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SpaceX appeals FCC decision to reverse $885.5M Starlink subsidies SpaceX appeals FCC decision to reverse $885.5M Starlink subsidies

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SpaceX appeals FCC decision to reverse $885.5M Starlink subsidies

Credit: Starlink

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SpaceX appealed the Federal Communications Commission’s reversal of Starlink’s infrastructure award of $885.5 million. The appeal was filed electronically and hand-delivered to FCC Secretary Marlene Dortch.

In the executive summary, it said that the decision to exclude Starlink from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) was flawed in both matters of law and policy. According to the document,

“It fails legally because it contradicts the record—including SpaceX’s and Starlink’s proven capabilities—it contradicts the Commission’s stated rules for the program, and it rests on unsupported conjecture and outside-the-record information apparently cherry-picked from somewhere on the Internet.”

“Worse, it fails the RDOF’s very purpose: closing the digital divide. As the last few years have highlighted, it is critical to connect all Americans as quickly as possible, whether to enable kids to do their homework, empower parents to work from home, help doctors provide telehealth services, or assist first responders with emergency situations. The Bureau’s decision undermines this goal, leaving the very Americans that RDOF was supposed to connect stranded indefinitely on the wrong side of the digital divide.”

“This decision is so broken that it is hard not to see it as an improper attempt to undo the Commission’s earlier decision, made under the previous Administration, to permit satellite broadband service providers to participate in the RDOF program. The decision appears to have been rendered in service to a clear bias towards fiber, rather than a merits-based decision to actually connect unserved Americans. Commissioner Starks, in adopting the RDOF Order, correctly foresaw that “next-generation satellite broadband holds tremendous technological promise for addressing the digital divide and is led by strong American companies with a lengthy record of success.”

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“Rightly, he directed the Bureau to “evaluate those applications on their own merits.” But the Bureau inexplicably ignored this direction and instead applied far different standards to SpaceX’s application precisely because SpaceX proposes to use satellites.”

SpaceX also said that the Bureau’s decision to improperly misuse data outside the record to penalize it alone for its system’s current speeds was one of the many errors. Another error was that the Bureau ignored SpaceX’s “robust record evidence” of its proven ability to quickly expand and upgrade its network.

The Bureau failed to account for SpaceX’s transparent all-in pricing against the “opaque pricing—which disguises the true cost to consumers—common in the industry,” SpaceX said.

“The Bureau’s decision holds SpaceX to standards not adopted by the Commission for the RDOF program. Indeed, these are standards that no bidder could meet today. Changing the rules to undo a prior policy is grossly unfair after SpaceX has invested thousands of employee hours and millions of dollars preparing to meet its RDOF obligations on the reasonable assumption that the Bureau would apply the Commission’s rules in an even-handed manner.”

“Far more troubling, as no RDOF applicant offering fiber even bid in the majority of the territories SpaceX committed to serve through RDOF, the Bureau’s decision leaves the Commission with no plan to connect many unconnected Americans, undermining the very purpose of this program. The decision should not be allowed to stand, leaving the people in these rural areas across our country behind yet again.”

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Last month, FCC Commissioner, Brenden Carr, called out the agency for denying Starlink’s award. Along with a statement posted to Twitter, he tweeted that it would leave rural Americans “waiting on the wrong side of the digital divide.”

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firm

ISS said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

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tesla elon musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package, which was proposed by the company last month, has hit its first bit of adversity from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

Musk has called the firm “ISIS,” a play on its name relating it to the terrorist organization, in the past.

The pay package aims to lock in Musk to the CEO role at Tesla for the next decade, as it will only be paid in full if he is able to unlock each tranche based on company growth, which will reward shareholders.

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However, the sum is incredibly large and would give Musk the ability to become the first trillionaire in history, based on his holdings. This is precisely why ISS is advising shareholders to vote against the pay plan.

The group said that Musk’s pay package will lock him in, which is the goal of the Board, and it is especially important to do this because of his “track record and vision.”

However, it also said the size of the pay package will enable Musk to have access to “extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years,” and it will have an impact on future packages because it will “reduce the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

The release from ISS called the size of Musk’s pay package “astronomical” and said its design could continue to pay the CEO massive amounts of money for even partially achieving the goals. This could end up in potential dilution for existing investors.

If Musk were to reach all of the tranches, Tesla’s market cap could reach up to $8.5 trillion, which would make it the most valuable company in the world.

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Tesla has made its own attempts to woo shareholders into voting for the pay package, which it feels is crucial not only for retaining Musk but also for continuing to create value for shareholders.

Tesla launched an ad for Elon Musk’s pay package on Paramount+

Musk has also said he would like to have more ownership control of Tesla, so he would not have as much of an issue with who he calls “activist shareholders.”

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Tesla is adding an interesting feature to its centerscreen in a coming update

In a recent dissection of coding, Tesla hacker green noticed that the company is bringing in screenshare with Software Update 2025.38

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is adding an interesting feature to its center touchscreen in a coming update, according to a noted hacker.

In a recent dissection of coding, Tesla hacker green noticed that the company is bringing in screenshare with Software Update 2025.38. Details on the use case are slim, but he said the feature would export the car screen so it could be viewed remotely.

It would bring up a notification on the screen, along with a four-digit pin that would link the two together:

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As previously mentioned, the use case is unclear, but there are some ideas. One of which is for remote support, which is something Apple has used to help resolve issues with its products.

Support staff and employees routinely tap into customers’ screens to help resolve issues, so this could be a way Tesla could also use it.

This seems especially relevant with Robotaxi, as the screen might be a crucial part of resolving customer complaints when there is no employee in the car.

Additionally, it seems as if it will not be exclusive to those owners who have newer vehicles that utilize the AMD chip. Intel will get support with the new feature as well, according to what green has noticed in the coding.

Finally, it could also be used with all sorts of content creation, especially as Full Self-Driving videos and what the vehicle sees in Driver Visualization.

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As it is released, Tesla will likely release more information regarding what the screensharing mode will be used for.

For right now, many owners are wondering where it could actually work and what advantages it will offer for owners as well as the company itself.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver almost looked like it was AI-generated.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

SpaceX has shared a video of a remarkable feat achieved by Starship’s Super Heavy booster during its 11th flight test.

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver, which was captured on video, almost looked like it was AI-generated.

Super Heavy’s picture perfect hover

As could be seen in the video shared by SpaceX, Starship’s Super Heavy booster, which is nearly 400 feet tall, smoothly returned to Earth and hovered above the Gulf of America for a few seconds before it went for its soft water landing. The booster’s picture-perfect maneuver before splashing down all but capped a near-flawless mission for Starship, which is about to enter its V3 era with Flight 12.

The booster’s balance and stability were so perfect that some users on X joked that the whole thing looked AI-generated. Considering the size of Super Heavy, as well as the fact that the booster was returning from space, the hovering display all but showed that SpaceX is dead serious about keeping its dominant lead in the spaceflight sector.

Starship V2’s curtain call

As noted in a Space.com report, Flight Test 11 achieved every major goal SpaceX had set for the mission, including deploying Starlink mass simulators, relighting Raptor engines in space, and executing a stable reentry for both the Starship Upper Stage and the Super Heavy booster. The feat also marked the second time a Super Heavy booster has been reflown, a milestone in SpaceX’s quest to make the entire Starship system fully reusable.

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Starship’s V2 vehicle will now give way to the upgraded Starship V3, which is designed for faster turnaround and higher payload capacity. The Starship program is expected to pursue even more aggressive targets in the coming months as well, with Elon Musk stating on social media platform X that SpaceX will attempt a tower catch for Starship Upper Stage as early as spring 2026.

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