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NASA awards SpaceX with crew missions to International Space Station

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It’s only a few days into 2017, and SpaceX-related good news is pouring in. With their early September launch pad explosion behind them and a return to flight mission pending, NASA has now added more fuel towards a bright future for the company with four new contracted Crew Dragon missions to shuttle astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX has been developing its Crew Dragon capsule as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to help restore the United States’ ability to launch astronauts into orbit rather than purchase seats on Russian rockets. NASA previously awarded SpaceX two other mission contracts, now bringing the total number of awards given to six.

Also developing a crew capsule under this program is Boeing with their CST-100 Starliner. Boeing was granted four more mission contracts alongside SpaceX. Before the contracted missions can begin, both companies must finish NASA’s certification process for their crew capsule technology. SpaceX’s unmanned demonstration flight is currently scheduled for November of this year, and a crewed test flight is scheduled for May 2018 to complete the qualification. Boeing’s test flights are scheduled for June and August of 2018.

Crew Dragon Interior | Credit: SpaceX

Crew Dragon Interior | Credit: SpaceX

The contract awards did not come with a monetary exchange and primarily serve to assist the companies in their mission planning stages. The contracts also give NASA scheduling outlook in order to plan ISS crew rotations.

The Commercial Crew Program is a part of NASA’s two-prong approach to deep space missions. By handing over low-Earth orbit missions to private companies, the agency can focus its efforts on developing the technologies needed for its Journey to Mars and beyond.

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SpaceX plans to launch its Crew Dragon capsule from Space Launch Complex 39A where it has been making renovations to accommodate crewed missions. The Complex has also received renovations to support the launch of Falcon Heavy, the test flight for which is also planned for later this year.

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk is stepping up for Tesla Service in a big way

Elon Musk has stepped up to resolve a handful of customer issues regarding vehicle service.

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tesla service
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk is stepping up to help customers in a big way, especially when they are having issues with Tesla’s Service.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages Tesla owners have is access to Musk through X, his social media platform. Over the years, we’ve seen Tesla add features, refine its cars’ performance, and more, all through asking Musk directly through a post.

Now, Musk is stepping up in another way by resolving a few Service complaints that customers had.

The first occurred last week when a recall on a Tesla battery was not honored by Service. The company sought $30,000 for a replacement and labor, which was not right. Musk responded that he would personally investigate the matter. The vehicle was fixed at no cost as it was a recall, and was ready for pickup the next day.

It also revealed a new strategy Tesla is using to combat service communication issues:

Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

The next occurred with a Cybertruck owner who was in Japan. Their car was parked at an airport in the U.S. and had lost a vast majority of its state of charge, leaving them just fifty miles of range at the time.

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Musk reached out to the owner and said Service will take care of the car and will investigate the cause of the battery drain:

There are not too many companies out there where the CEO will get involved with individual issues like these. It’s pretty exclusive to Tesla, as Musk has commonly stepped up to resolve complaints with vehicles or to confront features that some owners might find useful.

Service has been a weak point of the company for some time, but it has worked to refine and resolve customer complaints by building more Service Centers across the world that can handle these issues.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when

Anyone will be able to request a Tesla Robotaxi in September, Elon Musk said this morning.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company’s Robotaxi platform is opening to the public, and he even gave a timeline for when anyone will be able to access one for a ride.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform launched to a small group on June 22 in Austin, Texas. The company has continued to expand the number of riders and its geofence over the past month and a half.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

Additionally, it launched rides in the Bay Area of California, but it differs slightly, as the Texas Robotaxi platform does not utilize a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. In California, the monitor sits in the driver’s seat.

As the geofence, service areas, and testing populations expand, Tesla fans are awaiting their elusive emails that enable their ability to use the Robotaxi platform. It now seems that the email will come soon, as Musk said Tesla will open up public access to Robotaxi next month:

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Tesla has been prioritizing safety over anything else with the launch of the Robotaxi platform, which is why it has been slow to push invitations to new riders. It is confident in the abilities of the platform and its Full Self-Driving suite, which has been proven with data.

However, even a single accident could set Tesla back years in terms of its development of self-driving cars. It is not a risk it is willing to take.

Musk said during the recent Q2 Earnings Call:

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“We need to make sure it works when the vehicles are fully under our control. It’s kind of one step at a time here. We don’t want to jump the gun. As I said, we’re being paranoid about safety. But I guess next year is I’d say confidently next year. I’m not sure when next year, but confidently next year, people would be able to add or subtract their car to the Tesla, Inc. fleet.”

As the platform will expand in Austin and the Bay Area for anyone, Tesla still continues to reiterate that Robotaxi will be available for everyone sometime next year, as Musk said in the quote above.

Things will continue to improve over time, and Tesla will likely expand its geofence in both regions in the coming weeks. It has already done that in Austin twice, with about a doubling in size occurring both times.

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Tesla warns consumers of huge, time-sensitive change coming soon

Tesla is urging customers to take delivery of their new EV by September 30 in order to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla is continuing to warn consumers of a huge, time-sensitive change that is coming soon, as the end of the EV tax credit is less than two months away.

The EV tax credit has offered $7,500 off new EVs and $4,000 off used EVs for certain individuals who qualify due to income. For years, it has been a great incentive for consumers, and it has improved further as car companies were able to apply the credit at the point of sale starting in 2023.

Tesla is ready with a perfect counter to the end of US EV tax credits

However, with the Trump Administration, it always seemed as if the EV tax credit was in jeopardy. Earlier this year, the White House officially announced that it would do away with it completely.

On September 30, the tax credit will be abolished. In order to utilize it, customers will have to take delivery of their vehicle by that date. Orders placed before September 30 without delivery by that day will not be able to utilize the credit.

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Tesla is truly pushing this point incredibly hard: the sooner an order gets in, the more likely you are to take delivery of the car by September 30.

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The end of the EV tax credit is something that has been looming on the minds of electric carmakers, consumers, and investors.

The $7,500 discount for buying a clean energy vehicle truly puts many of the cars in a much more affordable price range. Without it, the least expensive Tesla model will be the Model 3 Rear-Wheel-Drive, which starts at $42,490.

That price comes down to $34,990 with the tax credit, and brings the monthly payment down about $130, depending on how much money is put down.

Despite the change, CEO Elon Musk does not believe it will impact Tesla negatively. In fact, he has been in favor of getting rid of the EV tax credit for several years, believing it will actually work to Tesla’s advantage.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that will come of this is how all EV makers will be impacted by the loss of credit. Musk believes Tesla will come out as the big winner here, especially as it plans to roll out new affordable models sometime this year.

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