Want to Know: Your Daily Musk Companies Update (Patreon)

17th of September, 2024

"We should expand the scope and scale of consciousness, whether silicon or carbon, to understand the universe..." - Elon

■ TESLA $TSLA ($227.87, +0.48%):

- Tesla Semi Lead of Engineering, Dan Priestley, gave a presentation today at the IAA Conference in Hanover, Germany. He gives some updates on their own Semi fleet, what they are seeing in the field & Semi charging. Tomorrow he will present the PepsiCo Case Study.

- Jaan of the EV Universe (@TheEVuniverse) got some great info out of the Tesla Team at the IAA Conference that confirms what I have been saying. The Semi is "already designed with a sleeper cab in mind."

- TechWomen 2024 took a trip to the Tesla Bay Area showroom. They have made this a tradition for their cultural activities. Everyone enjoys sitting in the cars, taking pictures, and being fascinated by the different models and technology. Pic by Cora Lam.

- Today, Tesla's website launched the "Schedule a Drive" page. Pick the vehicle you want to drive, know that FSD can be included as part of the demo drive, your local Tesla Centers are listed for you to select, pick a date and time, and enter your info. Of note, you still cannot demo drive a Cybertruck on the weekend...

- Rose Destura of BayWa r.e. Solar Distribution and her team took part in a Tesla Energy Powerwall 3 training session. "Special shout out to Nick, Amber, and Rick of Tesla! Your expertise and hands-on experience has helped all of us understand the importance of storage."

- Tesla is about to activate their 100th Supercharger in Glenelg, Australia. It will be Australia's national colors; green and gold. H/T Drive Tesla Canada (@DriveTeslaca).

NO FLYOVERS

■ SPACEX:

- The FAA has proposed a combined fine of $633,009 against SpaceX for the following license violations of Falcon launches:

• May of 2023; is for adding a new launch control room at Hangar X and removing the T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures without approval. ($175,000)

• June of 2023; is for the unapproved launch control room for the PSN SATRIA mission and did not conduct the required T-2 hour poll. ($175,000)

• July of 2023; SpaceX used a newly constructed rocket propellant farm at Kennedy Space Center without approval. ($283,009)

SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the agency’s enforcement letters.

Elon responded by saying, "SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach. I am highly confident that discovery will show improper, politically-motivated behavior by the FAA."

- Starship 31 still waits at Massey's Outpost to perform a static fire. Another amazing pic by Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).

- Starhopper is currently having its outer panels removed. Possible prep work for its final destination at HQ? Screenshot from @NASASpaceflight's live feed.

- The Polaris Dawn Team along with SpaceX leads Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver), Jon Edwards (@edwards345), and Stu Keech (@skeech412) held their X Spaces today reviewing the mission and doing a Q&A. Worth a listen.

Countdown to 144 (90 - Falcon 9, 1 - Falcon Heavy, and 2 - Starship):

• Launch 94! Tuesday, 17th of September, at 6:51 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Galileo L13 (FOC FM26 & FM32) will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system. Galileo provides Europe with an alternative to the American GPS and Russian GLONASS constellations, but will be interoperable with both systems. The booster will be expended in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Launch 95! Wednesday, 18th of September, at 7:20 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 9-17 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.

• Launch 96! Wednesday, 25th of September, at 2:28 p.m. Falcon 9 Crew-9 Block 5 will launch Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This will be the ninth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. On board will be Commander Nick Hague and Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov. The booster will land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A...

■ NEURALINK:

- Today Neuralink received Breakthrough Device Designation (BDD) from the FDA for Blindsight! Breakthrough Device Designation by the FDA, is granted when preliminary clinical evidence suggests that a drug or device might offer substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, expediting its development and review process. This is aimed at accelerating the availability of treatments.

■ STARLINK:

- Per Nick Galano, SpaceX Director of Starlink Aviation sales and Partnerships, "Very excited that we have about 2,500 aircraft under contract now, bringing what was effectively a startup to now what we think is a growing experience that’s going to resonate with all the passengers and the airlines worldwide." This was yesterday during a panel discussion at the World Space Business Week conference in Paris.

- The Department of Defense, via the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, announced a 3 year $54.7 million contract for Northrop Grumman to develop satellite communications antennas for military aircraft. This effort is to create military networks leveraging commercial space internet constellations including Starlink.

- Julio Cesar of ALDC Telecom installing Starlink Maritime in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "Another Starlink project done successfully! Another satisfied customer... as always!"

- In a response to Elon stating Starlink could provide internet to all remote Canadians for less than half of what is being proposed by the government, Canadian Minister of Industry François-Philippe Champagne said that was "nonsense." Elon in turn responded by saying, "I’m willing to say firm fixed price. But I think the reality is that they just want their own system."

- The Royal Caribbean Group (RCG) will install Starlink terminals in Sitka, Alaska to provide better internet service in the town. RCG collaborated with the local leaders and the Sitka Dock Company to situate five terminals for free connectivity at Harrigan Centennial Hall, the City and Borough of Sitka, the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, and the Sitka Bazaar. The aim of the collaboration is to overcome the widespread outages in the region.

■ X:

- X's Colton (@WorldColt) took this pic inside X after another successful Client Council in NYC.

- iOS 18 users have access to X directly from the lock screen.

■ xAI: N/A...

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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SOURCES:

Tesla:

• https://www.tesla.com/drive

SpaceX:

• https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-proposes-633009-civil-penalties-against-spacex

Starlink:

• https://spacenews.com/northrop-grumman-wins-54-7-million-contract-for-military-satcom-antennas/

• https://writeups24.com/royal-caribbean-collabs-with-sitka-dock-company-to-install-starlink-terminals/

Elon News:

• Elon Quote https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1836099988427796580