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Elon Musk Unveils Hyperloop Plans
Like a giant silver bullet shot from a gun at up to 800 miles per hour, Elon Musk unveils Hyperloop plans which promises to transport people (and cars) across California faster than bullet trains — and at a fraction of the cost.
Musk finally unveiled the official concept Monday afternoon
, to media hoopla worthy of the Segway’s introduction, after teasing the idea of a magnetically propelled something-or-other for the past year
Called Hyperloop, it would entail sleek pods that travel within low-pressure tubes that are nearly airless. The pods would hover on a cushion of air, floating above thin skis of a custom metal alloy; air sucked in from an intake in front of the pod would be compressed and ejected beneath to levitate it above the metal sleeve of its tube. Electromagnets would zap the craft forward at high speeds — some would say “ludicrous speed,” in the words of the classic film “Spaceballs.”
Sound crazy? That’s what Daryl Oster said as well.
“At first I thought, yeah, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of,” Oster, the CEO of California company ET3, told Fox Business.
He was talking of the general concept of magnetic levitation, yet that and Musk’s ideas are not all that far fetched after all. Indeed, Oster’s company is already hard at work making a similar concept work.
Mr. Oster, meet the competition.
Musk is the uber-brainy genius who invented PayPal, privatized outer space through SpaceX and finally made electric cars a commercial force through his company Tesla Motors. In a blog post at the car company’s website, he detailed the concept — after a long night spent dotting I’s and crossing T’s.
It was born from frustration at his state’s plan to build a bullet train that he called one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world.
“It would be great to have an alternative to flying or driving, but obviously only if it is actually better than flying or driving,” Musk wrote. The Hyperloop concept is that option, he said, a fifth mode of transportation after planes, trains and automobiles (and boats).
He detailed the concept for the Hyperloop in a PDF accompanying his blog post, which explores the entire concept, from concrete pylons to the solar panels that would power the system. He’s even pinned down the number of passengers per pod (28) and the estimated cost of a one-way ticket ($20 — not bad). Indeed, Musk envisions a system that would be somewhat self-sustaining.
“The Hyperloop can generate far in excess of the energy needed to operate,” he wrote, thanks to solar panels lining the top of the steel tube.
Oh, and one more thing: There’s no sonic boom with Hyperloop. According to “Businessweek,” which interviewed Musk ahead of his announcement, the pods could in theory travel at high speeds without breaking the sound barrier.
“The pod can go just below the speed of sound relative to the air,” Musk said.
After all the hype, however, Hyperloop is still just hot air. Musk has publicly stated that he is too busy to explore the concept himself, instead releasing the idea into the public domain to see what others will do with it. It’s up to Oster and others to turn the idea into reality.
And for his part, Oster believes “maglev” transportation is very much real.
“It’s literally space travel on Earth,” he said.
Elon Musk
SpaceX targets 150Mbps per user for upgraded Starlink Direct-to-Cell
If achieved, the 150Mbps goal would represent a significant jump from the current performance of Starlink Direct-to-Cell.
SpaceX is targeting peak download speeds of 150Mbps per user for its next-generation Direct-to-Cell Starlink service. The update was shared by SpaceX Spectrum & Regulatory Affairs Lead Udrivolf Pica during the International Telecommunication Union’s Space Connect conference.
“We are aiming at peak speeds of 150Mbps per user,” Pica said during the conference. “So something incredible if you think about the link budgets from space to the mobile phone.”
If achieved, the 150Mbps goal would represent a significant jump from the current performance of Starlink Direct-to-Cell.
Today, SpaceX’s cellular Starlink service, offered in partnership with T-Mobile under the T-Satellite brand, provides speeds of roughly 4Mbps per user. The service is designed primarily for texts, low-resolution video calls, and select apps in locations that traditionally have no cellular service.
By comparison, Ookla data shows median 5G download speeds of approximately 309Mbps for T-Mobile and 172Mbps for AT&T in the United States, as noted in a PCMag report. While 150Mbps would still trail the fastest terrestrial 5G networks, it would place satellite-to-phone broadband much closer to conventional carrier performance, even in remote areas.
Pica indicated that the upgraded system would support “video, voice, and data services, clearly,” moving beyond emergency connectivity and basic messaging use cases.
To reach that target, SpaceX plans to upgrade its existing Starlink Direct-to-Cell satellites and add significant new capacity. The company recently acquired access to radio spectrum from EchoStar, which Pica described as key to expanding throughput.
“More spectrum means a bigger pipeline, and this means that we can expand what we can do with partners. We can expand the quality of service. And again, we can do cellular broadband basically, cellular broadband use cases, like AI or daily connectivity needs,” he stated.
SpaceX has also requested regulatory approval to deploy 15,000 additional Direct-to-Cell satellites, beyond the roughly 650 currently supporting the system. The upgraded architecture is expected to begin rolling out in late 2027.
News
Tesla seeks approval to test FSD Supervised in new Swedish city
Tesla has applied to conduct local Full Self-Driving (Supervised) testing in the city of Jönköping, Sweden.
Tesla has applied to conduct local Full Self-Driving (Supervised) testing in the city of Jönköping, Sweden.
As per local outlet Jönköpings-Posten, Tesla has contacted the municipality with a request to begin FSD (Supervised) tests in the city. The company has already received approval to test its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software in several Swedish municipalities, as well as on the national road network.
Sofia Bennerstål, Tesla’s Head of Public Policy for Northern Europe, confirmed that an application has been submitted for FSD’s potential tests in Jönköping.
“I can confirm that we have submitted an application, but I cannot say much more about it,” Bennerstål told the news outlet. She also stated that Tesla is “satisfied with the tests” in the region so far.
The planned tests in Jönköping would involve a limited number of Tesla-owned vehicles. Trained Tesla safety drivers would remain behind the wheel and be prepared to intervene if necessary.
Tesla previously began testing in Nacka municipality after receiving local approval. At the time, the company stated that cooperation between authorities, municipalities, and industry enables technological progress and helps integrate future transport systems into real-world traffic conditions, as noted in an Allt Om Elbil report.
If approved, Jönköping would become the latest Swedish municipality to allow local Full Self-Driving (Supervised) testing.
Tesla’s Swedish testing program is part of the company’s efforts to validate its supervised autonomous driving software in everyday traffic environments. Municipal approvals allow Tesla to gather data in urban settings that include roundabouts, complex intersections, and mixed traffic conditions.
Sweden has become an increasingly active testing ground for Tesla’s driver-assistance software in Europe, with regulatory coordination between local authorities and national agencies enabling structured pilot programs.
Elon Musk
Microsoft partners with Starlink to expand rural internet access worldwide
The update was shared ahead of Mobile World Congress.
Microsoft has announced a new collaboration with Starlink as part of its expanding digital access strategy, following the company’s claim that it has extended internet connectivity coverage to more than 299 million people worldwide.
The update was shared ahead of Mobile World Congress, where Microsoft detailed how it surpassed its original goal of bringing internet access to 250 million people by the end of 2025.
In a blog post, Microsoft confirmed that it is now working with Starlink to expand connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach regions.
“Through our collaboration with Starlink, Microsoft is combining low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity with community-based deployment models and local ecosystem partnerships,” the company wrote.
The partnership is designed to complement Microsoft’s existing work with local internet providers and infrastructure companies across Africa, Latin America, and India, among other areas. Microsoft noted that traditional infrastructure alone cannot meet demand in some regions, making low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity an important addition.
Kenya was cited as an early example. Working with Starlink and local provider Mawingu Networks, Microsoft is supporting connectivity for 450 community hubs in rural and underserved areas. These hubs include farmer cooperatives, aggregation centers, and digital access facilities intended to support agricultural productivity and AI-enabled services.
Microsoft stated that 2.2 billion people globally remain offline, and that connectivity gaps risk widening as AI adoption accelerates.
Starlink’s expanding constellation, now numbering more than 9,700 satellites in orbit, provides near-global coverage, making it one of the few systems capable of delivering broadband to remote regions without relying on terrestrial infrastructure.
Starlink is expected to grow even more in the coming years as well, especially as SpaceX transitions its fleet to Starship, which is capable of carrying significantly larger payloads compared to its current workhorse, the Falcon 9.
SpaceX targets 150Mbps per user for upgraded Starlink Direct-to-Cell
Tesla seeks approval to test FSD Supervised in new Swedish city
