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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says Starlink will strive to protect and support science

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6 years ago

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On the heels of a swelling debate among astronomers about the potential negative scientific impacts of constellations like Starlink, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that the company will “make sure [it] has no material effect on … astronomy.”

Additionally, Musk noted that he had already asked Starlink engineers to examine methods of reducing the albedo (i.e. reflectivity) as one potential upgrade for future satellites. Most importantly, however, the 60 satellites launched on March 23rd are just three days into their orbital debut. As the first flight of an entirely new SpaceX-built satellite bus, this is SpaceX’s first time ever attempting to launch or operate so many of its own spacecraft, and Starlink v0.9 is no less of an experiment for SpaceX than it is for unaffiliated observers.

SpaceX’s first 60 finalized Starlink satellites have only just begun the process of on-orbit checkouts and are likely no less than one or several weeks away from some form of commissioning, in which each spacecraft will begin seriously testing its payloads. At the moment, the satellites still need to climb to their final orbits (550 km vs. 450 km) with their own electric ion thrusters and have yet to begin anything resembling static operations.

CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX is already working on potential methods of lowering the reflectivity of Starlink satellites, although it’s far too early to tell if that will actually be necessary.

Once they’ve fully circularized their orbits at 550 km, the 60 (hopefully) satellites can begin those commissioning procedures. This will likely be the first flight-test for a number of new SpaceX-built or designed technologies, ranging from wholly unproven hardware or improved variants of components from the Tintin era to the radically new form factor of the unflown Starlink bus. This includes as many as four in-house phased array antennas per satellite, described by Musk as some of the most advanced commercial antennas in the world.

A partial overview of SpaceX’s unorthodox Starlink satellite bus. (SpaceX)

More than “interference” protection

However, aside from Musk’s assurance that SpaceX would do everything it can to minimize or even entirely prevent interference with scientific research and science-critical astrophotography, the CEO also expressed awareness of the many potential ways Starlink could actually benefit astronomy and other space sciences. Most notably, what SpaceX has actually arrived at with Starlink v0.9 is an extraordinarily cheap, high-performance satellite bus capable of supporting significant payloads, be it high-throughput antennas or something more exotic.

That “something” could be fairly wide-reaching, including astrophysics payloads, radio instruments, lasers, cameras, and maybe even telescopes. Additionally, thanks to their relatively efficient and low-cost ion thrusters, individual Starlink satellites could even be capable of radically changing their orbits, potentially even escaping Earth and heading to destinations like the Moon, Mars, and near-Earth asteroids/comets. Musk has repeatedly raised the possibility of building and launching SpaceX’s own Starlink-based interplanetary spacecraft, a potentially revolutionary concept thanks to their low cost.

Despite the potential scientific value, the fact remains that space-based observatories are unlikely to fully match the ease, affordability, and accessibility of ground-based telescopes for scientific observations for decades, if ever. Until then, SpaceX thankfully sounds more than willing to cooperate closely with international science communities to mitigate or fully prevent the disruption of ongoing research.

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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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Cybertruck

Tesla clears the air on Cybertruck ‘deactivation’ video that is obviously fake

Tesla has cleared the air on the viral video, stating it is fake.

Published

7 hours ago

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August 11, 2025

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Credit: Cybertruck | X

Tesla has cleared the air regarding a video that has been circulating, where the owner claims his Cybertruck was “deactivated” by the company while he was driving.

The video was shared on X and showed a driver pulled over on the side of the road, claiming his Cybertruck had been deactivated by Tesla in the middle of traffic. It is very obviously fake to those who know the company, but these kinds of things have a tendency to pick up steam.

The video shows a screen that says:

“Tesla Cybertruck De-Activated. Critical Issue Detected | Contact Customer Service, Comply with Cease & Desist to Re-Activate. Update Failed, Return to Dealer.”

The same person who posted the video also shared an image of what appears to be a Cease and Desist letter from Tesla, but it is also likely fake:

The company finally responded to the video on Monday afternoon, stating that the video is, in fact, fake, reiterating that it will not disable vehicles remotely for any reason.

It is a shame that these types of things happen, especially as people are prone to believe anything they see on the internet. As there is so much misinformation circulating surrounding Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, it is no surprise that someone would leverage the situation for their own benefit.

If that Cease and Desist letter is not real, perhaps the next one might be. These types of things can truly cause damage to a company’s reputation, and someone getting an idea that Tesla would remotely deactivate a car could prevent them from buying one.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk is stepping up for Tesla Service in a big way

Elon Musk has stepped up to resolve a handful of customer issues regarding vehicle service.

Published

9 hours ago

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August 11, 2025

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tesla service
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk is stepping up to help customers in a big way, especially when they are having issues with Tesla’s Service.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages Tesla owners have is access to Musk through X, his social media platform. Over the years, we’ve seen Tesla add features, refine its cars’ performance, and more, all through asking Musk directly through a post.

Now, Musk is stepping up in another way by resolving a few Service complaints that customers had.

The first occurred last week when a recall on a Tesla battery was not honored by Service. The company sought $30,000 for a replacement and labor, which was not right. Musk responded that he would personally investigate the matter. The vehicle was fixed at no cost as it was a recall, and was ready for pickup the next day.

It also revealed a new strategy Tesla is using to combat service communication issues:

Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

The next occurred with a Cybertruck owner who was in Japan. Their car was parked at an airport in the U.S. and had lost a vast majority of its state of charge, leaving them just fifty miles of range at the time.

Musk reached out to the owner and said Service will take care of the car and will investigate the cause of the battery drain:

There are not too many companies out there where the CEO will get involved with individual issues like these. It’s pretty exclusive to Tesla, as Musk has commonly stepped up to resolve complaints with vehicles or to confront features that some owners might find useful.

Service has been a weak point of the company for some time, but it has worked to refine and resolve customer complaints by building more Service Centers across the world that can handle these issues.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when

Anyone will be able to request a Tesla Robotaxi in September, Elon Musk said this morning.

Published

11 hours ago

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August 11, 2025

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company’s Robotaxi platform is opening to the public, and he even gave a timeline for when anyone will be able to access one for a ride.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform launched to a small group on June 22 in Austin, Texas. The company has continued to expand the number of riders and its geofence over the past month and a half.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

Additionally, it launched rides in the Bay Area of California, but it differs slightly, as the Texas Robotaxi platform does not utilize a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. In California, the monitor sits in the driver’s seat.

As the geofence, service areas, and testing populations expand, Tesla fans are awaiting their elusive emails that enable their ability to use the Robotaxi platform. It now seems that the email will come soon, as Musk said Tesla will open up public access to Robotaxi next month:

Tesla has been prioritizing safety over anything else with the launch of the Robotaxi platform, which is why it has been slow to push invitations to new riders. It is confident in the abilities of the platform and its Full Self-Driving suite, which has been proven with data.

However, even a single accident could set Tesla back years in terms of its development of self-driving cars. It is not a risk it is willing to take.

Musk said during the recent Q2 Earnings Call:

“We need to make sure it works when the vehicles are fully under our control. It’s kind of one step at a time here. We don’t want to jump the gun. As I said, we’re being paranoid about safety. But I guess next year is I’d say confidently next year. I’m not sure when next year, but confidently next year, people would be able to add or subtract their car to the Tesla, Inc. fleet.”

As the platform will expand in Austin and the Bay Area for anyone, Tesla still continues to reiterate that Robotaxi will be available for everyone sometime next year, as Musk said in the quote above.

Things will continue to improve over time, and Tesla will likely expand its geofence in both regions in the coming weeks. It has already done that in Austin twice, with about a doubling in size occurring both times.

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