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SpaceX Receives Pentagon Help To Develop New Rocket Engine

SpaceX has been awarded a Pentagon contract for development of its next generation Raptor rocket engine, which is 6 times more powerful than the Merlin engine it uses now.

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SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch

The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a $33.7 million dollar contract awarded to SpaceX for the development of the Raptor rocket propulsion system prototype as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The Raptor engine burns a mixture of liquid methane and liquid oxygen, and designed to produce six times the thrust of the Merlin engines SpaceX recently used on its historic mission that saw its first stage rocket land itself back on earth from orbit. Here’s why that’s important to SpaceX.

Currently, virtually all large military satellites launches are done by the United Launch Alliance, a consortium made up of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. In 2013, ULA was awarded a $1.1 billion contract for multiple launches using Lockheed Martin’s Atlas V or Boeing’s Delta IV rockets. SpaceX wants a piece of that pie.

According to Motley Fool, both ULA rockets use RD-180 engines purchased from Russia’s Energomash, which is majority owned by the Russian government. After Russia’s 2014 actions in Crimea, the US slapped economic sanctions on it and Energomash. They in turn decided they would not sell any more rocket engines to ULA. The US Congress responded to that by prohibiting the US military from using any Russian rocket engines to launch its satellites.

But Houston, we have a problem. No rocket engines means no satellite launches. ULA placed its hopes on either Blue Origin or Aerojet Rocketdyne coming up with a new rocket engine to replace the RD-180 it can no longer buy from Energomash, but that process could take 3 or 4 years to complete.

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So Congress has relented somewhat. Buried in the more than 1,000 page appropriations bill approved just before Christmas, it gave ULA approval to buy a supply of RD-180s — just enough to keep it in the military launch business for the time being. But clearly, America needs American made rockets for its various space programs going forward.

SpaceX-Falcon-Heavy

“SpaceX Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two” [Source: SpaceX]

Enter SpaceX, which received authorization to bid for Pentagon business last year. The next generation Raptor engines will be used to power the upcoming Falcon 9 “heavy lift” and “super heavy lift” rockets. The more powerful Falcon 9 could be used in place of the traditional satellite launching vehicles from Lockheed and Boeing. That would open the door for lucrative government contracts to flow to SpaceX instead of ULA.

There is a lot of money up for grabs launching satellites for the military over next several years. SpaceX has been funding its Raptor engine program out of its own pocket up until now, but under terms of the new contract, the Pentagon will provide $1 in development funding for every $2 invested by SpaceX.

Lockheed and Boeing might be giving way to the Aerospace upstart. SpaceX, like every venture Elon Musk is involved with, will put every ounce of effort into getting to the finish line ahead of everyone else.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

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There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

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According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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