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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rideshare program secures its first customer
On August 22nd, spaceflight startup Momentus Space and launch heavyweight SpaceX announced the first public launch contract to fall under the umbrella of the latter company’s recently-announced Satellite Rideshare Program.
Meant to provide a reliable, consistent, and affordable form of shuttle-like access to orbit, SpaceX’s rideshare program will – pending demand – involve no less than one dedicated Falcon 9 launch per year, capable of placing 15+ metric tons (33,000+ lbs) into low Earth orbit. Although SpaceX’s rideshare proposal is far from revolutionary, the company’s contract with Momentus Space appears to be more than a basic launch service agreement, potentially opening doors for far more flexible rideshare launches in the future.
Since its November 2017 founding, Momentus Space has been able to put money where its mouth is far more so than any comparable space tug hopeful, of which there are several. The concept that has helped Momentus raise nearly $34M in just 1.5 years is relatively simple: build a spacecraft whose sole purpose is to propel other spacecraft to their final orbit(s).
Known as a space tug, the concept is about as old as practical spaceflight itself, and interest in actually developing the concept from paper to hardware has grown exponentially in the last 5-10 years, thanks in large part to an unprecedented boom in commercial spaceflight activity. Applied more specifically, modern efforts like Momentus tend to have ambitious goals couched behind much more achievable (and marketable) concepts.
Momentus Space’s first goal is to bridge the gap between the low cost of smallsat rideshare missions on large rockets and the convenience of smallsat launches on much smaller rockets by building lightweight, simple, and cheap orbital tugs. The first tug the company wants to field is called Vigoride and will measure approximately 2ft x 2ft (0.4m²) and weigh just 80 kg (175 lb) fully fueled. If launched to a 600 km (370 mi) sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), Vigoride will be able to deliver as much as 220 kg (~500 lb) to a final circular orbit of ~1500 km (930 mi) or place 250 kg (550 lb) of satellites into 10+ separate orbits.
Water plasma rockets (!?)
By far the most innovative and potentially revolutionary aspect of Momentus’ plans is its custom propulsion system of choice: water plasma rockets. In simple terms, Momentus space tugs would quite literally turn water and sunlight into a method of in-space propulsion that can offer both moderate efficiency and relatively high thrust. Using solar arrays, the space tug would charge batteries that would then power an extremely high-power microwave electrothermal thruster (MET).
In the case of Momentus, the exotic form of propulsion uses microwaves to almost instantaneously turn liquid water into plasma, an ionized, electrically-charged gas that can then be directed with a magnetic nozzle to produce thrust. Aside from the decent performance it offers, water-based MET allows a given satellite to completely avoid heavy pressure vessels, doesn’t require extremely high voltages, and uses a fully non-toxic propellant (water).
The fact that pure water is so incredibly benign, non-toxic, and accessible opens up a realm of possibilities. Momentus already has plans to launch Vigorides from the International Space Station, and that could eventually expand into actual in-space reuse in which water-powered satellites might dock with the ISS to load more water and pick up new payloads.
In the case of SpaceX, it appears that the company has inked a more two-way agreement with Momentus, in the sense that prospective customers of SpaceX’s Satellite Rideshare Program might actually be able to arrange for their satellites to be included on Vigoride. Vigoride would then be able to deliver each payload – up to 250 kg worth – to its own orbit, potentially far more convenient than simply being kicked off at a lone orbital bus stop. As Momentus matures its technology and moves from Vigoride to Vigoride Extended and beyond, a partnership with SpaceX’s Satellite Rideshare Program could grow into an almost unbeatable turnkey option for the smallsat industry.
Momentus took its first major step towards building capable and marketable space tugs in July 2019 when the company launched X1, its first orbit-worthy satellite prototype. Although the company has been dead silent as to the actual status of that prototype, even a failure would still serve as an invaluable learning opportunity, even if it would be an inconvenient setback. Vigoride’s first test flight was planned as early as late 2019, although the status of that schedule is uncertain.
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Tesla has stunned by gaining yet another approval for its Full Self-Driving suite in Europe, its second in two days and its fifth overall.
Belgium will be the latest country to allow Tesla owners to utilize FSD on public roads in Europe, joining a quickly growing list that started with the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia.
On Tuesday, Denmark announced its approval of the FSD suite, which has now been followed by Belgium just one day later.
The country’s Minister of Mobility, Annick De Ridder, announced the approval on her X account, stating that she had just signed the approval of Tesla FSD. It now goes to the country’s homologation department for the last step of the approval process.
De @Tesla community houdt hier al geruime tijd de vinger aan de pols over de toelating voor de FSD-technologie op onze Vlaamse en Belgische wegen.
Uit waardering voor jullie niet-aflatende interesse (en aanmoediging 😉), krijgen jullie hierbij de primeur: ik heb net de toelating… pic.twitter.com/Yrps4OHTj8— Annick De Ridder (@AnnickDeRidder) June 10, 2026
The Belgian approval is one of mighty importance because it truly shows how quickly countries in Europe could greenlight the FSD suite consecutively. Approvals are already coming in relatively quickly, which is a great sign.
Perhaps the next big development that could come from FSD approvals in Europe is an approval from a country like England, Italy, France, Spain, or Germany. It would be something to see how FSD would perform in a major European metro, such as London, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Rome, or Berlin.
Getting Full Self-Driving in Spain and England will be such huge milestones for Tesla. I am so excited to see how FSD performs in Madrid, Barcelona, and London, specifically.
The ultimate test will always be Mumbai or New Delhi. Excited for India’s eventual approval! https://t.co/paw9Ch1qmL pic.twitter.com/9RdDERVSSJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 9, 2026
Full Self-Driving does an excellent job of roaming around major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles, but other high-profile international cities of significance would truly mark a line in the sand for Tesla, which can simply enable any vehicle in its customer-owned fleet to run FSD with the correct approvals.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently confronted worries about orbital data centers and launching satellites in mass quantities in space, as some voiced concerns about crowding.
Musk’s SpaceX plans to combat the issue of needing data centers by launching them into space instead of taking up valuable real estate on Earth. It has been a major point of SpaceX’s future, including its looming IPO, which could be the largest ever.
In a recent interview filmed at SpaceX’s Starlink terminal factory in Bastrop, Texas, Elon Musk directly addressed concerns that deploying large numbers of AI satellites for orbital data centers could crowd Earth’s orbit. His message was straightforward and reassuring: space is vast beyond human intuition.
“Space is really big,” Musk said. “It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the Earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” He emphasized that even zooming in makes a satellite appear large, but from a planetary perspective, they are minuscule specks.
Elon on concerns that AI satellites will crowd space:
“Space is really big. It’s not like space is gonna get crowded. Space is enormous. If you actually look at it relative to the earth, the satellites are so tiny you can’t even see them.” https://t.co/Mvr7NpL25Q pic.twitter.com/5Fi629Rii7
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 8, 2026
Musk pointed to SpaceX’s real-world experience operating roughly 10,000 Starlink satellites as evidence that large constellations can be managed safely. “We’ve got a pretty good idea of how to operate just really large constellations and do it safely,” he noted. SpaceX remains the only operator with meaningful experience at this scale, giving the company unique insight into tight orbital packing without compromising safety
The discussion highlighted SpaceX’s plans for “AI1” satellites—essentially orbiting racks of AI compute powered by massive solar arrays and cooled via radiative panels in space’s vacuum.
These satellites leverage proven Starlink V3 technology, making them simpler to design than communications satellites. A first-generation unit targets around 150 kW peak power, with a 70-meter wingspan for solar panels and radiators. Laser links will connect them to each other and the Starlink network, delivering low-latency access (on the order of a few milliseconds from low-Earth orbit).
FCC accepts SpaceX filing for 1 million orbital data center plan
Musk framed orbital data centers as a practical solution to Earth’s constraints on AI growth. Ground-based facilities face power shortages, water demands for cooling, and grid limitations. In space, constant sunlight (no day-night cycle), vacuum radiative cooling, and abundant solar energy offer clear advantages.
Production will ramp up at an expanded “Gigasat” factory in Bastrop, with solar manufacturing already underway and full AI satellite output expected at reasonable volume by the end of 2027. Starship’s rapid, high-volume launch capability, aiming for multiple flights per hour, will make massive deployment feasible.
Critics sometimes raise risks like space debris or Kessler syndrome, but Musk’s response underscores scale: even a million satellites would represent an imperceptible fraction of available orbital volume when viewed against Earth’s size. SpaceX’s automated collision avoidance and deorbiting designs for Starlink further mitigate concerns.
This vision ties into broader ambitions. Musk sees orbital AI compute as a step toward harnessing more of the Sun’s energy, advancing humanity on the Kardashev scale from a Type 0 civilization toward Type 1 and eventually Type 2. By moving power-hungry data centers off-planet, SpaceX aims to unlock orders-of-magnitude more compute while preserving Earth’s resources.
Musk’s comments should ease public anxiety. With proven operational expertise, incremental engineering, and the immensity of space itself, orbital data centers represent not overcrowding, but smart expansion into the final frontier.
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is currently listed as a Level 2 suite in terms of its passenger cars. As its Robotaxi platform continues to move quickly, it has been recognized as a Level 4 ride-sharing program by the State of Texas, as Tesla recently self-certified itself.
However, a Wall Street analyst is arguing that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has effectively achieved Level 4 autonomy in most conditions in all of its vehicles, drawing on personal experience and data released by the company.
Alex Potter of Piper Sandler said in a note to investors on Wednesday that “Tesla has solved the self-driving puzzle,” pointing to decisions to offer insurance discounts for FSD-enabled policies as a signal of confidence, which is backed up by stellar safety records compared to human driving.
Investing.com initially reported on Potter’s new note.
Additionally, Potter looks at the recent start of Cybercab production at Giga Texas as a potential indication that Tesla is ready to offer some level of unsupervised driving at least in the near future. The Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals, completely eliminating the ability for human input.
He also sees Tesla’s allocation of “several hundred million USD (if not $1B+)” as confidence internally, seeing as it would be tough to set aside that amount of capital toward a project that the company does not see as relatively near-term.
Forward thinking, especially as Cybercab has no human controls, it would make sense that Tesla is at least close to self-driving. How close is another question.
Tesla has routinely teased that unsupervised FSD is close, but there are still a lot of things it feels as if the company has to roll out some more capability, including unsupervised parking features, known as “Banish,” better operation with regional self-driving performance, and other improvements.
That is not to say that Tesla FSD is super impressive already. It has already completed coast-to-coast drives across the United States and Canada, it routinely takes the stress out of driving for most people, and it has proven through Tesla Safety Reports that it is safer and involved in accidents less frequently than humans.
🚨 These are the first-ever FSD safety statistics out of the Netherlands, showing it was over 3.5x safer than human driving on Dutch roads.
The most recent numbers out of Tesla for North America show:
-Over 5.5 million miles between accidents for Teslas using FSD
-660k miles… https://t.co/XKlRzgSGEh pic.twitter.com/HX6kzh0ZKc— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 9, 2026
Even Potter believes it is capable, as he used it to go from Missoula, Montana, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, back in April.
“There’s no substitute for personal experience,” he wrote.
Tesla stuns with another FSD approval in Europe, its second in two days
SpaceX’s Elon Musk relieves worries about orbital data centers
