Years before the space agency’s flagship Europa Clipper mission is scheduled to lift off, NASA and SpaceX are already determining the specifics of the launch – including which Falcon Heavy boosters will support it.
On July 23rd, 2021, after years of rumors, NASA officially announced that it no longer planned to launch Europa Clipper on its own SLS rocket and would instead contract with SpaceX to send the spacecraft to Jupiter on a Falcon Heavy. In terms of sheer prestige, no other mission on Falcon Heavy’s manifest comes close. Expected to weigh around six tons (~13,000 lb), Europa Clipper is a building-sized spacecraft that aims to orbit Jupiter for years, performing dozens of flybys of the planet’s icy moons – several of which almost certainly have liquid oceans.
Europa – the mission’s namesake – is its primary focus and whether or not the funding or political motivation for such an ambitious mission transpires, Europa Clipper was always partially meant to be a scouting mission for a nuclear-powered lander. On its own, though, Clipper has already blown past its original $2B budget target from 2013 and is now on track to cost more than $4.5B, making it the most expensive NASA mission currently in development – second only to the ~$9B James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In other words, NASA is entrusting SpaceX to launch what is perhaps the most expensive mission to the outer solar system in the history of planetary exploration.
That makes it all the more noteworthy that NASA has already given the okay for SpaceX to plan to launch Europa Clipper on a Falcon Heavy rocket with at least two of its three boosters already flight-proven. According to mission scientist Bob Pappalardo, Clipper Mission Design Lead Brett Buffington revealed in spacecraft “System Integration Review” that SpaceX intends to reuse two Falcon Heavy side boosters that are currently scheduled to debut as early as next year on a different NASA mission. Known as Psyche, that mission – also scheduled to fly on Falcon Heavy – is scheduled to launch no earlier than (NET) August 2022 and is designed to explore an asteroid that’s believed to be almost entirely composed of metal.
With Europa Clipper scheduled to launch NET October 2024, that undoubtedly makes this the earliest a Falcon booster assignment has ever been confirmed – and probably the earliest SpaceX itself has assigned flight-proven boosters to a specific mission. It also makes those particular boosters quite special. Unlike Psyche, which will leave plenty of margin for SpaceX to recover at least two of Falcon Heavy’s three boosters, Europa Clipper will need almost every ounce of performance the rocket can give to send the much larger spacecraft much faster and further. Barring a major surprise, that means that Falcon Heavy will launch Europa Clipper in a fully expendable configuration.
For SpaceX, being able to use at least two flight-proven proven boosters on that expendable mission will make expending two Falcon Heavy boosters – which are otherwise capable of launching at least ten times in their lifetimes – a much easier pill to swallow. For NASA, the space agency is likely already familiar with the reality that flight-proven hardware actually improves schedule confidence, which is crucial for a mission like Europa Clipper thanks to its 21-day launch window.
Nonetheless, it does still raise the question of whether NASA will allow SpaceX to fly Psyche’s Falcon Heavy side boosters once or even twice more in the more than two years they’ll otherwise have to spend in storage between Psyche and Europa Clipper. A Falcon Heavy rocket is currently scheduled to launch a commercial Moon lander and NASA’s VIPER Moon rover as early as Q4 2023. Most recently, NASA purchased a Falcon Heavy to launch NOAA’s GOES-U weather satellite NET Q2 2024. In 2022 alone, SpaceX also has at least three other non-NASA missions scheduled to launch before Psyche, raising another possibility that Psyche itself might fly on once-flown boosters that would then fly a third, fourth, or even fifth time with Europa Clipper.
That might seem like an unlikely possibility but NASA has already shown that it’s happy to launch Cargo Dragons on boosters with multiple non-NASA missions in their pasts and will soon launch DART – an asteroid impact spacecraft – on another Falcon booster that last launched Starlink satellites. Additionally, with Arabsat 6A and STP-2, SpaceX already demonstrated in 2019 that it can launch Falcon Heavy, recover its two side boosters, and relaunch those same boosters on a different Falcon Heavy mission less than two months later – and for the US military, no less.
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Tesla Cybercab almost looks production ready in new photos
Tesla’s AI team recently posted an image of the Cybercab going Animal Style at an In-and-Out drive-through.
Tesla’s AI team recently posted an image of the Cybercab going Animal Style at an In-and-Out drive-through. But while the Cybercab’s passengers were quite funny, the photos themselves suggest that some of the Cybercab’s components may already be production-ready.
Cybercab goes Animal Style
Seemingly as a fun Halloween post, the Tesla AI team shared a photo of a Cybercab, complete with passengers who were in costume, at an In-and-Out drive through. Based on the photos that were shared on X, it appeared that the Cybrcab was being accompanied by a Tesla Model Y Premium. The Tesla AI team shared a lighthearted caption to the image, writing “Animal Style,” a reference to a popular secret menu item for the fast food chain.
In a way, the Tesla AI team’s Halloween post was a lighthearted reference to the popularity of In-and-Out among Tesla owners. This is partly because of the Tesla Supercharger network, which has numerous locations that are close to In-and-Out sites. Elon Musk has also jokingly confirmed in the past that driving prototype Teslas through an In-and-Out is a tradition and a fun milestone marker.
Apparent production-ready Cybercab sections
While the Tesla AI team’s photos provided some lighthearted fun to the EV community, some industry watchers pointed out that the Cybercab in the photos looked production ready, or at least some parts of it seem to be. This is especially noticeable in the Cybercab’s front end, which looks very refined and well-built.
The front end of the Cybercab on the In-and-Out photo even had a license plate mount, and previous sightings revealed that the door of the vehicle had been updated since it was unveiled last year.
With this in mind, speculations are abounding that the Cybercab might indeed be ready for initial production soon. The installation of production equipment in Giga Texas has been ongoing for several months now, and tests of the Cybercab in both the Giga Texas complex and on public roads have also ramped.
Investor's Corner
Michael Dell points out practical advantage of Elon Musk’s proposed pay package
As pointed out by the Dell Technologies CEO, Musk will only be rewarded if he delivers extraordinary value to shareholders
Michael Dell has weighed in on Elon Musk’s controversial 2025 CEO Performance Award, offering a grounded perspective amidst the noise surrounding the pay package today.
As pointed out by the Dell Technologies CEO, Musk will only be rewarded if he delivers extraordinary value to shareholders. Musk would quite literally receive no compensation if he fails to achieve his targets.
Dell emphasizes results over rhetoric
Dell shared his thoughts about Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award in a post on X.“Vote FOR Elon Musk. The award is only achieved IF he hits exceptionally ambitious market-cap and operational milestones—if he falls short, he gets nothing,” Dell wrote in his post.
“If he succeeds, shareholders will win big through unprecedented value creation, and he will earn added voting rights to continue driving Tesla’s long-term vision.”
Musk replied with a short “Thanks Michael,” acknowledging Dell’s support. Dell’s framing cuts through the debate surrounding Musk’s compensation, as he simply focused on the incentive structure’s risk-reward balance.
Musk’s ambitious pay package
Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award requires Tesla’s market capitalization to rise from roughly $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion within a decade. This would make Tesla more valuable than any company in history.
Apart from this, Tesla’s operating profit must also grow from $17 billion to $400 billion annually. Musk must also lead the company to several product-related milestones, such as 20 million cumulative vehicle deliveries, 10 million Full Self-Driving subscriptions, 1 million Tesla Bots, and 1 million operating Robotaxis.
So far, proxy advisors Glass Lewis and ISS have urged shareholders to vote against the plan. Some prominent investors, including ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, however, have voiced strong support for the plan. Wood called Musk “the most productive human being on earth,” arguing that his vision and ability to attract talent are central to Tesla’s success.
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Starlink V3 satellites could enable SpaceX’s orbital computing plans: Musk
Musk’s remarks come as companies explore how orbital infrastructure could solve the Earth-bound energy and cooling challenges that come with hyperscale AI computing.
As artificial intelligence fuels surging demand for computing power, Elon Musk has hinted that SpaceX may use its Starlink V3 satellites to develop space-based data centers.
Musk’s remarks come as companies explore how orbital infrastructure could solve the Earth-bound energy and cooling challenges that come with hyperscale AI computing.
SpaceX could lead the race to orbit-based computing
After Ars Technica published a report on autonomous space construction, Musk replied on X: “Simply scaling up Starlink V3 satellites, which have high speed laser links would work. SpaceX will be doing this.”
SpaceX’s Starlink V3 platform is capable of up to 1 terabit per second (Tbps) throughput, so it could potentially form the foundation for orbital computing clusters powered by solar energy.
Proponents have noted that such data centers could eliminate the massive land, water, and power footprints of traditional facilities on Earth. Critics, however, have question the economics and complexity of maintaining large-scale data systems in orbit.
Elon Musk, for his part, recently reiterated on X that this particular idea is a very big deal.
SpaceX’s track record is substantial
Despite the reservations for such a radical idea, SpaceX’s track record is pretty much bulletproof at this point. The company’s Starlink network, once deemed as unrealistic by critics, now delivers broadband to millions worldwide while turning a profit. Its Falcon 9 rockets, which are capable of landing on land or on a drone in the middle of the ocean, are also among the world’s most reliable.
With this track record in mind, it would seem that Elon Musk’s idea of using Starlink satellites as the building blocks for a space-based data center might not be too farfetched at all.
Interest in space-based data storage and processing has intensified in recent months, Ars noted. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly acquired Relativity Space with an eye on orbital data infrastructure, while Jeff Bezos recently predicted gigawatt-scale data centers will operate in space within two decades.
Tesla Cybercab almost looks production ready in new photos
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