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
News
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.
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:
- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
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.
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:
🚨 Tesla is quietly upgrading Matrix headlights.
Software https://t.co/pXEklQiXSq reveals a hidden feature:
matrix_two_stage_reflection_dip
This is a major step beyond current adaptive high beams.
What it means:
• The car detects highly reflective objects
Road signs,… pic.twitter.com/m5UpQJFA2n— BERKANT (@Tesla_NL_TR) February 24, 2026
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.
Elon Musk
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.
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.
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.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Elon Musk has pushed back on claims that Starlink’s recent price reductions are tied to Amazon’s Kuiper project.
In a post on X, Musk responded directly to a report suggesting that Starlink was cutting prices and offering free hardware to partners ahead of a planned IPO and increased competition from Kuiper.
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “The lower the cost, the more Starlink can be used by people who don’t have much money, especially in the developing world.”
The speculation originated from a post summarizing a report from The Information, which ran with the headline “SpaceX’s Starlink Makes Land Grab as Amazon Threat Looms.” The report stated that SpaceX is aggressively cutting prices and giving free hardware to distribution partners, which was interpreted as a reaction to Amazon’s Kuiper’s upcoming rollout and possible IPO.
In a way, Musk’s comments could be quite accurate considering Starlink’s current scale. The constellation currently has more than 9,700 satellites in operation today, making it by far the largest satellite broadband network in operation. It has also managed to grow its user base to 10 million active customers across more than 150 countries worldwide.
Amazon’s Kuiper, by comparison, has launched approximately 211 satellites to date, as per data from SatelliteMap.Space, some of which were launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Starlink surpassed that number in early January 2020, during the early buildout of its first-generation network.
Lower pricing also aligns with Starlink’s broader expansion strategy. SpaceX continues to deploy satellites at a rapid pace using Falcon 9, and future launches aboard Starship are expected to significantly accelerate the constellation’s growth. A larger network improves capacity and global coverage, which can support a broader customer base.
In that context, price reductions can be viewed as a way to match expanding supply with growing demand. Musk’s companies have historically used aggressive pricing strategies to drive adoption at scale, particularly when vertical integration allows costs to decline over time.


