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SpaceX ships head to sea for fifth upgraded GPS satellite launch [webcast]
Two SpaceX ships have headed to sea to recover parts of Falcon 9 after the rocket’s fifth upgraded GPS III satellite launch for the US military.
On Tuesday, SpaceX confirmed that Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch GPS III Space Vehicle 06 (SV06) no earlier than (NET) 7:10 am EST (12:10 UTC) on Wednesday, January 18th. Built by Lockheed Martin for an average of $610 million each [PDF], the payload is the sixth of ten upgraded GPS III satellites and weighs around 4.35 tons (~9600 lb). Its eventual destination is a circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) around 20,200 kilometers (12,550 mi) above Earth’s surface, where it will join dozens of other GPS satellites.
If past trends continue, SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket will be tasked with launching GPS III SV06 to a transfer orbit measuring around 400 kilometers by 20,200 kilometers. The satellite will then use its own propulsion system and propellant to raise its perigee and enter a circular, operational orbit.

The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
SpaceX will then attempt to recover Falcon 9’s reusable booster on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG), which will be stationed about 640 kilometers (~400 mi) northeast of the company’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station LC-40 launch pad. ASOG was towed to sea on Friday, January 13th. Used once before to launch four astronauts on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission, Falcon 9 B1077 will reportedly launch GPS III SV06, becoming the second flight-proven rocket to launch a GPS III satellite.
770 kilometers (~460 mi) downrange, recovery ship Doug – which left port on January 15th – will try to fish Falcon 9’s GPS III SV06 payload fairing halves out of the ocean for reuse. Fairing recovery and reuse have quietly become almost as reliable and routine as Falcon booster recovery. SpaceX is still the only company or group to successfully reuse an orbital-class rocket’s fairing.
GPS III SV06 will be SpaceX’s fifth upgraded GPS satellite launch since December 2018. The mission is part of a block of four contracts that represent a minor revolution in US military launch procurement. During SpaceX’s first GPS III launch, the company was forced to expend an entire Falcon 9 rocket – likely out of an abundance of caution and at the request of the US Air Force. For its three subsequent GPS III launches, SpaceX was able to recover each Falcon 9 booster while still launching the payload to the same orbit as the first expendable mission.

Soon after that first success, SpaceX won a contract worth $290.5 million for three more GPS III launches. At some point, the US military reassessed the situation and decided that SpaceX’s reusable Falcon boosters were becoming reliable enough to safely launch military payloads. The Space Force ultimately renegotiated its contract with SpaceX to allow the company to launch GPS III SV05 and SV06 on reused Falcon 9 boosters, reducing the total cost to the taxpayer to $226.5 million.
After GPS III SV06, the Space Force only has one GPS III launch contract left – using a ULA Vulcan rocket that has yet to fly. The three remaining GPS III satellites still need launch contracts, and the first tranche of ten GPS III satellites will be followed by up to 22 GPS IIIF Follow On satellites that will also need launches. Given the company’s track record and lower prices, SpaceX will likely be tasked with launching a large portion of those future satellites throughout the 2020s and into the 2030s.
Tune in below around 6:55 am EST (11:55 UTC) to watch SpaceX’s fifth GPS III launch live.
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.

The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable.
As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality.
“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.
When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.
After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”
“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.
Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.
During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.
As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.
News
Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.
Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.
While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing.
“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely.
“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said.
The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.
Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”
Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker.
“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all.
“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said.