

News
SpaceX sets the stage for three Falcon 9 launches in six days
SpaceX has successfully tested a Falcon 9 rocket tasked with launching Italy’s CSG-2 Earth observation satellite as early as 6:11 pm EST (23:11 UTC), Thursday, January 27th.
For any European Space Agency (ESA) member state, launching a spacecraft on a non-European rocket is a rarity. Because the Ariane and Vega rockets that ESA has helped fund and European countries help build are simply no longer capable of consistently competing with SpaceX’s Falcon pricing, Arianespace and ESA have increasingly sought multi-year political mandates that force member states to agree to launch all possible payloads on Ariane, Vega, or Soyuz rockets. Only after Vega suffered multiple launch failures and its Vega C upgrade ran into multiple delays was Italy apparently able to consider launch alternatives for CSG-2 instead of delaying its already-delayed launch by another year or more.
Designed to monitor Earth’s surface towards a variety of ends with a technology known as scanning aperture radar (SAR), the roughly 2200-kilogram (~4900 lb) satellite is headed to a circular polar orbit 620 kilometers (385 mi) above the planet’s surface. Designed to launch on the primarily Italian-built Vega C rocket, which is itself designed to launch up to 2300 kg to low Earth orbit, CSG-2 will instead launch on SpaceX’s much larger Falcon 9.
As of a few years ago, a Falcon 9 launch with a flight-proven booster carried a base price of approximately $50M for at least 12 tons (~27,000 lb) to LEO. According to manufacturer Avio, Vega C is designed to launch 2.3 tons (~5100 lb) to LEO for about $40M. Given that SpaceX recently charged NASA $50M to launch the agency’s IXPE X-ray observatory with a drone ship landing for the mission’s Falcon 9 booster, it’s plausible that Italy is paying SpaceX less than $50M to launch CSG-2, which is light enough and headed to a simple enough orbit to allow its Falcon 9 booster to return to land for recovery.
According to CEO Elon Musk, the complexity of a drone ship landing and at-sea booster recovery adds significant cost (perhaps up to several hundred thousand dollars) to any Falcon launch that requires it. As such, Falcon 9’s return-to-launch-site (RTLS) landing could singlehandedly shave ~$500,000 from CSG-2’s launch price, making it even more cost-competitive with Vega.

Thanks to the launch window SpaceX and ASI have settled on, CSG-2’s launch could be quite spectacular – and for more than just the crowd-favorite Falcon 9 RTLS landing it will include. Set to lift off just 15 minutes after sunset, the twilight sky (clouds permitting) will be dark blue as Falcon 9 lifts off and climbs into sunlight, backlighting the miles-long exhaust plumes of both stages.
The mission’s RTLS landing will only enhance the effect by adding the interaction of the exhaust plumes of both stages as CSG-2’s Falcon 9 booster flips around and boosts back towards the Florida coast. The sun may even backlight the booster’s exhaust during a reentry burn performed a few minutes after stage separation, hopefully resulting in a spectacular light show that lasts several minutes and is visible for hundreds of miles in any direction.
CSG-2 is the first of three SpaceX launches scheduled in six days. The company aims to launch CSG-2 at 6:11 pm EST on January 27th, Starlink 4-7 around 6:15 pm EST on January 29th, and NROL-87 as early as the morning of February 2nd. If all three avoid delays, NROL-87 will be SpaceX’s sixth launch in 27 days, making it the second time SpaceX has launched three times in one week and six times in four weeks.
Elon Musk
Tesla Board Chair discusses what is being done to protect CEO Elon Musk

Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm met with Bloomberg this morning to discuss a variety of topics, but perhaps one of the most interesting was her comments on what is being done to protect company CEO Elon Musk.
After the assassination of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk this week, there have been concerns about Musk’s safety, as well as that of other high-profile business leaders and political figures.
Earlier this week, Musk said himself that his security detail would be increased significantly following Kirk’s death, a move that many investors and fans of the company had requested because of political violence.
Elon Musk assures Tesla investors he will enhance his security detail
“Definitely need to enhance security,” Musk said. Tesla spent $3.3 million on Musk’s security in 2024 and January and February 2025. For reference, Meta spent over $27 million on Mark Zuckerberg’s security last year, which is higher than any other tech CEO.
During Denholm’s appearance on Bloomberg TV earlier today, she stated that the company has been focused on Musk’s security detail for “many years,” especially considering he is one of the richest people on Earth and holds an incredible amount of influence.
“It is something that we take very seriously; he takes it very seriously as well. So, again, from a board perspective, it is something we’ve discussed at length,” Denholm said.
Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm on increased security for CEO Elon Musk:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025
Denholm added that she believes “there is not anyone in a boardroom that is not touched by what has happened with Charlie Kirk.”
Although Musk’s political involvement has toned down significantly in the past, he still has enemies, especially based on groups that oppose him and the company specifically. Based on this week’s events, it feels that increased security is a necessary expense Tesla must account for.
Investor's Corner
Tesla bear turns bullish for two reasons as stock continues boost
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.

A Tesla bear is changing his tune, turning bullish for two reasons as the company’s stock has continued to get a boost over the past month.
Dan Nathan, a notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, said he is changing his tune, at least in the short term, on the company’s stock because of “technicals and sentiment,” believing the company is on track for a strong Q3, but also an investment story that will slowly veer away from its automotive business.
“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting,” Nathan said, citing numerous signs of strength, such as holding its 200-day moving average and holding against its resistance level.
He also said he believes a rally for the stock could continue as it heads into the end of the quarter, especially as the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit is coming to an end at the end of the month.
With that being said, he believes the consensus for Q3 deliveries is “probably low,” as he believes Wall Street is likely underestimating what Tesla will bring to the table on October 1 or 2 when it reports numbers for the quarter.
Tesla bear Dan Nathan has flipped his script on Tesla $TSLA shares, citing “technicals and sentiment”
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 12, 2025
Tesla shares are already up over five percent today, with gains exceeding nine percent over the past five trading days, and more than fourteen percent in the past month.
While some analysts are looking at the performance of other Mag 7 stocks, movement on rates from the Federal Reserve, and other broader market factors as reasoning for Tesla’s strong performance, it appears some movement could be related to the company’s recent developments instead.
Over the past week, Tesla has made some strides in its Robotaxi program, including a new license to test the platform in the State of Nevada, which we reported on.
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
Additionally, the company is riding the tails of the end of the EV tax credit, as inventory, both new and used, is running extremely low, generally speaking. Many markets do not have any vehicles to purchase as of right now, making delivery by September 30 extremely difficult.
However, there has been some adjustments to the guidelines by the IRS, which can be read here:
Tesla is trading at around $389 at 10:56 a.m. on the East Coast.
News
Tesla lands regulatory green light for Robotaxi testing in new state
This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.

Tesla has landed a regulatory green light to test its Robotaxi platform in a new state, less than three months after the ride-hailing service launched in Texas.
Tesla first launched its driverless Robotaxi suite in Austin, Texas, back on June 22. Initially offering rides to a small group of people, Tesla kept things limited, but this was not to be the mentality for very long.
It continued to expand the rider population, the service area, and the vehicle fleet in Austin.
The company also launched rides in the Bay Area, but it does use a person in the driver’s seat to maintain safety. In Austin, the “Safety Monitor” is present in the passenger’s seat during local rides, and in the driver’s seat for routes that involve highway driving.
Tesla is currently testing the Robotaxi platform in other states. We reported that it was testing in Tempe, Arizona, as validation vehicles are traveling around the city in preparation for Robotaxi.
Tesla looks to make a big splash with Robotaxi in a new market
Tesla is also hoping to launch in Florida and New York, as job postings have shown the company’s intention to operate there.
However, it appears it will launch in Nevada before those states, as the company submitted its application to obtain a Testing Registry certification on September 3. It was processed by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles Office of Business Licensing on September 10.
NEWS: Tesla has officially received approval from the Nevada DMV to start testing autonomous vehicles (robotaxis) on public roads.
Today, I confirmed directly with the Nevada DMV that @Tesla‘s application to obtain a Testing Registry certification was approved by the DMV Office… pic.twitter.com/hx5JhHBFiD
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 11, 2025
It will then need to self-certify for operations, essentially meaning they will need to comply with various state requirements.
This will be the third state in total where Tesla is operating Robotaxi, following Austin and California.
CEO Elon Musk has stated that he believes Robotaxi will be available to at least half of the U.S. population by the end of the year. Geographically, Tesla will need to make incredible strides over the final four months of the year to achieve this.
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