Big week, loud Saturday. Here's what you need to know before the coffee cools.
Tesla's Roadster did stunts, not just laps. At a Texas event on October 15, the prototype crawled up a curved ramp, hung upside down, then dropped out of the loop and landed on its wheels, cushioned by pressurised air. It later popped over five parked cars with what Tesla called a kick flip. Musk had promised the crowd it would see "some crazy stuff". A startup disputes the "first flying car" idea, which we covered in our Roadster flying-car story. Our look at the earnings week setup has more.
Washington has been asking Musk to flip Starlink switches for years. Reuters, citing six former senior US officials, reports that both the Biden and Trump administrations asked SpaceX to turn the service on or off in various countries. Under Biden, that meant cutting off Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Lebanon and switching on access in Iran and Ukraine. The requests had not been reported before. Why you care: SpaceX is Musk's company, and so is Tesla.
Ukraine's Starshield slowdown is the trigger. President Zelenskiy said last week that access to Starshield, the military version of Starlink, was intentionally limited, which hurt the performance of military drones. Reuters has reported that the throttle order came from inside the White House, and the administration has acknowledged a slowdown without saying who ordered it. Musk's own line this week: "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government".
The politics are getting sharp. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow said "unelected billionaires and private corporations" shouldn't decide US national security interests. Some European officials argue the continent needs its own military satellite network, since no short-term alternative exists. Ukraine says it just wants normal speeds back, because "the lives of our people depend on it".
Should a government be this dependent on the goodwill of one private company?
The WattsUpNext take: Elon Musk's companies now sit close to both car buyers and governments at war. Investors will want to know who answers when Washington calls.
That's wattsup, and here's wattsnext: Energy Department names helium a critical material for chipmaking
Since this story was published
Elon Musk confirmed that SpaceX restricted Starshield access because Ukraine used the system for offensive military operations and violated the service's terms, the New York Times reported on October 24. Ukraine confirmed that military Starshield speeds have been restored, according to reports on the same day.
Sources
- 1.How does Tesla’s Roadster fly? | Explained · The Hindu
- 2.Ukraine says military Starlink service restored after 10-day disruption · Investing.com
- 3.U.S. repeatedly asked Musk to restrict or expand Starlink access, Reuters says · Investing.com (citing Reuters)
- 4.Ukraine still unable to intercept Russian drones due to Starlink restrictions, Zelenskyy says · CBS News
- 5.Elon Musk Touts 'Flying Cars' as Video of Tesla Roadster Takes Off Online · Newsweek
Reported by the WattsUpNext desk from the sources linked below. Spot an error? Tell us at corrections@wattsupnext.com.
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