News
SpaceX expands near Seattle with new internet satellite development lab

SpaceX is committed to building up to 4,425 geosynchronous satellites with the goal of bringing low cost internet service to the entire world. The California-based space company led by serial tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has has leased an additional 40,625 square feet of space in the Redmond Ridge Corporate Center, about a 10 minute drive away from its existing 30,000 square foot office space just east of Seattle.
The owners of the leased space filed a permit request with building officials in King County last month saying it planned to make $2.1 million in interior improvements at that location. GeekWire reports that new location will become a research and development lab for the internet satellite program. Each satellite in the proposed 4,425 system will weigh 850 pounds and measure 13x6x4 feet, exclusive of solar arrays, and have an estimated service life of five to seven years.
Musk has said satellite design and construction operations in the state of Washington will eventually employ as many as 1,000 workers. The Seattle area is particularly appealing because of the abundance of talented engineers with aeronautical and space exploration experience in the area. Boeing, Microsoft, and Blue Origin headed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos are also located nearby.
SpaceX currently lists 60 openings for employment at the new Seattle-based lab, which will be responsible for developing and testing components to be used in the internet satellites. The Puget Sound Business Journal reported on January 27 that a factory will be created in nearby Kent, Washington, which is located between Seattle and Tacoma, but company spokesman John Taylor tells GeekWire no decision has been made about where the factory will be located.
In its filing with the FCC about the proposed satellite internet system, SpaceX indicated the first satellites could be deployed as early as 2018 with about 800 in total in place within three years after that. The first phase of the program is intended to cover the continental United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
In January, 2015, Musk held a private meeting for 400 people at the Seattle Center. We’ve embedded a video recorded from the event, below the article. “We want to revolutionize the satellite side of things just as we’ve done with the rocket side of things,” he told his audience. Ultimately, revenues from the satellite internet program would help fund the Mars exploration and colonization program, he said. Musk then explained why SpaceX chose the Seattle area for the satellite internet program. “There’s a huge amount of talent in the Seattle area, and a lot of you guys, it seems, don’t want to move to L.A.”
Elon Musk
SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship V2 one final time
The mission will test reentry dynamics, new landing burn configurations, and heat-shield upgrades.

SpaceX is preparing to launch its final Starship V2 rocket on October 13, 2025. The launch closes the curtain on Starship V2 and marks the start of the ambitious spacecraft’s V3 era.
Liftoff for Flight 11 is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET from Starbase in South Texas, with a 75-minute launch window. The mission will test reentry dynamics, new landing burn configurations, and heat-shield upgrades ahead of the transition to the next-generation Starship V3.
Starship V3 and beyond
Elon Musk confirmed on X that Starship V3 is already in production and could be “built & tested” and perhaps even flown before the end of 2025. The new version is expected to feature major performance and scale improvements, with Musk stating that Starship V3, provided that things go well, might be capable of reaching Mars, though V4 is more likely to perform a full-scale mission to the red planet.
“Only one more V2 left to launch,” Musk wrote back in August following Starship’s successful Flight 10 mission. In another post, Musk stated that “Starship V3 is a massive upgrade from the current V2 and should be through production and testing by end of year, with heavy flight activity next year.”
Starship V2’s final mission
Flight 11 is designed to push the limits of Starship V2. SpaceX engineers have intentionally removed heat-shield tiles in vulnerable areas to analyze how the vehicle handles atmospheric reentry under stress, as noted in a Space.com report. The test will also refine subsonic guidance algorithms and new landing burn sequences for the Super Heavy booster that would be used for Starship V3.
“Super Heavy will ignite 13 engines at the start of the landing burn and then transition to a new configuration with five engines running for the divert phase. Previously done with three engines, the planned baseline for V3 Super Heavy will use five engines during the section of the burn responsible for fine-tuning the booster’s path, adding additional redundancy for spontaneous engine shutdowns.
“The booster will then transition to its three center engines for the end of the landing burn, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and dropping into the Gulf of America,” SpaceX wrote in a post on its official website.
Elon Musk
xAI’s new facility will save Memphis 5 billion gallons of water annually
The project was described as a long-needed solution for the region as it will be capable of recycling up to 13 million gallons of greywater daily.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has officially broken ground on its $80 million wastewater treatment facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The project aims to reduce strain on the Memphis aquifer by 9% and repurpose 20% of wastewater from the nearby Memphis T.E. Maxson wastewater facility that would otherwise flow back into the Mississippi River.
A major step towards sustainability
City officials, including Councilman J. Ford Canale and Memphis Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Ted Townsend, joined xAI staff at the October 10 ceremony. The project was described as a long-needed solution for the region as it will have a treatment capacity of 13 million gallons daily, which would then be used for industrial cooling use xAI and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
This means that the facility will help conserve 5 billion gallons of potable water annually, easing demand on Memphis’ primary water system. At these levels, xAI Memphis noted that its wastewater treatment facility will feature the largest ceramic membrane MBR in the world, using 13,000 membrane modules that collectively span over 900,000 square feet, roughly the size of 16 football fields.
Construction permits have been secured for the pump station, while the main operations permit from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation remains under review.
A privately funded push
The wastewater treatment facility represents a rare privately funded water reclamation initiative, with xAI covering construction costs, as noted in a Yahoo News report. The company filed preliminary plans through its affiliate CTC Property LLC in 2024, hinting at the startup’s long-term commitment to sustainable infrastructure around its growing Memphis operations. TVA CEO and President Don Moul shared his excitement for the project.
“This is a big day for Memphis, Tennessee. This initiative not only reduces our need to purchase water from MLGW for our nearby Allen Combined Cycle Plant, but it also eases demand on the region’s potable water system. By recycling water for cooling purposes, we’re helping to preserve drinking water for the community and advancing a solution that benefits both the environment and the Greater Memphis area,” he said.
News
Japan paves the way for Tesla Full Self-Driving domestic rollout
Tesla’s vehicles are allowed to be retrofitted with a software update that could enable the activation of self-driving features.

Japan seems to be taking some serious steps to pave the way for the domestic rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in the country.
This was hinted at by a decision from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.
FSD update
As noted in a report from Nikkei, Tesla’s artificial intelligence-powered vehicles are allowed to be retrofitted with a software update that could enable the activation of their self-driving features. These features would be rolled out through an over-the-air (OTA) software update for vehicles that have already been sold to consumers.
Previous reports have indicated that Tesla Japan has started the testing of FSD technology on public roads. At the time, reports indicated that Tesla Japan employees have been conducting the tests, and the company is planning to release its FSD software to consumers in the near future, at least pending compliance with safety standards and guidelines.
New guidelines
In a comment on X, former Tesla Board Member Hiro Mizuno explained that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry’s decision is no small matter, as it could pave the way for the smooth rollout of features like FSD to Tesla consumers in Japan.
“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s decision to allow retrofitting of autonomous driving through software updates is significant. Currently, Tesla is the only manufacturer actively pursuing this, but I had thought that if actual autonomous driving were to begin, it would be impossible to keep up if the approval process had to be repeated for every software update. As a result, this decision will make it easier for all manufacturers to introduce autonomous driving in Japan,” he wrote in a post on X.
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