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NASA chooses SpaceX to launch a self-propelled space station to the Moon
Days after SpaceX won a NASA contract to launch a galaxy-mapping space telescope, the space agency has selected Falcon Heavy to launch a small space station to the Moon some four years from now.
Loosely known as Gateway, NASA and a few of its ‘centers’ have been floating the concept for years – partially on its merits as a potential platform to dip toes into crewed deep spaceflight and explore the Moon but mostly as a way to give the bloated Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft a destination for destination’s sake. Weighed down by an extremely inefficient European Service Module (ESM), NASA couldn’t use Orion to replicate its famous Apollo Moon missions if it wanted to.
Lacking the necessary performance to safely place Orion and its astronauts into the Low Lunar Orbit (LLO) optimal for a new round of crewed Moon landings, Orion/ESM on its own is limited to higher, more exotic lunar orbits with less immediate value. As a result, NASA’s Lunar Gateway will be delivered to a “near-rectilinear halo orbit” (NRHO) where it will orbit the Moon’s poles at altitudes between 3,000 and 70,000 kilometers (1,900-43,000 mi).
Bureaucratic machinations and sunk-cost fallacies aside, any space station orbiting the Moon would be an impressive technical feat and an undoubtedly exciting venture. NASA says SpaceX’s combined Power and Propulsion Element and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (PPE/HALO) Falcon Heavy launch contract will ultimately cost approximately $332 million, although that figure includes vague “other mission-related costs” that could have nothing to do with SpaceX and be separate from the company’s actual launch services.
Less than a year ago, NASA awarded SpaceX $117 million to launch Psyche – a scientific spacecraft with an overall cost similar to PPE/HALO – on Falcon Heavy.
Possibly contributing to the unusually high cost is the fact that Falcon Heavy will need a stretched payload SpaceX is already working on for the US military to launch the massive PPE/HALO stack, which will stand around 15 meters (50 ft) tall and weigh ~14 metric tons (~31,000 lb) when combined. While heavy, that payload mass is somewhat mundane for SpaceX, which has launched 17 16-metric-ton batches of Starlink satellites since November 2019.
What isn’t mundane for SpaceX is launching such a large payload beyond Starlink’s low Earth orbit (LEO) destination. According to a virtual presentation recently given by a Northrop Grumman HALO engineer, PPE/HALO will be delivered to an elliptical orbit similar but lower than the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO; ~250 km by ~36,000 km) traditional for commercial communications satellites.
That low target orbit thankfully means that PPE/HALO wont be SpaceX’s first fully expendable Falcon Heavy launch. Depending on how far below GTO NASA is willing to accept, SpaceX could potentially launch PPE/HALO and attempt to land all three first boosters at sea, a configuration that leaves enough performance to send 10 metric tons to GTO. If SpaceX proposed Falcon Heavy with an expendable center core, the rocket could feasibly launch PPE/HALO beyond GTO, cutting the amount of time it would take for PPE to slowly spiral out to the Moon with its electric thrusters.
NASA says the launch is scheduled no earlier than (NET) May 2024 – decidedly optimistic given that the space agency has yet to even award HALO’s production contract.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s net worth is nearing $800 billion, and it’s no small part due to xAI
A newly confirmed $20 billion xAI funding round valued the business at $250 billion, adding an estimated $62 billion to Musk’s fortune.
Elon Musk moved within reach of an unprecedented $800 billion net worth after private investors sharply increased the valuation of xAI Holdings, his artificial intelligence and social media company.
A newly confirmed $20 billion funding round valued the business at $250 billion, adding an estimated $62 billion to Musk’s fortune and widening his lead as the world’s wealthiest individual.
xAI’s valuation jump
Forbes confirmed that xAI Holdings was valued at $250 billion following its $20 billion funding round. That’s more than double the $113 billion valuation Musk cited when he merged his AI startup xAI with social media platform X last year. Musk owned roughly 49% of the combined company, which Forbes estimated was worth about $122 billion after the deal closed.
xAI’s recent valuation increase pushed Musk’s total net worth to approximately $780 billion, as per Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List. The jump represented one of the single largest wealth gains ever recorded in a private funding round.
Interestingly enough, xAI’s funding round also boosted the AI startup’s other billionaire investors. Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud held an estimated 1.6% stake in xAI worth about $4 billion, so the recent funding round boosted his net worth to $19.4 billion. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison each owned roughly 0.8% stakes that are now valued at about $2.1 billion, increasing their net worths to $6 billion and $241 billion, respectively.
The backbone of Musk’s net worth
Despite xAI’s rapid rise, Musk’s net worth is still primarily anchored by SpaceX and Tesla. SpaceX represents Musk’s single most valuable asset, with his 42% stake in the private space company estimated at roughly $336 billion.
Tesla ranks second among Musk’s holdings, as he owns about 12% of the EV maker’s common stock, which is worth approximately $307 billion.
Over the past year, Musk crossed a series of historic milestones, becoming the first person ever worth $500 billion, $600 billion, and $700 billion. He also widened his lead over the world’s second-richest individual, Larry Page, by more than $500 billion.
News
Tesla Cybercab sighting confirms one highly requested feature
The feature will likely allow the Cybercab to continue operating even in conditions when its cameras could be covered with dust, mud, or road grime.
A recent sighting of Tesla’s Cybercab prototype in Chicago appears to confirm a long-requested feature for the autonomous two-seater.
The feature will likely allow the Cybercab to continue operating even in conditions when its cameras could be covered with dust, mud, or road grime.
The Cybercab’s camera washer
The Cybercab prototype in question was sighted in Chicago, and its image was shared widely on social media. While the autonomous two-seater itself was visibly dirty, its rear camera area stood out as noticeably cleaner than the rest of the car. Traces of water were also visible on the trunk. This suggested that the Cybercab is equipped with a rear camera washer.
As noted by Model Y owner and industry watcher Sawyer Merritt, a rear camera washer is a feature many Tesla owners have requested for years, particularly in snowy or wet regions where camera obstruction can affect visibility and the performance of systems like Full Self-Driving (FSD).
While only the rear camera washer was clearly visible, the sighting raises the possibility that Tesla may equip the Cybercab’s other external cameras with similar cleaning systems. Given the vehicle’s fully autonomous design, redundant visibility safeguards would be a logical inclusion.
The Cybercab in Tesla’s autonomous world
The Cybercab is Tesla’s first purpose-built autonomous ride-hailing vehicle, and it is expected to enter production later this year. The vehicle was unveiled in October 2024 at the “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles, and it is expected to be a major growth driver for Tesla as it continues its transition toward an AI- and robotics-focused company. The Cybercab will not include a steering wheel or pedals and is intended to carry one or two passengers per trip, a decision Tesla says reflects real-world ride-hailing usage data.
The Cybercab is also expected to feature in-vehicle entertainment through its center touchscreen, wireless charging, and other rider-focused amenities. Musk has also hinted that the vehicle includes far more innovation than is immediately apparent, stating on X that “there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface.”
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Tesla seen as early winner as Canada reopens door to China-made EVs
Tesla had already prepared for Chinese exports to Canada in 2023 by equipping its Shanghai Gigafactory to produce a Canada-specific version of the Model Y.
Tesla seems poised to be an early beneficiary of Canada’s decision to reopen imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, following the removal of a 100% tariff that halted shipments last year.
Thanks to Giga Shanghai’s capability to produce Canadian-spec vehicles, it might only be a matter of time before Tesla is able to export vehicles to Canada from China once more.
Under the new U.S.–Canada trade agreement, Canada will allow up to 49,000 vehicles per year to be imported from China at a 6.1% tariff, with the quota potentially rising to 70,000 units within five years, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Half of the initial quota is reserved for vehicles priced under CAD 35,000, a threshold above current Tesla models, though the electric vehicle maker could still benefit from the rule change, as noted in a Reuters report.
Tesla had already prepared for Chinese exports to Canada in 2023 by equipping its Shanghai Gigafactory to produce a Canada-specific version of the Model Y. That year, Tesla began shipping vehicles from Shanghai to Canada, contributing to a sharp 460% year-over-year increase in China-built vehicle imports through Vancouver.
When Ottawa imposed a 100% tariff in 2024, however, Tesla halted those shipments and shifted Canadian supply to its U.S. and Berlin factories. With tariffs now reduced, Tesla could quickly resume China-to-Canada exports.
Beyond manufacturing flexibility, Tesla could also benefit from its established retail presence in Canada. The automaker operates 39 stores across Canada, while Chinese brands like BYD and Nio have yet to enter the Canadian market directly. Tesla’s relatively small lineup, which is comprised of four core models plus the Cybertruck, allows it to move faster on marketing and logistics than competitors with broader portfolios.
Elon Musk’s net worth is nearing $800 billion, and it’s no small part due to xAI
Tesla Cybercab sighting confirms one highly requested feature
