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[Update: delayed] SpaceX Falcon 9 fleet to kick off 2021 with a flurry of launches

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Update: SpaceX’s first launch of 2021 appears to be slipping from its January 4th target after drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) returned to port less than a day after leaving.

It’s possible that SpaceX could still manage a January 4th launch if JRTI departs again within the next 24-36 hours, but temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) used to keep aircraft out of the launch area were simultaneously retracted, implying that a delay is far more likely. Stay tuned for updates on SpaceX’s Turksat 5A launch campaign.

Right on schedule, one of SpaceX’s two drone ships left Port Canaveral on December 30th, heading into the Atlantic Ocean to prepare for the company’s first launch and landing of 2021.

As always, rocket launches (and landings, in the case of SpaceX) are exceptionally complex events at risk of a wide range of possible delays, ranging from weather to hardware failure. However, based on well-sourced launch calendars, the mission – known as Turksat 5A – is expected to be Falcon 9 booster B1060’s fourth launch in six months, as well as SpaceX’s first of up to four launches in January alone.

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Barring delays, Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the 3500 kg (7700 lb) Airbus-built Turksat 5A communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) sometime between 8:27 pm and 12:29 am EST on January 4th and 5th (01:27-05:29 UTC, 5 Jan).

Pictured here on November 20th, a SpaceX drone ship has left Port Canaveral ahead of the company’s first launch of the new year. (Richard Angle)

Drone ship Just Read The Instructions’ (JRTI) December 30th departure marks the first public signs of SpaceX’s preparations for its first orbital launch of the new year. It also serves as a reminder of the company’s major ambitions in 2021.

On average, Atlantic Ocean booster recoveries necessitate around 5-7 days at sea from port departure to port return, meaning that SpaceX’s pair of East Coast drone ships could theoretically support 4-6 launches per month with zero downtime for maintenance, repairs, or at-sea weather delays. According to CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX wants to launch 48 times in 2021, meaning that the company could find itself operating its rocket recovery fleet near-continuously without the introduction of a long-awaited third drone ship.

In January alone, multiple separate launch calendars forecast four SpaceX launches, beginning with Turksat 5A on January 4th, SpaceX’s first dedicated Smallsat Program launch (Transporter-1) on January 14th, and one or two ~60-satellite Starlink missions in the second half of the month. To achieve its 48-launch goal, January will have to have four launches and every other month of 2021 will have to reach a similar cadence. SpaceX completed its first four-launch month ever in November 2020.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

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Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.

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Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.

The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.

Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.

These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.

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Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.

Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.

The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.

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FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

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Credit: @SecWar/X

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.

The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.

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Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.

“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.

Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.

Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.

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Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.

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Energy

Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

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Credit: Tesla Energy/X

Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.

The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.

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Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.

Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.

Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.

The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.

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Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.

The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.

At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.

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