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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk teases next-gen Starlink satellites, Starship factories
CEO Elon Musk has shared a slideshow from a recent SpaceX all-hands meeting, revealing the company’s current priorities, sources of pride, and the first official renders of a few future projects.
Falcon and Dragon
The last seven or so months have been a landmark period for SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. For the first time ever, the company is actually matching or exceeding extremely lofty launch cadence targets publicly revealed by Musk earlier this year. In the first five months of 2022, SpaceX has completed 22 successful launches. In the last seven months, SpaceX has completed 30 launches. SpaceX also has at least five launches nominally planned for June, meaning that the company is on track to launch just over once per week in the first half of the year after Musk revealed a goal of 52-60 launches in 2022.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft continue to excel, as well. Cargo Dragon is on the brink of its 26th space station cargo delivery, while Crew Dragon remains the United States’ only way to launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station it spent tens of billions of dollars to help build. Crew Dragon’s private career is also off to an excellent start, with two all-private launches already down and a third and fourth planned in late 2022 and early 2023 on top of regular NASA transport missions.
Starlink
According to Musk’s slide deck, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation has secured close to half a million customers in 32 countries two and a half years after operational satellite launches began. The constellation has almost 2400 working satellites in orbit, of which almost 1800 are operational. There’s a good chance that half of all active satellites will be owned and operated by SpaceX within the next few months. SpaceX has also delivered more than 15,000 Starlink dishes to war-torn Ukraine and announced its first airline connectivity partnerships within the last few months.
Lastly, the CEO published the first official renders of SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink V2.0 satellites and the massive Pez dispenser-style mechanism Starships will initially use to deploy the massive spacecraft in orbit. Based on the renders, SpaceX appears to have more or less upscaled its existing rectangular Starlink V1.x satellite design by a factor of two, producing a spacecraft that will measure about 7 x 3 meters (23 x 10 ft). Curiously, the Starlink dispenser and tiny payload ‘slot’ shown only appear to allow Starship to carry around 60 satellites, suggesting that the company will need to develop a different deployment method to achieve its ultimate goal of launching 110-120 satellites at once.
Starship
Finally, on top of sharing the first photo of Raptor engine installation on Super Heavy Booster 7, which could support Starship’s first orbital launch attempt later this year, Musk also revealed the first official renders of a pair of next-generation Starship factories SpaceX has already begun building. In South Texas, SpaceX is both expanding its existing Starship factory and replacing the three main sprung structures (tents) where most pre-stacking work has been done for the last two years with a single massive, permanent building.
At a new and rapidly growing SpaceX facility located on NASA Kennedy Space Center property, the company is simultaneously building a second next-generation Starship factory to supply multiple planned Florida launch sites with their own Starships and Super Heavy boosters.
Tesla is planning for a new 300+ stall Supercharger station that will be an expansion of an existing facility, and the company is planning to add a surprise for the Semi.
The Firebaugh, California Supercharger is currently 72 Superchargers, but Tesla filed for an expansion that will add 232 additional plugs for passenger vehicles, and it also plans to add 16 Semichargers.
This will be the biggest Supercharger station Tesla will have to date, just months after it finished the Supercharger Oasis in Lost Hills, California, which has 168 stalls. This will have 304 total Supercharger stalls, and then the additional 16 Megachargers.
🚨 This Supercharger station will have 304 total stalls and 16 Semichargers following this expansion
Absolutely INSANE size 🔥
This is located on I-5, so many semis will be traveling along this route https://t.co/hM9hdLcWwg
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The Firebaugh Supercharger is located on I-5, which is a major reason for why Tesla has chosen the location for additional Megacharger plug-ins, as Tesla Semi Program Manager Dan Priestley said on X earlier today.
Lots of trucks to electrify on I-5
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) January 13, 2026
The project was revealed by MarcoRP, a Supercharger tracker.
The expansion is a massive signal for charging demand, especially as Tesla’s Superchargers are opened to numerous automakers and are no longer exclusive to the company’s EVs. Additionally, the installation of Megachargers is a good sign to come for the Tesla Semi program, which aims to truly ramp up this year.
Tesla plans to launch production of the Semi later this year.
It could also mean Tesla is going to expand its footprint of large-scale Supercharger projects in the coming years, which would be a big boost as EV adoption continues to soar in the United States.
Tesla has made two big interior changes to several Model Y vehicles in its lineup, and the changes come just as the new model year begins production.
Last year, Tesla launched the Model Y Standard, which separated the previous models into the “Premium” category. The Standard vehicles lack several features, including more premium interior materials, acoustic-lined glass, and storage.
@teslarati There are some BIG differences between the Tesla Model Y Standard and Tesla Model Y Premium #tesla #teslamodely ♬ Sia – Xeptemper
The Model Y “Premium” trims are now getting several new upgrades, which come after the company launched a seven-seat configuration of the vehicle last night in the North American market for an upcharge of $2,500.
The new Model Y seven-seat configuration did not come with just an additional row of seating; it also came with a slew of other goodies that now come standard and were previously only available on the Model Y Performance, which was launched late last year.
All Black Headliner
The new Tesla Model Y Premium trims will now come standard with a black headliner, something that many owners have been requesting for some time.
The previous grey headliner and trim within the vehicle is now gone; it will be all black on all of the Premium trims from here on out, a welcome change:
Credit: Tesla
Larger and Higher Resolution Center Touchscreen
The center touchscreen in the new Model Y Premium configuration is now larger and has a higher resolution than the previous version.
In last year’s Model Y configurations (apart from the Performance), the center touchscreen was 15.4″. Now, Tesla has decided to go with the 16″ version across all Premium trims, which is a nice step up. It was nice to see this in the Performance, but it is really great to see Tesla include this in the Model Y’s more Premium trim levels.
Tesla Model Y Seven Seater
Tesla launched the latest iteration of the seven-seater for the Model Y on Monday night. Traditionally, the Model Y seats five passengers in total, but there were calls for a more spacious version several years ago.
Tesla released it, but it was extremely tight in the back, basically reserving those back seats for only small people or children.
Credit: Tesla
The new configuration looks to be slightly more spacious in the third row, but not as much space as most would require or want. Instead,
Elon Musk
Lufthansa Group to equip Starlink on its 850-aircraft fleet
Under the collaboration, Lufthansa Group will install Starlink technology on both its existing fleet and all newly delivered aircraft, as noted by the group in a press release.
Lufthansa Group has announced a partnership with Starlink that will bring high-speed internet connectivity to every aircraft across all its carriers.
This means that aircraft across the group’s brands, from Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines to Brussels Airlines, would be able to enjoy high-speed internet access using the industry-leading satellite internet solution.
Starlink in-flight internet
Under the collaboration, Lufthansa Group will install Starlink technology on both its existing fleet and all newly delivered aircraft, as noted by the group in a press release.
Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites are expected to provide significantly higher bandwidth and lower latency than traditional in-flight Wi-Fi, which should enable streaming, online work, and other data-intensive applications for passengers during flights.
Starlink-powered internet is expected to be available on the first commercial flights as early as the second half of 2026. The rollout will continue through the decade, with the entire Lufthansa Group fleet scheduled to be fully equipped with Starlink by 2029. Once complete, no other European airline group will operate more Starlink-connected aircraft.
Free high-speed access
As part of the initiative, Lufthansa Group will offer the new high-speed internet free of charge to all status customers and Travel ID users, regardless of cabin class. Chief Commercial Officer Dieter Vranckx shared his expectations for the program.
“In our anniversary year, in which we are celebrating Lufthansa’s 100th birthday, we have decided to introduce a new high-speed internet solution from Starlink for all our airlines. The Lufthansa Group is taking the next step and setting an essential milestone for the premium travel experience of our customers.
“Connectivity on board plays an important role today, and with Starlink, we are not only investing in the best product on the market, but also in the satisfaction of our passengers,” Vranckx said.
Tesla plans for new 300+ stall Supercharger with a special surprise for Semi
Tesla makes two big interior changes to several Model Y vehicles
