Tesla’s factory in Grünheide, Germany officially opened last year, and the site has since accumulated around 11,000 workers. According to a new post from Tesla’s Recruiting account on X, the automaker has also hired as many as 60 deaf people to work at the Gigafactory outside of Berlin.
The Brandenburg Gigafactory has so far hired 60 deaf employees, many of whom are Ukrainians who fled the ongoing Russian invasion, according to the new Tesla Recruiting account on X in a post on Sunday. The post includes a video introducing viewers to a few of the factory’s deaf employees, including Amaliia, Ihor and Andrii.
At Tesla, everyone can have meaningful impact, no matter their background or disability.
To date, 60 deaf employees are part of the Giga Berlin team—a large portion being Ukrainians who fled the war.
→ https://t.co/KZM7yOtpqz pic.twitter.com/GD0oe4WxP1
— Tesla Recruiting (@TeslaRecruiting) September 24, 2023
The video also includes excerpts from some of the non-deaf employees about their experiences having deaf coworkers on the team.
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“We don’t just talk about inclusion and diversity, we simply live it,” says general assembly supervisor Holger in the video. “For me there are no employees with disabilities, they are simply employees.”
One associate manager in the drive unit, Juri, says that the process of recruiting deaf employees began when he was asked if he could integrate five people who were deaf. After starting with just one employee who was deaf, that employee told a number of other deaf people about the job who would later go on to join the team.
Amaliia, a drivetrain production associate who is deaf, says she brought her family from Ukraine when the war began. Her family was invited to Germany by a friend of her husband’s who already worked at Tesla, and the friend also asked her to join the team at Giga Berlin. She says the team has been welcoming and describes Tesla’s team spirit as “fantastic.”
Other deaf employees featured in the video include Ihor, a production associate in the drive unit department of the factory, and Andrii, a production associate in general assembly. Andrii says he was recruited by the general assembly supervisor, Rene, who personally recruited many of the Ukrainian colleagues.
The video also includes a moment with the drive unit supervisor Simone, who says that many of the company’s non-deaf employees have already learned a few words in sign language.
One user in the X thread said that he had previously been interviewed at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, though the company shared concerns that a deaf person wouldn’t be able to hear production line sound systems. The user followed up in the thread, asking if he would be able to have another shot at interviewing for a different area of the Austin, Texas factory.
Tesla debuted its Recruiting page on X earlier this month, and this post is only the account’s second, following a repost of a video from the company’s Optimus account.
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The post also included a link to Tesla’s Giga Berlin web page, and you can find Tesla’s open positions at the factory here.
The news comes just a few days after a German minister called Tesla the “driving force” behind economic growth in the state of Brandenburg, primarily due to Giga Berlin and its production ramp-up. It also comes after some criticism has been lodged against Giga Berlin by German union IG Metall, with the union most recently alleging that workers were being forced to work excessive hours.
Tesla is currently in the process of gaining approval for expansions at Giga Berlin, set to boost production capacity from 50 GWh to 100 GWh.
Tesla Giga Berlin promotes its free “Giga Train” shuttle for its employees
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
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This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
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Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
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The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
