SpaceX is planning to launch a Starlink flight on Thursday and its groundbreaking Polaris Dawn mission on Friday, marking two significant launches on consecutive days this week.
This particular Starlink mission will be the third since SpaceX experienced an anomaly with its latest Falcon 9 landing as the first-stage toppled. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose to ground SpaceX flights temporarily, requiring an investigation.
It then chose to allow SpaceX to continue operating Falcon 9 launches in a statement released late last week, where it said an investigation would continue. However, SpaceX would be able to operate Falcon 9 first stages.
The FAA said in the statement:
“The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during the Starlink Group 8-6 mission remains open, provided all other license requirements are met. SpaceX made the return to flight request on Aug. 29 and the FAA gave approval on Aug. 30.”
Starlink 8-11 Mission Set for Thursday
The Starlink 8-11 mission was set to launch today but was pushed back to Thursday and is set for liftoff at 8:35 a.m. EDT. SpaceX chose to push the launch back due to “unfavorable booster recovery weather conditions in the Atlantic.” The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex pad 40 at Cape Canaveral.
Due to unfavorable booster recovery weather conditions in the Atlantic, the team is resetting Falcon 9’s launch of @Starlink for tomorrow, September 5
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2024
Polaris Dawn Set for Friday
SpaceX is planning to launch the Polaris Dawn mission on Friday. The FAA has a launch window from 3:33 a.m. to 7:38 a.m. on Friday. The crew is in quarantine at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where they will eventually launch from for a five-day mission.
This mission was also pushed back and delayed due to the Falcon 9 landing anomaly.
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Elon Musk
Tesla’s new Robotaxi geofence shape is an FU by Elon Musk to the competition
Maybe it’s all pareidolia. But maybe it’s not. After all, Tesla embraced the first geofence expansion for what it appeared to be.

Tesla expanded its Robotaxi geofence in Austin once again early Sunday morning. The new shape seems to be somewhat of a proverbial, and potentially literal, middle finger to the competition.
If you thought the first expansion was a message to the competition and doubters of the company’s ride-hailing service, you probably will believe the second expansion is an even stronger gesture.
Tesla’s first expansion did not go unnoticed, as its shape was particularly recognizable. The company has always operated with a sense of humor, and it embraced what it did. Some, including me, took it as a message to competitors: We can expand in any direction, in any size, at any time. We’ll prove it.”
They picked a shape and went with it:
Tesla’s Robotaxi expansion wasn’t a joke, it was a warning to competitors
It is evident that Tesla is keeping its humor up to continue to show a few things. The first is that it really can expand in any direction it wants and that’s how it is choosing to show it.
The second, well, maybe it’s an edgier way to show doubters that it is really executing on Robotaxi:
Tesla has expanded the Austin RoboTaxi network.
Looks like a giant middle finger.
Giant F U to the competition? 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/tcaIxdQk10
— Farzad (@farzyness) August 3, 2025
all I see is Tesla giving the middle finger pic.twitter.com/P4otjxSCQm
— Daniel Harding (@ArchamusDK) August 3, 2025
Maybe it’s all pareidolia. But maybe it’s not. After all, Tesla embraced the first geofence expansion for what it appeared to be. This might be a similar occurrence, and it might be sending another message to the competition, critics, and doubters.
The expansion was a near-doubling of the geofence Tesla offered previously. After the initial geofence covered just about 20 square miles, Tesla was able to more than double it to 42 square miles with the first growth. This new geofence shape was just under double, and is about 80 square miles.
Tesla’s rapid expansion has impressed many, especially considering the service area has roughly doubled for the second time in well under two months. The Robotaxi service was first offered on June 22.
Elon Musk
Tesla executes ‘a must’ with Musk as race to AI supremacy goes on: Wedbush
Dan Ives of Wedbush says Tesla made the right move getting Elon Musk his pay package.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) executed what Wedbush’s Dan Ives called “a must” this morning as it finalized a new pay package for its CEO Elon Musk.
The move helped give Musk his first meaningful compensation at Tesla since 2017, when the company offered a pay package that was based on performance and proven growth. That package was approved by shareholders on two separate occasions, but was denied to Musk both times by the Delaware Chancery Court.
On Monday, Tesla announced on X that it had created a new package that would give 96 million shares of restricted stock to Musk to compensate him for the “immense value generated for Tesla and all our shareholders.”
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla has announced that its Board has unanimously approved a recommendation from the Special Committee of the Board to grant Elon an award of restricted stock equal to approximately one-third of the compensation he earned under the 2018 CEO Performance Award.
The… https://t.co/g7RKrTymDL pic.twitter.com/dnvkILlz6H
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 4, 2025
The details of the pay package are designed to retain Musk, who has voiced some concerns about his control of Tesla, as “activist shareholders” have used lawsuits to disrupt the previously approved package.
You can read all the details of it here:
Tesla rewards CEO Elon Musk with massive, restricted stock package
Ives says Musk’s retention is ‘a must’
Ives said in a note to investors on Monday that with the raging AI talent war that Tesla made a smart move by doing what it could to retain Musk.
He wrote:
“With the AI talent war now fully underway across Big Tech, we believe this was a strategic move to keep TSLA’s top asset, Musk, would stay focused at the company with his priority being to bolster the company’s growth strategy over the coming years. With this interim award increasing Musk’s voting rights upon this grant, which Musk honed in on and mentioned was increasingly important to incentivize him to stay focused on the matters at hand, this was a strategic move by the Board to solidify Musk as CEO of Tesla over the coming years with this framework for Musk’s pay package and greater voting control removing a major overhang on the story.”
He went on to say:
“While the groundwork is now in place for the next few years, it will be critical for the Tesla Board of Directors to get this long-term compensation strategy in place prior to the company’s November 6th shareholder meeting which would address the elephant in the room and remove a significant overhang on the stock.”
Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and its $500 price target on the stock.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals ideal timeline for insane self-driving feature
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has extremely optimistic expectations for Full Self-Driving progress by the end of 2025.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed his ideal timeline for what would likely be the most insane self-driving feature: the ability for drivers to play video games at the wheel.
There are a handful of videos out there of drivers already performing this task. Nobody using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite should perform these activities, as the company maintains the system is not fully autonomous.
Drivers are responsible for the vehicle and should be prepared to take over.
Tesla has put a lot of faith in its development of Full Self-Driving and has made tremendous strides over the past few years. Capabilities have gotten more refined and accurate through various methods, including data collection and hardware improvements.
Tesla kicks Robotaxi geofence expansion into high gear in Austin
It has gotten so good that Tesla launched a Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, on June 22. Passengers can hop in the back of a Model Y and will be transported around the city in a confined geofence that is about 90 square miles in size. There is nobody in the driver’s seat, but there is a Safety Monitor in the passenger’s seat.
Tesla launched a similar experience in California’s Bay Area last week, but the company has placed the Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat for that region for the time being.
Eventually, Tesla will get to a point where no monitor is needed, and the vehicles will be able to drive themselves. Many believe that it is a few years away, but Musk believes Tesla could achieve it very soon.
After a video of someone playing Grand Theft Auto in their Cybertruck while operating Full Self-Driving was shared on the social media platform X, Musk said this capability would be available in “probably 3 to 6 months, depending on regulatory approval in your city and state.”
Probably 3 to 6 months, depending on regulatory approval in your city and state
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2025
It is important to remember that Musk has been very optimistic regarding autonomy timelines with Tesla projects. We heard for many years that the company would have self-driving vehicles “by the end of the year,” and those projects did not come to fruition.
While there was progress, there were no fully autonomous vehicles or software versions for customers.
With that being said, Tesla has made tremendous strides in its quest for autonomous vehicles this year, and launching a Robotaxi platform was a huge step in the right direction.
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