Tesla FSD Hits 100 Million km in Europe; SpaceX Announces Second Starbase in Louisiana

This is an important indicator that Tesla has been presenting stable autonomous driving technology from the early stages of entering the European market and is rapidly expanding its user base.

In the Netherlands alone, it passed 10 million km in less than a month, and by late May the European total exceeded 20 million km. It reached 50 million km on July 14 and 65 million km at the end of July, maintaining steady growth.

From the mid-July milestone of 50 million km to 100 million km took about 43 days, indicating that the number of FSD users continues to grow. This rapid pace is viewed as a positive sign of FSD technology adoption and spread in the European market.

Tesla highlighted FSD's reliability by releasing safety data for supervised FSD. An accident-rate analysis at the 65 million km mark in late July found that supervised FSD is overall 5.2 times safer than manual driving. This improves on the 3.5x figure reported in earlier data, reflecting continued development and stabilization of the technology.

In particular, highway driving has covered 41.9 million km without an accident, demonstrating FSD's exceptional stability. These data suggest FSD can significantly improve driver safety in real road conditions beyond being a simple convenience feature.

The safety data for supervised FSD is serving as strong evidence for additional approvals from European regulators. In France, 195,000 km of test driving has already been completed without an accident, proving the technology's reliability. Other European countries are also actively testing FSD, which helps refine the technology by learning Europe's complex road environments.

These data and test results are expected to serve as an important foundation for expanding FSD across Europe and ultimately introducing fully autonomous driving. Regulators in each country will review the accumulated data closely to decide whether to expand its application.

The five European countries where FSD is currently deployed have limited market size, so expansion into larger markets is essential. If FSD is introduced in major markets such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, the pace of cumulative mileage growth is expected to accelerate beyond comparison. Germany alone has over 83 million people, and its number of Tesla vehicles far exceeds the combined total of the five countries where FSD currently operates.

In addition, the large cities and densely developed highway networks in these countries will significantly increase the average daily driving distance of FSD vehicles. The entry of these large markets is expected to have a decisive ripple effect on the global spread of FSD technology, helping Tesla further consolidate its FSD infrastructure worldwide.

SpaceX has officially announced plans to build a large-scale launch base on the southern coast of Louisiana. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced that the facility will be named "Starbase Louisiana" and will be built on roughly 125,000 acres of coastal wetland in the Pecan Island area of Vermilion Parish.

The project, with an expected total investment of $100 billion, is an important step toward dramatically expanding SpaceX's spaceship launch capacity.

SpaceX is widely regarded as having reached world-class rocket manufacturing capability. However, it emphasizes that beyond building rockets, it is important to establish systems for effective launch and to maximize the efficiency of operating rockets in volume.

This shows SpaceX's strategy to position itself not merely as a manufacturer but as a company providing comprehensive solutions for space transportation. Its ultimate goal is to improve access to space through stable, repeatable launch systems.

The area is on the coast, where low population density along launch paths makes safety easier to secure, and it also offers convenient access to fuel supplies needed for Starship launches. Elon Musk remarked, "There are very few places on Earth where this can be done, and Louisiana is the perfect candidate."

This suggests that the region is one of the few that meets the strict site requirements for building a large-scale launch base. Louisiana's location is expected to play a key role in realizing SpaceX's ambitious space development plans.

One of SpaceX's ultimate goals is to make humanity a multiplanetary species. To achieve this, beyond simple space tourism, large-scale transport capacity to build a self-sustaining civilization on Mars is essential. Elon Musk stressed, "If you want to go out and make life multiplanetary, and you're not just a tourist, you need serious mass."

Starbase Louisiana is expected to become a key infrastructure for securing this large-scale transport capacity. Through mass Starship launches, it will become possible to deliver the necessary supplies and personnel to Mars.

The Starbase Louisiana project is also expected to contribute significantly to regional economic growth and job creation. SpaceX aims to create about 10,000 new jobs and plans to leverage Louisiana's skilled workforce built on its energy industry. Elon Musk said, "We will bring 10,000 really exciting jobs to Louisiana."

This is expected not only to generate positive economic ripple effects for the community but also to offer local residents growth opportunities in a new industrial sector.

SpaceX's workforce composition differs somewhat from a typical advanced technology company. Technical workers account for a larger share than engineers, and it places particular emphasis on the value of skilled on-site workers such as welders and tube benders. Elon Musk noted, "Actually, the most common jobs at SpaceX are technicians, welders, or tube benders."

This shows that SpaceX values on-site technical skill and practical work capability in actual rocket manufacturing and launch operations. It suggests that skilled technical personnel play a central role in building and operating complex, sophisticated spaceships.

At Starbase Texas, local hiring is so high that residents of the Rio Grande Valley make up 70% of the workforce. This strategy aims to pursue shared growth with the local community and make a substantive contribution to the regional economy.

A similar local hiring model in Louisiana is expected to offer new employment opportunities to local residents and establish a space base model that coexists with the community.

SpaceX also plans to focus on environmental protection, taking into account harmony with the wildlife refuge in the coastal wetland area where the launch base will be built. It shows a commitment to minimizing the impact on the natural environment during construction and operation and to pursue space development in a sustainable way.

The project is expected to bring over $100 million in local investment and create 10,000 research and related jobs.

This shows SpaceX's long-term plan to greatly expand space transportation, with Louisiana as a key hub, and a strong commitment to realizing its grand goal of making humanity a multiplanetary species.

Made possible through Starlink Wi-Fi, it demonstrates that high-bandwidth, low-latency internet service was successfully delivered in the cabin.

United Airlines plans to equip about 1,000 aircraft with Starlink Wi-Fi by the end of this year and to offer free service to MileagePlus members. This is expected to transform the passenger experience by providing seamless, high-quality internet during air travel.

The reason Starlink enabled a real-time fantasy football draft at 35,000 feet is that it demonstrated stability and speed nearly impossible with conventional in-flight Wi-Fi. Starlink significantly reduced latency and increased bandwidth, enabling smooth real-time communication with ground studios.

In the past, unstable in-flight internet meant activities requiring real-time interaction, such as fantasy football drafts, had to rely on automatic drafts. Thanks to Starlink, passengers can now participate directly in games even during flight, a significant advance in aviation communications technology.

Beyond innovating in-flight communications, Starlink is proving its utility in a range of extreme environments and industries. Researchers chasing unpredictable natural phenomena such as tornadoes and auroras use Starlink for live broadcasts and to transmit critical data. Starlink is also being introduced into real-time control systems for agricultural machinery to support efficient farming through precision agriculture.

Antarctic research vessels and remote schools are also receiving high-speed internet via Starlink, extending digital access to areas that had struggled with limited communications infrastructure. This shows Starlink is becoming essential infrastructure across many areas of society, beyond a personal internet service.

It is establishing itself as the fastest means of restoring connectivity in disaster situations where terrestrial networks have completely collapsed. It has signed a disaster response agreement with the U.S. Department of State, and several cases have been reported of Starlink quickly restoring emergency communications in areas hit by major disasters such as earthquakes and floods, including Venezuela, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

This demonstrates that Starlink can play a key role in minimizing disaster damage and supporting relief efforts by providing stable, immediate internet connectivity in areas where existing communications infrastructure is weak or destroyed. Starlink's capabilities are opening new frontiers in disaster management and humanitarian assistance worldwide.