SpaceX successfully tests Starship rocket after string of failures
Following a streak of four fiery disappointments, including a June explosion on a test stand, SpaceX finally conducted a largely successful flight of its colossal Starship rocket on Tuesday.
During the 10th Starship test mission, the rocket's lower stage Super Heavy booster carried out a simulated landing above the Gulf of Mexico. The independent upper stage vehicle splashed down in the Indian Ocean after releasing eight dummy models of next-generation Starlink satellites into orbit. The satellite prototypes were released using a new dispenser system, similar to a giant Pez candy mechanism.
Upon reentry, the Starship's heat shield, which had failed on previous flights, appeared to protect the upper stage vehicle effectively. However, the extreme temperatures damaged the rear flaps used for control and a protective skirt along the engine bay.
The three previous Starship test flights ended before the rocket could complete a suborbital flight, making Tuesday's launch a significant improvement. The Starship is SpaceX's most ambitious project to date. It is the largest rocket ever built, and each test launch incurs millions of dollars in costs. As part of its Artemis III mission, NASA has contracted SpaceX to use Starship to ferry astronauts back to the moon by 2027, although the company must first complete uncrewed lunar missions.
In other SpaceX news:
A reusable Falcon 9 booster notched a record-setting 30th flight in its lifespan during a Thursday morning launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
For Colorado's $400 million allotment of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a federal initiative aimed at increasing high-speed internet access across rural America, the state has opted to prioritize cheaper satellite internet over pricier but more reliable fiber installations. But Project Kuiper, Amazon's fledgling satellite internet subsidiary, was selected to service the bulk of Colorado's satellite internet locations. Starlink won just $9.16 million worth of work, less than half of the $25.35 million awarded to Project Kuiper. SpaceX has criticized other states for allocating the majority of their BEAD funding to fiber infrastructure.
Ukraine could lose access to Starlink after Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a related funding bill on Monday. Poland has spent tens of millions of euros providing Starlink units and services to Ukraine, which utilizes the internet for military, government, and civilian communications. Nawrocki vetoed the bill due to its funding for Ukrainian refugees. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has stated that he will negotiate with his Polish counterparts to ensure continued Starlink funding.
xAI sues Apple, OpenAI over App Store rankings
On Monday, Elon Musk's xAI filed a lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI. The suit accused the two firms of rigging Apple's App Store to boost the visibility of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The lawsuit was filed shortly after Musk accused Apple of preventing xAI's Grok chatbot from reaching the top of the App Store charts.
"Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store," Musk wrote in a post on X earlier this month. In xAI's lawsuit, the company claimed that Apple and OpenAI, which entered into a partnership last year, have "locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing." However, Perplexity and DeepSeek, two non-OpenAI chatbots, have topped Apple's App Store rankings over the last eight months.
In response to xAI's lawsuit, an OpenAI spokesperson said the "filing is consistent with Mr. Musk's ongoing pattern of harassment."
In other X and xAI news:
In 2023, xAI was incorporated in Nevada as a public benefit corporation (PBC), a designation that can be claimed by for-profit companies that provide "a material positive impact on society and the environment." But according to a new report from CNBC, xAI quietly eliminated its PBC status in May of last year. Not long after, xAI began powering its Memphis, Tennessee, data center using natural gas turbines that have polluted nearby neighborhoods.
ProPublica published a new investigation into the Memphis Chamber of Commerce's enthusiastic backing of xAI, including a mailer it published that falsely claimed Musk's company was operating "in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and oversight."
Musk said on X that he would challenge Microsoft's dominance in the software industry using a new "AI software company" called Macrohard. "It’s a tongue-in-cheek name, but the project is very real!" Musk wrote last week. "In principle, given that software companies like Microsoft do not themselves manufacture any physical hardware, it should be possible to simulate them entirely with AI." xAI registered the Macohard trademark earlier this month.
Musk tried to recruit Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg as part of a failed $97.4 billion takeover of OpenAI, according to court filings released as part of Musk's legal battle with the company.
xAI has sued a former engineer for allegedly delivering company secrets to OpenAI.
Last week, X reached a tentative settlement with former employees who sued the social media company over unpaid severance packages.
Tesla faced $243 million verdict after rejecting $60 million settlement offer
Tesla rejected a proposed $60 million settlement in a Florida lawsuit that ultimately left the company on the hook for $243 million in damages.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement proposal in a lawsuit over the 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S before a jury this month awarded a $243 million verdict in the case.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs disclosed the settlement proposal in a filing on Monday in the federal court in Miami, Florida, as part of a request for legal fees from Tesla…
The trial focused on an April 2019 crash involving a 2019 Model S featuring Autopilot driver-assistance software. The driver's Tesla struck the victims' parked Chevrolet Tahoe as they were standing beside it on a shoulder.
In other Tesla news:
In Europe, Tesla sales declined 40% year-over-year in July, as more European consumers opted to purchase electric vehicles from Chinese manufacturers. BYD, the leading Chinese EV company, increased its year-over-year sales in Europe by 225% last month.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a new investigation to learn whether Tesla delayed notifying federal regulators after its self-driving products were involved in car crashes. "[Tesla's] reported crashes occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports. The majority of these reports involved crashes in which… the time required a report to be submitted within one or five days of Tesla receiving notice of the crash," NHTSA stated in a filing published on Wednesday.
Despite Tesla's dwindling Cybertruck sales, the company opted to raise the price of its top-end "Cyberbeast" variant by $15,000 in the United States.
A few weeks ago, Musk predicted that Tesla would “probably have autonomous ride hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year." Tesla, however, remains unable to operate self-driving cars in an ideal controlled environment: the single-lane tunnels in Las Vegas that are owned and operated by the Boring Company, Musk's transit startup. "I think it’s a ways off," the CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority told Fortune, referring to the use of self-driving Teslas in the Boring Company's Vegas Loop tunnels.
Musk Minutes:
Elon Musk and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) have pressured state and local officials in Texas to accept a $760 million tunnel project from the Boring Company to build a pair of relatively narrow flood tunnels near Houston. (The Texas Newsroom)
Musk called a Twitter-related Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against him "a waste of… taxpayer resources" and asked for it to be dismissed. The SEC has alleged that Musk failed to report part of his 2022 accumulation of Twitter shares within the required deadline. (BBC)
SpaceX in recent days held public information meetings at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center regarding proposed launches of Starship and Super Heavy. Problem: residential areas are within 15 miles; national wildlife refuges are adjacent to the launch site, and the ocean is yards away. SpaceX claims there will be no pollution, human sleep will only be disrupted for 10% of humans, no impact to wildlife nor marine life, and the risk of human hearing loss due to sonic booms and the roar of the Super Heavy's 35 engines will be "low." Despite use methane as fuel, they imply there will be no air nor water pollution. Disruption to boat and air travel is expected for every launch and landing across a wide area. In small print on the back of their glossy flyer, handed out at the meetings, is a note telling residents where to send claims for property damage caused by launches and landings. There is one more info session via Zoom on September 3 at 6pm EST; sorry I don't have the link. SAVE US PLEASE!!!
Musk is an utter failure when it comes to tunnels