Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite system, Starlink, has achieved “cash-flow breakeven” according to a company statement. There are more than 5,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. Privately held, it is valued at some $150 billion (€140.9bn). While the claim is useful and anticipates the next ‘reveal’ of Starlinks global subscriber base (likely to be around 2.5 million ‘active […]

Elon Musk has said his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, will soon launch two premium subscription tiers. “Two new tiers of X Premium subscriptions launching soon. One is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads, and the other is more expensive, but has no ads,” Musk said in a post on […]

Starlink, Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite service, is still missing some major potential markets. A few days ago, news emerged that India could be close to granting Starlink permission to operate. But a new study suggests there’s still some way to go for Starlink. Data from analysts at Payload says that 2024 will see Starlink services start […]

Italian largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has announced that it intends to invest in Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket business. The bank is Italy’s largest. Intesa Sanpaolo said in a press release that the move is in line with the bank’s business plan for 2022-2025. In the plan, innovation represents one of the most important aspects of […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has licensed Elon Musk’s Starlink service to test a ‘Direct-to-device’ service. SpaceX will launch the first of a new batch of enabled satellites in December which when fully established will permit users to make calls via Starlink. Apple and Globalstar already have a similar service running, while Omnispace is planning […]

Last week it was India which said that it was about to grant permissions for Starlink to operate over the nation. Now Turkey says that Starlink can apply for licences. The news follows on from an in-person meeting that Elon Musk had with Turkey’s President Erdogan in New York on September 18th. Erdogan reportedly wants […]

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service has reported that it now has more than 2 million “active customers and counting” in over 60 countries – double the number from just nine months ago. Some observers have asked ‘what is an active customer?’ and questioned why Starlink doesn’t use the commonplace description of a paying ‘subscriber’. However, Starlink […]

Once upon a time there were many would-be alternative cellular carriers expecting to tap into the world’s seemingly insatiable demand for bandwidth. Names such as WorldCom, Global Crossing and Teledesic each raised billions, and flew too close to the sun during the so-called Tech Boom, and each ended in bankruptcy. The problem is that the […]

Second-guessing when Elon Musk’s massive Starship might launch is a challenge. The FAA set more than 60 modifications to the rocket before it would give permission to launch. There are potential problems from other US agencies, not least those involved in protecting the local environment at the Boca Chica launch site in South Texas. There […]

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has given SpaceX a list of 63 tasks that must be carried out before the new Starship rocket can be launched. Elon Musk has Tweeted that the rocket is ready for launch. On the upside, the FAA has closed its investigation as to what went wrong on the Starship’s first […]