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…
Chinese authorities recently penalised a foreign vessel for illegally using Starlink within Chinese waters. According to a South China Morning Post report, the satellite-based internet service offered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – is banned in China and is viewed as a national security threat. In fact, the company has not been given licence to operate…
The Long March 12A, China’s first state-owned reusable rocket, made its debut launch on Tuesday morning but the recovery of the first stage was a failure. It was China’s second failed bid this month to return an orbital-class booster, a feat that has so far only been achieved by the US. The reusable rocket, designed…
Elon Musk did not launch a ‘Tesla Pi Phone’ — the viral video is a digitally fabricated hoax, according to a full fact‑check. The Spark That Started the Frenzy A widely shared TikTok-turned-WhatsApp-turned-X video claims Elon Musk unveiled a revolutionary ‘Tesla Pi Phone’ that requires no SIM card or Wi‑Fi—because it allegedly connects directly to…
What Happened: T-Mobile just flipped the switch on a new “Text-to-911” service that works using satellites. This is a huge deal. It’s designed to help you in an emergency when you’re in a remote area with zero cell service. They’ve teamed up with SpaceX’s Starlink to make this happen, and it already covers a massive…
By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon (Reuters) -Elon Musk’s Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, secured its largest direct-to-cell deal yet with telecoms group Veon, granting access to over 150 million potential customers, both companies said on Thursday, as competition in satellite-to-smartphone connectivity intensifies. Direct-to-cell technology allows smartphones to connect to satellite networks in space…
It looks like Elon Musk is finally beaming his next big idea to India, quite literally. SpaceX’s satellite internet venture, Starlink, has begun crucial security tests in the country, marking one of the final steps before launching its commercial broadband services. If all goes smoothly and regulators move quickly, Musk could be selling high-speed satellite…
SpaceX launched another of its mammoth Starship rockets on a test flight on Monday, striving to make it halfway around the world while releasing mock satellites as it did the last time. Starship – the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built – thundered into the evening sky from the southern tip of Texas just…
A federal judge in New York has ordered the Trump administration to disclose the security clearances held by Elon Musk during his brief tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), intensifying scrutiny of the billionaire’s unusual role at the center of U.S. national-security operations. The ruling follows earlier calls from Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)…
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth, with up to four burning up in the atmosphere each day, according to space trackers. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told EarthSky that he has recorded “an average of between one to two Starlink satellites deorbiting each day in 2025.” That…