https://www.scmp.com/rss/524046/feed A leading entity in the satellite communications sector, US-based Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, specialises in providing global satellite internet access. Headquartered in Austin Texas and Redmond Washington, it serves residential users in remote areas. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Meredith Chen Meredith Chen When US special forces raided Caracas and abducted president Nicolas Maduro and his wife in early January, the Venezuelan capital was hit by widespread power outages and communication blackouts. Yet, within hours of the attacks, connectivity began to return – not from paralysed ground infrastructure, but from space. Elon Musk’s Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, activated communications services across Venezuela via its vast constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites on terminals residents... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3351345/will-future-world-order-be-determined-who-controls-low-earth-orbit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3351345/will-future-world-order-be-determined-who-controls-low-earth-orbit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Billionaire Elon Musk seems to have embraced TikTok, the world’s most popular short video site, more than two years after he said he stopped using the platform, as he felt its artificial intelligence algorithm was “probing” his mind. A verified @elonmusk handle recently posted a video on the site run by China’s ByteDance, signalling a truce – or perhaps a strategic surrender – to the platform’s massive global reach. The account features the same profile picture as Musk’s account on X, the social... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3350003/probing-minds-verified-account-how-elon-musks-stance-tiktok-shifted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3350003/probing-minds-verified-account-how-elon-musks-stance-tiktok-shifted?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:09 +0000 Reuters Reuters Stranded for two weeks at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas as drones and missiles set ships ablaze nearby, 26-year-old seafarer Ambuj says he has not been home for six months and cannot wait to see his family. Ambuj, who asked Reuters not to use his second name for security reasons, is one of about 23,000 Indians working on merchant, harbour and offshore vessels across ‌the wider Gulf region, which is bearing the brunt of the war between Iran and the United States and Israel. Hundreds of tankers... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346605/indian-sailors-stranded-iran-war-just-want-go-home-there-lot-anxiety?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346605/indian-sailors-stranded-iran-war-just-want-go-home-there-lot-anxiety?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 10:30:40 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng The priorities outlined in drafts of China’s 2026 budget and next five-year plan overlap heavily with the ambitious projects championed by Elon Musk, including the Starlink constellation, electric vehicles, Neuralink interfaces and artificial intelligence. With Beijing allocating 426.42 billion yuan (US$61.7 billion) for the sector, it is positioning frontiers such as future energy, brain-computer interfaces and satellite internet as China’s future industries, with the nation doubling down on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345576/does-chinas-science-budget-boost-confirm-it-listening-everything-elon-musk-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345576/does-chinas-science-budget-boost-confirm-it-listening-everything-elon-musk-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:03:58 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The United States needs to go on the offensive in space to be able to “turn around and punch” back at China’s rapidly expanding surveillance satellite network, according to a US Space Force general. According to the US military news website The War Zone, Lieutenant General Gregory Gagnon said China had built “the second-best remote sensing architecture in the world from outer space”. He said China had expanded from fewer than 100 satellites in 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping first came... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344873/us-must-be-able-turn-around-and-punch-space-china-boosts-satellites-general?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344873/us-must-be-able-turn-around-and-punch-space-china-boosts-satellites-general?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:15:26 +0000 Bryan Luk,Leonard Luk Bryan Luk,Leonard Luk If the years 2020 to 2025 were defined by the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution – a period where algorithms helped create tech titans such as Nvidia, OpenAI and Oracle – then 2026 represents a far more exciting and expansive paradigm shift. We are now pivoting from the digitisation of the Earth to the capitalisation and domination of low-orbit space. The golden age of the space economy has arrived, signalled by last month’s announcement that SpaceX is preparing for a June initial public... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342254/us-china-orbital-arms-race-forging-trillion-dollar-space-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342254/us-china-orbital-arms-race-forging-trillion-dollar-space-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Reuters Reuters Two Chinese nationals suspected of trying to intercept satellite communications from ‌a base in an Airbnb rental property in southwestern France have been placed ‍under formal investigation, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. Police were first alerted last week when locals noticed that a roughly two-metre (6.6-foot) wide satellite dish being installed at the property in Gironde, which coincided with an internet outage, the office ⁠said. The two Chinese nationals, and two... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3342564/2-chinese-nationals-suspected-spying-french-airbnb-placed-under-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3342564/2-chinese-nationals-suspected-spying-french-airbnb-placed-under-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:51:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters Four people, including two Chinese nationals, have been arrested in France on suspicion of spying ‌for China and were brought before an investigative judge, the Paris public prosecutor’s office ‍said on Wednesday. The cybercrime division of the Paris public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation into the affair, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. This followed the discovery that two Chinese nationals had entered French territory with the ⁠aim of capturing satellite... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342431/france-arrests-4-people-suspected-spying-starlink-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342431/france-arrests-4-people-suspected-spying-starlink-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:28:17 +0000 Reuters Reuters Elon Musk said on Monday that SpaceX has acquired his artificial-intelligence ‍start-up xAI in a record-setting deal that unifies Musk’s AI and space ambitions by combining the rocket-and-satellite company with the maker of the Grok chatbot. The deal, first reported by Reuters last week, represents one of the most ambitious tie-ups in the technology sector yet, combining a space-and-defence contractor with a fast-growing AI developer ⁠whose costs are largely driven by chips, data centres and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342161/musk-merges-xai-spacex-bid-build-space-data-centres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342161/musk-merges-xai-spacex-bid-build-space-data-centres?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 23:12:25 +0000 Orange Wang Orange Wang China should seize a potential strategic window opened by Elon Musk’s plans for a reusable launch vessel to stay competitive with the US as it faces the risk of a new power game in space, a Chinese research institute has urged. In 2022, the US Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Musk’s firm SpaceX a five-year contract to explore how Starship – which it is developing with the aim of creating the world’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle – could be used for “global rapid mobility”, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341042/can-elon-musks-starship-upend-strategic-order-chinese-think-tank-warns-it-might?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341042/can-elon-musks-starship-upend-strategic-order-chinese-think-tank-warns-it-might?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:01:06 +0000 Reuters Reuters Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Wednesday announced a plan to deploy 5,408 satellites in ‍space for a communications network that will serve data centres, governments and businesses, jumping into a satellite constellation market dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Deployment of satellites was planned to begin in the last quarter of 2027, Blue Origin said, adding the network was designed to have “data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere ⁠on Earth”. That speed, possible with the satellites’... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340750/bezos-blue-origin-deploy-thousands-satellites-rival-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340750/bezos-blue-origin-deploy-thousands-satellites-rival-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 21:18:25 +0000 Victoria Bela,Stephen Chen Victoria Bela,Stephen Chen Four Chinese groups are racing to build global satellite communications infrastructure to challenge the considerable head start made by US tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink. The two leaders for China so far are the central-government-backed GuoWang and Shanghai-backed Qianfan. They have the most satellites in orbit and plans to eventually deploy more than 10,000 apiece. Carmaker Geely’s Geespace also has satellites in space. The fourth group, Hongqing Technology, 48 per cent owned by... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china-future-tech/aerospace/article/3340638/chinese-rivals-musks-starlink-wrestle-rocket-constraints?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china-future-tech/aerospace/article/3340638/chinese-rivals-musks-starlink-wrestle-rocket-constraints?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 04:45:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The head of Iran’s judiciary signalled on Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump. The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,571, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. That figure... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339852/iran-signals-fast-trials-and-executions-detained-protesters-after-trump-warning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339852/iran-signals-fast-trials-and-executions-detained-protesters-after-trump-warning?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 07:49:29 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin As China pushes to take the global lead in building space-based solar power stations, a new study warns that powerful lasers beaming energy back to Earth could pose serious risks to other satellites in the increasingly crowded low-Earth orbit. If these beams miss their targets – because of tracking errors or system malfunctions – they could strike nearby spacecraft, overheat solar panels or trigger electrical discharges, according to a team from the Beijing Institute of Satellite Environment... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339829/chinese-risk-study-finds-space-solar-power-stations-could-accidentally-zap-satellites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339829/chinese-risk-study-finds-space-solar-power-stations-could-accidentally-zap-satellites?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 06:00:13 +0000 Reuters Reuters Some Iranians were still using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service despite a nationwide communications blackout, three people inside the ‍country have said, the latest example of Starlink being used to counter internet shutdowns in geopolitical flashpoints. Iranian authorities have in recent days launched a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, including the near-complete shutdown of internet service, which is provided through fibre-optic cables and mobile phone towers. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339712/iranians-use-musks-starlink-pierce-internet-blackout-during-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339712/iranians-use-musks-starlink-pierce-internet-blackout-during-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 07:11:33 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese firms have signalled plans to launch more than 200,000 internet satellites, filing submissions with a UN agency just as Beijing accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of crowding shared orbital resources. A dozen or so submissions from various Chinese satellite players were filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at the end of last month. The biggest projects – CTC-1 and CTC-2 – were for 96,714 satellites each and filed by the newly established Institute of Radio Spectrum... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339493/china-applies-put-200000-satellites-space-after-calling-starlink-crash-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3339493/china-applies-put-200000-satellites-space-after-calling-starlink-crash-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 13:00:10 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela SpaceX has announced it will reconfigure its Starlink internet satellite constellation by lowering the orbit of more than 4,400 satellites throughout 2026, shortly after Beijing said the project posed “safety and security challenges”. The move aims to relocate the satellites to orbital regions less crowded by space debris and other planned satellite constellations, reducing the risk of collisions and allowing satellites to deorbit faster. It comes after an unnamed representative from Beijing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338547/spacex-will-move-more-4400-satellites-lower-orbit-after-china-cited-safety-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338547/spacex-will-move-more-4400-satellites-lower-orbit-after-china-cited-safety-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2026 12:00:22 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China builds a record-breaking hypergravity machine to compress space and time China is set to break its own record in hypergravity research with a colossal new centrifuge that can spin multi-tonne samples at unmatched intensities. 2.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3338453/chinas-record-hypergravity-machine-nepals-bride-buying-probe-scmps-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3338453/chinas-record-hypergravity-machine-nepals-bride-buying-probe-scmps-7-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2026 04:12:08 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China has warned that the rapid expansion of internet satellite constellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink presented “pronounced safety and security challenges”. Addressing an informal United Nations Security Council event initiated by Russia on Monday, Beijing’s representative cited several incidents, including near collisions between Starlink satellites and the Chinese space station in 2021, and a satellite that disintegrated in December. The representative also pointed to the disregard of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338409/china-warns-satellites-elon-musks-starlink-are-safety-and-security-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338409/china-warns-satellites-elon-musks-starlink-are-safety-and-security-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Liu Zhen Liu Zhen China has issued a penalty to a foreign vessel for illegally using Starlink – SpaceX’s satellite-based internet service – within Chinese waters in the first case of its kind, according to local media. The vessel, which was not identified, was found with a “micro rectangular antenna” installed on its top deck during a routine inspection by maritime law enforcement officers at Ningbo port in Zhejiang province, state-run Ningbo Daily reported on Wednesday. The Ningbo Maritime Safety Administration... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337026/foreign-ship-gets-penalty-illegally-using-starlink-within-chinese-waters-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337026/foreign-ship-gets-penalty-illegally-using-starlink-within-chinese-waters-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 13:00:10 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Disaster’: Egyptian exhibition at Hong Kong museum descends into chaos 2. ‘Limited alternatives’: why Japan will struggle to replace China’s tourists 3. Malaysia’s poorest state prepares a poll shock for the prime minister 4. China team simulates large-scale electronic warfare against Musk’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3333890/hong-kong-egyptian-exhibition-chaos-japans-tourism-debacle-5-weekend-reads-you-missed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3333890/hong-kong-egyptian-exhibition-chaos-japans-tourism-debacle-5-weekend-reads-you-missed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 04:27:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Myanmar’s junta raided one of the country’s most notorious internet scam centres and seized Starlink devices, it said on Monday, after an investigation had revealed an explosion in their use in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry. Internet sweat shops where workers scam unsuspecting foreigners with business or romance schemes have thrived in war-ravaged Myanmar’s lawless border regions since the coronavirus pandemic shut down casinos operating in the area. A crackdown by Thai, Chinese and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3329622/myanmar-junta-raids-scam-hub-powered-elon-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3329622/myanmar-junta-raids-scam-hub-powered-elon-musks-starlink?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Oct 2025 04:26:10 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Absolutely impossible’: how China created super steel for nuclear fusion Chinese scientists have detailed how they created CHSN01 (China high-strength low-temperature steel No 1), deployed it this year in the construction of world’s first fusion nuclear power generation reactor and put China in a leading... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3321515/chinas-super-steel-nuclear-fusion-new-darwin-monkey-computer-7-science-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3321515/chinas-super-steel-nuclear-fusion-new-darwin-monkey-computer-7-science-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2025 07:33:09 +0000