The Satellite internet unit of SpaceX, Starlink, aspires to provide continuous global coverage by September this year. Starlink currently offers beta services in 11 countries. US Communications Commission approved the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites at a lower earth orbit. According to CEO Elon Musk, the company had received more than 500,000 preorders. Starlink is planning to deploy 12000 satellites which will cost 10 bn dollars.
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A large number of widely followed crypto-related social media accounts were blocked by the China government on Weibo, a Twitter-like local micro-blogging platform, over the weekend. The crackdown comes as China’s central bank is ramping up the testing of its own digital currency. The Chinese government wants no version of Elon Musk in the Chinese crypto market. China’s Xinhua news agency recently exposed a series of crypto-scams.
Tesla’s Model 3 or Model Y cars will be monitored by in-car cameras when in autopilot mode. The new feature was added with a new software update, which gives the user an option to share the data or store it locally. Elon Musk, in a tweet, said that radars were not being used, instead, in-built cameras will keep track when on autopilot. There is much speculation regarding driver safety around in-car cameras as Tesla has lost its “Top-Pick” status from consumer reports.
On Sunday Bitcoin faced another huge sell-off that caused it to fall 13% and overall by almost 50% since hitting the peak in April this year. Ether also faced a tough time as it dropped by 17% on the day. The Crypto market has taken a hit since Elon Musk’s tweets on Tesla not accepting cryptocurrencies as payments. Recently China imposed a ban on banks and financial firms on providing crypto-related services which further affected the crypto-market.
Bitcoin, following Elon Musk’s tweet, rallied from a three-month low in a session that went back and forth. Musk, however, clarified speculations and said Tesla has not sold any bitcoins. On Monday bitcoin dropped almost 9% but rallied back to more than 5%. Ether dropped to $3,123.94 and dogecoin dropped nearly 7%. Ever since Musk tweeted about Tesla not accepting payments in bitcoins for cars, bitcoin has dropped by almost a quarter.
Google won the deal of providing cloud computing services to Elon Musk owned SpaceX, which recently launched 60 satellites to give high-speed internet. Ground stations of SpaceX will be set up in Google data centers to connect Starlink satellite. The low latency high-speed internet service is expected to start in the H2 of 2021. Musk hopes that these hundreds of internet-providing satellites will generate enough revenue to support SpaceX’s interplanetary goals.
Elon Musk has taken a step back on his stance on bitcoin and halted payments of cars via bitcoins. Tesla is concerned about the use of fossil fuels for mining bitcoins that have a disastrous effect on the environment. Following the tweet by Musk, bitcoin fell more than 4%. Tesla, in this quarter, spent $1.5bn on bitcoin and then cut its position by 10%. The sale made a $101mn positive impact on the company’s profit during the period.
Tesla, later this year, will launch a platform to allow customers in China to access the data generated by their cars. This has never happened before in China which is the world’s largest car market and highly controlled market, Data collected from Tesla electric cars, via multiple sensors installed in the vehicle in form of pictures and videos, is stored locally in the country. Tesla makes Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility cars in China.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite high-speed internet service has received over 500,000 preorders and sees no technical difficulty meeting the demand. Founder Elon Musk, in a Tweet, said “the only limitation is a high density of users in urban areas.” The new launch date of the service is yet to be announced. The commercial Starlink services were supposed to start in 2020. SpaceX plans to deploy 12,000 satellites at the cost of roughly $10 bn to enter into the competitive space.