Starlink price rise ‘reckless’, says Correnti

Sam Altman’s space data center trash talk is what most experts already believe

Sam Altman and Elon Musk exchanged social media jabs over space data centers, with Altman calling out Musk for selling public investors on near-term orbital compute. Experts broadly agree that space data centers won't be commercially viable at scale until rockets become significantly cheaper and high-powered satellites can be mass-produced at low cost. SpaceX's two-trillion-dollar valuation is heavily tied to its orbital data center ambitions, but even optimistic timelines put meaningful scale in the 2030s. Starship's reusability challenges and existing launch commitments to NASA and Starlink further complicate the near-term case.

China nets a falling rocket in reusability race with SpaceX

China successfully retrieved an orbital-class rocket booster for the first time using a net-based recovery system on an offshore sea platform. The Long March 10B rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, lifted off from Hainan, deployed a satellite, and had its booster caught by a net rather than landing on legs like SpaceX's Falcon 9. The net approach is said to reduce vehicle mass, increase payload capacity, and offer greater tolerance for landing deviations. China plans to reuse the recovered booster before year-end, and the technology feeds into the broader Long March 10 family supporting crewed lunar missions before 2030. Private Chinese aerospace firms also saw stock gains on the news.

China is catching up to Elon Musk's reusable rockets

China's state-owned Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) successfully landed an orbital Long March rocket booster on a seagoing recovery vessel, becoming the second country after the US to achieve this milestone. The booster has comparable payload capacity to SpaceX's Falcon 9, and CASC plans to attempt reuse by year-end. While national security rules prevent direct competition for launch customers, a reusable Chinese rocket would enable satellite networks and orbital data centers to compete with Starlink in global markets like Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The development comes amid reports of China-Russia cooperation to counter Starlink, and as SpaceX works toward another Starship launch attempt.

Blue Origin reportedly raising $10B at $130B valuation

Blue Origin is raising $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation in its first external fundraise, with Coatue Asset Management contributing ~$4 billion and Jeff Bezos committing $2 billion. The round comes after the New Glenn rocket exploded during testing in May, with the cause still unknown. Blue Origin is refocusing on NASA's Artemis moon missions, space-based data centers, and a new satellite internet network called Terawave. The raise follows SpaceX's recent IPO at a $1.75 trillion valuation.

Russia tries to jam Starlink to counter Ukraine’s long-range drones

Russian forces are deploying a jamming system called the Volna Kupol Garant to disrupt Starlink connectivity used by Ukrainian long-range drones, covering roughly 20 square kilometres per unit. Around 10 such jammers have been spotted so far. Ukraine's mid-strike drones rely heavily on Starlink for video and command links, making them vulnerable to this interference. In response, Ukrainian firms are developing GPS-independent navigation, and Ukrainian forces have already destroyed two of the jammers. The conflict has evolved into a battle over the electromagnetic spectrum, with cheap commercial drones connected to satellite networks reshaping modern warfare and raising questions about dependence on privately controlled infrastructure like Starlink.

SpaceX Reflection AI deal: $6.3bn for compute

SpaceX ký hợp đồng trị giá 6,3 tỷ USD với startup AI mã nguồn mở Reflection AI, trong đó Reflection thuê chip Nvidia GB300 tại trung tâm dữ liệu Colossus 2 của SpaceX với chi phí 150 triệu USD/tháng từ nay đến 2029. Nvidia vừa cung cấp phần cứng vừa đầu tư khoảng 800 triệu USD vào Reflection, trong khi SpaceX đang trở thành "chủ nhà" cung cấp tài nguyên tính toán với doanh thu cam kết hơn 80 tỷ USD từ các hợp đồng cho thuê trước đó.

Đây là một ví dụ thực tế về cách các công ty công nghệ lớn như SpaceX đang chuyển đổi từ ngành hàng không vũ trụ sang lĩnh vực công nghệ AI thông qua việc đầu tư vào hạ tầng tính toán và hợp tác với các startup AI, giúp hiểu rõ về xu hướng mới trong việc xây dựng nền tảng tính toán cho AI tương lai.

Cursor Sand: the Claude Cowork rival with a Musk catch

Cursor is developing a general-purpose AI agent codenamed Sand, designed to compete with Anthropic's Claude Cowork and OpenAI's ChatGPT Work in the office productivity space. Unlike its rivals, Cursor's deep MCP integrations would let Sand not just draft content but actually deploy it. The product's future is uncertain, however, as SpaceX agreed to acquire Cursor's parent company Anysphere for $60bn. This raises concerns about whether Cursor's model-agnostic approach will survive under Musk's ownership, and whether Sand could become a vehicle for pushing Grok into enterprise workplaces already hooked on Cursor's coding tools.