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SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet was tested by the US Air Force and the results are in
SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell recently provided information about the company’s Starlink satellite internet constellation after a panel at the International Aeronautical Congress in Washington D.C. Shotwell spoke of a partnership with the U.S. military and just how far she believes Starlink is ahead of rival mega-constellation efforts.
While competitors are still developing very early prototypes and worrying about launch options, SpaceX has already launched 60 Starlink ‘v0.9’ satellite prototypes, 50 of which continue to successfully operate in low Earth orbit approximately half a year after launch. As part of a $29M contract awarded in late-2018, SpaceX is also working directly with the U.S. Air Force to test military applications of commercial space-based internet.
As previously reported by Teslarati, SpaceX was awarded a $29 million contract in December 2018 to collaborate with the U.S. Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office. Together, the organizations are testing potential military applications of Starlink satellite internet, as well as prospective constellations from other companies like Telesat.
From LEO to aircraft
The technical viability and utility of beaming high speed, low-latency broadband internet directly into the cockpits of military aircraft is being tested under a program called Global Lightning. SpaceX has engaged the initiative and was awarded $29M to pursue development and testing, far more than any other contract recipient. In October 2019, SpaceX and the USAF began publicly discussing the latest results of that effort to test Starlink’s capabilities in the realm of in-flight connectivity. As reported by SpaceNews, SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed that Starlink had successfully demonstrated a data link to the cockpit of a military aircraft with a bandwidth of 610 megabits per second (Mbps), equivalent to a gigabyte every ~13 seconds.
Following a previous speaking engagement on Oct. 15th at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, Shotwell and U.S. Army officials provided further insight regarding military applications of Starlink. Army officials spoke about the possibility of using Starlink satellite internet and other prospective constellations to support the military’s rapidly growing demand for high-speed communications.
During the panel with U.S. Army officials, Shotwell stated that “SpaceX is new to this forum and this service,” when addressing the possibilities that SpaceX could provide for the U.S. military. While working with the military is not a new concept to SpaceX, serving as a satellite communications provider would be unlike anything the company has yet attempted.
Up next, the USAF has plans to install Starlink terminals and test connectivity with an AC-130 gunship and a KC-135 tanker aircraft.
Falcon 9 to support frequent Starlink launches – customers and rocket reusability benefit
While Shotwell acknowledged the potential of a partnership with the US. military, she also noted that Starlink is first and foremost a commercial business meant to enhance the internet experience globally and nominally provide connectivity to anyone that wants it. She further noted that Starlink would remain an “additive to [SpaceX’s] business,” implying that it will not supersede SpaceX’s current launch service business.
Intriguingly, this is utterly counter to forecasts SpaceX has provided investors over the last several years, in which Starlink – if successful – would almost certainly come to produce one or two magnitudes more income than launch services ever could. Shotwell – speaking to a variety of US military (and Air Force) officials – may have wanted to avoid sending the message that SpaceX’s launch services business – crucial to the US military – might soon be absolutely dwarfed by Starlink revenue.
Previously hinted at by CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX hopes that revenue from Starlink will enable the company to independently fund the development and mass-production of its next-generation Starship launch vehicle, eventually enabling a permanent, large-scale human presence on Mars.
Currently, SpaceX’s Starlink plans involve several distinct phases, beginning with ~1500 satellites around 500km, another ~2900 around 1000 km, and an additional ~7500 in the 300-400 km range. Finally, SpaceX recently revealed even longer-term plans for Starlink that could involve launching up to 42,000 satellites, all in the name of expanding network coverage and bandwidth – pending, of course, consumer demand. To accomplish that feat, SpaceX will have to push rocket reusability to the absolute limits, beginning with Falcon 9 boosters and fairings and ultimately moving to Starship. According to Shotwell, “(SpaceX’s) intent is to use Starlink to push the capability of those boosters and see how many missions they can do.”
SpaceX’s next Starlink mission – also the company’s next mission and first launch in more than three months – will simultaneously attempt two new rocket reusability firsts, marking the first time that SpaceX has reused a Falcon payload fairing and the first time a single Falcon 9 booster has launched four times. Starlink-1 is scheduled to lift off no earlier than 9:55 am ET (14:55 UTC), November 11th.
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Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward.
With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers.
On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later:
🚨 Check out the change Tesla made to its Online Design Studio:
It now lists the Monthly Subscription as an option for Full Self-Driving
It also shows the outright purchase option as expiring on February 14 pic.twitter.com/pM6Svmyy8d
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively.
However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed.
The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000.
This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company.
Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.
News
Tesla Model S completes first ever FSD Cannonball Run with zero interventions
The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end with no interventions.
A Tesla Model S has completed the first-ever full Cannonball Run using Full Self-Driving (FSD), traveling from Los Angeles to New York with zero interventions. The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end, fulfilling a long-discussed benchmark for autonomy.
A full FSD Cannonball Run
As per a report from The Drive, a 2024 Tesla Model S with AI4 and FSD v14.2.2.3 completed the 3,081-mile trip from Redondo Beach in Los Angeles to midtown Manhattan in New York City. The drive was completed by Alex Roy, a former automotive journalist and investor, along with a small team of autonomy experts.
Roy said FSD handled all driving tasks for the entirety of the route, including highway cruising, lane changes, navigation, and adverse weather conditions. The trip took a total of 58 hours and 22 minutes at an average speed of 64 mph, and about 10 hours were spent charging the vehicle. In later comments, Roy noted that he and his team cleaned out the Model S’ cameras during their stops to keep FSD’s performance optimal.
History made
The historic trip was quite impressive, considering that the journey was in the middle of winter. This meant that FSD didn’t just deal with other cars on the road. The vehicle also had to handle extreme cold, snow, ice, slush, and rain.
As per Roy in a post on X, FSD performed so well during the trip that the journey would have been completed faster if the Model S did not have people onboard. “Elon Musk was right. Once an autonomous vehicle is mature, most human input is error. A comedy of human errors added hours and hundreds of miles, but FSD stunned us with its consistent and comfortable behavior,” Roy wrote in a post on X.
Roy’s comments are quite notable as he has previously attempted Cannonball Runs using FSD on December 2024 and February 2025. Neither were zero intervention drives.
Elon Musk
Tesla removes Autopilot as standard, receives criticism online
The move leaves only Traffic Aware Cruise Control as standard equipment on new Tesla orders.
Tesla removed its basic Autopilot package as a standard feature in the United States. The move leaves only Traffic Aware Cruise Control as standard equipment on new Tesla orders, and shifts the company’s strategy towards paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
Tesla removes Autopilot
As per observations from the electric vehicle community on social media, Tesla no longer lists Autopilot as standard in its vehicles in the U.S. This suggests that features such as lane-centering and Autosteer have been removed as standard equipment. Previously, most Tesla vehicles came with Autopilot by default, which offers Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer.
The change resulted in backlash from some Tesla owners and EV observers, particularly as competing automakers, including mainstream players like Toyota, offer features like lane-centering as standard on many models, including budget vehicles.
That being said, the removal of Autopilot suggests that Tesla is concentrating its autonomy roadmap around FSD subscriptions rather than bundled driver-assistance features. It would be interesting to see how Tesla manages its vehicles’ standard safety features, as it seems out of character for Tesla to make its cars less safe over time.
Musk announces FSD price increases
Following the Autopilot changes, Elon Musk stated on X that Tesla is planning to raise subscription prices for FSD as its capabilities improve. In a post on X, Musk stated that the current $99-per-month price for supervised FSD would increase over time, especially as the system itself becomes more robust.
“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (Unsupervised FSD),” Musk wrote.
At the time of his recent post, Tesla still offers FSD as a one-time purchase for $8,000, but Elon Musk has confirmed that this option will be discontinued on February 14, leaving subscriptions as the only way to access the system.
Tesla makes dramatic change to Online Design Studio to show FSD plans
Tesla Model S completes first ever FSD Cannonball Run with zero interventions
