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SpaceX to launch secret “Zuma” payload same day as Tesla Semi event

SpaceX Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral, FL [Tom Cross/Teslarati]

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SpaceX has completed preparations and is ready to launch the highly secretive “Zuma” satellite(s) at 5pm/8pm PST/EST on Thursday, November 16th, the same day Tesla will be holding its semi-truck unveiling event.

Updated: SpaceX has rescheduled the Zuma mission.

The Zuma launch campaign has been veiled in an extraordinary level of secrecy for SpaceX and the US launch industry in general, and this has piqued the interest of many.

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In the last decade or two, the United States military apparatus has launched many dozens of satellites, and secrecy on the order of Zuma is unusual to say the least. Missions for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) typically feature some level of media presence and have developed a community of fans in the age of social media, taking advantage of cartoonish mission logos that can often be entertaining, if not vaguely disturbing.

 

Some of the more ‘unique’ NROL logos in recent years. (NRO)

However, no federal agency has yet to announce involvement in Zuma. The full extent of public information available can be found in a handful of tweets, with drastically less official info available from a leaky source on Reddit. Thus far, Northrop Grumman is known to have at least procured Zuma’s launch from SpaceX, and the same statement indirectly suggested that Zuma was in fact a government-related mission. NRO is the obvious option, with the Air Force or another branch of the US military or intelligence apparatus also a distinct possibility. It is entirely possible that the nature and parent of the mission will remain secret for the indefinite future, even after its launch.

Nevertheless, a handful of details allow us to speculate in greater detail. In May 2017, SpaceX launched NROL-76, a Department of Defense satellite that was intriguingly observed to have made very close passes to the International Space Station, far too close to have been a coincidence. Based on Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) filed with the FAA and discussed earlier this week, it appears Zuma may be placed in an orbit very similar to that of NROL-76, suggesting that Zuma could be an iteration on NROL-76’s supposed orbit-to-orbit data gathering capabilities. This time, however, agency involvement has been completely shadowed. A blank fairing, sans any NROL-reminiscent logo, will be the tell-tale sign come tomorrow, when Teslarati’s launch photographer Tom Cross arrives at Kennedy Space Center for camera setup.

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Meanwhile, as has become shockingly routine, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first stage, core 1043, will conduct a Return to Launch Site (RTLS), landing at LZ-1 just a few miles from its launch pad. Like NROL-76, we can expect live coverage of the second stage and payload to end immediately after stage separation; bittersweet but esoteric fans, but likely to result in a unique focus on the stage returning to Earth.

On the horizon

Possibly more exciting than the launch itself, Zuma is expected to be the last launch from SpaceX’s Kennedy Space Center LC-39A facilities until Falcon Heavy, currently aiming for an inaugural flight around December 29th. After a solid year of repairs and refurbishment, SpaceX’s LC-40 launch pad is anticipating a return to flight operations with the CRS-13 Cargo Dragon mission on December 4th. Located within the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station just a few miles south of LC-39A, LC-40 suffered widespread damage after a Falcon 9 catastrophically failed while preparing for a static fire test on the pad.

Despite the tragic loss of vehicle and the Amos-6 payload, SpaceX has maintained a strong relationship with the owner, Spacecom, and was recently chosen for both a contractual reflight in 2019 and an additional launch in 2020.

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SpaceX has also made great strides since returning to flight after Amos-6 in January 2017, and has enjoyed a truly groundbreaking year of incredible progress towards the goal of rapid reusability. Quite fittingly, LC-40 is expected to return to action while hosting yet another commercial reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage, this time with the hugely significant approval of NASA. The space agency has yet to make this decision resoundingly public, but respected industry insider NASASpaceflight.com has stated that it is all but in stone at this point in time. In a sense, the disaster that severely damaged LC-40 acted as a since-heeded wake-up call for SpaceX, and the venerable pad will rise from those ashes into a new era of reusable rocketry, led wholeheartedly by SpaceX.

Be sure to follow our Instagram stories and see live action directly from the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center!

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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Tesla won’t implement strange Grok character as Musk dispels rumor

It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it.

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Tesla is not going to implement a strange character as a Grok assistant in its vehicles, as CEO Elon Musk dispelled the rumor, which seemed to truly invoke some quite polarizing reactions.

Yesterday, there was some controversy within the Tesla community as rumors of a Grok assistant, named Mūn (pronounced like Moon), being implemented into the vehicles started to circulate.

It had some legitimacy. It was initially posted by an employee, and it appeared to be a relatively confirmed development.

However, it really did rub some people the wrong way. Mūn was an Anime-style female dressed in promiscuous clothing, so it was not everyone’s style, and I’m sure not everyone’s significant other’s cup of tea. It seemed a very strange decision to add it, especially considering that, at the time, there was no confirmation to dispel the arrival of the Grok assistant.

That was until Tesla CEO Elon Musk stepped in to put the speculation to bed once and for all.

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It was somewhat strange that this type of issue arose in the first place, but given that it was initially released by an employee, the entire situation is self-explanatory.

It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it. Many owners did not shy away from the fact that they would like the option to opt out:

For now, Grok remains a part of Tesla vehicles, and personally, it is very nice to have in my Model Y to answer some quick questions I might have or even to entertain some people in the car.

Nevertheless, I am relieved I won’t have this character forced upon me in my vehicle.

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U.S. Judge dismisses lawsuit against SpaceX Starship Boca Chica launch site

The ruling found that the FAA had met its obligations in reviewing the potential environmental effects of Starship launches.

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(Credit: SpaceX)

A U.S. district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by conservation groups challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of SpaceX’s expanded rocket launch operations in Boca Chica, Texas. 

The ruling, issued Monday, found that the FAA had met its obligations in reviewing the potential environmental effects of Starship launches.

FAA review withstands legal challenge

The lawsuit centered on whether the FAA properly assessed the impact of SpaceX’s operations on endangered wildlife, including ocelots, jaguarundis, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, as noted in a report from The Guardian. The plaintiffs argued that noise, light pollution, and construction activity degraded the surrounding habitat, which also serves as nesting grounds for threatened shorebirds.

The lawsuit cited SpaceX’s April 2023 Starship test, which destroyed its launchpad and scattered debris across a large area. The blast reportedly ignited a grassfire and damaged wildlife habitats, including a bobwhite quail nest.

Judge Carl Nichols, for his part, ruled that the FAA had satisfied its obligation“to take a hard look at the effects of light on nearby wildlife.” The decision effectively cleared a regulatory hurdle for SpaceX, which has been working to expand Starship launch activity at its Boca Chica facility.

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A continued ramp

SpaceX continues to scale its operations nationwide. Beyond Starship, the company is also seeking approval to nearly double Falcon rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, from 50 annually to 95. 

Former President Trump has also shared his intention to increase U.S. launch capacity, setting a target for substantial growth by 2030. Considering that SpaceX is by far the world’s dominant launch provider, Trump’s support for more launches will likely benefit the private space company.

For now, at least, the ruling should allow continued expansion at a time when Starship remains central to long-term goals such as Mars missions and NASA’s Artemis program.

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Pope Leo XIV slams Elon Musk’s pay package due to misinformation (Opinion)

The Pope’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails.

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Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pope Leo XIV has voiced sharp criticism of corporate pay structures, singling out Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other business leaders as examples of the widening gap between executives and ordinary workers. The pontiff warned that excessive wealth concentration could erode societal values and fuel global polarization.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails, and the net positive it would result to TSLA shareholders and the world as a whole.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments

In his first interview since becoming pope in May, Leo XIV, the first US-born head of the Catholic Church, pointed to reports that Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire. As noted in a report from the Financial Times, Pope Leo XIV singled out Elon Musk as an example of the type of wealth that was undermining “the value of human life, of the family, of the value of society.”

“Yesterday, the news (arrived) that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has any value any more, then we are in big trouble,” the pontiff stated. 

Musk was not the only executive who caught the ire of the leader of the Catholic Church. He noted that while Musk’s pay was problematic, it was only an example of the “continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive.” 

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“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times what average workers are receiving,” he stated.

Borne out of misrepresentation

A look at Pope Leo XIV’s comments surrounding Elon Musk’s wealth suggests that he may not necessarily be familiar with how the CEO earns his net worth. Musk’s wealth is tied to his stakes in his companies, with a good portion of it coming from Tesla and SpaceX. Thus, quite unlike what the mainstream media narrative might suggest, Elon Musk does not necessarily have a giant vault of gold coins he is hoarding somewhere.

If one were to look at Elon Musk’s pay package, which would result in him becoming a trillionaire, one would see that the CEO could only earn his keep if he proves immense value to Tesla and its shareholders. 

His payout might be notable, but he would have to lead Tesla into becoming an $8.5 trillion company first. At this level, Tesla would likely be a notable force of good that would provide a net benefit for people worldwide. Ultimately, it appears that Pope Leo XIV’s comments about Musk may be borne from information gathered only through mainstream sources, some of which tend to have a notable slant against the CEO.

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