Musk Details In-House Terafab Plans as Starlink Fleet Shrinks to 11,137
Elon Musk said Tesla and SpaceX will build and operate the Terafab chip facility in Texas themselves, with TSMC limited to a possible sublease. SpaceX's Starlink constellation has 12,988 satellites launched, 11,137 in orbit, and 11,123 operational. The report also notes several upcoming Starlink close approaches and five reentry predictions, while cautioning that two high-probability conjunctions appear suspect.
Musk’s Oct. 7 statement clarified that Tesla and SpaceX intend to own and operate the Texas Terafab chip plant, leaving TSMC only a possible sublease role. This followed Oct. 2 reporting that TSMC might help run it and Musk’s Oct. 3 description of talks as discussions that might yield something. Terafab was announced in March as a Tesla, SpaceX and xAI joint effort, aimed at meeting AI chip demand; Tesla currently designs AI chips but contracts TSMC and Samsung to make them.
Starlink’s catalog lists 12,988 launched, 11,137 in orbit and 11,123 operational, a drop of 19 in orbit after reentries. Seven Starlink close approaches appear on SOCRATES’ top-probability list, none high risk; two have suspect upstream figures. Five Starlink reentry predictions are active. Musk is also set to receive the National Medal of Science Thursday.
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