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SpaceX’s internet satellites have an official name: Starlink
The satellite constellation may also compete with Earth imaging companies and include scientific instruments
Trademark filings have been unearthed by members of the SpaceX subreddit that suggest that the company’s satellite internet constellation will be named Starlink. Previously discussed on Teslarati, recent developments during the process of attaining regulatory permissions could pose a major hurdle for SpaceX’s broadband constellation. Implications of FCC filings aside, SpaceX may still launch its first test satellites later this year. The company has dozens of job openings under “Satellite Development” in the states of Washington and California as of September 18.
The trademark filings, which can be found through the U.S. Patent Office’s Trademark Electronic Search
An unofficial logo designed by the author for SpaceX’s Starlink project. (Eric Ralph/Teslarati)
System (TESS), also hint that SpaceX may expand the potential uses of their satellite constellation into markets for scientific data and persistent Earth imaging. The last several years have seen a meteoric rise in demand for Earth imaging services from the likes of Digital Globe, Planet Labs (which now owns Terra Bella), BlackSky, Urthecast (which acquired Deimos Imaging), and many others. Other companies like Spire hope to capitalize on the benefits of smaller satellites in order to revolutionize weather data and forecasting, as well as global aircraft and boat tracking.
Even if SpaceX ultimately chose to include imaging hardware and scientific instruments on a fraction of the 4,425 satellites intended to comprise their preliminary LEO constellation, the unique nature and sheer scale of SpaceX’s satellite mesh network would make it difficult to compete with. In fact, the mesh network itself could also become a sought-after product for third-party companies, if SpaceX chose to allow access to it.
SpaceX’s broadband constellation has long been expected to utilize optical (laser-based) inter-satellite communications to form a “mesh network” in orbit. Aside from morphing each individual satellite into a flexible communications node, the very existence of an orbital, ground-connected network of thousands of satellites could open the utility of easy space-to-ground communication to any customers willing and able to pay for access. Ground stations often become a primary concern and issue for companies engaged in developing satellite communications, with a vast sea of often unique regulations that must be dealt with. SpaceX’s goal is to provide access to its broadband constellation with nothing more than a pizza-box sized antenna placed on the customer’s roof, a far cry from the large, expensive, and heavily-regulated radio antenna installations that companies like Planet Labs use to serve their customers.
SpaceX’s BFS (“Big Falcon Spaceship”) will require a stable communications network to maintain contact with Earth.(SpaceX)
Farther in the future, a thoroughly-tested orbital platform for communications, ground imagery, and scientific observations could and likely will prove invaluable for SpaceX’s ultimate goal of creating and supporting a permanent human presence on Mars. As of late, NASA has been playing fast and loose with the long-term maintenance of its planetary exploration infrastructure, particularly regarding the future of Earth-Mars communications. Between ESA, China, NASA, and Russia, multiple new Martian landers and orbiters are expected to arrive at the Red Planet over the next decade, and the large amount of data produced by the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers, as well as Mars orbiters, strains the communications infrastructure used for transmitting data back to Earth.
By developing and administrating a communications network between Mars and Earth, SpaceX could gain deep spaceflight experience, allow NASA to more directly focus on science and planetary exploration, and also facilitate the construction of an interplanetary communications foundation SpaceX will need if it hopes to develop a human presence on Mars. In fact, Musk briefly revealed that SpaceX was working with NASA on “Mars communications” at the ISS R&D Conference earlier this year.
Regardless of its potential uses around Mars, SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellite constellation could revolutionize internet access on Earth and provide SpaceX the resources it needs to develop Mars colonization hardware. Details about the satellite constellation will likely be provided when Elon Musk speaks at this year’s International Astronautical Congress.
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Elon Musk
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Tesla’s Optimus chief corrected himself on X, confirming a staggering 10 million robot production target.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus program has a new number attached to it, after Ashok Elluswamy, the executive who has run the humanoid robot program since June 2025, posted a three word correction on X Thursday, “Correction, 10 million robots.”
The line clarifies the long term annual capacity Tesla is building toward its planned second Optimus production line at Gigafactory Texas, a figure Musk has cited repeatedly since last year’s shareholder meeting.
The scale is worth noting, because ten million robots a year would mean Tesla building more units annually than most countries sell in new cars. Tesla has framed this as a second line, not the first. The buildout is happening in two phases: a roughly one million unit per year line inside Tesla’s Fremont factory, installed on the floor space vacated when Model S and Model X production ended earlier this year, and a much larger dedicated facility under construction at Giga Texas that broke ground on its first steel structure in May. That Texas facility is the one Elluswamy’s correction refers to, and is expected to reach volume production sometime in 2027.
Correction, 10 million robots https://t.co/0z4nyQNTzp
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) July 30, 2026
Tesla Optimus project fires up as Musk sees production line progress
Elluswamy took over Optimus from Milan Kovac last summer and has spent the months since talking up the program’s trajectory. Elon Musk has also floated the ten million figure at Tesla’s 2025 shareholder meeting.
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Ending Model S and Model X production to make room for the first Optimus line was one of the more consequential manufacturing decisions in the company’s recent history, retiring two flagship vehicles in favor of a robot that has yet to enter mass production. Musk has previously estimated per unit production costs at $20,000 to $25,000 once Tesla reaches a million units a year, though he hasn’t said what that cost looks like at ten times the volume.
The Trump Administration today made several key moves to help with the deployment of autonomous vehicles by cutting overreaching red tape that has stifled growth and innovation for years.
The moves, which were put forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), aim to grant temporary exemptions to at least one company currently, although that could expand in the coming months. Additionally, it will work with organizations to develop standards and a sound but efficient regulatory landscape.
Zoox is the only company mentioned explicitly by the Trump Administration in its press release announcing the new terms today. They will receive a temporary two-year exemption that will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years.
There is a potential exemption for Robomart, Inc., which “requests a temporary exemption from certain FMVSS No. 500 requirements for a low-speed vehicle operated by an ADS without a human driver onboard. NHTSA will publish a separate notice seeking public comment on its merits once the initial evaluation is complete,” the agency said.
Here are the five new terms that Secretary Sean Duffy has implemented through the NHTSA today:
- Allow Zoox to commercially deploy its robotaxis through a temporary exemption.
This temporary exemption will allow the commercial deployment of up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, subject to an enhanced, adaptable oversight structure that can evolve as Zoox’s technology advances. - Accelerate development of first-ever AV performance standards through a partnership with SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (ITC).
This partnership will fund a three-year, $5 million “A2SCEND” consortium, bringing together experts to gather data and accelerate creation of the first-ever AV performance standards. This project will inform a single national standard for AV safety to eliminate the patchwork regulatory landscape that has stifled innovation for years. - Publish an interim final rule that allows vehicles manufactured prior to an exemption to be eligible for a commercial deployment exemption.
This rule will modernize the application process and improve access to exemptions for innovators, including AV developers, by granting the NHTSA Administrator the discretion to apply temporary exemptions to vehicles manufactured prior to the effective date of an exemption grant. - Streamline the application process for Part 555 exemptions by updating guidance and soliciting feedback from the public.
By updating the Part 555 exemption process—which allows automakers to temporarily sell a limited number of non-compliant vehicles, primarily to test new technologies—NHTSA is aiming to create a more flexible oversight structure for exemptions and summarize recent AV framework activities, including expanded exemption pathways, streamlined crash reporting, and ongoing efforts to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). - Establish a new Federal Docket for public feedback on NHTSA’s updated safe AV development and deployment guidance.
NHTSA is updating its technical guidance for AVs for the first time since 2017—focusing on key safety areas like emergency responder interactions, safety management systems, remote assistance, and post-crash behavior to help the industry scale up driverless deployments safely.
Additionally, the NHTSA said it has modernized some safety standards by proposing updates to:
- FMVSS 102 – Transmission shifting
- FMVSS 103/104 – Windshield defrosting and wiping
- FMVSS 110 – Tire placards
- FMVSS 135 – Braking systems
- FMVSS 101 – Controls and displays
- FMVSS 108 – Vehicle lighting
- FMVSS 111 – Mirrors and rearview display
- FMVSS 126 – Electronic stability control systems
- FMVSS 201/208 – Sun visors and warning labels
These changes aim to make the regulatory process for autonomous vehicles more streamlined and efficient, which could help the U.S. gain dominance over autonomous vehicle systems moving forward.
Elon Musk is, in many respects, one of the biggest and most influential figures in modern-day artificial intelligence.
Given that Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are all looked at in their respective fields as leaders to an extent, each of them has a heavy influence on the future of AI, even though two of them are not thought of, at face value, as AI companies.
Musk has grand expectations for what is to come with AI, not only as a form of assistance to make human lives easier, but to make humans multiplanetary and solve some of the biggest issues that face us today. But even he is astounded by AI’s pace of progress.
He believes that in two years, AI will be so mind-blowing it might be unrecognizable.
Given that AI from 2 years ago feels so old that it should be in a museum, then obviously AI 2 years from now will be mind-blowing https://t.co/TcsKZ8o8OE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2026
This progress can be seen in a variety of ways, but perhaps the most popular way people have shown AI’s progress, especially on social media, is through an incredibly arbitrary way of watching Will Smith eat spaghetti:
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The progression in AI of Will Smith eating spaghetti (2023 – 2026) pic.twitter.com/VDv82mB5gs
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) February 10, 2026
This is a great way to show people how AI is improving, especially from a perspective that examines how it can manufacture images and video from prompts. AI is an incredibly complex concept, however, and it goes much deeper than Will Smith eating Italian food.
Musk’s most widely adopted method of AI is likely Tesla Full Self-Driving, which impacts millions of people as they utilize it to increase safety with their travel. Musk has routinely pushed incredibly aggressive timelines for self-driving, especially unsupervised.
Perhaps this perspective is why he feels that things will be solved in a timeframe that is much more aggressive than most of us would think. Regardless, the progress of AI is moving fast, and it seems that Musk’s expectations for it could be high.
But if it can actually achieve full-length motion pictures and even more realistic production value, it will be hard to distinguish between reality and AI very soon.
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![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner-80x80.jpg)
Tesla AI boss reveals how big Optimus is going to get
Autonomous vehicle red tape gets slashed by Trump Administration
