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SpaceX set to deploy another large batch of internet satellites as Starlink constellation expands

SpaceX has officially announced its third dedicated Starlink launch in four weeks. (SpaceX)

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For the third time in less than four weeks, SpaceX has announced a new 60-satellite Starlink mission, making it the second Starlink launch scheduled in the first month of the new year.

This mission will be the company’s fifth dedicated Starlink launch, referring to the fact that SpaceX is using all of the performance of Falcon 9 for its own internal purposes. Comprised of 60 flat-packed satellites, SpaceX completed its first dedicated Starlink launch – known as Starlink v0.9 – in May 2019, followed by the first launch of 60 finalized “Starlink v1.0” satellites on November 11th, a mission known as Starlink-1.

Barring delays, the next Starlink v1.0 launch – Starlink-2 – will be SpaceX’s 14th and final launch of the year and is scheduled to lift off no earlier than 11:40 pm ET, December 30th (03:40 UTC, Dec 31), a mission the company announced on November 24th. Barely two weeks later, SpaceX announced media accreditation for Starlink-3, scheduled to launch in January 2020.

Now, just ten days after announcing Starlink-3, SpaceX has announced plans for Starlink-4. Scheduled to launch no earlier than “late-January”, Starlink-4 is now the third Starlink mission SpaceX has announced in less than four weeks, all three of which are scheduled to launch within the next six weeks.

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As previously discussed on Teslarati, the fact that SpaceX announced two Starlink missions in two weeks meshed well with the company’s goal of performing up to 24 dedicated Starlink launches in 2020.

“Barely two weeks after SpaceX opened media accreditation for Starlink-2, the second launch of finalized ‘v1.0’ satellites and third dedicated launch overall, the company has announced that that late-December mission will be followed by another Starlink launch in January 2020. This tracks almost exactly with SpaceX’s reported plans for as many as 24 dedicated Starlink launches in 2020, a feat that would singlehandedly break SpaceX’s current record of 21 launches performed in a single year.”

Eric Ralph — December 10th, 2019

With SpaceX’s December 19th’s Starlink-4 announcement, it’s now abundantly clear that the company is putting its money where its mouth is with respect to what might otherwise be perceived as a Muskian pie-in-the-sky target. CEO Elon Musk is (in)famous for his tendency to sketch out timelines that probably are theoretically possible but inevitably fall prey to the numerous challenges often faced during ambitious aerospace projects.

As of now, SpaceX took a bit less than six months to go from its first 60-satellite Starlink v0.9 launch to its first Starlink v1.0 launch (Starlink-1). If schedules hold, SpaceX’s second Starlink v1.0 launch – Starlink-2 – will lift off about six weeks after Starlink-1, while Starlink-3 could follow just 1-2 weeks later in January 2020.

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Several Starlink satellites in orbit. (SpaceX – edit by Teslarati)

This is all to say that SpaceX is perfectly setting itself up for an average of two Starlink launches per month next year, so long as it continues to announce new missions every 2-3 weeks. Even if SpaceX falls short of that ambition due to any number of technical hurdles that could pop up next year, 15 or 20 Starlink launches would give the company a Starlink constellation more than a thousand satellites strong.

In recent months, SpaceX has indicated that Starlink will need at least 24 dedicated launches – 1440 satellites – to achieve uninterrupted global coverage, while as few as six launches (300 satellites) could enable service for customers in the northern US and southern Canada.

SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell believes the company can begin serving customers as early as mid-2020, ultimately maturing into an experienced internet service provider (ISP) in 2021. With almost 120 satellites already in orbit, if SpaceX can manage an average of 1.5 to 2 Starlink launches per month in 2020, the broadband internet constellation will have near-global coverage before the start of 2021.

For now, it looks like the first few months of the next decade will be jam-packed with SpaceX Starlink launches, not to mention the customer launches the company intends to complete on top of its own internal manifest.

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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.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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