Skip to main content

Tesla’s referral program lets owners send laser-etched photos into space

Being a Tesla owner certainly has its perks. There’s the fact that your car isn’t reliant on fossil fuels to get around, the fact that you get to drive an incredibly cool car that can go 0 to 60 mph in a matter of seconds, and then there’s the latest one: The option to fire a laser-etched photograph deep into outer space.

The ability to send any image into orbit is an honor being bestowed on Tesla owners who refer one other person to the company’s cars before December 10 through the company’s referral program. Tesla owners just have to provide a referral code to their friends and family, which can earn them a variety of rewards when those folks go on to purchase a Model S, Model X, Model 3 or solar products.

The reward in question, titled “Launch Your Photo into Deep Space Orbit,” is, well, exactly as it sounds. Tesla owners with one qualifying referral can claim the perk, which allows them to select a photo of their choice to be laser-etched and fired off into deep space orbit. Photos can be uploaded via the Tesla mobile app, and the company will take care of the rest, including launching it into the great unknown — a task that presumably will be handled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s other company, SpaceX. They just have to pick a photo before the December deadline.

Also included in the latest round of referral rewards for Tesla owners is a $100 Supercharging Credit (a replacement for the Free Unlimited Supercharging perk, which has been retired and was only available for the Model 3 with the Performance trim package, per Teslarati). The more limited charging credit now applies to all Model S, X, and 3 vehicles.

Tesla loyalists with four qualifying referrals can also score a perk that gives them priority for software updates. Once they have reached that perk level, their car will automatically be first in line to get over-the-air updates as they become available. If they own more than one Tesla, all of their vehicles will be given the priority position when it comes to software upgrades.

Editors' Recommendations

AJ Dellinger
AJ Dellinger is a freelance reporter from Madison, Wisconsin with an affinity for all things tech. He has been published by…
How to watch SpaceX launch mighty Falcon Heavy on Friday
Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines.

ViaSat-3 Americas Mission

SpaceX is making final preparations for today's launch of the Falcon Heavy, one of the most powerful rockets in operation.

Read more
SpaceX’s Starship launch sparked a fire in a Texas state park
SpaceX's Starship launching from Boca Chica, Texas, in April 2023.

SpaceX successfully launched the most powerful rocket ever developed on Thursday, April 20, but just a few minutes after clearing the pad in Boca Chica, Texas, the 120-meter-tall Starship vehicle tumbled out of control and exploded in midair.

Despite the fiery end, the commercial spaceflight company led by Elon Musk described the maiden test mission as a success, giving the team plenty of data to work with so that it can improve the rocket’s design before attempting a complete flight that would see the upper stage of the vehicle reach orbit for the first time.

Read more
Will SpaceX’s failed Starship flight impact NASA’s moon plan?
Artist concept of the SpaceX Starship on the surface of the Moon.

SpaceX’s Starship vehicle suffered what the spaceflight company called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” on Thursday. In other words, it blew up.

The good news is that the uncrewed rocket cleared the pad and flew for around four minutes before meeting its fiery end. It means the SpaceX team will have plenty of valuable data on the rocket's flight performance, enabling it to refine the rocket’s systems to give it an improved chance of completing the second test flight and sending the Starship to orbit.

Read more