonmuskdad account up on its dare was going to have on his health.

Young’s reaction to @elonmuskdad’s disappearance? A TikTok video which he captioned, “Damn, I really thought it was him because he was verified 🙁 Welp, I guess I’ll keep going.”

For being a fake account, @elonmuskdad’s actions were relatively harmless. Twitter had been having a bad run of fake Twitter accounts which offered “Bitcoin giveaways” to people who sent Bitcoin to a specific address. Some of them even impersonated Elon Musk, and at least one of the scammers even hacked Musk’s Twitter account to promote the scam. At least some of the scams were tracked down to a 17-year-old Tampa, Florida, resident who was accused of hacking the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians and businessmen like Musk, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama in order to conduct his scam.

Authorities estimated that he had obtained $100,000 in Bitcoin through his actions and also filed charges against two adults related to the same streak of scams. Twitter publicly thanked law enforcement officials for their swift action on what it called a “phone spear phishing attack” in which hackers use social engineering to gain access to a company’s internal IT infrastructure to gain additional information that can be used in an attack.

Besides the need for stronger enforcement of laws related to fraud, social media platforms could also stand to shore up their process for verifying an account. Twitter recently switched to simply requiring that users follow the @verified account and tweet at the account to follow back, to requiring additional steps like providing a photo ID or official website. More details on verifying a Twitter account can be found here.

TikTok does not seem to have those strong protections, which could make users more vulnerable to exposure from fake “verified” accounts like @elonmuskdad. Many members of TikTok’s audience may not know how to recognize and avoid a sophisticated enough scam. Publicly available information on Musk includes his fondness of the number 420, a reference to the use of marijuana, which became highlighted by an image of him smoking some pot while making an appearance on a podcast. This fake TikTok account seems to simply amount to a harmless prank.

Space

FAA Defends SpaceX Before Congressional Committee

Written By: Heidi
Heidi
The full video of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee titled “Starships and Stripes Forever: An Examination of the FAA’s Role in the Future of Spaceflight

During a Congressional hearing, FAA Associate Administrator Wayne Monteith expressed confidence in SpaceX despite recent disputes with the company over what the FAA says was an unauthorized test launch of the SN8 prototype. SN8 was the first of four prototypes that exploded during test flights that involved launching and then attempting to land them.

The SN8 High-Altitude Test Flight

Those four test flights provided enough data to make improvements to SN15, which was the first “full-sized” prototype to successfully launch and then land in one piece. Soon after this success, SpaceX announced plans to launch a prototype from its Boca Chica, Texas, facility and bring it down near Hawaii in an orbital test.

“We would not have cleared them to start flight operations again had I not been confident they had modified their procedures effectively and addressed the safety culture issues that we saw,” Monteith said during testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.

This committee had been looking into the FAA’s role in spaceflight, especially in relation to issues with the speed at which it can divert air traffic for space launches. Especially at issue was the agency’s ability to keep up with the growing market for space launches, which now includes potential customers from both the private and the public sector.

Axiom Space has especially made waves with its plans to launch components of what will eventually become the first privately owned, independently functioning space station and expanding its deal with SpaceX for fully privately crewed spaceflights commanded by retired NASA astronauts like Peggy Whitson. Inspiration4 has also recently finalized its crew for a privately funded spaceflight, which will launch as early as September 15 for a 3-day orbital mission. It remains to be seen, however, whether regulators will create more headaches for SpaceX and its customers with more of the regulatory delays that seem to have given Elon Musk and his companies headaches lately.

Elon Musk has accused the FAA of apparently being stuck in the 1960s, when government agencies like NASA had a monopoly on space launches, while the FAA was investigating safety issues related to the test flights that had ended in such a fiery fashion.

At the time, Monteith had criticized SpaceX’s safety culture, saying that it had launched the now-lost SN8 prototype “based on ‘impressions’ and ‘assumptions.’” Especially glaring assumptions included the idea “that the inspector did not have the latest information.” He accused the company of ignoring a safety inspector’s advice to not launch SN8.

Monteith now says that he is confident that SpaceX has fixed the safety-culture issues. It’s even possible that SpaceX has swung too far in the other direction, considering that Cameron County officials recently alleged in a letter to SpaceX that its personnel illegally closed public roads and beaches near its launch facility. Debris from the failed tests have previously rained down on a nearby beach. SpaceX blamed the issue on overzealous security guards.

SpaceX has not been invited to send a representative to the hearing. The United Launch Alliance and Virgin Galactic sent representatives. SpaceX has not issued a comment on Monteith’s comments at the hearing or on being shut out. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee did not publicly release a reason for this notable exclusion.

Technology

German Government in Talks With Tesla to Make Superchargers Available for Other EVs

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer is currently talking with Tesla to make its Superchargers available for electric vehicles manufactured by other automakers. He says that there are some technical issues to solve, but the obstacles are not insurmountable.

“I am in direct talks with carmakers such as Tesla to make sure the existing infrastructure, for example Tesla’s Superchargers, will be open to other manufacturers,” Scheuer said.

The goal is to make it possible for EV owners to charge their cars across brands in the same way that gas-powered cars can be refueled at any gas station pump that provides the appropriate fuel. It would ideally be possible to manage the transaction through a mobile app, including the inclusion of a streamlined payment process through the app.

Although details of the talks have not been made public, Tesla could hesitate due to obstacles to the completion of Gigafactory Berlin that includes increasingly frequent challenges from environmentalist groups and bureaucratic red tape for final approval of completion of the Gigafactory. Many Tesla vehicles sold in Europe are imported from China and Tesla could reasonably use the talks to push for approving the ability to produce them more locally.

Tesla currently operates more than 1,000 out of the 40,000 charging spots in Germany. Europe has been focused on bringing its EV charging infrastructure up to speed due to the increasing expected demand for electric vehicles. Much of this expected demand is driven by upcoming regulatory requirements like the UK’s plan to ban all new diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicle sales in the UK by 2030. Experts say that the plan will require 2.3 million chargers to be operating in the UK by then.

They are working on it even if some worry that they may not have enough chargers by 2030. Oxford is investing in the “Oxford Superhub” that will include a total of 38 chargers along with partners like Tesla and Fastned, for instance.

The investment in new infrastructure for electric vehicles will be important for adoption because some consumers worry about “range anxiety,” the concern that they may not be able to use an electric vehicle like a gasoline-powered vehicle due to range limitations, long charging times, and lack of publicly available charging stations. Efforts to reduce this anxiety include one Israeli company’s work on a vehicle battery that could add 100 miles of range in 5 minutes.

On the flip side, Norwegian Tesla vehicle owners recently won a legal case related to allegations that a recent software update “throttled” their vehicle’s battery, reducing its range. Tesla did not publicly provide any rational for throttling the batteries.

Previously, carmakers and utilities have gone their own way to solve the lack of charging stations. Tesla was the first carmaker to make a major push to install its own Superchargers in support of its electric vehicles. It could provide free charging to owners of its vehicles, though some owners of other electric vehicles found a “work-around” that allowed them to charge cars made by other automakers. The current talks between Germany and Tesla could spark changes that include more standardized charging stations that can be used by any electric vehicle owner.

Space

Authorities Issue Warning to SpaceX for Closing Beaches, Public Roads

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Local authorities in the Boca Chica, Texas, area have issued a warning to SpaceX over having its private security guards close beaches and roads in the area without authorization from government officials. Cameron County officials had received complaints of closures of local roads and the relatively undeveloped Boca Chica Beach when SpaceX was going to conduct a test launch.

SpaceX currently has authorization to close local beaches for up to 300 hours a year for improved safety on days when it is going to conduct a test at the facility, according to an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration. Local authorities say that SpaceX has already closed the beaches for 385 hours this year. Recent mishaps while conducting high-altitude launch tests have caused shrapnel from the Starship prototypes to fall on local beaches, to the annoyance of locals and environmental activists.

Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz sent a letter to SpaceX stating that the company and its employees could face prosecution for incidents related to its closure of public roads. The district attorney’s office had received complaints that residents were barred from using public roads by SpaceX’s security personnel. While investigating the matter on June 9, employees of the district attorney’s office were allegedly “approached, stopped and detained” by a security officer wearing a “tactical bulletproof vest” while using a public road near the launch facility.

The letter indicates that the county had not authorized a road closure on that day and the security guard did not have the required license from the Texas Department of Public Safety. SpaceX blamed that and similar incidents on an “overzealous security guard” but has otherwise not issued any other comments. The alleged incident could lead to charges of obstructing a highway or passageway, a Class B misdemeanor, and impersonating a public officer, a third-degree felony. The district attorney asked SpaceX to respond with legal justification for its actions, although it was not clear whether SpaceX had done so.

The allegations are apparently the result of a complaint by a local environmental advocacy group known as Save RGV. Save RGV spokesperson Mary Angela Branch, a resident of nearby city Port Isabel, said that she investigated the matter on her own after a friend told her that SpaceX appeared to be blocking access to local roads and beaches without authorization.

“I don’t know how they’ve gotten away with all of that,” she told a reporter from CNN.

Despite the economic benefits that SpaceX’s launch facility can provide and Elon Musk’s $30 million in donations to community improvement projects and education in the area, some Cameron County residents have expressed dissatisfaction with SpaceX outside of the complaints about road and beach closures. A few Boca Chica residents accused SpaceX personnel of harassing them after they turned down offers for their homes, for instance. SpaceX has denied the allegations. Elon Musk has indicated that he would like to establish a “company town” called Starship near the launch facility and may be eyeballing Boca Chica for it.

Technology

Environmentalist Groups Issue Legal Attack Against Gigafactory Berlin (Again)

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Environmentalist groups have issued another legal challenge against Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin, this time in the form of filing for a legal injunction against regulatory approval for the factory. In a statement issued by their lawyer, the associations Gruene Liga and Nabu say that they have asked a court to clarify the situation as quickly as possible. The Brandenburg State Office for the Environment previously rejected their bid to terminate the permits.

Environmentalist groups have previously scored a partial legal victory in the form of a temporary ban on clearing trees on land that Tesla plans to use for expansions for Gigafactory Berlin. The court ruled that Tesla did not have adequate plans to relocate endangered animal species in the area or fund ecological restoration projects.

An extreme environmentalist group claimed responsibility for a suspected case of arson that damaged power lines leading to the Gigafactory. Investigators obtained an open letter posted online that said “Tesla is neither green, ecological nor social.”

Tesla has previously complained about bureaucratic delays with the approval of final completion of Gigafactory Berlin, although some of the delays may be caused by changes to its plans for the Gigafactory such as the recent addition of more details on product lines and plans to assemble batteries at the site. It currently plans to open the Gigafactory as early as late 2021.

Despite the environmentalists’ actions, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed an interest in “greener” operations that include a more efficient battery-making process that uses less water and sourcing its raw materials from countries with strong mining regulations like Australia and Canada. It plans to source $1 billion in lithium and nickel for its batteries from Australian mining firms, for instance.

Tesla is also investing heavily in renewable energy production and storage despite its current struggles with pricing for its solar roofs, which has caused enough annoyance for consumers for them to consider a class-action lawsuit. It continues to roll out Powerpacks and Megapacks for projects like Apple’s solar farm in California. Recent financial filings indicate that solar power and associated batteries account for 6% of its revenue, a 30% growth since 2019.

Most of its revenue comes from the sale of electric vehicles and carbon credits. While some environmentalists have complained of Tesla’s vehicles running on fossil fuels like coal, it has also invested in solar powered EV charging stations like one operated by Fastned in Düsseldorf, Germany, which hosts 20 Superchargers. Fastned plans to build a network of 1,000 EV charging stations across Europe.

Tesla has also filed a trademark for restaurant services at which EV owners might grab a burger while waiting for their vehicles to charge, echoing Musk’s desire to bring back the nostalgia of carhops with waitresses on roller skates.

This string of environmental-related challenges for Gigafactory Berlin may simply be a case of activists never being satisfied even when progress is being made. Clarification of the sort that the environmentalists are asking for in this case, may not be a bad thing. However, they may not do themselves any favors with endless legal complaints and hostile actions like the case of alleged arson.

Space

SpaceX President Discusses “No A-holes” Policy During Graduation Speech

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX President Glynn Shotwell discussed the company’s “No A-holes” policy at a virtual appearance at Northwestern University’s 2021 commencement ceremony. She said that having such a policy encourages people to “listen harder” and make positive contributions toward solving problems.

“These kinds of people – a–holes – interrupt others, they shut down or co-opt conversation, and they create a hostile environment where no one wants to contribute,” says Shotwell.

She says that the policy makes it easier for people to come forward with big ideas, even if they differ from what SpaceX’s senior staff might have in mind. These ideas might have the secret for solving a tough problem such as the ones that recently caused four Starship prototypes to experience fiery “rapid unscheduled disassembly” events during or shortly after landing during high-altitude flight tests. SpaceX got enough data out of these tests to solve the issues and successfully launch and land the SN15 prototype in one piece.

“In short, the best way to find solutions to hard problems is to listen harder, not talk louder,” she said. “Embrace the ideas of your fellow workers, especially when they differ greatly from yours.”

Shotwell is an alumnus of Northwestern University and joined SpaceX soon after its founding in 2002. She admitted that joining a startup like SpaceX did make her nervous at first but said that it could be “part of something exciting.”

After the Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, which led to the plans to end NASA’s Space Shuttle program by 2011, America needed a new way to launch astronauts from U.S. soil. SpaceX was the first private company to accomplish this feat by launching the first crew of the Commercial Crew Program in May 2020 and landing the same crew in the Gulf of Mexico in August – an accomplishment that was only marred by too many boaters coming into the restricted zone around the splashdown site to watch.

Russian officials have occasionally expressed annoyance and frustration with SpaceX due to its breaking of the monopoly on crewed space launches that the Russians had enjoyed between 2011 and 2020. SpaceX’s launch services represent a cost savings of $31 million per seat over launches on the Russian Soyuz.

“The one accomplishment that we have that I am most proud of is helping to get our country flying astronauts again on American-made rockets and spaceships,” she said.

Such a thing might not have been accomplished if senior staff members like Shotwell and CEO Elon Musk couldn’t listen to its experts. Musk had previously expressed a preference to avoid hiring MBAs, saying that “MBAs don’t build companies.” He has also expressed a preference for promoting engineers to senior positions when possible:

“The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.”

Combined with Musk’s previously mentioned “No A-hole” policy, such a concept may make it more feasible for engineers to feel like their ideas are being heard by somebody who wouldn’t blow off a concept purely because he or she doesn’t understand it.

Space

Space Force Confirms Approval to Launch GPS Satellites on Reused Rockets

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, the U.S. Space Force modified SpaceX’s contracts to launch two upgraded GPS satellites using previously flown Falcon 9 boosters. This move provides a cost saving of $64 million over launching the satellites with all-new Falcon 9 rockets.

The Space Force awarded contracts to launch five of the six planned GPS III satellites to SpaceX, with the sixth launch being conducted by the United Launch Alliance. With the modifications to allow for reused boosters, the contracts are now worth $469.8 million – still a significant price tag, perhaps, but a little more affordable in an environment in which the demand for the launch of military-owned hardware is not going to go down anytime soon.

The new GPS III satellites are meant to replace the aging GPS satellites that are currently in orbit. According to Lockheed-Martin, which is manufacturing them, the new GPS satellites will possess three times better accuracy and anti-jamming technology that is eight times better than the existing GPS satellites. They are expected to last up to 15 years once they are launched.

The GPS III SV04 satellite was launched last November with live streaming of the launch being broadcast in the below video, and the Space Force has decided to stipulate that the booster that was used for that satellite be reused for GPS III SV05. The SV05 satellite is set to launch as early as next Thursday. The Space Force had delayed approval for reusing boosters so that it could better understand SpaceX’s methodology for this less expensive option.

“In preparation for this first-time event we’ve worked closely with SpaceX to understand the refurbishment processes and are confident that this rocket is ready for its next flight,” said U.S. Space Force Space and Missiles Systems Center deputy mission director Dr. Walter Lauderdale. “We are certainly open to using other boosters, not just ones that have flown [for Space Force].”

Despite the Space Force’s abundance of caution, SpaceX is no stranger to government contracts for launch services now that it has won its previous legal battles with the U.S. military and ULA, in which it accused both parties of conspiring to block competitors like SpaceX from successfully bidding on launch contracts. SpaceX has already flown and reflown boosters and both the Crew and Cargo versions of its Dragon spacecraft for NASA. The next Crew Dragon mission, officially called Crew-3, is set to launch as early as Halloween.

Between the launch of Crew-2 and return of Crew-1, the International Space Station hosted a record-setting 11 astronauts and cosmonauts. It also marked the first time that two privately owned spacecraft were docked to the space station at the same time.

On the military side, the Department of Defense recently selected SpaceX to launch a laser communications experiment. It also received a $149 million contract from the Space Development Agency to build and launch a satellite that can detect and track incoming missiles.

Once SpaceX has GPS III SV05 launched, the next launch of a GPS satellite is expected to occur in Q3 2021. Both satellites will launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Technology

Elon Musk Says Tesla Might Reinstate Bitcoin if Energy Usage Becomes Greener

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, Tesla suspended the option to purchase an electric vehicle with Bitcoin after adding the option in March. Elon Musk said that the move was due to concerns about the energy used to process Bitcoin payments using computing power in a process called mining. Now Musk says that Tesla might reinstate Bitcoin payments if Bitcoin miners can switch over to at least 50% “green” renewable energy in their mining operations.

Some cryptocurrency miners have called his concerns unwarranted. The excuse of energy usage could be a cover for lack of purchases of Tesla vehicles using Bitcoin, as it isn’t used for payments much anymore due to high transaction fees and the pressure to HODL, or hold on to Bitcoin in the hope that it will increase in value despite price moves that can seem like a roller coaster at times. A few miners did mention the irony that Tesla vehicles run on electricity despite investments in solar powered Supercharger stations and attempts to ramp up sales of the company’s Powerwall and Powerpack batteries.

Many Bitcoin miners already seek out inexpensive renewable energy sources to maximize their profits. Norway has reported increasing demand for renewable energy from owners of mining rigs that may put a strain on its ability to produce enough energy to meet the total demand, for instance.

Elon Musk has recently met with major North American cryptocurrency mining firms regarding energy usage, a move that led to the formation of the Bitcoin Mining Council. The Bitcoin Mining Council says that it will push for greater transparency in energy usage. However, it does not appear that Musk will play a major role in the new organization.

In the wake of Tesla’s suspension of Bitcoin payments, supporters of other cryptocurrencies have suggested that the company could add cryptocurrency options that use less energy to process payments. Dogecoin was one of the most popular suggestions, since Musk has previously promoted it on Twitter and in an SNL skit during his guest hosting gig.

Although Tesla previously revealed ownership of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in recent regulatory filings, the company has since sold $272 million in “digital assets” to cover operating expenses. Musk says that some of the sales were an attempt to “confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market.” It may or may not have worked, considering that Bitcoin and several major altcoins like Dogecoin have slid starting on the day that Musk appeared on SNL.

Musk’s tweeting about cryptocurrencies often has an impact on the market. Some cryptocurrency investors have accused him of manipulating crypto markets, just as the SEC has alleged that Elon Musk manipulated the value of Tesla stock through ill-considered tweets such as claiming that he could take Tesla private, something that he later admitted would be “impossible at current prices” in the wake of the stock’s 2020 gains.

Several members of Reddit’s cryptocurrency subreddits have suggested ignoring Musk as much as possible. However, Musk’s most recent comment appears to have had limited effect, as Bitcoin rose 8% on Sunday.

And, yes, Musk does still plan to send “DOGE-1” to the Moon.

Space

Elon Musk Contemplates Selling Remaining Real Estate to Fund Mars Missions

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk has made no secret of his ambitions for Mars over the years. He has said that he “would like to die on Mars, just not on impact.” He has also indicated that he would like to start sending his Starship spacecraft to Mars as early as 2024, though of course that depends heavily on how soon SpaceX can bring the combination rocket and spacecraft to fully operational status.

Musk has already sold his three Bel-Air homes to a developer as part of downsizing his personal possessions. This may be part of his move out of California as part of his dispute with the state over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has indicated that he would like to use the money for projects like missions to Mars, development of sustainable energy production capacity, and the ethical development of AI.

He is not just selling to random buyers, however. He had this to say about a home formerly owned by a favorite actor:

Mars is Musk’s top priority, however, as he told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner in a December interview. He said that he is willing to sell most of his material possessions in order to fund it.

“It’s going to take a lot of resources to build a city on Mars. … That means just a lot of capital,” he said.

In recent tweets, he revealed that he does still own one home that he rents out for events. He implied that he would consider selling it to a “big family” that can get more use out of it if he ever decides to sell his remaining home. He also indicated that he currently rents a home in Boca Chica that is owned by SpaceX and he says is worth about $50,000.

In the wake of leaked tax information that indicates that several billionaires paid very little in income taxes comparative to their growing wealth, Musk did seem to roll his eyes at criticism that he’s a wealthy billionaire who cares only about owning large homes and said that one of his goals is to have very few assets of any significant value outside of shares in his companies:

“People will attack me and say, oh, he’s got all these possessions. He’s got all these houses. OK, now I don’t have them anymore.”

(For the record, the tax information does indicate that Musk paid $455 million in income taxes between 2014 and 2018. He has also said that he will continue to pay the appropriate amount of taxes in California despite moving to Texas.)

He has indicated that he would like to transform the area into a “company town” that he calls Starbase, although some longtime Boca Chica residents appear to oppose this plan. Some residents have even gone so far as to accuse SpaceX personnel of harassing them after they refused an offer to sell their homes, which SpaceX denies even though it has paid for some allegedly related damage.

SpaceX President Glynn Shotwell has also indicated that funding for sending people to Mars is also a major reason for SpaceX’s aggressive push to launch enough Starlink satellites to provide Internet access to all of Earth. Despite wrangling with competitors like ViaSat and OneWeb with regulators acting as a referee, SpaceX stands a good chance of snagging a healthy market share of what Shotwell calls a potential $1 trillion market. Besides providing reliable high-speed Internet to communities that have been left out by lack of investment in Internet infrastructure, this could go a long way toward funding missions to Mars without having to depend on taxpayer dollars.

Elon Musk indicated that he would like to send 1 million people to Mars by 2050 and build a fleet of 1,000 Starship spacecraft to get them there. He has mentioned that he would like to get the cost of sending people to Mars as low as $500,000 per person – doable if the future settlers are willing to sell their possessions to pay for a ticket, as people who moved to the frontier have done in the past. Musk has expressed a willingness to do his part by selling his Earthly belongings to help fund the effort.

Technology

Chinese Bloggers Say Tesla Threatened to Sue for Negative Comments

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Amid ongoing tensions between Tesla and China, China-based bloggers on platforms like Weibo say that Tesla threatened to file defamation lawsuits due to negative comments that they had made online. Most of the comments involve questions about Tesla vehicles’ safety after several crashes in which the previously reported sudden unintended acceleration may have been a factor.

The U.S. regulatory agency National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had previously ruled that reported cases of sudden unintended acceleration may have been the result of user error. A driver might have hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, for instance. Tesla shareholder Brian Sparks, who had filed the initial report with the NHTSA, said that the number of sudden acceleration cases were “absurdly high” for being a simple matter of user error, but that he trusted the regulators’ judgment.

Tesla has issued an increasing number of recalls recently, possibly due to the bad publicity and pressure from regulators. In late May, it issued a recall of some Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to fix a brake issue that may be unrelated to the unintended acceleration cases. Just days later, Tesla recalled the same models to fix issues with the seat belts.

Last year, it recalled some vehicles sold in China to fix an issue with the suspension system. Despite the recalls, Chinese media has criticized Tesla’s safety record. As part of a protest, one woman climbed on top a red Model 3 that was on display at the Shanghai Auto Show in protest of the alleged braking issue. She has since apologized for the incident, saying that it was “extreme.”

Several Chinese members of Weibo and the video platform TikTok have also issued apologies for their negative comments after Tesla reportedly sent them chat messages threatening lawsuits on those platforms. A lawyer named Xia Hailong said that Tesla could likely win a defamation suit, citing precedents like Tencent’s 2018 defamation case against Toutiao, in which Tencent accused its rival of sharing unfounded negative news and damaging its reputation. Tencent apparently has a long-running feud with Toutiao that sometimes involves back-and-forth court cases.

Tesla has previously filed a libel lawsuit against the Chinese news outlet PingWest over its report that Gigafactory Shanghai allegedly makes use of “sweatshop” practices. Tesla is notorious for being anti-union to the point where Musk and Tesla both got dinged by a U.S. federal labor board for publicly issuing threats against pro-union organizers, which Tesla has since appealed. However, Tesla says that PingWest’s claims were exaggerated at best and certainly overly sensationalized.

Despite the tensions, and now Tesla’s fight with Chinese bloggers, deliveries of Tesla vehicles appeared to rebound a bit in May after a dismal April for sales in the important Chinese market. Tesla has had to put a pause on apparent plans to expand Gigafactory Shanghai amid the weaker demand and tensions between the U.S. and China that Tesla might simply be caught in the middle of, partly due to allegations that its vehicles’ onboard cameras could be used for espionage.

Space

SpaceX In Talks With Airlines for In-Flight Wi-Fi

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Previously, Elon Musk said that SpaceX was working on Starlink terminals that could be mounted to large vehicles like airplanes, buses, and RVs with the goal of making its satellite Internet service more available to people while in transit. Now the company is in talks with several major airlines to provide onboard Wi-Fi for passengers.

“We have our own aviation product in development,” SpaceX VP of Starlink and commercial sales Jonathan Hofeller said during the Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit on Wednesday. “All in all, passengers and customers want a great experience that [geostationary] systems simply cannot provide.”

Elon Musk has indicated that demand for Starlink is already high, especially among populations that have lacked affordable, reliable high-speed Internet backed by good customer service. He especially said that other Internet service providers have been giving Starlink a hassle with regulators acting as a referee because they did not like the idea of having competition. For instance, when ViaSat filed a complaint with regulators over environmental concerns related to Starlink, he had this to say:

That does not mean that SpaceX is going to rush out a product that just isn’t ready. Hofeller said of it:

“People want to see the hardware, they want to see the constellation, and so we’re driving that hard as fast as we can. … Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Last year, SpaceX filed for approval to test Starlink terminals that have been modified for use in the aviation industry on five Gulfstream aircraft. In March, the company filed plans with the FCC to launch Starlink-based Earth Stations in Motion, which would enable the use of Wi-Fi for transportation options like public transit buses.

The plans for bringing Starlink’s Internet service to the aviation industry include the implementation of laser-based communications that can enable satellites to “talk” to one another without having to use a ground station as an intermediary. This will enable Starlink satellites to “hand off” their connections to terminals mounted to aircraft to one another with very few noticeable delays in the signal. The U.S. Department of Defense recently tapped SpaceX to launch a test of this technology for its own space-based communications assets.

SpaceX aims to bring Starlink out of beta by the end of the year and has been frequently launching new Starlink satellites to reach the minimum number of satellites needed for global coverage. It currently has nearly 1,800 Starlink satellites in orbit out of a planned constellation of up to 42,000.

It recently received approval from the FCC to launch some of the satellites into a lower orbit to meet demand for low-latency satellite Internet over the objections of competitors like OneWeb, who say that it increases the chance of a Starlink satellite colliding with a competitor’s satellite that is being launched. SpaceX has disputed OneWeb’s claim that one of Starlink’s satellites nearly collided with a OneWeb satellite during launch earlier this year.

Neither SpaceX nor any of the airlines have put a firm timeline on when any deal to bring Starlink Internet service to airline passengers would be finalize or when passengers might start seeing Starlink satellites mounted to airplanes while at the airport. At the Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit, there were hints that Starlink’s competitors were working on the same thing.

OneWeb VP of Mobility Services Ben Griffin indicated that OneWeb might have a similar service ready “by the middle of next year, maybe sooner.”

SpaceX may be learning to be a little more cautious when setting a timeline, especially considering that Elon Musk has over-promised and under-delivered in that department in the past. In the near future, though, airline passengers may be able to enjoy complimentary or low-cost Wi-Fi during their flight.

Space

Senate Approves Amendment for Additional Funding for NASA’s Lunar Lander

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

As part of an ongoing dispute over competing lunar lander designs involving NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin, Blue Origin has previously filed a dispute with the Government Accountability Office over NASA’s decision to move forward with only SpaceX’s Starship-derived Human Landing System. NASA had previously planned to move forward with two proposed lunar landing designs, but didn’t have the budget for both.

Now the Senate has approved a proposed amendment to an existing bill called the U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which supports scientific and technological research as part of a bid to stay competitive against China. The amendment will increase funding for NASA’s lunar lander development by $10 billion, which will make it possible for NASA to move forward with the proposals put forward by both SpaceX and Blue Origin.

SpaceX’s bid came in the lowest at only $2.9 billion. So far, the company has been best known for bringing launch costs down by developing reusable hardware, including the Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, and the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket launcher. Although it recently abandoned its efforts to capture payload fairings with nets, it has redesigned the fairings to be better able to withstand corrosive seawater, which make it easier to refurbish them for reuse.

SpaceX has also recently received a contract to launch the first components of the Lunar Gateway, which will provide logistical support for future crewed missions to the Moon. The Lunar Gateway will be capable of supporting missions of greater complexity than was possible during the Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s.

Blue Origin’s bid came in at about $6 billion. Its complaint with the Government Accountability Office alleges that NASA gave SpaceX a chance to modify its bid without giving competitors Blue Origin and Dynetics the same opportunity. Dynetics has also filed a complaint with similar allegations.

If the complaints are successful, it could delay NASA’s current plan to land human crews on the Moon by 2024 as part of the Artemis Program. While the complaints work their way through the Government Accountability Office, NASA has officially put work on the lunar lander on hold, although SpaceX could fund some design work on its own in the meantime.

If the complaints fail, NASA could move forward with only SpaceX’s design even if Congress approves the additional funding. However, Blue Origin’s lobbyists say that the additional funding could allow NASA to move forward with another company’s proposal without having to reset the clock on the bidding process.

Blue Origin’s lobbyists argue that fickle funding for NASA was a major reason for its decision to go with the least expensive bid regardless of the actual merits of SpaceX’s proposal. Bernie Sanders has been typically vocal in his opposition for additional funding for the landing system that NASA needs for its Artemis Program:

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) had this to say about it:

Others called the proposed $10 billion in funding a “Bezos bailout”, which would not be entirely unfair, considering the circumstances. NASA likely just had to choose the more affordable option because it couldn’t afford to buy both:

Former senator Bill Nelson, who is now the NASA administrator, said of the overall bill:

“The U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which includes the NASA authorization bill, is an investment in scientific research and technological innovation that will help ensure the U.S. continues to lead in space and sets us on a path to execute many landings on the Moon in this decade.”

NASA has reportedly already filed a rebuttal with the Government Accountability Office defending its decision to move forward with only SpaceX. It says that reversing the decision could set a bad precedent and create a jumbled legal and bureaucratic mess in an environment where the cost of maintaining a government bureaucracy is already high.

Biden Administration Investigating Leaks of Tax Information for Billionaires Including Elon Musk

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Biden Administration has announced that it is currently investigating the leak of tax information of some of the world’s wealthiest people, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffet. The leaked information published on ProPublica indicates that many billionaires legally avoided paying income taxes.

“The unauthorized disclosure of confidential government information is illegal. The matter is being referred to the Office of the Inspector General, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, all of whom have independent authority to investigate,” said Treasury spokeswoman Lily Adams.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki stressed that “Any unauthorized disclosure of confidential government information by a person of access is illegal and we take this very seriously,” but also added that the Biden Administration still supports having wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share.

Although Joe Biden has proposed raising the top tax rate from 37% to 39.5%, the IRS has a complex tax code that makes it possible for the wealthy to claim enough deductions to pay very little income tax in relation to their incomes. They can hire tax accountants who know how to navigate the tax code and keep up with changes.

Attempts to simplify the tax code to reduce the number of deductions that billionaires and other taxpayers can take may lead to a political minefield to walk, however. Common deductions include credits for real estate taxes and local income taxes, mortgage interest, medical expenses, charitable donations, and IRA contributions – all things that people may be able to take advantage of even if they aren’t billionaires.

Billionaires may also prefer to keep some control over how the money that they would otherwise pay in taxes are used. For instance, Elon Musk recently donated a total of $30 million for community improvement projects and education in the Boca Chica, Texas, area, where SpaceX has its test launch facility.

SpaceX does have some contracts to launch hardware for the military, including the Department of Defense’s most recent awarding of a contract to launch satellites for a laser-based communications experiment. However, military spending is very often the elephant in the room when it comes to discussing taxes on the wealthy. Although Biden has talked about ending the “forever wars” in nations like Afghanistan, Elon Musk may prefer to spend the money on community improvement projects in SpaceX’s own backyard rather than see any taxes he might pay go toward supporting a proposed defense budget of $752.9 billion for Fiscal Year 2022.

The “person of access” that Psaki spoke of is likely to be a government employee or contractor who is also an activist and saw an opportunity to send the information to the press. Either the person would have had access to the nature of their work or could gain temporary access through a security loophole such as another employee leaving their computer logged in while taking a lunch break.

Previous leaks of sensitive information to support activist causes include the case of a former intelligence specialist named Reality Winner who was convicted of “removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet” after leaking a report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that she claimed would prove that Trump had colluded with the Russians. Searches of her house turned up a diary in which she expressed support for Islamic radicals and fantasized about burning down the White House.

Although the leaked tax information did confirm what a lot of people already knew – that many billionaires pay very little in income tax – it could be seen as a violation of privacy and is certainly illegal. Multiple government agencies are now conducting a serious investigation of the matter.

In a response to the leak, Elon Musk explained in a series of tweets:

Meaning primarily that income taxes and capital gains taxes only apply if billionaires like Musk actually sell their assets and not to any increase in value of the assets while they’re holding it. Musk expects to pay state and federal income taxes on what he got from selling three of his California homes to a real estate developer, for instance. However, he does not expect to pay any income taxes on assets that he still owns, like his Tesla stock holdings. This is normal for billionaires, whose wealth usually isn’t just sitting in a bank account somewhere.

Technology

Tesla Increases Deliveries for Vehicles Made at Gigafactory Shanghai

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

After a disappointing number of deliveries in the Chinese market in April, Tesla’s sales reports for vehicles made at Gigafactory Shanghai jumped by 29% in May. Tesla delivered a total of 33,463 vehicles made at the factory.

This includes 21,936 vehicles sold in China and 11,527 vehicles exported to Europe. In April, Tesla delivered a total of 25,845 vehicles manufactured at the Chinese factory. Tesla manufactures Model 3 and Model Y vehicles at Gigafactory Shanghai.

As far as Tesla is concerned, manufacturing Model Y vehicles in China for the European market may be a make-do measure until Germany can sort out the bureaucratic red tape delaying the grand opening of Gigafactory Berlin. The company plans to assemble the Model Y and manufacture batteries at the German factory. Although some of the delay may be caused by recent changes to the paperwork reflecting its updated plans for manufacturing batteries and some product lines at Gigafactory Berlin, it has also grumbled about the snail pace of the German regulatory bureaucracy. It has had to delay the opening of Gigafactory Berlin to as early as Q4 2021 due to the bureaucratic delays.

Until then, Tesla has proven capable of making do with existing manufacturing capacity at Gigafactories like the one in Shanghai despite recent tensions with China that includes safety concerns and the Chinese government’s worry about spying. The company recently had to recall 30,000 Model X and Model Y vehicles in China to fix a suspension issue. It also faced bad publicity due to reports of battery fires and unintended acceleration even though the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that cases of unintended acceleration were likely due to user error instead of flaws in the vehicle after an investigation.

China banned Tesla vehicles from parking at government facilities due to concerns that their onboard cameras could capture footage of sensitive activities at those facilities. Although Tesla has denied that those cameras are active, it opened a data storage center in China to locally store any data that might be picked up by the cameras and sensors.

Tesla has also filed a lawsuit against a Chinese news outlet that claimed that the company makes use of “sweatshop” practices at Gigafactory Shanghai, alleging that the claims were false and amounted to libel. Although Tesla does have a reputation for being anti-union, this particular case could have been a matter of the pot calling the kettle black, considering that China has a history of human rights abuses that include forced labor and genocide against targeted populations like the Tibetans and Uighur Muslims.

Although some early reports did indicate that Chinese orders of Tesla vehicles were not quite as strong as they could be in May with only 9,800 vehicles ordered, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives did say that the higher number of actual deliveries could indicate that the “pent up demand story remains firm for Tesla for the next few years.” Wedbush put a price target of $1,000 per share on Tesla stock (TSLA).

Technology

Tesla Heavy Trucking Chief Jerome Guillen Resigns

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Longtime Tesla senior official Jerome Guillen has resigned from his position as the president of Tesla Heavy Trucking, a position that he had held since March 11. His previous roles in the company included overseeing automotive operations, sales and service, and engineering, as well as overseeing the development of the Model S sedan.

“We thank him for his many contributions and wish him well in his future career,” Tesla said in an update to paperwork filed with the SEC that reflected Guillen’s resignation.

Guillen had previously served as the director of business innovation at Daimler AG, which made the decision to buy battery packs and motors from Tesla in 2009, a move that helped save Tesla from bankruptcy. His experience in semi truck manufacturing includes working on product development for the truck manufacturer Freightliner.

The Tesla Semi has faced multiple delays since the debut of a prototype in November 2017. Musk had initially planned on making it available to customers by the end of 2019. Now the Semi may begin production near the end of 2021 or be pushed back to 2022. These delays could be seen as simply a function of Elon Musk’s typically ambitious product development timelines that often get pushed back.

Much of the holdup has been caused by delays in the development of a “heavy-duty” lithium-ion battery that can handle the task of powering a semi truck. Some experts say that it would be next to impossible to create a battery that would make an electric semi truck suitable for long hauls.

Both Tesla and some battery makers that supply the automotive industry have been working on improvements to battery technology that may help make long-haul trucking using trucks like the Tesla Semi more feasible. An Israeli company recently developed a battery that can add 100 miles of range to an average electric vehicle in just five minutes, for instance.

Companies that have already placed pre-orders plan on using it for hauls that take less than a day due to limitations in its range. They have shown a willingness to be patient as they wait for a truck that can help them meet their goals of making their operations more environmentally friendly. Walmart Canada even tripled its order of Tesla Semis in September 2020.

Tesla plans to manufacture the Semi at the Gigafactory near Reno, Nevada, and at the Gigafactory currently under construction in Austin, Texas. The Austin factory is expected to employ about 10,000 people. Elon Musk has called for more housing in the Austin area and made $30 million in donations for education and community improvement projects in the Boca Chica area in a bid to make Texas more attractive to qualified engineers and technicians who can work at his companies.

He has said that he expects Austin to be America’s next boom town in the wake of his dispute with the state of California over its response to COVID-19. Even before that dispute, Tesla decided that Austin would be a good place to build Cybertrucks and Semis. Now it has a new job opening for president of Tesla Heavy Trucking in the wake of Jerome Guillen’s departure.

Space

SpaceX Launches SiriusXM Satellite

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In a nighttime launch, SpaceX send a SiriusXM satellite into orbit and landed the first stage booster of the Falcon 9 rocket on the drone barge “Just Read the Instructions.” The launch went off early in its two-hour launch window despite only a 60% chance of favorable weather conditions. This marks the third launch and landing of that particular booster.

The booster had previously been used to launch two astronaut crews to the International Space Station as part of SpaceX’s Commercial Crew contract with NASA. It was most recently used to send the Crew-1 astronauts to the space station, marking the first time that a NASA crew launched on a completely reusable booster that needs only a minimum of maintenance between launches.

SpaceX also expects to retrieve the fairings that protect cargos while they launch, although it recently ditched its efforts to catch the fairings with nets as they fall toward the ocean. The company says that it recently upgraded the fairings to better withstand the corrosive seawater and refurbishing fairings that have fallen into the ocean will be less costly than the operation of the two recovery ships that it had named Ms. Chief and Ms. Tree.

The new satellite is part of SiriusXM’s efforts to upgrade its satellite system. This is the second of two satellites slated to be launched under the satellite radio company’s contract with SpaceX. This satellite will be capable of delivering radio content to subscribers in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

SpaceX launched the first satellite in December 2020. However, that satellite suffered a payload failure while maneuvering to its designated orbit. SiriusXM says that it had the satellite fully insured and plans to build a replacement. It also says that its existing satellites, including the ones that the two new satellites are meant to replace, have enough expected lifespan left to provide coverage for its subscribers while it waits for the replacement to be completed.

This most recent launch marks the eighteenth launch for SpaceX this year and the 87th time that it has successfully landed a rocket stage on one of its drone barges. It seems to be accelerating its schedule for launching more Starlink satellites as part of its efforts to develop the largest planned satellite Internet constellation. This includes four Starlink launches in May to bring the total number of functional Starlink satellites to 1,737.

It has also recently launched a resupply mission to the International Space Station that includes new and improved solar panels that will supplement the station’s ability to generate its own power, as well as baby squids and tardigrades meant for scientific studies.

Upcoming launches in June include a next-generation GPS satellite for the Space Force, which is scheduled to go up on June 17. This will mark the first time that SpaceX has launched a military payload on a reused rocket, which can help taxpayers save money on launch services. The Space Force had signed off on using previously flown boosters for its GPS satellites last September.

Technology

SpaceX Files Application to Produce Starlink Terminals with Smaller Antennas

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Office of Experimental Testing (OET) to test a new version of the Starlink user terminal that has a smaller receiving antenna. The transmitting antenna remains unchanged in the new version.

The change in the receiving antenna would reduce its range by lowering its gain, or ability to convert radio signals into electrical signals that can be interpreted by a connected computer. It would, however, increase the area that the device can cover, which increases its ability to pick up signals from Starlink satellites as they move across the sky.

SpaceX may have seen the move as necessary, considering that it recently received approval to operate some of its satellites at a lower orbit over the objections of competing satellite Internet services like OneWeb and Amazon’s “Project Kuiper,” both of which the company appears to have a fledgling rivalry with. Objects in a lower orbit have a faster ground speed, which reduces the amount of time that a terminal can receive signals from them as they move from horizon to horizon.

The new test terminals will operate at sites in Washington, Texas, Utah, Colorado, and California and use the same frequencies that are used by existing terminals used for the “Better than Nothing Beta” program. Beta testers have reported that Starlink terminals work well even in harsh winter conditions that could knock out electronics that aren’t hardened against harsh weather and frigid conditions.

Although very little has been said about when Starlink will come out of beta, it has already received approval to operate in some parts of Canada, the United States, and Australia and is working with the United States and United Kingdom to bring improved broadband Internet access to rural areas. SpaceX has also worked with the Native American Hoh Tribe in Washington State and a school district in Texas to provide early access to Starlink’s Internet service to individuals and families who lack reliable access to the Internet.

SpaceX plans to cover most of Earth with Starlink so that people who have lacked access to reliable Internet service can access the same online resources as the more connected populations. The phenomenon of wide swaths of the world not having access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet has been called the “Digital Divide” and has been blamed for some populations not being able to access the same opportunities as everyone else. The Hoh Tribe, for instance, was thrilled with SpaceX’s willingness to work with them because it could increase access to virtual education opportunities and telehealth services.

The company has no plans to offer tiered pricing for its satellite Internet service, but has indicated a willingness to offer a reduced subscription fee for low-income customers. In recent comments, SpaceX president Glynn Shotwell mentioned that the possible global market for broadband Internet services could be as high as $1 trillion if the Digital Divide could be eliminated – money that SpaceX could use to fund research and development for its plans to send people to Mars if it can snag a big enough market share.

If the new terminals pass their tests, they could improve Starlink’s ability to provide access by increasing the amount of time that they can connect to the Internet service satellites in the newly planned lower orbits.

Technology

Elon Musk Nixes Tesla Model S Plaid+

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Heidi

Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Model S Plaid is still on track to start delivery this week, but the Model S Plaid+ has been canceled. The Plaid+ had been available for preorder with prices starting at $150,000 and was slated to start delivery in mid-2022.

The Model S Plaid comes with a more powerful powertrain that can accelerate the vehicle from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a little less than two seconds. It has a top speed of 200 miles per hour and a top range of 390 miles on a single charge. This vehicle features a total of three motors and starts at $112,990. Last week, Musk had announced that its release would be pushed back to June 10 to make a last-minute tweak.

Based on those stats, Musk has said that the Model S Plaid “feels like a spaceship” and apparently decided that the Plaid+ would be redundant. There was no word on when Tesla would start issuing refunds for customers who already placed a deposit for this version of the Model S.

Though some Tesla fans may be disappointed that they can’t get the Plaid+, which would have had the same acceleration and maximum speed with its maximum range increased to 500 miles, Musk’s assessment may not be completely out of line. With those stats, it’s certainly recommended to leave your bottle of Tesla Tequila, which was released in November 2020, at home in case your Model S Plaid is pulled over for drag racing or pushing the limits of your Autopilot.

A couple of Tesla owners in California already got themselves into legal hot water for doing the latter as it is. Their dangerous stunt of riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla may have been an important factor in Tesla’s recent decision to activate the camera mounted to the rear view mirror in its vehicles to make certain that drivers are staying alert.

(And, yes, Tesla Tequila did start out as part of a 2018 April Fool’s Day joke, for those of you with long memories.)

The cancellation of the Model S Plaid+ had previously been rumored after Tesla canceled pre-orders for this version on its official website before Elon Musk’s announcement. Elon Musk simply made it official with one of the tweets that Tesla regards as official company communications in lieu of the public relations department that would normally issue updates in the form of press releases.

Space

SpaceX Launches New Solar Arrays for International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX successfully launched the CRS-22 mission, which will deliver 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. The payload includes two new solar panels out of a planned series of six, tardigrades, glowing baby squids, and supplies for the space station crew.

The upgraded solar panels are a compact version that can be rolled up like a sleeping bag and are easy to release and roll out once they are in place. By unlatching some pins holding them in the rolled-up position, the station crew will release the “strain energy” in the solar panels’ uncoiling carbon composite booms.

The new panels are designed to supplement the existing, more rigid solar panels that currently supply the International Space Station with electricity. The current solar panels have degraded with age, reducing their ability to produce power. With the addition of the new solar panels, electricity production could be boosted as much as thirty percent.

According to NASA space station program manager Joel Montalbano, this will enable the space station to boost its capacity to support onboard scientific research programs and planned expansions.

“We’re also working with a company called Axiom Space to add a module to the International Space Station, and this allows us to have enough power for that additional module and the other international partners … to maximize the use of the International Space Station. These new arrays give us that capability,” he said.

Axiom Space is currently working on new modules that can be added to a port on the International Space Station. It plans to have the first ones ready to add to the station’s Harmony module by 2024 and eventually spin the whole thing off into a fully independent space station by 2028. Axiom Space has also recently added more flights to its deal with SpaceX to launch private crewed missions to the International Space Station.

Planned research on the International Space Station includes work with the tardigrades, also known as “water bears,” and baby glowing squid. The research will include a study on how well the durable water bears handle the space environment and the effects of microgravity on symbiotic relationships between squid and symbiotic microbes that support digestion and the immune system. The Cargo Dragon is also delivering simulated organs that will assist with important medical research like a study on the formation of kidney stones.

The results of this research will be made publicly available and can be used to develop better treatments of medical conditions like kidney stones.

The cargo also includes gear for spacewalks, new computers, and space station hardware that can replace old components that have worn out over time. It also includes treats for the astronaut crew that includes fresh vegetables, which are hard to obtain on crew rotations that typically last five or six months, though there have been exceptions. Astronaut Scott Kelly spent nearly a year in space as part of studies on the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body that he and his twin brother, Mark Kelly, participated in.

(Yes, there was also a cosmonaut who was “stranded” on Mir when the Soviet Union dissolved. Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev spent 311 days on the Mir space station in what had to be a highly stressful extended stay. He is apparently anything but a quitter, though. Krikalev went on to join the International Space Station’s Expedition 1, later commanded Expedition 11, and spent a total of 811 days in space.)

In an increasing rarity for SpaceX, it used a completely brand-new Falcon 9 rocket for the 22nd uncrewed resupply launch for the International Space Station under contract with NASA. It made the usual by-now-routine landing of the first stage booster on a drone barge. The first stage may be used in a later flight. The Cargo Dragon is expected to dock with the International Space Station early Saturday morning.

Technology

Tesla Updates Regulatory Paperwork for Gigafactory Berlin With More Details on Product Lines

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Heidi

Despite Tesla’s grumbling about delays in Germany’s rubberstamping of its plans for Gigafactory Berlin, the company has updated its application for approval with more details on its battery manufacturing plans and expand the Gigafactory’s capacity for manufacturing some of its vehicle models. It also includes an update on expected water consumption that indicates lower and more predictable usage than previously planned.

Tesla had previously criticized German regulators for bureaucratic red tape that slowed down the approval process. It had indicated that the delays could force it to push back the planned opening date to early 2022, although the Gigafactory now officially seems on track to begin production and delivery in late 2021. Tesla originally planned to open Gigafactory Berlin on July 1.

Previous scraps with German regulators also include a 12 million Euro fine for failing to keep up with requirements related to the recycling of old vehicle batteries. Automakers in Germany are required to issue public notifications related to the acceptance of batteries that have reached the end of their useful life.

An automakers’ union called IG Metalls has also threatened to work with local politicians to target Tesla in the wake of Tesla’s hiring of former Mercedes-Benz manager René Reif to manage the construction of the Mercedes-Benz factory. It is unclear what IG Metalls hoped to accomplish by this beyond simply making noise about Tesla’s reputation for being anti-union and criticizing an individual for making a career decision that had nothing to do with them.

At the time, an IG Metalls spokesman referred to the move as a “betrayal” even though it may simply have been a matter of Tesla deciding to replace a former manager whose mismanagement included failing to pay a water bill, which led to water service to the construction site being temporarily shut off. It is likely to be a simple matter of a large union making threats without having any regulatory clout to back itself up in a matter of hiring that did not violate any regulations in and of itself.

Although the changes in Tesla’s plans for the factory may have slowed down the approval process, legal challenges from environmental groups that include a court case involving Tesla’s alleged failure to relocate endangered wildlife species that would be impacted by the construction may also be a variable. Factors outside of the regulatory approval process might include an extreme environmentalist group claiming responsibility for a suspected arson case that damaged power lines leading to Gigafactory Berlin.

Elon Musk announced a more efficient battery-making process that would use less water and fewer moving parts at last year’s Battery Day event. It may have simply taken a while for this new process to work its way into the regulatory paperwork for Gigafactory Berlin, which would explain the new plan that calls for a lower water consumption. Residents of the Berlin area had expressed concern about how the factory’s water usage could impact the availability of the area’s water supply.

Regulators are currently considering whether to open a public commenting period before moving forward with the revised application. They say that they will have a decision within days.

Technology

Tesla Issues Recall to Fix Seat Belt Issues in Model 3, Model Y Vehicles

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Heidi

Tesla has issued a recall of 2018-2020 Model 3 vehicles and 2019-2021 Model Y vehicles to fix possible issues with the seat belts. The recall affects a total of 7,696 vehicles. Tesla has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it is not aware of any injuries resulting from the defective seat belts.

In 5,530 of the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles being recalled, fasteners that secure the front seat shoulder belt to the B-pillar may not be secured properly. In 2,166 of the Model Y vehicles being recalled, fasteners that secure the left and right second-row seat belt retractors may not be properly secured.

Tesla suggests taking these vehicles in to have the affected components of the seat belts inspected and repaired if necessary. In communications announcing the recall, Tesla also said that in “the unlikely event that damage to the b-pillar hole threads and/or top loop is found during the inspection, Tesla Service will repair the hole threads and/or replace the top loop.”

The company has also recently issued a recall of some Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to fix an issue with some of the bolts securing the braking system into place. The braking system could come loose and interfere with the proper operation of the steering wheel (or optional steering yoke). Tesla has reportedly taken steps to ensure that the bolts are properly secured when the vehicle is first manufactured.

While recalls in the automotive industry due to manufacturing defects are almost routine, Tesla has faced increased scrutiny from both regulators and consumers due to reported safety issues. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently looked into a fatal crash in Texas in which authorities initially said that the Autopilot software was active, although inspection of Tesla’s logs of Autopilot use later indicated that it actually wasn’t.

Some of these issues may have been caused by owners being too confident in the abilities of the onboard software and pulling highly dangerous attention-seeking stunts. Recent instances of Tesla owners riding in the back seat of a driverless vehicle with Autopilot activated were likely a major factor in the company’s decision to activate a camera mounted to the rearview mirror to track driver alertness. Tesla did recently admit to Californian regulators that Elon Musk overstates the capacity of Full Self-Driving even though it officially publishes a disclaimer that drivers should stay alert while the software is active on its website.

Tesla has also faced lawsuits related to reported safety issues such as one filed in November 2020 alleging that Tesla ignored and attempted to cover up suspension issues in some Tesla vehicles. The company had previously recalled some vehicles sold in China to fix a similar suspension issue.

These and similar issues had led to Consumer Reports’ downgrading of some Tesla vehicle models in its most recent Auto Reliability Survey. The hits to the company’s reputation, plus increased competition from long-standing automakers like Volkswagen, Kia, and Audi, could push Tesla into paying greater attention to fixing safety issues rather than trying to hide or dismiss them, which may explain its increasing number of recalls.

Department of Defense Selects SpaceX to Launch Laser Communications Experiment

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Heidi

The United States Department of Defense has selected SpaceX’s ride share program to launch two cubesats that will demonstrate optical communications between two satellites and between satellites and a military drone spacecraft. The satellites will maneuver to a sun-synchronous orbit after being launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-2 mission next month.

Cubesat manufacturer General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has already completed ground tests of the 12U cubesats, which are equipped with the laser communications terminals that will be used for the tests. The mission is being organized by the Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency.

Functional optical, or laser, communications will be key to the mesh network of small communications satellites in low Earth orbit that the Space Development Agency plans to launch in the near future. The satellite constellation is officially referred to as the Transport Layer, a reference to a seven-layer computer networking model.

The networking transport layer contains important protocols for managing data traveling over the network, including ones that manage flow control to ensure that the receiving device is not overwhelmed by large amounts of incoming data. The Space Development Agency simply co-opted the name for a constellation that will theoretically be able to handle large amounts of data traveling between command centers and remote assets.

General Atomics president Scott Forney called the planned experiment in optics-based communications “one of the first steps to validate the use of optical communications to provide low latency, secure data directly to weapons and warfighters.”

The Department of Defense is not pretending it will be easy. The technology still needs to be proven out and especially needs to be interoperable across multiple manufacturers of the satellites involved. Common standards across manufacturers are what makes it possible for technologies like Wi-Fi and USB to function regardless of whether a device runs Android, iOS, Windows, or Linux.

However, this has not always stopped manufacturers from trying to effectively “reinvent the wheel” with their own standards. Such a thing could introduce an unnecessary complication in military applications like the Transport Layer constellation if a larger manufacturer tries to muscle in with its own ideas.

“We have to demonstrate that it is feasible to create a market of multiple vendors that have interoperable optical comm terminals that can fulfill the needs of a proliferated LEO architecture. … We’re choosing to focus our efforts on a single protocol, and to set up the manufacturing side for success by not over complicating the system,” said Space Development Agency optical communications lead Mike Butterfield.

The Space Development Agency has previously tapped SpaceX to build and launch four OPIR-equipped satellites that can assist with tracking incoming missiles. SpaceX has also demonstrated its ability to save taxpayer dollars well enough to impress the new U.S. Space Force, which saved $52.7 million over the course of two launches by approving the use of previously flown boosters to launch some GPS satellites last September.

This is certainly a far cry from the days when SpaceX issued a legal challenge to competing launch service provider United Launch Alliance and the U.S. military for more equal footing in competing for launch contracts. The United Launch Alliance certainly put up a fight about it at the time, but now has to deal with the fact that SpaceX can compete on costs by providing “ride share” services for small satellites like the ones being used for the Department of Defense’s optical communications experiment, as well as making use of previously flown boosters, some of which have flown as many as ten times.

Space

Axiom Space Expands Deal With SpaceX to Send Private Crews to ISS

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Axiom Space is expanding its deal with SpaceX to send private crews to the International Space Station. The expanded deal adds two new flights for a total of four flights that are expected to take place by 2023.

Axiom Space was already planning the missions “AX-1” and “AX-2,” which will be commanded by retired NASA astronauts Michael López-Alegría and Peggy Whitson, respectively. The crews are currently going through SpaceX’s training program for commercial astronauts. AX-1 is expected to fly in early 2022.

In an announcement, Axiom Space referred to the expanded agreement as a “blockbuster deal,” though the total dollar amount that will change hands has not been announced. The company aims to capitalize on the private “space tourism” industry with flights to the International Space Station and, eventually, its own space station.

“We are on track to enable that future by managing the first-ever private missions to the ISS as a precursor to our development of the world’s first commercial space station. SpaceX has blazed the trail with reliable, commercial human launch capability and we are thrilled to partner with them on a truly historic moment,” said Axiom Space President and CEO Michael Suffredini.

Axiom Space cited the success of SpaceX’s Demo-2, Crew-1, and Crew-2 missions as a major component in its selection of Elon Musk’s aerospace company for the privately funded missions. These missions were part of SpaceX’s contract with NASA to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon.

SpaceX is the first privately owned company to launch astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil with the Demo-2 mission in May 2020. Rival Blue Origin has not yet flown astronauts on its own spacecraft, although it also has a contract with NASA under its Commercial Crew program.

Private spaceflight has been an increasingly hot topic since Dennis Tito paid $20 million for a seat on a Soyuz going to the International Space Station in 2001. He spent eight days on the station. At the time, NASA expressed concern about hosting untrained private citizens who might damage expensive components on the space station. Tito wound up spending most of his time in the Russian-built modules.

NASA appears to have relaxed its stance a little by allowing the opportunity for private crews trained by SpaceX to fly to the International Space Station, although it still insists on signing off on each one before it flies. It may help that the first couple of missions will be commanded by experienced NASA astronauts. Peggy Whitson, for instance, commanded the International Space Station’s Expedition 16 in 2007 and briefly served as the head of NASA’s Astronaut Office before signing on to command Axiom-2.

Michael López-Alegría flew on the Space Shuttle missions STS-73, STS-92, and STS-113 and also commanded the ISS’s Expedition 14. He currently serves as Axiom Space’s Vice President of Business Development.

Axiom Space’s planned space station, officially called Axiom Station, may start as an add-on for the International Space Station before becoming a self-sufficient station of its own. It plans to have Axiom Station, ready for independent operations by 2028 as a possible successor to the International Space Station.

Technology

Tesla On Track to Buy $1 Billion in Metals From Australian Mining Firms This Year

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to company statements, Tesla plans to buy $1 billion in raw materials from Australian mining companies for its battery manufacturing operations in 2021. It cited the more reliable and environmentally responsible mining practices in Australia.

“Australian mining companies do have a good reputation, great expertise, professionalism and are preferred by manufacturers increasingly concerned about meeting both today’s and the future’s [environmental, social and governance (ESG)] requirements,” said Tesla chairman Robyn Denholm.

Australia has rich deposits of lithium and nickel that may be attractive to automakers like Tesla that are interested in producing purely electric vehicles and face increasing pressure from environmentalists to clean up their supply chains. Tesla has especially been focused on “green” operations in its supply chain, including talking to Canadian mining firms that use “zero-waste” practices when mining nickel and floating the idea of mining its own lithium in Nevada, where it has a battery-making facility near Reno.

Even that may not be enough for some environmentalists. An extreme environmentalist group claimed responsibility for an act of suspected arson that damaged power lines leading to Gigafactory Berlin, although the factory itself was fortunately not damaged. A letter from the environmentalist group that was found online claimed that “Tesla is neither green, ecological nor social.” Law enforcement authorities are already investigating the suspected arson.

Australia, Canada, and the United States do have stricter environmental regulations that impact mining than much of the world does. Illegal mining is also a concern in some parts of the world. It’s still a major problem in China despite repeated efforts to clamp down on both illegal mining and smuggling of raw materials, for instance. (This time, though, it’s not about Bitcoin, which involves a different kind of mining.)

Efforts included Beijing’s introduction of a “tracing system” that supposedly could track invoices for rare-Earth elements and export data in 2016. At the time, authorities estimated that smugglers were moving up to 40,000 tonnes of rare-Earth elements through networks that took them through Hong Kong and Vietnam. It would naturally stand to reason that the smugglers and their backers in the mining industry would ignore Beijing’s environmental regulations while producing these rare-Earth elements in order to maximize their profits as easily as they ignore China’s laws on exports.

The Biden Administration has especially been pushing automakers to move the sourcing of raw materials over to the United States’ more reliable allies such as Australia. Canada and Brazil may also benefit from these policies.

Tesla has also ramped up its efforts to sell its Powerwall and Powerpack batteries in Australia to help with improving reliability in the country’s energy grid. This has already proven useful for events like the recent explosion at the Callide Power Station, a coal-fired power plant in central Queensland, Australia. A massive Powerpack farm called the Hornsdale Power Reserve stepped up to assist with providing power to the more than 470,000 customers that were affected by the explosion and its cascading effects throughout Queensland.

Technology

SEC Informs Tesla That Elon Musk Tweets Violate Earlier Settlement

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Correspondence between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Tesla that has recently been made public indicates that the SEC informed Tesla that CEO Elon Musk’s tweets about the company’s solar roof production capacity and stock prices in 2019 and 2020 violated a 2018 settlement in which Tesla was required to hire a lawyer to vet Musk’s tweets.

The Wall Street Journal reportedly obtained the correspondence through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Elon Musk, Tesla, and the SEC haven’t responded to a request for comment.

The SEC’s 2019 case had been brought before a Manhattan judge, in which the regulatory body asked the court to hold Tesla and Elon Musk in contempt for a tweet. The judge ordered the parties involved to settle the matter. The finalized agreement included more strict definitions of the possible topics of tweets that would require pre-approval by a lawyer. The topics include certain aspects of Tesla’s business, including financial projections, production estimates, sales figures, and new product lines.

The 2020 case involved a tweet that expressed Elon Musk’s opinion that “Tesla’s stock price is too high.” Tesla pushed back against the SEC in that case, saying that Musk was merely stating an opinion and that tweet wasn’t covered by their agreement. Attorney Alex Spiro, a member of Tesla’s outside counsel team, accused the SEC of harassing both Musk and Tesla with endless, overlapping investigations.

“The serial nature of these investigations leaves us gravely concerned that the SEC is targeting Mr. Musk for an improper purpose,” he wrote in a reply to the SEC’s correspondence.

The 2020 case ended with the SEC dropping the case without any negative outcome for Tesla or Musk, though it did send one closing salvo in a politely worded letter:

“We urge the company to reconsider its positions in this matter by acting to implement and enforce disclosure controls and procedures…to prevent further shareholder harm.”

Elon Musk has a long-running contentious relationship with regulators that often includes sharp comments whenever Musk or one of his companies become subjects of an investigation. Tesla and its vehicles and factories have also been the topic of investigations into safety-related issues by the National Transportation Safety Board and Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Musk got especially sharp with the FAA when it investigated the series of high-altitude flight tests of Starship prototypes that ended in fiery explosions.

After the 2018 settlement, in which both he and the company were required to pay $20 million fines and he was required to give up his position as Chairman of Tesla’s Board of Directors, he mocked SEC regulators, calling them the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission.”

One of Tesla’s investors has previously filed a lawsuit alleging that Tesla failed to retain a lawyer who could stand up to Musk. The lawsuit says that the failure to vet his tweets cost investors “billions of dollars in market capitalization.”

Even with Musk’s tweeting, though, Tesla stock did post 740% gains in 2020, which was enough to qualify it for inclusion in the S&P 500 index. Tesla posted its first profitable year in 2020, with nearly 500,000 vehicles delivered.

Technology

Tesla Files Trademark for Restaurant Services

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Would you like to grab a burger while waiting for your Tesla vehicle to charge? That service may be coming to an electric vehicle charging station near you soon. Tesla has filed a trademark for restaurant services after having talked about it for a while.

Elon Musk has talked about experimenting with restaurant services at its Supercharger station as early as 2018, when he mentioned the possibility of opening “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in Los Angeles.”

Tesla had applied for building permits for a restaurant and Supercharger station in Santa Monica, California, just a few months after Musk’s comments. However, the project never truly got off the ground. Tesla renewed its application earlier this year, but the paperwork does not indicate plans for a restaurant at this time.

Instead, the company seems primarily interested in establishing one of the biggest Supercharger stations in the world to date. The plans include up to 62 Superchargers. The station is tentatively slated to open in Q3 2021.

Although some 1950s nostalgia fans may be disappointed that the plans don’t include a drive-in diner right now, Musk indicated that the Santa Monica station might add one at some point in the future.

For now, Tesla’s priority seems to be getting the charging station built as part of its efforts needed to develop the infrastructure needed to make electric vehicles more mainstream. The lack of charging infrastructure has been listed as a major obstacle for the widescale adoption of electric vehicles. The addition of food services can come later, though Tesla may have simply decided that it’s better do it sooner rather than later if the new trademark filing is any indication.

Tesla has not yet established a timeline for actually adding the restaurants yet. It is possible that Tesla will partner with experienced restauranteurs or even establish a franchise model for its restaurants. This could be similar in concept to fast food chains and their franchisees renting space in existing gas stations for their restaurants.

Past partnerships for food services at stations with Tesla Superchargers include one with Fastned and Seed & Greet Bakery for a snack and beverage kiosk at a solar powered charging station in Düsseldorf, Germany. Fastned’s partners may also add food services to future stations in its planned Europe-wide network of 1,000 charging stations, including the newly announced Oxford Superhub.

Tesla’s history of controlling as much of its supply chain as possible, including manufacturing its own batteries and its consideration of acquiring a semiconductor chip manufacturing factory amid the global shortage, does indicate that it doesn’t like to rely on third parties, however. Establishing its own restaurant line would be completely on par with its preference to control as many variables as possible. Musk’s comments simply suggest that he would like to make it fun by bringing back the retro idea that people can get a burger and fries from a waitress on roller skates while they handle the futuristic part of waiting for their Tesla vehicles to charge.

Technology

Tesla Camera Footage Helps Crack Case of BB Shootings on California Freeways

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Over the past few weeks, Californian police departments have received reports of drivers or passengers being shot by BBs through the windows of their vehicles while traveling on Californian freeways. Now footage from a Tesla vehicle’s camera system may have helped to crack that case by providing evidence that led to the arrest of Anaheim resident Jesse Leal Rodriguez.

Rodriguez now faces three counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault on a person causing great bodily injury after his arrest, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 57 years in prison. He is currently being held on $750,000 bond.

Law enforcement personnel are still investigating whether he might have been involved in similar incidents of people being shot with BBs in the Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles counties over the past weeks. The district attorney has not ruled out the possibility of more charges if witnesses in other incidents come forward.

When Rodriguez reportedly attacked the Tesla vehicle and its occupants near the intersection of Hamner Avenue and Hidden Valley Parkway in Norco, the camera system captured footage of a red Chevy Trailblazer that was traced back to him. He was stopped by police and arrested at the intersection of 91 Freeway and Tyler Street.

Rodriguez had previously been convicted on charges related to carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in public and participating in criminal street gang activity. At the time, he was sentenced to 32 months in prison, though he was paroled early.

Rodriguez’ case is not the first time that Tesla cameras have been instrumental to cracking a case. One recent notable case involves Tesla cameras capturing footage of a man attempting to remove the vehicle’s tires in Springfield, Missouri. This led to charges related to a series of crimes that include burning down a Presbyterian church and vandalizing vehicles belonging to its members. The suspect in that case is being charged with hate crimes for his targeting of the primarily African-American church.

The cameras can be used as part of Tesla’s “Sentinel Mode,” which has captured vandals that specifically target Tesla vehicles in the past. Vandals have even turned themselves in after a Sentinel Mode video went viral. The phenomenon has been blamed on backlash against electric vehicles and especially Tesla.

Much of the dislike may be due to Elon Musk’s flamboyant style and the fact that he is a billionaire. People on social media often demand that he use his fortune to address their “pet” social cause like world hunger or animal rights. Elon Musk has previously said that he would like to use his fortune to help solve problems like the vehicle industry’s reliance on fossil fuels, which spews a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. Electric cars are only one side of his equation; solar powered technology like Tesla’s solar roofs and Powerwalls may also part of the solution. (Even so, some extreme environmentalists have allegedly targeted Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin in an act of arson.)

Others may simply be jealous of people who can afford to own a brand-new Tesla. Prices start at $39,990 for a Model 3 Standard Range Plus.

It does not appear that Rodriguez specifically targeted Tesla vehicles, however. The motivation of his alleged attacks with a BB gun remains unknown.