News
SpaceX readies for upcoming February launches
Although no major announcements from SpaceX regarding its upcoming February 14th and February 28th missions have been released, small details about the company’s progress have been picked up through social media and press inquiries as SpaceX fans count down to the next launches.
Under Construction: Launch Pads
First up is the construction status of historic Launch Complex 39A, the pad that SpaceX has been renovating from its Apollo-era days. Upon completion, this pad will host the Falcon Heavy vehicle once development has completed along with all upcoming Falcon 9 Florida launches until other pads currently under construction become available. Some of the pad progress being made in preparation for launch has been tracked by fans and shared on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQHUvzjFLz8/
Next are the reconstruction plans for Launch Complex 40 to repair the damage caused from the September 1, 2016 launch pad fire. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell confirmed in a recent Reuters article that this pad will be repaired for Falcon 9 use rather than refitted for Falcon Heavy. Shotwell quoted a $100 million dollar price tag to make a complete switch, an amount not justified given the 50% less cost estimate to only repair the damaged pad.
Countdown to Launch: NASA
Other than rescheduling the mission ahead of the EchoStar 23 launch, SpaceX’s upcoming February 14, 2017 CRS-10 launch to the International Space Station (ISS) has not had any major updates (or rescheduling) published. The pre-launch static fire is tentatively scheduled for February 8th, and this will be the first SpaceX rocket to launch from pad 39A.
Also, at KSC, the Falcon 9 S1 for CRS-10 is hoping to Static Fire on Feb 8 (NET), pending completion of 39A work. https://t.co/sJzLf6XZyM
— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) February 1, 2017
As an interesting note for fans, however, NASA included this launch in its NASA Social program wherein 50 social media communicators were selected to attend a two-day behind the scenes event. Per NASA’s web site, selected participants will have the opportunity to:
- View the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
- Tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center
- Speak with representatives from NASA
- View and take photographs of the Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX’s Launch Complex 39A
- Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
- Meet members of NASA’s social media team
NASA opens events up to social media participants regularly, and past events have included other launches, the arrival of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, and behind the scenes opportunities during major discussion panels and announcements.
A Twitter search for tweets containing the @NASASocial handle will reveal several of the winners who chose to announce their acceptance into the February 14th SpaceX launch event. The hashtags #NASASocial and #Dragon will also be used.
Countdown to Launch: EchoStar 23
The February 28, 2017 launch of EchoStar 23 will attempt to set a spaceflight record by launching with the first recovered and refurbished rocket core. As previously reported, the recovered core being used will aim to make history twice, one being the first core landed on an autonomous droneship off the coast of Florida, and the other being the first recovered rocket core to be re-flown.
SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, Texas has been busy testing the first stage core for re-use in the EchoStar 23 mission. Residents near the location who are active on unofficial SpaceX social media outlets aren’t shy to tell all about the tests as they hear them. Some residents even provide regular reports of the activity, including the number and length of the fires, and further speculate what else the company is up to.
SpaceX took to social media itself regarding these tests and published a photo of one on its Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP8zK2DFxhq/?taken-by=spacex
No News is Good News
As the dates move closer, the scheduling for the upcoming launches will likely adjust as many factors affecting them are still in the air. Weather is always a question, and the status of launch pad 39A is still unknown.
Despite the numerous, multi-front approach SpaceX is tackling to meet all of its launch and construction objectives, the company is still confident it will be able to meet its fast-paced launch schedule over the next year.
News
Starlink launches Communities Program for passive income through internet sharing
Starlink is launching a new beta path for ordinary property owners and local operators to turn a single Starlink kit into a small shared-access business for passive income.
Under the Starlink for Communities program, a host installs one dish and router setup in a location with nearby demand: an apartment complex, campground, rural crossroads, or event site. Neighbors or local users can buy short-term passes rather than full individual subscriptions, giving the Starlink provider a potential path to passive income.
Hour, day, and week passes cover one device. A month pass covers up to four. Starlink handles account creation, payments, access controls, and the satellite link itself. The host’s role is mainly placement, power, and basic upkeep, with earnings tied to each paid connection.
Big news! SpaceX is introducing a new @Starlink for Communities program that lets you earn money by providing Starlink internet to your neighbors or people nearby, who can pay for access by the hour, day, week, or month.
Neighbors pay for the access they need, while the person… pic.twitter.com/DtOUs0Ekvt
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 1, 2026
The model echoes the passive-income vision long attached to Tesla’s Robotaxi plans, and it seems like it’s something Musk has hinted toward in the past as he believes AI will make the need to work relatively optional. In both cases, the platform owns the hard parts of matching, billing, and network management, while an individual supplies a physical asset that sits idle much of the time.
A Starlink host’s dish can serve multiple nearby users without each household buying and installing its own terminal. A Tesla owner, under the stated Robotaxi concept, would leave a vehicle enrolled in the fleet during unused hours so the car generates rides while the owner is at work or asleep.
Both arrangements convert under-utilized hardware into a revenue stream. They also let the company scale coverage or capacity without owning every endpoint.
Differences are practical. A Starlink kit is a fixed, relatively low-cost terminal whose main constraint is local congestion and line-of-sight. A Tesla Robotaxi is a mobile, high-value vehicle whose earnings depend on demand density, utilization rates, insurance, cleaning, and charging.
Starlink’s program is already accepting host applications in multiple countries and describes the revenue split as ongoing. Tesla’s owner-network version remains more aspirational.
The company currently operates a limited company-controlled robotaxi service in select areas and has solicited interest from fleet buyers for Cybercab vehicles, while private Full Self-Driving owners have not yet been able to dispatch their own cars for paid rides at scale.
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Starlink is a satellite broadband service operated by SpaceX that uses a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites to deliver internet to locations where terrestrial broadband is slow, expensive, or absent. It has grown to millions of subscribers worldwide by selling direct residential, mobile, and enterprise terminals, and have become widely available at a wide array at retail locations like Target and Best Buy.
The Communities program extends that reach by letting hosts resell short bursts of capacity to people nearby, while also providing high-speed internet access to those who are simply around a Starlink user.
News
Tesla just made its headlights even better through a software update
Tesla just upgraded its headlights through a software update, making them even better without any physical or hardware upgrade.
Tesla’s latest software update is quietly improving nighttime driving for a small number of owners. Version 2026.38 includes a new capability called Dynamic Headlight Leveling.
The feature automatically adjusts the aim of the low beams in response to driving conditions and nearby traffic, with the goal of giving the driver more usable light on the road while reducing glare for oncoming vehicles and traffic ahead.
2026.38 just dropped.
Model 3 gets Dynamic Headlight Leveling — low beams auto-aim around traffic for max visibility, less glare. Model 3 / Y (AMD HW3) also pick up sharper Tesla visuals + an enhanced park scene on the center display.
Legacy Intel cars get Supercharger Site… pic.twitter.com/45ac4AH6Vs
— Frunk To Trunk (@FrunkToTrunk) September 30, 2026
Unlike Tesla’s matrix high-beam system, which selectively dims individual LED segments to create shadows around other cars, Dynamic Headlight Leveling physically tilts the low-beam projectors. Internal motors respond to changes in vehicle pitch.
When the car accelerates hard, climbs a steep grade, or carries extra weight in the rear, the headlights can otherwise point higher than intended. The software counters that movement in real time so the beam stays aimed at the road surface rather than into the eyes of other drivers.
Early indications reveal the update is reaching a limited set of vehicles, including certain Model 3 and Cybertruck examples in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The rollout does not appear tied to a single hardware revision, and Tesla has not published a broader schedule. It is simply a common waiting game until your car receives it.
The change arrives against a backdrop of wider complaints about headlight glare. Some earlier Model 3 and Model Y vehicles were the subject of an NHTSA recall related to excessive low-beam glare; the software adjustment offers a potential mitigation for cars equipped with the necessary leveling hardware. It does not replace adaptive high beams where those are already available, nor does it alter the basic low-beam pattern itself.
Instead, it keeps an existing beam pointed where it is most useful.
For drivers who have received the update, the system requires no new settings or user input. The headlights simply respond as road conditions and traffic change. As the feature reaches more vehicles, it adds another example of Tesla using over-the-air software to refine existing hardware rather than waiting for a new model year. Nighttime visibility and reduced glare for others are the practical results owners are expected to notice first.
Lifestyle
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.
Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.
Halloween is coming pic.twitter.com/lM3ASUeOqX
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 1, 2026
The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.
Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents
Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.
On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a Halloween Mode.