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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 could launch multiple private Moon landers in the 2020s
NASA has announced awards worth $253M for three commercial Moon landers, scheduled to attempt their first lunar missions as early as 2020 or 2021. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets is reportedly scheduled to launch at least two of the three spacecraft.
Known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), the NASA program was created in 2018 to both take advantage of and expand a small undercurrent of commercial lunar spacecraft development. Including NASA’s latest awards, more than half a dozen companies are now seriously pursuing the production of commercial or partially commercial Moon-bound spacecraft, all with launch debuts sometime in the early 2020s. For the majority of those companies, the mixture of performance and affordability offered by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is a critical enabler.
A waxing Moon
Although the practical motivations are unclear (if not nonexistent), a moderately organized return to the Moon is undeniably in the political air thanks to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) interest in a “Moon Village” and NASA’s own crewed “Artemis” program. Both are chronically conceptual, underfunded, over-ambitious, and to be preceded by far more realistic public-private partnerships that aim to land maybe 10-100 kg of usable payload on the Moon in the next 2-5 years.
Launched as a Falcon 9 rideshare passenger, a partnership between Israel’s IAI and SpaceIL became the first commercial team to orbit the Moon with its Beresheet spacecraft but fell just shy of a successful landing due to a fairly minor software issue. SpaceIL/IAI have already begun planning a follow-up attempt.
Company | Spacecraft | Launch Vehicle | Launch Date |
OrbitBeyond | Z-01 | Falcon 9 | Q3 2020 |
iSpace | HAKUTO-R | Falcon 9 | mid-2020 |
Intuitive Machines | Nova-C | Falcon 9 | Q3 2021 |
Astrobotic | Peregrine | Atlas V? | Q3 2021 |
SpaceIL/IAI | Beresheet 2 | TBD | TDD |
PTScientists | ALINA | Falcon 9? | TBD |
Moon Express | MX-1 | TBD | TBD |
Thanks to SpaceX, Spaceflight, and SpaceIL’s successful demonstration of rideshare launch services as a viable method of sending spacecraft to the Moon, Falcon 9 (and perhaps Falcon Heavy) have been set up as excellent choices for any future commercial Moon landers. Given that 3 or 4 of the 5 landers with known launch vehicles are at least tentatively manifested on Falcon 9s, it’s clear that the industry is also aware of this fact.
Although most of the above companies have more ambitious (and thus larger) next-generation vehicles planned, it’s likely that all of the above launch debuts will be light enough to ride as copassengers on rockets like Falcon 9, Atlas V/Vulcan, or Ariane 5/6. At least for some of the companies aiming for the Moon, technical success could be quickly followed by commercial services that would offer regular launches to the lunar surface. Several companies have hinted at payload costs as low as $1-2M per kilogram delivered, an understandable premium that could actually transform commercial lunar transport services into a viable business.
Whether that market develops, the first burst of commercial landing attempts is set to make 2020 and 2021 an exciting time for both public and private space exploration.
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Elon Musk
Tesla reveals it is using AI to make factories more sustainable: here’s how
Tesla is using AI in its Gigafactory Nevada factory to improve HVAC efficiency.

Tesla has revealed in its Extended Impact Report for 2024 that it is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable its factories to be more sustainable. One example it used was its achievement of managing “the majority of the HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled” last year.
In a commitment to becoming more efficient and making its production as eco-friendly as possible, Tesla has been working for years to find solutions to reduce energy consumption in its factories.
For example, in 2023, Tesla implemented optimization controls in the plastics and paint shops located at Gigafactory Texas, which increased the efficiency of natural gas consumption. Tesla plans to phase out natural gas use across its factories eventually, but for now, it prioritizes work to reduce emissions from that energy source specifically.
It also uses Hygrometric Control Logic for Air Handling Units at Giafactory Berlin, resulting in 17,000 MWh in energy savings each year. At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla saves 9.5 GWh of energy through the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone refineries when extracting critical raw material.
Perhaps the most interesting way Tesla is conserving energy is through the use of AI at Gigafactory Nevada, as it describes its use of AI to reduce energy demand:
“In 2023, AI Control for HVAC was expanded from Nevada and Texas to now include our Berlin-Brandenburg and Fremont factories. AI Control policy enables HVAC systems within each factory to work together to process sensor data, model factory dynamics, and apply control actions that safely minimize the energy required to support production. In 2024, this system achieved two milestones: the majority of HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled, reducing fan and thermal energy demand; and the AI algorithm was extended to manage entire chiller plants, creating a closed-loop control system that optimizes both chilled water consumption and the energy required for its generation, all while maintaining factory conditions.”
Tesla utilizes AI Control “primarily on systems that heat or cool critical factory production spaces and equipment.” AI Control communicates with the preexisting standard control logic of each system, and any issues can be resolved by quickly reverting back to standard control. There were none in 2024.
Tesla says that it is utilizing AI to drive impact at its factories, and it has proven to be a valuable tool in reducing energy consumption at one of its facilities.
Elon Musk
Tesla analysts believe Musk and Trump feud will pass
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s feud shall pass, several bulls say.

Tesla analysts are breaking down the current feud between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two continue to disagree on the “Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on the country’s national debt.
Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump Administration, left his post in May. Soon thereafter, he and President Trump entered a very public and verbal disagreement, where things turned sour. They reconciled to an extent, and things seemed to be in the past.
However, the second disagreement between the two started on Monday, as Musk continued to push back on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that the Trump administration is attempting to sign into law. It would, by Musk’s estimation, increase spending and reverse the work DOGE did to trim the deficit.
Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!
And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2025
President Trump has hinted that DOGE could be “the monster” that “eats Elon,” threatening to end the subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive. Musk has not been opposed to ending government subsidies for companies, including his own, as long as they are all abolished.
How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies
Despite this contentious back-and-forth between the two, analysts are sharing their opinions now, and a few of the more bullish Tesla observers are convinced that this feud will pass, Trump and Musk will resolve their differences as they have before, and things will return to normal.
ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood said this morning that the feud between Musk and Trump is another example of “this too shall pass:”
BREAKING: CATHIE WOOD SAYS — ELON AND TRUMP FEUD “WILL PASS” 👀 $TSLA
She remains bullish ! pic.twitter.com/w5rW2gfCkx
— TheSonOfWalkley (@TheSonOfWalkley) July 1, 2025
Additionally, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, in a note to investors this morning, said that the situation “will settle:”
“We believe this situation will settle and at the end of the day Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk given the AI Arms Race going on between the US and China. The jabs between Musk and Trump will continue as the Budget rolls through Congress but Tesla investors want Musk to focus on driving Tesla and stop this political angle…which has turned into a life of its own in a roller coaster ride since the November elections.”
Tesla shares are down about 5 percent at 3:10 p.m. on the East Coast.
Elon Musk
Tesla scrambles after Musk sidekick exit, CEO takes over sales
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is reportedly overseeing sales in North America and Europe, Bloomberg reports.

Tesla scrambled its executives around following the exit of CEO Elon Musk’s sidekick last week, Omead Afshar. Afshar was relieved of his duties as Head of Sales for both North America and Europe.
Bloomberg is reporting that Musk is now overseeing both regions for sales, according to sources familiar with the matter. Afshar left the company last week, likely due to slow sales in both markets, ending a seven-year term with the electric automaker.
Tesla’s Omead Afshar, known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, leaves company: reports
Afshar was promoted to the role late last year as Musk was becoming more involved in the road to the White House with President Donald Trump.
Afshar, whose LinkedIn account stated he was working within the “Office of the CEO,” was known as Musk’s right-hand man for years.
Additionally, Tom Zhu, currently the Senior Vice President of Automotive at Tesla, will oversee sales in Asia, according to the report.
It is a scramble by Tesla to get the company’s proven executives over the pain points the automaker has found halfway through the year. Sales are looking to be close to the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered in both of the past two years.
Tesla is pivoting to pay more attention to the struggling automotive sales that it has felt over the past six months. Although it is still performing well and is the best-selling EV maker by a long way, it is struggling to find growth despite redesigning its vehicles and launching new tech and improvements within them.
The company is also looking to focus more on its deployment of autonomous tech, especially as it recently launched its Robotaxi platform in Austin just over a week ago.
However, while this is the long-term catalyst for Tesla, sales still need some work, and it appears the company’s strategy is to put its biggest guns on its biggest problems.
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