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

“What matters is solving the limiting factor…” – Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA ($308.27, -3.38%):

– Robotaxi is now available in the San Francisco Bay Area, extending from north of the Golden Gate Bridge to south of San Jose. Invites are going out via the Robotaxi app. The service currently features safety drivers due to pending regulatory approvals. H/T Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer).

According to Omar (@WholeMarsBlog), Tesla has expanded their Robotaxi fleet to 14 Model Ys, up from 11 .

– Arek Kuszaj, Tesla’s B2B Sales Operations Manager, organized a team scavenger hunt in Manchester to celebrate H1 2025 achievements, uniting the UK and Northern Ireland team. Using the new Tesla Model Y, three teams navigated six key city locations, completing creative challenges. The event fostered laughter, innovative thinking, and stronger team bonds, while offering hands-on experience with the Model Y.

– Tesla announced the following new Centers:

Doral Showroom, Service, and Delivery Center: 9950 NW 25th St, Doral, FL 33172
Cincinnati – Oakley Service Center: 5245 Ridge Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45213
Tesla Service Totowa: 545 US-46, Totowa, New Jersey 07512
Tesla Collision San Bernardino: 424 W Orange Show Rd, San Bernardino, California 92408

– In Western Australia, four grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, totaling 654 MW/2,595 MWh, have been awarded utility connections under the national Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), utilizing Tesla Megapacks. These projects include PGS Energy’s 324 MW Boddington Giga Battery, Atmos Renewables’ 100 MW Merredin Big Battery, Neoen’s 150 MW Muchea Big Battery, and Frontier Energy’s 80 MW Waroona Renewable Energy Project, all set to connect to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) grid by October 2027, supporting over 600,000 homes for four hours during peak load.

– Inside the Tesla PDI Center in Dubai. They use a Kärcher advanced cleaning machine. Pics by Morvine Quadras, Assistant Sales Manager at Alghanim Industries.

– Portugal has approved new Electric Mobility regulation. This aligns with EU standards and builds on Decree Law 39/2010. These regulations aim to boost sustainable mobility and position the country as a green energy leader. It simplifies the deployment of EV charging infrastructure, enabling Tesla to add 92 new Supercharger stalls across seven locations, including:

Fatima (+18 stalls & V4 upgrade of existing stalls)
Mealhada (+20 stalls & V4 upgrade of existing stalls)
Alcantarilha (+12 stalls & V4 upgrade of existing stalls)
Alcacer do Sal (+14 stalls & V4 upgrade of existing stalls)
Loulé (+8 stalls)
Castelo Branco (+8 stalls)
Matosinhos (+12 stall)

– This is Edgar Jackson, a Tesla Semi Endurance Fleet Driver. Yesterday was his 7th anniversary with Tesla. Initially a Production Driver for 5 years, delivering parts and Hazmat materials to Giga Nevada, he transitioned to the Endurance Fleet Driver role, contributing directly to the development of the Tesla Semi. With 32 years of professional truck driving experience, Edgar considers joining Tesla the best career decision he has ever made.

– Bayliss (@Future_Camping), “It is powered by the sun.”

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

Giga Texas: Brad Sloan, 31st of July, ’25.

Fremont Factory: MetGod, 31st of July, ’25. End of Line still has an area fenced off with periodic trailers and solar powered lights. Not sure what for. Testing of a covered Model Y. Lots of castings on site.

■ SPACEX:

– SpaceX has completed what appeared to be a single engine static fire of Starship 37! The first ever single Starship static fire on the OLM using the modified transport stand. Nice work SpaceX! Pics from NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight).

– Another beautiful day at Vandenberg… Today, launch 97 of Falcon 9 Starlink 13-4 took place from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This was the 27th flight for first stage booster B1071. It previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, Transporter-13, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, and 15 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. 19 Starlinks were deployed.

– NASA SpaceX Crew-11 making their way to Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, both from NASA, along with Kimiya Yui from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Oleg Platonov from Roscosmos. Wonderful pic John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos).

– Live, Laugh, Launch… The SpaceX Crew-11 Tesla Model X Transport Vehicles. Pics by Gavin Richmond (@tweetsiphotos). Follow Gavin and support his work!

– NASA SpaceX Crew-11 got all the way to T -1 minute and was scrubbed due to weather. Next attempt is tomorrow.

– Amazon announced their next Project Kuiper mission, KF-02, is NET August 7th. SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to deliver 24 Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit.

– SpaceX’s Bill Gerstenmaier confirmed that the Crew-11 mission will mark the final landing at Landing Zone-1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral, ending its role after hosting over 60 landings. Landing Zone-2 (LZ-2) will continue operations temporarily with no decommissioning timeline provided. Future Return To Launch Site (RTLS) landings for all operators must now return boosters to their originating pads, such as LC-39A or SLC-40, to streamline logistics and reduce turnaround time by up to 30%. H/T NSF’s Sawyer Rosenstein (@thenasaman).

– SpaceX fairing recovery vessel Bob returning to port with Fairings 152 and 188 from the Starlink 10-29 mission.

– Two former SpaceX employees, Yannick Varga and Derick Bursey, filed lawsuits against the company in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging they were wrongfully terminated in 2022 for raising safety concerns. Varga, a production coordinator, and Bursey, a manufacturing specialist, claim SpaceX retaliated against them for reporting unsafe working conditions, including inadequate training and pressure to bypass safety protocols. The lawsuits, supported by California’s Labor Code, seek unspecified damages for lost wages, emotional distress, and punitive damages.

– Today, Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy), Acting NASA Administrator, said he spoke with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell (@Gwynne_Shotwell) about Starship HLS. He said she guaranteed that Starship will be ready and on schedule for Artemis 3.

Starbase City Commission Meeting:

Regular Meeting: 20th of August, at 7:00 p.m. CT. Located at 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 2, Brownsville, TX 78521

Countdown to 180 (94 – Falcon 9, 0 – Falcon Heavy, and 3 – Starship):

Launch 98! Friday, 1st of August, at 11:43 a.m. ET, NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-11 will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This will be Crew Dragon Endeavour’s 6th flight. Booster B1094 will return to site and land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Launch 99! Monday, 4th of August, at 12:11 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-30 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.
Launch 100! Tuesday, 5th of August, at 1:00 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-4 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 Pacific Ocean.
Launch 101! Thursday, 7th of August, at 10:01 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-30 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 second of three SpaceX launches for Amazon’s Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation. 24 satellites will be on board.
Launch 102! Saturday, 9th of August, at 7:05 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-4 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 Pacific Ocean.
Launch ??! Flight 10 NET August 4th.

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■ THE BORING COMPANY:

– Pic from yesterday’s TBC Music City LOOP hiring event in Nashville, Tennessee. Lot’s of people showed up to learn about the project and meet the team. President Steve Davis was on hand.

– Today, the Tennessee State Building Commission approved the no-cost lease for The Boring Company to use state-owned parking lot 16 at 637 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., near the Tennessee State Capitol, as a staging site for the Music City Loop tunnel project. Democrat reps are reusing the Memphis playbook by saying no one was made aware of the project and the citizens were left in the dark.

■ NEURALINK:

– Neuralink has received approvals from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Health Research Authority (HRA) and Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW), and the London – Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee (REC) to launch GB-PRIME, their first clinical study in Great Britain. This is in partnership with the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and Newcastle Hospitals upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The study follows in suit with the PRIME-trial and continues to focus on restoring digital autonomy via their Telepathy brain-computer interface (BCI). They continue to focus on individuals with severe paralysis, targeting conditions like spinal cord injuries and ALS. Registry link in the SOURCES SECTION.

– Harith Akram, a consultant neurosurgeon at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and William Muirhead, a consultant neurologist at UCLH, are leading the GB-PRIME trial to evaluate the safety and functionality of Neuralink’s BCI, specifically the N1 implant and R1 surgical robot, for patients with conditions like Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, or spinal cord injuries. The trial will involve up to six participants over approximately six years to assess the device’s ability to translate brain signals into actions for controlling external devices.

■ STARLINK:

– Febri Pratiwi, Starlink Account Manager for PT Mega Akses Persada (FiberStar) in Jakarta, Indonesia, worked with a mining sector client who struggled with frustrating, intermittent internet connections that hindered real-time data access at their site. After adopting Starlink, the client experienced a significantly more stable connection, overcoming challenges in remote areas and enabling seamless, delay-free report submissions and monitoring.

– SpaceX received a unified license from India’s Department of Telecommunications to launch Starlink. Per Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, “Starlink has been granted a Unified License to launch satellite internet services in India. Frameworks for spectrum allocation and gateway establishment are ready, ensuring smooth rollout.” What this means is that SpaceX can now install the needed ground stations, Gateways. I can all but guarantee the ground antennas are already in India and most likely at the intended sites, or close to them. Their installation should be completed quickly.

– You can now set up Starlink direct billing to your bank account in the U.S.

Navigate to your Starlink account home page.
Select Billing from the tab on the far left.
Click on Edit under Payment Method on the far right of the screen.
Select Direct Debit and input your bank account details or link your bank account directly.

– Yesterday, Ontario has officially canceled the C$100 million ($68.12 million) contract with SpaceX’s Starlink to provide services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote communities. This was in retaliation to President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods. The decision, was confirmed by Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce. Premier Doug Ford threatened to do this in February.

■ X:

– Ying (Whitney) Han, Marketing Manager at X Korea, announced the launch of X’s digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising campaign across key locations in Seoul, managed entirely with in-house resources. Han expressed pride in the challenging yet rewarding project, shared a brand sizzle video, and encouraged viewers to like the video on the X platform to show support.

– Today, X Japan announced a dedicated Japanese deletion request portal complying with Japan’s “Information Distribution Platform Measures Act”. They created a specialized team for handling requests, and a 7-day response timeline for notifications via email. X Japan will emphasize adherence to X’s rules and policies to balance freedom of speech with platform safety.

■ xAI:

– xAI has decided to sign the EU AI Act’s Code of Practice on Safety and Security. Despite the Act’s innovation-stifling rules and copyright overreach. Per xAI, “While the AI Act and the Code have a portion that promotes AI safety, its other parts contain requirements that are profoundly detrimental to innovation and its copyright provisions are clearly over-reach.”

According to Dan Hendrycks (@DanHendrycks) of the Center for AI Safety Director and xAI advisor, xAI is signing the safety portion of the EU AI Act Code of Practice, not the other portions, including the copyright portion.

■ DOGE:

Estimated Savings: $199 Billion

Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $1,236.02

■ ELON NEWS: N/A…

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