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

10th of January, 2025

"I don’t want to be CEO of anything..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA $TSLA ($394.74, -0.051%):

- Per Tesla China VP Grace Tao Lin, "The only thing that can surpass Model Y is the all-new Model Y. Pre-sale has started, let’s have a brand new look in the new year!" Video is the new Model Y testing without most of the coverings.

The New Model Y launched yesterday in the Asia Pacific region. The Rear Wheel Drive starts at ¥263,500 ($35,900) and the AWD starts at ¥303,500 ($41,400). A new color called Glacier Blue was introduced.

To promote the vehicle Tesla has made a limited edition Launch Series variant with bespoke features to celebrate the start of production. It includes; Rear Liftgate Badge, Puddle Light Badge, Doorsill Plate Wordmark, Charging Console Wordmark, and Vegan Suede for Black Interior.

- Tesla has issued a over-the-air (OTA) update on 239,382 Models S, 3, X, and Ys for a faulty circuit board that may short and lead to a loss of the rearview camera. Tesla will also identify such vehicles and replace the affected computers for free.

PRICE CHANGES:

China:

• Model 3: RWD is now 235,500, up from 231,900. AWD is now 275,500, up from 271,900. Performance is now 339,500, up from 335,900.

• Model Y (New vs Old): RWD is now 263,500, up from 249,900. AWD is now 303,500, up from 290,900.

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan, 9th of January, '25.

■ SPACEX:

- Last night Block 2 Starship 33 was stacked atop of Super Heavy Booster 14 in anticipation of Flight 7 on Monday. Pic by the amazing Jack Beyer (@thejackbeyer) for @NASASpaceflight.

- Today, launch 5 of Falcon 9 Starlink 12-12 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was the 25th flight for the first stage booster. It previously CRS-22, CRS-25, Crew-3, Crew-4, TelkomSat-113BT, Turksat-5B, Koreasat-6A, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F2, Galileo L13, mPOWER-A, PSN MFS, and 13 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. 21 Starlinks were deployed, including 13 Direct to Cell. This puts the Direct to Cell constellation at 400 satellites.

- Last night, launch 4 of Falcon 9 NROL-153 took place from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This was the 22nd flight of the first stage booster. It previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, and 13 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 7th batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities. Satellites were successfully deployed.

- SpaceX along with Cameron County and its Beach Patrol have added signage and information that helps the safety of Boca Chica Beach and its users. Last fall, there was a tragic drowning of a SpaceX employee. Pic was posted by Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders (@KathyLueders).

- Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages), spotted Booster 14.1 yesterday.

- The SpaceX Fram2 team announced Fram2Ham, a ham-radio competition that will take place while in orbit. While orbiting Earth, the Fram2 astronauts will transmit images of various polar locations, but they will be cut and mixed-up into puzzle pieces. Those competing must assemble the pieces, identify the location, and uncover its polar history significance. Learn more and join the adventure through the link in the sources section.

Countdown to 180 (5 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 0 - Starship):

• Launch 6! Monday, 13th of January, at 9:59 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-4 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Launch 7! Friday, 13th of January, at 4:00 p.m. CT, Starship 33 Super Heavy Booster 14 (Flight 7) will launch from Orbital Launch Mount A (OLM-A) at Starbase, Texas. The SH Booster 15 will return to launch site for the 2nd Tower catch attempt. Starship 33 will do a soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

• Launch 8! Tuesday, 14th of January, at 10:49 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Transporter 12 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster landing area is unknown. This is a dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.

• Launch 9! Wednesday, 15th of January, at 1:11 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1 & Hakuto-R M2 “Resilience” will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster landing area is unknown.

■ THE BORING COMPANY:

- Per Karen Yu, President of ITIC, "Today, I was very happy to take the Vegas Loop, and it’s absolutely a spotlight of the CES show. It’s a transportation service operated by Tesla that travels through underground narrow tunnels. It's incredibly convenient. I took it twice today at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and I was very satisfied with both the service and the speed."

- Per Mike Bollinger, Global VP at Cornerstone OnDemand, during CES, "The "Boring Company" - not so boring..."

■ NEURALINK:

- The lastest Google Maps image of the Neuralink facility in Bastrop, Texas. I would expect it has progressed quite a bit since this was taken.

■ STARLINK:

-SpaceX is distributing free Starlink kits to agencies, organizations, and shelters, and offering one month of free service to individuals affected by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. This also applies to those involved in supporting the response and recovery initiatives in these regions.

On top of that, SpaceX and T-Mobile have activated basic texting through their Direct to Cell satellites. This allows users to text loved ones, 911, and receive emergency alerts even if the cell service goes down. Click here or the link in the sources section for more info on getting a kit.

- The FCC has approved the SpaceX's request for access to additional frequencies and to operate an additional 7,500 Starlinks at very low-Earth altitudes. Per the FCC, "The revisions will provide SpaceX with additional flexibility to provide both diverse geographic coverage and the capacity to support a wide range of proposed broadband and communications services in the United States and globally."

- The global Expereo teams held celebrations for becoming an official Starlink Authorized Reseller. "A big thank you to everyone who has made this possible. As you can see, our teams enjoyed the launch of LEO and we are ready to take our customers faster to the future!"

- San Juan civil engineering company, DAMS, use a Starlink Mini and a Roxanne battery to send on the spot survey data to HQ in real time.

- Starlink is now available in Liberia. Per SpaceX's Lauren Dreyer (@laurendreyer06), "Liberia is first market in 2025, 18th in Africa and 119th to date for Starlink! It was an honor to meet and work with President Boakai, Foreign Minister Nyanti Sara, and Liberia Telecommunications Authority on this."

- I received this text from T-Mobile today. Looks like they are getting close to the Direct-to-Cell beta testing of Starlink! I'm excited and hope I get picked. Has anyone else received the text?

■ X:

- Bloomberg is reporting that Hewlett Packard Enterprise secured a deal exceeding $1 billion to supply X with AI-optimized servers. The deal was finalized late last year, as disclosed by anonymous sources. Both Dell Technologies Inc. and Super Micro Computer Inc. were also in the running to provide the equipment. Of note, this has not been confirmed by HP or X.

- Linda Yaccarino and the X Team at CES in Las Vegas. Per Linda, "That’s a wrap on a momentous CES week with the incredible 𝕏 team!"

- X Safety confirmed they are rolling out profile labels for parody accounts. This is to clearly distinguish these types of accounts, increase transparency, and to ensure that users are not deceived. Parody labels will be applied to both posts and accounts on X to clearly demonstrate the source of the content you’re seeing.

- The latest image of the X Safety and Moderation building at Hyperloop Plaza in Bastrop, Texas. Pic is from the Austin American-Statesman.

■ xAI:

- xAI’s advertisement for the new standalone Grok iOS app. "Harness powerful AI, generate stunning images, and login with X to personalize your experience with real time news, sports and local data."

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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■ ANNOUNCEMENTS:

- As subscribers, this is your article to do as you wish. Feel free to make your own posts with the stories and media covered. I only ask that you tag me in the post as your source.

- Unfortunately, I can't make it to Flight 7. The schedule change to the 13th conflicts with work. This is the first Starship launch I will not see in person. For those of you going, have fun and take lots of pics! There is no place on Earth like Starbase!

- Also, If you are a space nut like me, don't forget Blue Origins' maiden flight of New Glenn is scheduled for 1 a.m. Sunday! Exciting times!

As a reminder, for January, one of you will get a limited edition 'Find Me In Deep Space' Tesla Hat! It's super cool!

And if you are interested in getting a new Tesla, use my Referral and get up to $1,000 off the purchase. ts.la/stephen746292

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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■ SOURCES:

FLYOVERS:

• Giga Texas: Brad Sloan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTNm4mobMII

SpaceX:

• Fram2 http://f2.com/ham

Starlink:

• Starlink Wildfires http://starlink.com/LAwildfires

• https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/spacex-telesat-canada-bids-get-us-nod-to-expand-satellite-internet-idUSKCN1NK2ET/

X:

• https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/hpe-secures-1-bln-ai-server-deal-elon-musks-x-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-01-10/

• https://fortune.com/2025/01/09/elon-musk-exploring-eliminating-dates-x-twitter-posts-timeline-signup-fee/

Elon News:

• Elon Quote https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1421206105720557575