Ukraine says its Starlink military links are back to full speed, and NASA shows a Starship Moon plan that needs less fuel.

A day earlier, President Zelensky said the limits were still in effect. Nobody has publicly said who set the cap or who lifted it, and Senator Richard Blumenthal opened an inquiry on Oct 23 into how the limits were set. Separately, on Oct 22 Ukraine's Defense Ministry signed a letter of intent with Nokia and ICEYE to explore its own government-run satellite network. ICEYE says that is not an order, and the first satellite is planned for 2028. What it means: Starlink keeps a key customer for now, but more governments are paying to build alternatives.

That matters because the number of refueling launches is the big open question for the lander: NASA's safety panel heard about 22 on Oct 22, while Musk has said 6 to 8. NASA also showed the first photos of "Cabin 1," the crew cabin SpaceX is building, and SpaceX added two cabin demos to its contract. A SpaceX milestone chart shown with the update lists a ship-to-ship fuel transfer test in Q1 2027 and an uncrewed Moon landing late in 2027 (TeslaNorth). Artemis III in 2027 becomes a docking test in Earth orbit with a test Starship; the crew will not go inside it. NASA has not yet picked which lander flies the first 2028 landing.

The money would sit in a special purpose vehicle (a separate company set up to hold the chips and the debt), which keeps it off SpaceX's own books and protects its investment-grade credit rating. Goldman Sachs leads talks with a group of investors headed by Apollo, and Pimco is weighing whether to join. Earlier talk put the riskiest slice, $25B to $30B, at a yield in the mid-8% range. Still unknown: the final rate and whether the deal closes on time. A higher rate means more of the chip rental income goes to interest.

Tesla has not announced either change. Late rides are "limited to nearby dropoffs," and some track venues showed as "Service blocked." Separately, Texas DMV records checked on Oct 23 list 927 vehicles under Tesla's Robotaxi business, 420 Cybercabs and 507 Model Ys, up from 803 a week earlier (Cybercab Collective). That is a registration list, not a count of cars carrying riders, and Tesla still does not publish ride counts.

The plant is ramping toward 7,500 a week from October, a target set in June along with 1,000 new hires. At 7,000 a week, that is roughly 364,000 cars a year if it holds; Tesla did not say how long it will. More output in Europe matters because sales there have been the weak spot. Also this week: Tesla cancelled Cybertruck reservations in Australia and New Zealand, ending plans for a right-hand-drive version, and is refunding deposits (Electrek, Oct 23).

Space.com notes Falcon 9 no longer flies Starlink missions from Florida, and Falcon 9 is on pace for just under 150 launches this year, down from 165 in 2025. The bigger V3 Starlink satellites only fit on Starship, so adding network capacity now leans on Starship flying often. The network has more than 11,000 active satellites. The booster flew for the 36th time.

He described the planned building as 100 million square feet. These are a lawmaker's figures, not a company filing, and Tesla and SpaceX have not said how they will split the cost. Musk's own targets are a first test chip around mid-2027 and volume production around Q3 2028.