News
SpaceX launches first Starlink mission of 2023 after eight delays
A Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched SpaceX’s Starlink 2-4 mission after seven delays pushed it from November 2022 to January 2023.
Starlink 2-4 was originally scheduled to launch as early as November 18th, 2022, but was delayed shortly after its Falcon 9 rocket conducted a static fire test. The delay was indefinite, and that specific rocket ultimately launched a different commercial payload in late December. The internet satellite launch was finally rescheduled for January 9th, 2023, kicking off a string of additional delays. Weather delayed the January 9th attempt. Issues with Falcon 9’s second stage delayed the January 10th attempt. Additional “pre-launch checkouts” delayed the launch from January 11th to the 14th, which was then pushed to January 15th for “constellation optimization.“
Poor weather delayed Starlink 2-4 from January 15th to January 18th, and SpaceX eventually delayed the mission to January 19th without explanation. On January 19th, SpaceX even delayed Starlink 2-4 an eighth time, from 7:23 am PST to 7:43 am PST. But at long last, Starlink 2-4 did, in fact, lift off at 7:43 am PST, ending the longest streak of delays experienced by SpaceX in several years.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
In a rare twist, the first delay caused SpaceX to shuffle booster assignments, and Starlink 2-4 wound up with B1075. B1075 had never flown before, making Starlink 2-4 the second Starlink mission that has debuted a new Falcon booster. Ordinarily, SpaceX has always reserved new boosters – of which only a handful are built annually – for its more conservative customers. The US military in particular was slow to warm up to the idea of flying operational “national security” payloads on reused Falcon boosters, and often required (and paid for) new boosters whenever possible.
But even that wall mostly crumbled in 2022. SpaceX debuting another new Falcon 9 booster on its own low-priority Starlink mission is perhaps the best evidence of that. NASA and the US military have simply come to trust SpaceX’s flight-proven Falcon boosters, and no longer feel the need to reserve every new Falcon 9.
Falcon 9 booster B1075 ultimately aced its orbital-class launch debut and touched down on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) about nine minutes after liftoff. Assuming the seas are calm enough for B1075 to survive the return to Port of Long Beach, it likely has a long life of 15+ launches ahead of it. The Falcon upper stage launched by B1075 eventually reached low Earth orbit (LEO) and deployed another 51 Starlink V1.5 satellites about 30 minutes after liftoff. Starlink 2-4 should leave SpaceX with almost 3400 working Starlink satellites in orbit.
OCISLY gets an upgrade
B1075’s landing also revealed upgrades SpaceX has made to drone ship OCISLY since it was last used in October 2022. Harry Stranger first discovered the changes with satellite imagery, which revealed that SpaceX was upgrading OCISLY’s rectangular with angular ‘wings’. The wings appear to be identical to those installed on SpaceX’s newest drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas. ASOG debuted in mid-2021 with a number of upgrades not present on SpaceX’s two other drone ships. Most were intended to improve the ship’s resiliency, availability, and autonomy.



According to photographer Jerry Pike, the angular wings on ASOG (and now OCISLY) could make the drone ship much easier to tow. Reducing drag could also increase the effectiveness of their existing propulsion systems, potentially allowing them to maintain their position in harsher sea conditions and stronger currents than before. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has previously stated that the ultimate goal is a fully-autonomous drone ship capable of heading to sea, recovering Falcon boosters, and returning to port without human intervention.
There is no evidence that SpaceX is any closer to that goal since ASOG’s debut 16 months ago. Nonetheless, OCISLY’s upgrades should improve the drone ship’s usability as SpaceX attempts to launch (and land) up to 100 rockets in 2023.
Elon Musk
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.
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.
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.
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.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.