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SpaceX wins US military satellite constellation launch contract to close out 2020

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 workhorse rocket has secured a new US military launch contract worth $150 million, closing out a spectacularly successful year.

Announced by the Department of Defence’s (DoD) Space Development Agency (SDA) on December 31st, the contract stipulates that SpaceX will launch as many as 28 Transport and Tracking Layer (TTL) satellites on two Falcon 9 rockets in the seven months between September 2022 and March 2023. If things go according to plan, those two launches will orbit an entire “Tranche 0” satellite constellation hoped by the SDA to demonstrate the exceedingly rare ability for a US military agency to move quickly and field solutions that are both affordable and effective.

If successful, Tranche 0 will provide the US military with a globally-networked satellite constellation of communications satellites and missile detection satellites capable of delivering “warning, tracking, and targeting” data anywhere on Earth.

SpaceX has closed out a halcyon year by winning another $150 million worth of launch contracts. (SpaceX)

Curiously, SDA’s decision comes at the same time as repeated protests from Raytheon have frozen work on 8 of the ~28 satellites SpaceX is now scheduled to launch – four of which SpaceX itself won $149 million to design and build. Known as the Tracking Layer of Tranche 0, SDA contracted with SpaceX and L3Harris ($193 million) on October 7th, 2020 to build four missile warning satellites apiece. The award was SpaceX’s first satellite production contract ever, rather quietly catapulting the company into the multibillion-dollar market for US civil and military spacecraft.

SDA ultimately bowed to Raytheon’s protests and announced plans to “reevaluate” its decision to award Tracking Layer contracts to SpaceX and L3Harris, but the agency says it will not allow new bids to be submitted. In other words, unless SDA discovers some kind of error in its original decision-making process, odds are extremely low that the protest will change the outcome. In the meantime, though, the protest means that SpaceX and L3Harris are legally required to pause all work on their respective satellite development contracts until the SDA completes its reevaluation.

Next to nothing is known about the four satellites SpaceX has contracted to build for the US military but it’s safe to say that they’ll build off of Starlink. (SpaceX)

The month prior, SDA had awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin ($187.5M) and York Space Systems ($94M) to deliver ten “Transport Layer” satellites apiece. The Tranche 0 Transport Layer is designed to use laser interlinks to securely route Tracking Layer missile warning alerts almost anywhere on Earth while also providing some limited general-purpose communications capabilities.

Ultimately, whether Raytheon’s protests actually net the company one of the Tracking Layer satellite production contracts, SpaceX is now guaranteed to launch them.

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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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Elon Musk just roasted Sam Altman’s Tesla Roadster cancellation

“And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours.

But that is in your nature.”

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Elon Musk has responded to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s decision to cancel his Tesla Roadster reservation, which he revealed on X on Thursday.

We reported on Altman’s decision, which he called “A tale in three acts,” showing his confirmation email from Tesla back in 2018, an email requesting his $50,000 deposit back after canceling his order, and a notification from Google that the email he sent was not delivered.

Musk did not take too kindly to the post from his tech rival, first referencing his position with OpenAI, and then confirming that Altman received his reservation deposit back within 24 hours:

OpenAI was started by Musk, Altman, and others back in 2015, and was geared toward being a non-profit company that would develop safe artificial intelligence that would be accessible to people.

However, Musk and Altman did not agree on the future of the company. Musk left, and Altman turned OpenAI into a for-profit company. This led to a variety of lawsuits and some very public spats between the two. Musk has called out Altman for turning the company into a for-profit, which has been his main source of criticism for his former colleague.

The Roadster has been hanging in the balance of Tesla’s manufacturing plans for seven years, but the company has made more indications that it will be unveiled later this year and will have some insane technologies.

Musk said on Friday in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast that Tesla is “getting close to demonstrating the prototype.”

He said:

“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”

Musk hinted that the vehicle could fly and would have “crazy technology” that would put James Bond’s vehicles to shame. It will be interesting to see what Tesla will unveil when the event happens and if it can come through on this mind-blowing teaser.

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SpaceX successfully launches 100th Starlink mission of 2025

With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

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(Credit: Starlink)

SpaceX achieved its 100th Starlink mission of the year on Friday, October 31, marking another milestone for 2025. 

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4:41 p.m. ET, carrying another 28 Starlink satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Falcon 9 booster’s 29th flight

Roughly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9’s first stage touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. This marked the booster’s 29th flight, which is approaching SpaceX’s reuse record of 31 missions.

This latest mission adds to SpaceX’s impressive 138 Falcon 9 launches in 2025, 99 of which were dedicated to Starlink, according to Space.com. The company’s focus on reusing boosters has enabled this breakneck pace, with multiple launches each week supporting both Starlink’s expansion and external customers.

Starlink’s network continues massive global expansion

Starlink remains the largest active satellite constellation in history, with more than 10,000 satellites launched, nearly 8,800 of which are currently active. SpaceX recently achieved Starlink’s 10,000-satellite milestone. With 100 Starlink missions completed for 2025, space enthusiasts have noted that SpaceX has successfully launched 2,554 Starlink satellites so far this year.

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Starlink, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity even to the world’s most remote areas, has been proven to be life-changing technology for people across the globe. The service is currently operational in about 150 countries, and it currently has over 5 million subscribers worldwide. From this number, 2.7 million joined over the past year.

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Tesla shares updated timeframe for Cybertruck FSD V14 release

The Cybertruck was expected to receive FSD V14 before the end of the month, but Tesla was not able to meet the target.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) V14 update for the Cybertruck could arrive this weekend, as per recent comments from Director of Autopilot Software and VP of AI Ashok Elluswamy. 

The Cybertruck was expected to receive FSD V14 before the end of the month, but Tesla was not able to meet the target.

Cybertruck FSD V14

Considering the extended wait for FSD V14, it was no surprise that several Cybertruck owners were asking for updates about the system’s rollout to the all-electric pickup truck on Friday. These included the official Cybertruck X account, which responded to Elluswamy’s end of month estimate with “I only see trick. Where is my treat.” 

This prompted a response from the AI executive, who replied with, “Sorry, pushing for early access Cyber release over the weekend.” This means that if all goes well, Cybertruck owners would be able to experience FSD V14 very soon. Some, however, are wondering if Tesla would go straight to V14.2 for the Cybertruck’s FSD V14 update, or if the vehicle will receive V14.1 first. 

Tesla pushes to unify FSD experience across its lineup

The upcoming Cybertruck rollout represents the next step in Tesla’s efforts to roll out FSD capabilities across all of its vehicles. FSD V14 is a notable step forward for the company’s AI-driven self driving system, with features like Mad Max mode getting positive reviews from longtime Full Self Driving testers.

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For the Cybertruck, the FSD V14 update would mark one of its first major over-the-air upgrades for the vehicle. Likely due to its size, the Cybertruck tends to receive FSD updates later than the S3XY lineup, which is quite surprising considering that the all-electric pickup truck is a premium-priced vehicle that is home to some of Tesla’s most advanced technologies.

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