News
SpaceX high-altitude Starship debut go for a second launch attempt
Update (Dec 9th): All signs point to a second attempt at SpaceX’s high-altitude Starship launch debut sometime near the end of today’s window, likely no earlier than 3:30-4 pm CST (UTC-6).
Amazingly, the actual pilot of the NASA WB-57 reconnaissance aircraft tasked with capturing aerial photos and videos of Starship SN8’s first flight is on Twitter and confirmed that the aircraft had been just a few minutes from takeoff before SpaceX chose to delay the launch for a few more hours. Thankfully, as of 2 pm CST, ground equipment activity at the pad is rapidly picking up – a good sign that SN8 launch preparations are well underway.
Stay tuned for SpaceX’s official Starship SN8 launch livestream around five minutes before liftoff and tune into NASASpaceflight.com’s excellent coverage below to keep up to date on launch proceedings.
Update: Starship serial number 8 (SN8) aborted its high-altitude launch debut at the last second, ending today’s attempt for SpaceX.
Depending on why one or several of the steel rocket’s three advanced Raptor engines aborted their ignition, SpaceX has backup launch windows and airspace closures from 8am to 5pm CST (UTC-6) on December 9th and 10th. Stay tuned for updates on the cause of the abort and whether Starship SN8 can be prepared for another attempt less than a day from now.
In a last-minute surprise, SpaceX appears to have secured NASA support for Starship SN8’s first flight in the form of a space agency reconnaissance jet often used to capture aerial photos and videos of spaceflight events.
Primarily intended to capture those views for developmental, data-gathering purposes, NASA WB-57 jets have recently been used to milestones like SpaceX’s explosive Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort test and Demo-2 astronaut launch/reentry debut. Likely made possible by a $135 million Starship Moon lander development contract awarded by NASA in April, the space agency has positioned itself to benefit from SpaceX’s success and leverage the company’s extensive internal investments.
Aside from exemplifying NASA’s new and promising relationship with SpaceX’s Starship development program, the use of space agency surveillance assets also serves as a convenient barometer to judge Starship SN8’s launch timing with.
As of publishing (1:30 pm EST, UTC-5), NASA’s WB-57 jet is scheduled to take off from Houston’s Ellington Airport at 2:12 pm CST, arriving ‘on station’ in the vicinity of SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas launch pad around 3:10 pm. With NASA assets now in play, Starship SN8 is unlikely to lift off before the jet is in place, meaning that the rocket’s 12.5 km (~7.8 mi) launch debut is now scheduled sometime between ~3:15 pm and 5 pm CST (UTC-6).
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently reiterated his prediction that Starship SN8 has a ~33% chance of successfully launching, reaching an apogee of ~12.5 km, free-falling belly-first most of the way back to earth, performing a radical flip maneuver, and landing intact. With Starship SN9 – effectively a refined clone of SN8 – practically complete and ready to roll to the launch pad, SpaceX’s hardware-rich development program means that almost any SN8 outcome at all will produce valuable data.
For a program like Starship, the success of any early prototype is better judged on the quantity and quality of data gathered and lessons learned than on the survival of hardware. Even so, SpaceX is clearly working to give Starship SN8 the best possible shot at survival and a successful landing would be a truly spectacular outcome. Stay tuned for updates as we track towards SN8’s first flight!
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.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
