Lifestyle
Tesla and Space Force make comedy gold together in new show
There are so many technology arenas that Elon Musk plays a major role in that mashup potentials are everywhere, especially in pop culture. Space Force, a new Netflix original comedy series poking fun at the United States’ newest military branch, is one of the latest places where the innovative CEO can find his companies being referenced. Surprisingly, it’s not a direct SpaceX plug, but rather the payload the rocket launch provider put into orbit during one of its most famous missions to date: Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster.
In Episode 2 of Space Force, titled “Save Epsilon 6,” a Russian adversary damaged the department’s recently launched satellite. While looking for nearby orbital objects that could provide assistance, “a Tesla” is mentioned along with a subsequent graphic displaying an animated cutout of the original Roadster’s shape. Sadly, Starman didn’t make the silhouette. Also of note was the inaccuracy of the Roadster’s position. According to WhereIsRoaster.com, the electric vehicle is currently some 113 million miles from Earth in orbit around the Sun.
Curiously, and flirting with gossip, another nearby satellite in the image is named “X-12” which, as close followers of Elon Musk would know, is similar to his newborn son’s name, X Γ A-12 (changed to X Γ A-Xii for legal reasons it seems). Admittedly, this reference would be a bit of a stretch, even if it were on purpose. However, being that A-12 was the designation of the SR-71 super spy plane’s predecessor (and the baby’s namesake according to momma Grimes) and NASA’s secret shuttle’s designation is X37, the writers’ naming may not have been so random and semi-coincidental after all. (It probably was.)

Musk’s inspiration also seems to have made its way into Episode 3 of Space Force, titled “Mark and Mallory Go to Washington,” wherein the two main characters are called to testify for a congressional committee. During a series of questions regarding the department’s budget request, one member inspires a Musk-like response from General Naird (played by Steve Carrell):
“General Naird, your entire attitude seems to be, “Give us money, and don’t look while we militarize space… Your scientist is nodding,” the member challenges.
“It is a condition…drinking bird syndrome,” Naird first replies, then pauses before making his actual response. “Look, space is hard.”
“Space is hard?” the member retorts. “If you haven’t settled on a motto yet, may I suggest that become the new Space Force motto?”
Quite honestly, it’s not a bad suggestion given the number of times the phrase is uttered by those in the industry. The commander of the real US Space Force has actually repeated this same sentiment on a few occasions, once in reference to an Iranian boast about its satellite imaging capabilities that were later revealed to be a tumbling webcam.
@US_SpaceCom continues to track 2 objects @PeteAFBβs @18SPCS associated w/#space launch from Iran, characterizing NOUR 01(#SATCAT 45529) as 3U Cubesat. Iran states it has imaging capabilitiesβactually, itβs a tumbling webcam in space; unlikely providing intel. #spaceishard
— General Chance Saltzman (@SpaceForceCSO) April 25, 2020
Speaking of the existing Space Force, which Musk has expressed his approval of as a precursor to a Star Trek-style Starfleet, its plans look to be moving along well. Since its establishment on December 20, 2019, with the signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Force has put together its headquarters and begun recruiting from current US Air Force personnel and US Air Force Academy graduates. During May, some 8,000 airmen volunteered to switch their service, and 86 graduates from this year’s Academy class were commissioned into the new branch.
The Space Force has also formalized its customer-provider relationship with SpaceX during the recent GPS III (Vehicle 3) satellite launch aboard a Falcon 9, representing the branch’s third launch mission overall since its establishment. Now that the Air Force Space Command has been redesignated as the US Space Force, the service’s relationship with SpaceX will continue on as launch support with the 45th Space Wing in Florida. The Wing’s first support mission under the Space Force designation was also a SpaceX launch, specifically with a payload of Starlink satellites.
With Space Force already having so many ties to Musk and company, it wouldn’t be surprising to see many more SpaceX-linked references in Season 2 of Netflix’s show.
Elon Musk
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.
Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.
Giga Texas today is busy with production coming back up following the long weekend. Of interest today in the outbound lot is the appearance of hundreds of Mode; YLβs and many more Cybercabs and for the 1st time equipped with the Starlink module one the hatch in big numbers.
At⦠pic.twitter.com/G9yl6s51m4
β Joe Tegtmeyer π π€ πΈπ (@JoeTegtmeyer) September 8, 2026
Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.
Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.
The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
β Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk says he knows how to save Earth for a billion years
Elon Musk says sentient AI satellites launched from the Moon could keep Earth livable forever.
Elon Musk spent part of his weekend describing a plan to keep the planet livable for roughly a billion years, and it starts with satellites that can think for themselves.
In a post on X, Musk argued that swapping fossil fuels for solar and wind power will not be enough to protect humanity from what he called extremely severe extinction events, the kind that occur roughly every 100 million years. His fix is what he called sentient satellites, or solar-powered satellites, controlled by AI, that would sit in a fixed spot between Earth and the Sun after being launched off the Moon using a giant electromagnetic catapult instead of rockets.
The satellites’ onboard AI would make continuous, small adjustments rather than waiting on human instructions. The mass driver is Musk’s proposed way of getting the raw material there cheaply by using an electromagnetic launch track built on the Moon, where lower gravity and no atmosphere make it far easier to fling cargo into space than it is from Earth.
But we do need to act much faster than that if people still want to live where the beach is today. We have about 50 years or so to take action, which should be more than enough time for the space satellites to solve any heating problems. https://t.co/xhrVQALwQw
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2026
Musk shared a Grok generated estimate suggesting roughly 5 percent of Florida’s land, or about 1.68 million acres, could face regular flooding by 2070 under a high sea level rise scenario, and said humanity has about 50 years to act before coastal living looks very different than it does today.
This is not the first time Musk has floated the idea. He raised a similar concept in November, describing a solar powered AI satellite constellation that could make tiny adjustments to incoming sunlight to fine tune Earth’s temperature. Musk has also tied planetary risk to his broader vision at SpaceX, where his compensation package is explicitly linked to establishing a self-sustaining Mars colony, one he has described as an insurance policy against the kind of extinction event he referenced this weekend, and where he has said humans could set foot within five to seven years.
