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SpaceX wins FCC approval to connect Starlink satellites to moving vehicles

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Eleven months after SpaceX submitted several applications, the FCC has given the company permission to connect moving vehicles to its constellation of Starlink internet satellites.

The license means that all United States Starlink users will now be able to legally receive internet service from their Starlink user terminals (dishes) while in motion on any land, sea, or air-based vehicle. For the many consumer and enterprise customers already experimenting with mobile Starlink service or at least using SpaceX’s new RV roaming service, the ability to use Starlink in motion should add even more potential use-cases and benefits and generally expand the service’s viability and competitiveness

Because Starlink’s performance – even when struggling – beats virtually all other satellite internet providers, the addition of in-motion use removes one of very few remaining reasons to continue using other service providers. While that applies more to enterprise and commercial users than individuals, it still means that other satcom providers will have even fewer legs to stand on as they attempt to defend against competition from Starlink.

Major prospective customers that are likely to take advantage of this FCC ruling include airlines and cruise providers, as well as individual Americans who want to improve internet connectivity aboard private aircraft, boats, recreation vehicles, and more. In fact, SpaceX has already signed agreements with flight charter provider JSX and Hawaiian Airlines, as well as cruise provider Royal Caribbean, which has already begun testing the service on at least one active cruise ship.

For flights, cruises, and all other vehicles traveling outside the range of SpaceX’s growing selection of ground stations, Starlink V1.5 satellites will need to create their own space-based network with onboard laser links, allowing communications to be routed through other satellites to ground stations – and thus the rest of the internet – located hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The FCC will have to improve a yet another license application before SpaceX can flip that particular switch.

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SpaceX currently has more than 2400 working Starlink satellites in orbit, almost 2000 of which are likely operational and serving around half a million existing customers. 919 of those satellites are new V1.5 variants with laser links, and around 400 of those V1.5 satellites are still making their way to operational orbits.

The same FCC decision also authorized Kepler Communications to begin connecting moving vehicles to its much smaller satellite constellation.

The FCC authorization can be read in full here. [PDF]

Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla stock gets another analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like it

“Tesla is morphing right now. It’s in transition from being a car company to being a technology company.”

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Credit: CNBC Television/YouTube

Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) got its latest analysis from Jim Cramer, and investors will like what he has to say.

Cramer has flip-flopped his thoughts on Tesla shares many times over the years. One time, he said CEO Elon Musk was a genius; the next, he said Ford stock was a better play. He’s always changing his tune.

However, Cramer’s most recent analysis is of a bullish tone, as he talks about the company’s evolution from an automaker to a tech powerhouse. He made the comments on CNBC’s Mad Money:

“Tesla is morphing right now. It’s in transition from being a car company to being a technology company. You wanna be in there because the tech is worth a lot more than what it’s selling for right now. Don’t care where you bought it, care where it’s going to.”

Tesla has always been looked at by the mainstream media as an automaker. While that is its main business currently, Tesla has always had other divisions: Energy, Solar, Charging, AI, and Robotics. Some came after others, but the important point is that Tesla has not been an automaker exclusively for a decade.

It launched Powerwall and Powerpack in April 2015, marking the start of Tesla Energy.

But Cramer has a point here: Tesla is truly becoming much more than a car company, and it is turning into an AI and overall tech company more than ever before. Eventually, it will be recognized as such, more so than it will be as an automotive company.

Cramer’s comments also follow a recent prediction by Musk, who stated on X that he believes a $150,000 investment in Tesla shares right now would eventually turn someone into a millionaire:

Musk has said he believes Tesla could be headed to a serious increase in valuation. Eventually, it could become the most valuable company in the world. He said this during the Q2 Earnings Call:

“I do think if Tesla continues to execute well with vehicle autonomy and humanoid robot autonomy, it will be the most valuable company in the world. A lot of execution between here and there. It doesn’t just happen. Provided we execute very well, I think Tesla has a shot at being the most valuable company in the world. Obviously, I am extremely optimistic about the future of the company.”

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Elon Musk teases crazy new Tesla FSD model: here’s when it’s coming

Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to tease some big improvements to Full Self-Driving.

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Credit: Arash Malek/X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased a crazy new model of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite that could be a major improvement over current models.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has seen increases in performance over the past few years, with the latest versions being the most robust in company history. There is also an unreleased version, which is operating in the Robotaxi platform in Austin, which does not require supervision from the driver.

The Austin Robotaxi program does use a Safety Monitor who sits in the passenger’s seat.

However, Musk has been teasing improvements to the public version for some time. The CEO said that the new model, which is currently being trained, has roughly ten times the parameters of what is out there now.

He said something similar during the company’s Q2 Earnings Call in July:

“On the full self-driving front, we continue to make significant improvements just with the software. We are expecting to increase the parameter count to what we think can probably tenfold the parameter count. This is a tricky thing to do because as you increase the parameter count, you get to choke on memory bandwidth. But we currently think we can tenfold the parameter count from what people are currently experiencing.”

He reaffirmed these thoughts last night in a post on the social media platform X. Musk believes the version could be released at the end of next month if testing goes smoothly:

Increasing parameters will help improve the capabilities of the FSD suite, but as Musk mentioned during the Q2 Earnings dialogue, an increase in parameters can limit memory bandwidth.

Increasing the parameters could lead to unsupervised FSD, or even an expansion of the suite into other regions across the world. Tesla has been hoping to expand into Europe, Asia, and other areas, but regulatory hurdles are the real bottleneck, not FSD’s capability.

Even still, getting more data will make FSD safer and more robust, increasing its usefulness in real-world scenarios and helping Tesla get to a point where autonomous travel is within reach.

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Tesla gives Cybertruck clever new towing feature that increases safety

Tesla is making towing upgrades to Cybertruck through a new update.

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Credit: Greg Coleman

Tesla has given the Cybertruck a great new towing feature that will not only increase safety but could help avert damage and help with longevity.

While Tesla has boasted some impressive examples of towing with its vehicle lineup, until the Cybertruck was released in late 2023, the company did not have a car or pickup that was overly capable.

Tesla Cybertruck towing goes on display in new sighting

Its Dual Motor and Tri Motor All-Wheel-Drive configurations have 11,000 pounds of payload capacity. There are times when owners might push the limit, and previously, there was no true way that the vehicle would advise the owner that it was coming close to, or potentially exceeding, the capacity.

In a new update for the pickup, Tesla has added a new feature that will help identify when this is happening.

According to Not a Tesla App, Tesla, in software update 2025.26, added an undocumented feature that is referred to as the “Smart Warning System.” This will detect an overloaded rear axle and will provide a warning to the driver to prevent damage:

“Rear axle load exceeds recommended limit. Remove cargo or rebalance trailer to prevent damage.”

These two suggestions will help advise owners to take one of two solutions: they can either remove weight or rebalance their load to prevent damage.

Tesla hasn’t yet revealed how the vehicle can recognize this, but it likely uses its air suspension data to recognize the additional stress placed on the rear axle.

This is one distinct advantage that vehicles with software updates have over ones without the ability to get better through OTA downloads. These features are added through an internet connection and downloaded to the vehicle.

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