News
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.
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.
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 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.
More SpaceX News
- SpaceX Shows Off Crew Dragon Capsule Hover Test
- SpaceX Delivers Jason-3 Satellite, Almost Sticks Falcon 9 Landing at Sea
- Watch as SpaceX Completes a Historic Rocket Landing
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.
“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”
I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy …
When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless. 🤷♂️
🦕 🦕
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2025
Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.
Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.
A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.
Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers
Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.
Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.
Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.
News
Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints
Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.
Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.
However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.
For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.
However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:
The naming change should have happened at once, instead of in 2 sequential steps. That was a big miss on our end. We do listen to the community and we do course-correct fast. The accelerated fix rolled out last night. The Tesla App is updated and most in-car touchscreens should…
— Max (@MdeZegher) November 20, 2025
The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.
Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.
Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.
News
Dutch regulator RDW confirms Tesla FSD February 2026 target
The regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.
The Dutch vehicle authority RDW responded to Tesla’s recent updates about its efforts to bring Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Europe, confirming that February 2026 remains the target month for Tesla to demonstrate regulatory compliance.
While acknowledging the tentative schedule with Tesla, the regulator emphasized that safety, not public pressure, will decide whether FSD receives authorization for use in Europe.
RDW confirms 2026 target, warns Feb 2026 timeline is not guaranteed
In its response, which was posted on its official website, the RDW clarified that it does not disclose details about ongoing manufacturer applications due to competitive sensitivity. However, the agency confirmed that both parties have agreed on a February 2026 window during which Tesla is expected to show that FSD (Supervised) can meet required safety and compliance standards. Whether Tesla can satisfy those conditions within the timeline “remains to be seen,” RDW added.
RDW also directly addressed Tesla’s social media request encouraging drivers to contact the regulator to express support. While thanking those who already reached out, RDW asked the public to stop contacting them, noting these messages burden customer-service resources and have no influence on the approval process.
“In the message on X, Tesla calls on Tesla drivers to thank the RDW and to express their enthusiasm about this planning to us by contacting us. We thank everyone who has already done so, and would like to ask everyone not to contact us about this. It takes up unnecessary time for our customer service. Moreover, this will have no influence on whether or not the planning is met,” the RDW wrote.
The RDW shares insights on EU approval requirements
The RDW further outlined how new technology enters the European market when no existing legislation directly covers it. Under EU Regulation 2018/858, a manufacturer may seek an exemption for unregulated features such as advanced driver assistance systems. The process requires a Member State, in this case the Netherlands, to submit a formal request to the European Commission on the manufacturer’s behalf.
Approval then moves to a committee vote. A majority in favor would grant EU-wide authorization, allowing the technology across all Member States. If the vote fails, the exemption is valid only within the Netherlands, and individual countries must decide whether to accept it independently.
Before any exemption request can be filed, Tesla must complete a comprehensive type-approval process with the RDW, including controlled on-road testing. Provided that FSD Supervised passes these regulatory evaluations, the exemption could be submitted for broader EU consideration.
