S.E. Robinson, Jr.

ELON CHRON: The Daily Chronicle of Elon Musk's Companies

Added 2025-07-09 20:41:56 +0000 UTC

9th of July, 2025

"Never a dull moment on this platform..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA TSLA -0.78%↓ ($295.88, -0.65%):

- Grease meets Jetsons! The Tesla Diner construction fence is down and the facility is all lit up! The 1950s-style stainless steel diner, drive-in theater, and Supercharger station features indoor and rooftop seating, a bar, and a menu led by Chef Eric Greenspan. Pics are by Harry (@ShellZero).

The two 45-foot LED screens are visible from the diner or while charging. No official opening date has been announced. It is located at 7001 W. Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. Go check it out! Pics are by Brad Goldberg (@BradGoldbergMD) posted by Sawyer Merritt.

- ArcBest completed a Tesla Semi pilot through ABF Freight, covering 4,494 miles in three weeks, averaging 321 miles/day with 1.55 kWh/mile efficiency. Routes included Reno, NV to Sacramento, CA, with a 7,200-foot Donner Pass climb included. The truck matched diesel performance, but charging infrastructure needs improvement. "Driver feedback was positive, with operators noting the vehicle’s comfort, safety and ease of use. Features like the center seat configuration, wide visibility and intuitive controls contributed to strong driver experience."

- In Europe, Tesla has kicked off Electric Summer Vol. II! Keep an eye for special events at Superchargers, Tesla Centers, and other locations.

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), 9th of July, '25

Giga Berlin: Tobias Lindh (@tobilindh), 7th of July, '25.

■ SPACEX:

- Yesterday we posted about the massive Next Gen Super Heavy Booster fuel transfer tube as it left the Starfactory and moved into Mega Bay 1. Here are SpaceX's pics of it. This stainless steel component channels cryogenic methane and liquid oxygen to the 33 Raptor engines. This redesign enhances faster, more reliable flip maneuvers and the ability for simultaneous engine startup.

Per Elon, "It’s more of a fuel header tank than a transfer tube. Has to be very buff, as it is subject to extreme loads and a single leak would be game over."

- The official Port Canaveral account (@PortCanaveral) posted this shot on Monday of dual Falcon 9s waiting to return to the Cape and be refurbished for their next flights. They noted that later this year a third mobile harbor crane will be delivered and "Maybe we can get 3 boosters at once getting lifted at the same time!"

- We have seen the plans for SpaceX's Air Separation Unit (ASU) at Starbase, today, Cameron County commissioners approved it. The 3-1 vote grants a beachfront construction certificate and dune protection permit for a 1.66-acre site with 20 structures, including a 159-foot tower, 280 feet from the dunes. The facility will produce nitrogen and oxygen, reducing truck deliveries per launch. SpaceX must mitigate impacts on 865 sq ft of dune vegetation and 20 cubic yards of dunes, and compensate for permanent damage to 7,735 sq ft of vegetation and 465 cubic yards of dunes. The county will monitor restoration efforts, with potential penalties from the Texas General Land Office for non-compliance. Pic by Niall-Ian Anderson (@INiallAnderson) and RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos).

Starbase City Commission Meeting:

Wednesday, 16th of July, at 7:00 p.m. CT, at 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 02, Brownsville, TX 78521.

Countdown to 180 (84 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 3 - Starship):

Launch 88! July, Sunday, 13th, of July at 12:31 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Dror-1? ("Commercial GTO 1") will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The payload for SpaceX's "Commercial GTO 1" mission, as per FCC documentation, is unconfirmed but may be Dror-1, a geostationary communication satellite built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Dror-1, designed to serve Israel's communication needs for 15 years, features locally developed Israeli technologies, including an advanced digital communication payload and “smartphone in space” capabilities for enhanced communication agility throughout its operational life.
Launch 89! Sunday, 13th of July, at 7:27 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-2 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 90! July, Wednesday, 16th of July, at 2:05 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Project Kuiper #1 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first of a three launches contracted for Amazon's Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation.
Launch 91! Wednesday, 16th of July, at 7:08 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-3 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 92! July, TBD. NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-11 will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Booster B1094 will return to site and land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A... boring.

■ NEURALINK: N/A...

■ STARLINK:

- Per Michael Nicolls (@michaelnicollsx), VP of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX, "The Starlink satellites minimize brightness and resulting impacts on ground-based astronomy by employing a dielectric mirror on the satellite to reflect light away from the Earth, along with off-pointing of the solar arrays and black paint on satellite components. Low altitude operations also minimizes brightness impacts." Pic is the SpaceX Starlink facility in Redmond, Washington.

- Continuing the work, Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) reported that himself and surrounding teams have installed multiple Starlink terminals at the Kerr County, TX Emergency Operations Center. They are providing deputies with reliable communication at speeds up to 400Mb/s. Coordination between flood rescue teams and headquarters has seen a rapid improvement. Radios paired with Starlinks are eliminating deadspots, significantly enhancing operations. Sortor thanked Gunther Eagleman, SpaceX, and Elon for their support.

- Today, SpaceX secured final regulatory approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to provide Starlink services in India; the third company after Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio. Their license is valid until the 7th of July, 2030, and covers designated frequency bands for gateways and user terminals. Starlink must still obtain spectrum allocation from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), establish at least three gateway stations, and complete security and technical trials. The DoT is expected to grant trial spectrum soon.

- Today, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to introduce Starlink for free, unlimited, streaming-quality Wi-Fi across its entire fleet, the first UK carrier to do so. The rollout will begin in Q3 2026 and be completed by the end of 2027. This service will be accessible to all passengers registered with Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club loyalty program. This is part of a broader fleet upgrade that includes refurbishing all Boeing 787-9 aircraft and adding ten A330neo aircraft. The airline will also debut a new AI-powered voice concierge, developed in partnership with OpenAI and Tomoro.ai. The real-time assistant will be available in multiple languages via the app, helping guests with tasks from booking support to airport navigation.

■ X:

- Today, Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) announced her resignation as CEO of X after two years. She expreseed gratitude to Elon for entrusting her with the mission to protect free speech, turn the company around, and transform X into the Everything App. She highlighted the team's remarkable achievements, including prioritizing user safety—especially for children—restoring advertiser confidence, and introducing innovations like Community Notes and the upcoming X Money.

Per Linda, "X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world. I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world."

Per Elon, "Thank you for your contributions."

- Grok Voice mode will soon be on the X app.

■ xAI:

- Grok 4, tonight at 8:00 p.m. PT!

- Melvin D. Watkins, Jr., former U.S. Air Force and Pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Westwood with a congregation of over 4,000 individuals, has voiced his support for xAI and Mayor Paul Young's plan to reinvest in the community. This is important, because he is not letting political fear mongering get in the way of what is best for the community and the opportunities that come for future generations.

Per Pastor Watkins, "Communities like Westwood, Boxtown, and other corners of 38109 have for generations shouldered the weight of industry and have rarely seen reinvestment or renewal. This moment demands we change that story.

This is why I am in full support of Mayor Paul Young’s ordinance to invest into these communities...

As a pastor and one who serves in Westwood, I’m both watchful and hopeful regarding xAI’s presence in our community. I support safety, transparency & justice for our people. I also clearly see a chance for our youth to gain access to AI, the future of work, our communities strengthened, and real opportunity.

Let’s welcome good partnership and make sure Memphis doesn’t get left behind or overlooked. Let’s stop shaming and bullying one another because we hold different viewpoints.

Healthy communities are built on shared hopes, but also on HONEST dialogue, thoughtful disagreement, and mutual respect.

Justice and opportunity must walk hand in hand.”

- Yesterday, you probably saw that Grok said some wild "MechaHitler" (boss battle of Wolfenstein 3D btw) stuff and xAI took corrective actions to shut the talk down.

Per xAI via the Grok account, "We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved."

Not to say it is ok, but what also needs to be know is the user deliberately prompted Grok for a controversial statement, and it delivered.

Per Elon, "Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."

■ DOGE:

Estimated Savings: $190 Billion

Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $1,180.12

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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