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SpaceX teams up with NASA to launch a galaxy-mapping space telescope
SpaceX appears to be continuing a streak of NASA launch contract awards, winning $98.8 million to launch a galaxy-mapping spacecraft known as SPHEREx in 2024.
Designed to perform surveys of hundreds of millions to billions of stars and galaxies across a vast swath of the universe, SPHEREx’s primary scientific goal is to better understand and quantify the state of the universe relative to the Big Bang. Additionally, the space telescope could be used to map the presence of water ice throughout the Milky Way, potentially helping to determining the role ice plays in stellar and planetary formation.
Oddly, the best current estimate of SPHEREx’s mass pegs the small but capable space telescope at approximately 200 kg (440 lb). “It’s just a little bit too big for Pegasus [XL] now, but it is a pretty small thing,” according to principal investigator Jamie Bock in a 2019 interview. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket vastly outclasses such a small payload and is capable of delivering at least 5-10 metric tons to SPHEREx’s targeted 700 km (~435 mi) polar orbit.
At almost $99 million, it’s also a relatively expensive Falcon 9 launch contract, though it continues a recent trend of the rocket winning near-nine-figure launch contracts for tiny NASA science spacecraft. Still, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), NASA had reserved $120 million for SPHEREx’s launch contract, meaning that SpaceX still likely saved the US taxpayer more than $21 million relative to the cheapest possible ULA Atlas V configuration. Altogether, including launch costs, the SPHEREx mission is now expected to cost NASA approximately $340 million.
Adding further to the oddity of this NASA award, SpaceX won an $80.4 million contract to launch NASA’s ~$900 million PACE oceanography observatory on a Falcon 9 rocket in the same year as SPHEREx. It’s difficult to explain why NASA’s Launch Service Program (LSP) would pay almost 25% more than PACE to launch SPHEREx, a spacecraft that is several times smaller and less than half the total cost. SPHEREx isn’t alone, though, and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has also won a $106M NASA contract to launch the ~$750M IMAP mission, $50M to launch the ~$140M IXPE mission, $112M to launch the ~$750M SWOT mission, and $69M to launch NASA’s $250M DART spacecraft.
At the same time, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket and Firefly’s Alpha – both actively engaged with NASA – could likely deliver SPHEREx to its intended orbit for as much as $50-80 million less than the cost of SpaceX’s launch contract.
Ultimately, SPHEREx continues a streak of lucrative launch contract victories for SpaceX, further strengthening the company’s strong relationship with NASA as it gears up for increasingly important science launches on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
