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Wireless charging hotspots let drones fly forever through in-air recharges

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A Portland, Oregon-based company named Global Energy Transmission (GET) is developing a network of wireless charging hotspots for drones. With only six minutes hovering over a grid for a full charge, an electric industrial class drone can repeat the cycle of charging and flying until its battery is drained without ever having to land or connect to a cable using this technology. GET’s long-term vision includes a cell-tower like infrastructure comprising numerous charging stations, enabling indefinite flying time for drones in the network. If successful, this technology could reinvent the commercial drone industry, providing 24/7 solutions in dedicated areas for things like deliveries, monitoring, and security.

Per GET’s website, the drone built for the charging network technology weighs about 18 lbs without the battery, can carry about 15 lbs, and can fly for 28 minutes weighing 30 lbs at takeoff. The maximum flying speed is around 37 mph, and servicing of the drone is recommended every 300-1000 flight hours. The maximum power transmitted during the charging stage is 12kW – it consumes 1550W while hovering.

Overall, the GET charging grid looks generally like a hexagonal frame raised onto poles with wires laced throughout. Spanning 26 feet across, the frame’s size is designed to enable multiple drones to charge simultaneously. A working prototype of the full system has already been showcased, and numerous videos are also available for anyone interested in more detail about the development team’s process. One such video lasts over two hours to demonstrate multiple battery-drains and in-air recharges on a continuous feed.

The GET In-Flight Wireless Charging System – a drone is charging mid-flight. | Credit: GET (Global Energy Transmission)

Drones are currently being used to provide numerous consumer solutions in a wide variety of markets. Along with video and photography, these small flying crafts are being utilized or developed for places like the construction industry for mapping and site monitoring, search and rescue missions, and even transporting organs between hospitals. Of course, the short life span of a drone battery – about 22 minutes in most cases – is well known to drone pilots, making the potential for a wireless charging network an innovative opportunity. According to William R. Kallman, GET’s US Director and partner from the Draper Network in a recent interview, their technology could also be scaled up to transfer 200 kW of power in the future, putting drone taxis within the realm of GET’s potential customer base.

GET announced its charging system at the AUVSI Xponential May 2018 show in Denver, Colorado and made an appearance at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas. While the company is officially based in the US, there is also a branch office and engineering center in Moscow, Russia. Their executives, as well as most of its team, are originally from Moscow with backgrounds in physics and chemical engineering, among others.

The company is currently taking pre-orders for its GET Air™ solution which will include a wireless power charger, a 26-foot diameter charging area/grid, and two GET Air™ industrial class drones with pre-installed wireless charging systems. Expansions are also available, including an Autonomous Power Module for independent power supply to charging stations with limited or no access to electricity. Operational and maintenance support are included, all for a package price of $120,000.

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Watch the below video to see the GET drone charging system in action with some further details by their CEO:

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report

Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.

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Credit: Starlink/X

Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.

SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.

Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress

Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.

Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.

Starlink Direct to Cell

Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.

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This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.

starlinkProgressReport_2025 by Simon Alvarez

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Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit

To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo. 

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Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.

To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo. 

6 million drive units

The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote. 

The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.

Giga Nevada’s essential role

Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.

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Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.

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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025

The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide. 

To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.

Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025

The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream. 

Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.

This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.

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Resilience after Supercharger team changes

2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”

Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.

Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible. 

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