The FCC gives SpaceX the go-ahead for satellite internet, Uber settles with the family of the victim its AV accident and Tesla has a big Model S recall. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for March 30, 2018. 1. FCC okays SpaceX's space internet plan The FCC has approved SpaceX's proposed plan to build a constellation of Internet-beaming satellites to provide global broadband service. The company recently launched two test satellites to pave the way for its so-called 'Starlink' service. This approval was expected, and the constellation will eventually include 4,425 satellites that will bring high-speed, quality broadband internet access to underserved areas, if all goes to plan. 2. Uber settles with family of self-driving accident victim Uber has settled with the family of the deceased victim of the self-driving vehicle accident that occurred earlier this month. It's a quick settlement turnaround, but also not entirely surprising given that Uber was likely very motivated to make this go away. 3. Tesla recalls 123,000 Model S cars Tesla has issued a voluntary recall for 123,000 of its Model S car – or every one made prior to April 2016. It's found some evidence that bolts in the steering array were showing "excessive corrosion" and it's swapping them out in a process that takes around an hour. No injuries have been associated with this, but Tesla likely wants to be as proactive as possible. 4. Roam shows off ski robo exosuit A robot suit that makes you better at skiing? Sign me up, since I'm terrible at skiing. It does seem like a weird thing to focus on for augmenting human abilities through robotics, however. 5. Tim Cook is going hard at Facebook over privacy Tim Cook isn't afraid to kick fellow FAANG company Facebook while it's down: The Apple CEO said he "wouldn't be in this situation" when asked how he'd handle what FB's Mark Zuckerberg is facing in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica bombshell. 6. SpaceX launches 10 more satellites for client Iridium SpaceX launched its fifth Falcon 9 mission of the year today, and it went perfectly to plan. The company also tried another test of its fairing catching ocean freighter, which also worked out, which should make for a very pleased Elon Musk if that works out (we're still waiting to hear what happened as of this writing). 7. IPOs all over on Equity It's the podcast you love if you love financial markets and venture investing, and this week it's all about DocuSign going public, as well as Dropbox's initial performance. |