Connect with us

News

SpaceX set to launch six commercial Moon landers after latest win

SpaceX now has contracts for no less than six Moon lander launches in 2022 and 2023. (ispace/Astrobotic/Masten Space/Intuitive Machines)

Published

on

After securing yet another contract, SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are now scheduled to launch at least six commercial Moon landers over the next two and a half years.

On May 20th, rocket startup Firefly Aerospace announced that it had selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch its first Blue Ghost Moon lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. While Firefly is preparing to launch its own Alpha rocket for the first time later this year, a rocket that is technically capable of launching Blue Ghost with the help of an electric ‘space tug,’ the company is apparently prioritizing maximum payload delivery and on-time performance.

As a result, Firefly has contracted with a direct competitor to launch its first Moon lander, becoming the sixth company to select SpaceX’s Falcon rockets for that purpose.

Thanks to Firefly’s decision to use Falcon 9 instead of Alpha, the first Blue Ghost spacecraft should be able to deliver up to 150 kg (330 lb) of NASA payloads to the lunar surface – three times more than Alpha would allow. That makes Firefly the sixth Moon-bound company to be won over by the unique combination of affordability and performance offered by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The first of those missions – Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft – already flew in early 2020 as part of a unique rideshare with a commercial geostationary communications satellite. Unfortunately, the lander suffered an avionics failure just a few minutes before touchdown, causing Beresheet to impact the Moon far too quickly. While it’s no longer clear if that’s still the case, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander may borrow significantly from Beresheet and the lessons Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) learned from the mission’s successes and failures. At the same time, IAI is also working on its own follow-up Moon lander mission.

Advertisement

As part of NASA’s CLPS program, SpaceX has won launch contracts for five of the six landers announced, one of which went to ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. One of those six landers wound up canceling their contract due to corporate issues, leaving SpaceX with four of five CLPS launch contracts. The company is currently on track to launch two Intuitive Machines Nova-C landers on Falcon 9 rockets in Q1 and Q4 2022, Masten Space System’s XL-1 lander in 2022, Firefly’s first Blue Ghost lander on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2023, and Astrobotics first large Griffin lander – carrying NASA’s VIPER Moon rover – on a Falcon Heavy rocket in Q4 2023.

Outside of NASA, Japanese startup ispace has selected SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets to launch its first two commercial Hakuto-R Moon landers, beginning as early as Q4 2022. All told, SpaceX has contracts to launch at least six Moon landers in 2022 and 2023.

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla begins deliveries of its affordable Model Y Standard

The ‘Standard’ Model Y is now getting ready to fall into customer hands, according to some owners, who are preparing for or have already taken delivery of the new model.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially started deliveries of the affordable Model Y ‘Standard’ less than three weeks after the company launched it on October 8.

Following the loss of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, Tesla launched the Model 3 and Model Y ‘Standard’ trims, both coming in at sub-$40,000 starting prices, but being stripped of many of the features that come in the ‘Premium’ configuration levels.

Tesla launches two new affordable models with ‘Standard’ Model 3, Y offerings

The vehicles are Tesla’s answer to the loss of the tax credit, which was phased out by the Trump Administration. Tesla said it has been developing these models for over a year, as it revealed in early 2024 that it was working to create new vehicles that would be more affordable.

It also said it was developing vehicles to be built on a new-generation platform, which is a likely reference to the Cybercab, which has also been spotted at both Gigafactory Texas and the Fremont Factory.

The ‘Standard’ Model Y is now getting ready to fall into customer hands, according to some owners, who are preparing for or have already taken delivery of the new model:

Tesla slated deliveries for November when the two vehicles launched on October 8, but that seems to be an underpromise and overdeliver type of situation.

The new features for the Model Y include:

  • New athletically tuned exterior and new alloy wheels to improve aerodynamics
  • 15.4″ touchscreen in the front, the same as the other trims
  • Available in three colors: Stealth Grey (free), White ($1,oo0 extra), Diamond Black ($1,500 extra)
  • Textile and vegan leather interior
  • Range sits at 321 miles
  • New front fascia
  • Covered glass roof (textile on inside)
  • Windows are not acoustically laminated for a quieter cabin
  • Manual mirrors and seats
  • Smaller frunk
  • No rear infotainment screen
  • No basic Autopilot
  • 69 kWh battery
  • New 19″ Aperture wheels
  • 0-60 MPH in 6.8 seconds
  • 7 speaker stereo, down from 15 speakers in premium models
@teslarati 🚨 Tesla’s Affordable Models are here! Let’s talk about them! #tesla #fyp #viral #teslaev #elonmusk ♬ Natural Emotions – Muspace Lofi

 

Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

Tesla analyst says this common earnings narrative is losing importance

“Numbers are going down next year, but that’s ok because it’s all about autonomy.”

Published

on

(Credit: Tesla)

A Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) analyst is doubling down on the idea that one common earnings narrative is losing importance as the company continues to work toward new technologies and projects.

This week, Tesla will report earnings for the third quarter, and one thing people always pay attention to is deliveries. Although Tesla reveals its deliveries for the quarter well before it reports earnings, many investors will look for commentary regarding the company’s strategy for responding to the loss of the $7,500 tax credit.

Tesla has made a few moves already, including a lease deal that takes a substantial amount of money off, launching new Standard models, and cutting up to 23 percent off of lease pricing.

Tesla makes crazy move to spur short-term demand in the U.S.

However, analysts are looking at the company in a different light.

Aligning with the narrative that Tesla is not just a car company and has many different projects, Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management believes many investors need to look at another part of the business.

Munster said the delivery figures for Q3, which landed at 497,099, the highest in company history, were padded by customers rushing to showrooms to take advantage of the expiring tax credit.

He believes that deliveries will be more realistic in subsequent quarters, but investors should not worry because the focus on Tesla is not going to be on how many cars it hands over to customers:

“Numbers are going down next year, but that’s ok because it’s all about autonomy.”

Tesla has been working nonstop to roll out a dedicated Robotaxi platform in various cities across the United States, and has already launched in two states: Texas and California.

It has also received regulatory approvals to test driverless Robotaxis in Arizona and Nevada, while seeking permissions in Florida and other states, according to the company’s online job postings.

Munster continued:

“Most people are hyper-focused on the Robotaxi opportunity and not focused as much on FSD.”

While Robotaxi is incredibly important, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite is also extremely crucial moving forward, as it sets the stage for the company to roll out a formidable self-driving service.

Tesla rolled out its newest FSD software to more owners last night, and as it expands, the company is gaining valuable data to refine its performance.

Earnings will be reported tomorrow at market close.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla rolled out a new feature with FSD v14 to fix a major complaint

One of the most crucial cameras for FSD operation is located at the top of the windshield, and some owners have complained about condensation or other debris accumulating here, which impacts FSD’s availability during drives.

Published

on

Credit: The Kilowatts | X

Tesla rolled out a new feature with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.1.3 in an effort to fix a major complaint from owners.

Tesla’s approach to self-driving is significantly different than other companies as it only relies on cameras for operation. Tesla Vision was launched several years ago and completely axed any reliance the suite had on sensors, as CEO Elon Musk’s strategy was unorthodox and went against the grain.

However, it has proven to be effective, as Tesla still operates the most refined semi-autonomous driving suite in the United States.

There are some drawbacks, though, and one of them has to do with the obvious: cameras get dirty and need to be cleaned somewhat regularly.

One of the most crucial cameras for FSD operation is located at the top of the windshield, and some owners have complained about condensation or other debris accumulating here, which impacts FSD’s availability during drives:

Tesla has been working to confront this issue, and in classic fashion, it used a software update to work on resolving it.

With the rollout of Full Self-Driving v14.1.3 and Software Version 2025.32.8.15, Tesla added a new feature that aims to clean the front camera efficiently without relying on the owner to do it manually.

Tesla Full Self-Driving’s new version officially gets a wider rollout

In its release notes for the suite, it said:

“Added automatic narrow field washing to provide rapid and efficient front camera self-cleaning, and optimize aerodynamics wash at higher vehicle speed.”

If the camera starts to have some issues with visibility, the car will automatically clean the front windshield camera to avoid any issues:

This new addition is a small but mighty change considering all things. It is a necessary process to keep things operational and avoid any disruptions in FSD performance. It is also a testament to how much better Tesla vehicles can get with a simple software update.

Continue Reading

Trending