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elon musk

Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo invests in SpaceX

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 […]

October 9, 2023By Chris Forrester

Starlink readies ‘Direct-to-Cellular’

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 […]

October 3, 2023By Chris Forrester

Starlink invited to cover Turkey

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 […]

October 2, 2023By Chris Forrester

Starlink exceeds 2m customers

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 […]

September 25, 2023By Chris Forrester

Are LEO operators risking too much?

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 […]

September 20, 2023

SpaceX to launch Starship in October?

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 […]

September 19, 2023

FAA to Musk: “Starship must first be fixed”

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 […]

September 11, 2023

SpaceX breaks 2022 launch record

SpaceX has passed its 2022 record of 61 launches of its Falcon 9 rockets. September 3rd saw that record easily broken and another flight added to the 57 Falcon 9’s launched, plus three Falcon ‘Heavy’ rockets and one Starship during the year to date. SpaceX lofted its 62nd mission this year on September 3rd (at […]

September 5, 2023

SpaceX profitable in Q1

A set of preliminary accounts for SpaceX shows that “soaring revenues” helped Elon Musk’s rocket and broadband company to a modest profit in Q1 2023, according to the WSJ. The report says SpaceX achieved $55 million (€50.6m) in profits on $1.5 billion of revenues in Q1. Over the previous two years, SpaceX has invested huge […]

August 18, 2023By Chris Forrester

Azerbaijan minister meets Musk

Azerbaijani Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, has met with Elon Musk at the Tesla Giga factory in Austin, Texas. The two discussed the opening up of Azerbaijan for Starlink broadband equipment as well as launches of Azerbaijani satellites on SpaceX rockets. On May 9th Azercosmos announced that it has entered into an […]

August 14, 2023By Chris Forrester