The Falcon 9 rocket launches with Crew 12 from Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (Manuel Mazzanti/Getty Images)

SpaceX to expand Starlink’s mobile coverage as it seeks $1.75 trillion IPO valuation

Starlink expects to connect 25 million monthly users by the end of the year on a service the company says will allow video calls and streaming.

Rani Molla

At the Mobile World Congress keynote Monday morning, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Starlink VP of Engineering Michael Nicolls said the company plans to offer broadband-level cellular service through its direct-to-cell product, now branded Starlink Mobile.

The company aims to grow from 10 million active monthly users today to 25 million by the end of 2026. The service is designed to give consumers access to high-speed internet, including video calls in remote areas using unmodified smartphones.

“ When your phone’s in your pocket, when you’re in your car and you’re connected to Starlink Mobile, it should look and feel like you’re connected to a high-performing 5G terrestrial network,” Nicolls said. “That kind of experience is what we’re shooting for.”

Still, SpaceX emphasized that satellite service is not meant to replace traditional cellular networks. “It cannot provide the data density that terrestrial networks have,” Nicolls said, while contending that it can augment coverage in areas where land-based networks don’t reach or when additional capacity is needed — a category that includes large portions of the US and much of the world.

For now, SpaceX is positioning Starlink Mobile as a complement to carriers like AT&T and Verizon rather than a direct competitor. The service is meant to fill coverage gaps in remote areas, at sea, and during emergencies when terrestrial networks go down. Shotwell noted that T-Mobile was SpaceX’s first — and remains its only — US carrier partner.

The mobile push comes as SpaceX expands its ambitions beyond launch services. Last month, the company announced it had acquired SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, creating a combined company that spans rockets, satellite broadband, mobile connectivity, and artificial intelligence. Bloomberg reported Friday that SpaceX is preparing to file IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as March, targeting a valuation as high as $1.75 trillion. At the time of the merger, the combined company was valued at around $1.25 trillion. The higher valuation estimate suggests investors see businesses like Starlink’s internet service, and potentially Starlink Mobile, as key drivers of revenue beyond rocket launches.

Rani Molla31s

Good news: Tesla sales stabilized in Europe. Bad news: Europe’s not buying much.

The good news for Tesla: vehicle sales jumped in February in a number of early-reporting European countries.

The bad news: Europe remains a small market for Tesla, so stabilization there isn’t the boon it would be in bigger markets like the US and China, where its vehicle sales continue to struggle.

For what it’s worth, Tesla has been de-emphasizing vehicle sales as it pivots its ambitions to AI and autonomy.

Tesla regains some market shares around Europe in February, in sign of stabilising sales

For what it’s worth, Tesla has been de-emphasizing vehicle sales as it pivots its ambitions to AI and autonomy.

David Crowther

vertically challenge

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First Snapchat, now TikTok: Instagram has mastered the art of borrowing features

The latest user data suggests its pivot to video with Reels over five years ago has paid off.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Testifies In Social Media Addiction Trial

Rani Molla23m

Apple unveils $599 iPhone 17e with A19 chip

Apple unveiled the iPhone 17e on Monday, a lower-cost addition to its smartphone lineup starting at $599 with 256 gigabytes of storage — double the storage of the previous base model. The device features Apple’s A19 chip and MagSafe charging but is the same price as the previous iPhone 16e.

Bloomberg previously reported that Apple plans to market the model, which goes on sale March 11, to users in emerging markets and enterprise customers.

The launch comes as global smartphone shipments are projected to post their steepest decline ever this year, with memory shortages pushing up device costs and prices.

Apple introduces iPhone 17e

Rani Molla2/27/26

Meta reportedly strikes multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Google as it struggles to design its own

Meta has signed a deal with Google to rent tensor processing units to develop new AI models and is in talks to buy the chips for its data centers, The Information reports.

The agreement comes on top of a recently announced “multi-generational” partnership with Nvidia and a chip supply deal with Advanced Micro Devices that could be worth more than $100 billion, as Meta scrapped its most advanced in-house AI training chip amid design challenges.

A Meta deal with Google, which has been rumored since November, would position the search giant more directly as a competitor to Nvidia in its core business of AI processors. Some analysts have said selling its custom chips to outside customers could become a business worth hundreds of billions of dollars for Google.

Google Strikes Multibillion-Dollar AI Chip Deal With Meta, Sharpening Nvidia Rivalry

Jon Keegan2/26/26

Delays in permitting, power, and zoning cause first drop in data center construction since 2020

Despite incredible demand, the number of data centers under construction in North America fell for the first time since 2020, according to new research from CBRE.

Total data center capacity under construction dropped about 5.6% year on year from 6.35 megawatts in 2024 to 5.99 megawatts by the end of 2025.

What’s causing the delay? Slow permitting, constrained supply chains, and growing public engagement with how deals are approved at the local level. Labor constraints also were cited in the report; a tight supply of skilled workers will increase costs.