SpaceX's Falcon 9 successfully launches SXM-10 satellite into space
SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket early on Saturday, carrying the SXM-10 satellite for SiriusXM into space. The launch took place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
advertisementThe SXM-10 satellite was deployed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, where the satellite will orbit the Earth and serve SiriusXM's satellite radio capabilities. The satellite was manufactured by Maxar Technologies.
This is the eighth flight for the Falcon 9 rocket, which has previously supported missions such as NASA's Crew-9.SpaceX's latest mission comes amid a tumultuous week for the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk.About USD 22 billion of SpaceX's government contracts are at risk, and multiple US space programmes could face dramatic changes following Musk's public feud with US President Donald Trump on Thursday.The disagreement, rooted in Musk's criticism of Trump's tax-cut and spending legislation that began last week, quickly spiralled out of control.Trump lashed out at Musk when the President spoke in the Oval Office. Then in a series of X posts, Musk launched barbs at Trump, who threatened to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies.Must Watch
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Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Europeans seek 'digital sovereignty' as US tech firms embrace Trump
At a market stall in Berlin run by charity Topio, volunteers help people who want to purge their phones of the influence of US tech firms. Since Donald Trump 's inauguration, the queue for their services has grown. Interest in European-based digital services has jumped in recent months, data from digital market intelligence company Similarweb shows. More people are looking for e-mail, messaging and even search providers outside the United States. The first months of Trump's second presidency have shaken some Europeans' confidence in their long-time ally, after he signalled his country would step back from its role in Europe 's security and then launched a trade war. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Costco Shoppers Say This Wrinkle Cream Is "Actually Worth It" The Skincare Magazine Undo "It's about the concentration of power in US firms," said Topio's founder Michael Wirths, as his colleague installed on a customer's phone a version of the Android operating system without hooks into the Google ecosystem. Wirths said the type of people coming to the stall had changed: "Before, it was people who knew a lot about data privacy. Now it's people who are politically aware and feel exposed." Live Events Tesla chief Elon Musk, who also owns social media company X, was a leading adviser to the US president before the two fell out, while the bosses of Amazon, Meta and Google-owner Alphabet took prominent spots at Trump's inauguration in January. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Days before Trump took office, outgoing president Joe Biden had warned of an oligarchic "tech industrial complex" threatening democracy. Berlin-based search engine Ecosia says it has benefited from some customers' desire to avoid US counterparts like Microsoft's Bing or Google, which dominates web searches and is also the world's biggest email provider. "The worse it gets, the better it is for us," founder Christian Kroll said of Ecosia, whose sales pitch is that it spends its profits on environmental projects. Similarweb data shows the number of queries directed to Ecosia from the European Union has risen 27% year-on-year and the company says it has 1% of the German search engine market. But its 122 million visits from the 27 EU countries in February were dwarfed by 10.3 billion visits to Google, whose parent Alphabet made revenues of about $100 billion from Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2024 - nearly a third of its $350 billion global turnover. Non-profit Ecosia earned 3.2 million euros ($3.65 million) in April, of which 770,000 euros was spent on planting 1.1 million trees. Google declined to comment for this story. Reuters could not determine whether major US tech companies have lost any market share to local rivals in Europe. Digital sovereignty The search for alternative providers accompanies a debate in Europe about "digital sovereignty" - the idea that reliance on companies from an increasingly isolationist United States is a threat to Europe's economy and security. "Ordinary people, the kind of people who would never have thought it was important they were using an American service are saying, 'hang on!'," said UK-based internet regulation expert Maria Farrell. "My hairdresser was asking me what she should switch to." Use in Europe of Swiss-based ProtonMail rose 11.7% year-on-year to March compared to a year ago, according to Similarweb, while use of Alphabet's Gmail, which has some 70% of the global email market, slipped 1.9%. ProtonMail, which offers both free and paid-for services, said it had seen an increase in users from Europe since Trump's re-election, though it declined to give a number. "My household is definitely disengaging," said British software engineer Ken Tindell, citing weak US data privacy protections as one factor. Trump's vice president JD Vance shocked European leaders in February by accusing them - at a conference usually known for displays of transatlantic unity - of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened visa bans for people who "censor" speech by Americans, including on social media, and suggested the policy could target foreign officials regulating US tech companies. US social media companies like Facebook and Instagram parent Meta have said the European Union's Digital Services Act amounts to censorship of their platforms. EU officials say the Act will make the online environment safer by compelling tech giants to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material. Greg Nojeim, director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said Europeans' concerns about the US government accessing their data, whether stored on devices or in the cloud, were justified. Not only does US law permit the government to search devices of anyone entering the country, it can compel disclosure of data that Europeans outside the US store or transmit through US communications service providers, Nojeim said. Mission impossible? Germany's new government is itself making efforts to reduce exposure to US tech, committing in its coalition agreement to make more use of open-source data formats and locally-based cloud infrastructure. Regional governments have gone further - in conservative-run Schleswig-Holstein, on the Danish border, all IT used by the public administration must run on open-source software. Berlin has also paid for Ukraine to access a satellite-internet network operated by France's Eutelsat instead of Musk's Starlink. But with modern life driven by technology, "completely divorcing US tech in a very fundamental way is, I would say, possibly not possible," said Bill Budington of US digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Everything from push notifications to the content delivery networks powering many websites and how internet traffic is routed relies largely on US companies and infrastructure, Budington noted. Both Ecosia and French-based search engine Qwant depend in part on search results provided by Google and Microsoft's Bing, while Ecosia runs on cloud platforms, some hosted by the very same tech giants it promises an escape from. Nevertheless, a group on messaging board Reddit called BuyFromEU has 211,000 members. "Just cancelled my Dropbox and will switch to Proton Drive," read one post. Mastodon, a decentralised social media service developed by German programmer Eugen Rochko, enjoyed a rush of new users two years ago when Musk bought Twitter, later renamed X. But it remains a niche service. Signal, a messaging app run by a US nonprofit foundation, has also seen a surge in installations from Europe. Similarweb's data showed a 7% month-on-month increase in Signal usage in March, while use of Meta's WhatsApp was static. Meta declined to comment for this story. Signal did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. But this kind of conscious self-organising is unlikely on its own to make a dent in Silicon Valley's European dominance, digital rights activist Robin Berjon told Reuters. "The market is too captured," he said. "Regulation is needed as well."
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
What's Holding Up Axiom Mission-4 As Launch Window Closes & Crew Waits? Explained
Last Updated: With a tight timeline, further delays in lift-off could disrupt pre-scheduled July missions carrying cargo and critical supplies to the ISS, pushing back AX-4 by months The launch window for the much-anticipated Axiom Mission-4 is rapidly closing as the crew remains on standby in Florida, while National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scrambles to complete the last-minute troubleshooting on the International Space Station (ISS). The lift-off – now postponed for the fifth time in three weeks – remains without a confirmed new date. Two days before the scheduled lift-off, NASA announced that it has again decided to stand down from a launch on June 22, and target a new launch date in the coming days. While the initial air leak in the ISS's Zvezda module has already been halted by the crew on-board, NASA said it needed 'additional time to evaluate the station after recent repair work". The space station currently has seven people on board as part of Expedition 73, with four docked spacecraft — two crew and two cargo. NASA's SpaceX Crew 11 mission is also in waiting as it also planned to dock into the ISS in July. However, NASA highlighted that the AX-4 crew including Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla remains on standby and 'ready to launch when the station is ready to receive them", and it continues to review the launch opportunities along with Axiom Space and SpaceX. Axiom Mission-4 has faced a string of delays – from initial weather concerns to a last-minute liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 booster that scrubbed the June 11 launch. While SpaceX has since resolved the issue, the latest setback stems from the ongoing repairs to the ISS's Zvezda module, which NASA and Roscosmos are currently addressing. The ISS was built like a Lego set, with each piece built in various countries around the world, then launched and assembled in space. Five partner agencies, Canada, Europe, Japan, NASA in the US and Russia's Roscosmos operate the ISS with each partner responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides. They continue to monitor it to ensure safe habitation for astronauts, carry out repairs and replacements. Over the last 25 years, ISS has hosted astronauts from multiple countries who live and work aboard it. Last week, cosmonauts aboard the ISS detected some air leaks in the back segment of ISS's Zvezda module during regular inspections. It is a core component of the Russian orbital segment, which acts as a primary living space, and provides life support. The air leak in the pressurised module was sealed immediately, but NASA said that it needs additional time to evaluate the ISS after recent repair work. 'Because of the space station's interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure that the station is ready for additional crew members, and it is taking that time to review data," it highlighted. The issue needs to be resolved and validated before any new spacecraft can dock with the ISS. CAN AXIOM MISSION-4 STILL MAKE IT TO ISS NOW? The tension is mounting on the space agencies, as the current launch window is available only till June 30. The lift-off possibilities are narrowing with each passing day, as it was originally designed to be a 14-day mission. There is limited time, considering further delay jeopardises the subsequent missions in July, including some carrying cargo or other essential supplies — a timeline for which is locked in months in advance. Also, ISS has limited docking ports which need to be available, especially for a private spaceflight lasting 14 days. Four ports are already occupied by spacecraft – two crew and two cargo. NASA's SpaceX Crew 11 mission is also in waiting as it also planned to dock into the ISS in July. The launch is also subject to the weather conditions at the launch site near Florida coast, as well as the ascent path of the rocket. Moreover, the four astronauts have been in quarantine for nearly three weeks, and the delay affects their mission readiness. Compounding the urgency are also the 60 carefully chosen science experiments for the 14-day mission, including the seven shortlisted by ISRO—all of which have a limited viability window. On the ground are additional challenges—technical, logistics, financial—which continue to put added strain on all space agencies involved. top videos View all ISRO, which has invested almost Rs 550 crore in this private spaceflight collaboration, has made it clear that it does not intend to take any chances. Riding on it are hopes and dreams of billions, as Gaganyaan astronaut-designate Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla prepares to become the first Indian astronaut to enter the International Space Station. The commercial collaboration was designed so that it could provide him the necessary training and exposure in space, before India's Rs 20,000 crore Gaganyaan – maiden human spaceflight mission. ISRO Chairman Dr. V Narayanan remains stationed in Florida with his team to oversee mission readiness, and emphasised that 'safety and mission integrity remain India's top priorities". Get Latest Updates on Movies, Breaking News On India, World, Live Cricket Scores, And Stock Market Updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Axiom Space nasa news18 specials Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 21, 2025, 08:00 IST News explainers What's Holding Up Axiom Mission-4 As Launch Window Closes & Crew Waits? Explained
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- India Gazette
"Outdated, misinformed, and disconnected from reality," Amit Malviya slams Rahul Gandhi's claims on Make in India
New Delhi [India], June 21 (ANI): BJP leader Amit Malviya on Saturday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the 'Make in India' initiative, and said that India's manufacturing sector is growing strongly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Amit Malviya said India is now the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, growing from just 2 factories in 2014 to over 300 today. He added that the PLI scheme brought in Rs 10,905 crore in investments, with total production of Rs 7.15 lakh crore and exports of Rs 3.9 lakh crore, proving Rahul Gandhi's claims wrong. In a post on X, Amit Malviya wrote, 'Rahul Gandhi claims that manufacturing is collapsing under Modi's 'Make in India'. Let's bust the myths with facts. India is now the world's 2nd largest mobile phone producer. From just 2 mobile manufacturing units in 2014 to over 300 today. The so-called 'failed' PLI scheme, as labelled by Rahul Gandhi, has led to: Cumulative investments of 10,905 crore, Total production worth 7.15 lakh crore, Exports of 3.9 lakh crore, Electronics production value rose from 18,900 crore (FY14) to 4,22,000 crore (FY24).' 'Mobile phone exports surged 77-fold from 1,566 crore (2014-15) to 1.2 lakh crore (2023-24), 99.2% of mobile phones sold in India are now made in India, up from just 26% in 2014-15. Under the PLI scheme for electronics alone, 1,39,670 direct jobs have already been created. 1.8 lakh new companies were registered in 2023-24, marking a 16% increase over the previous year. Electronics exports hit USD 38+ billion in FY24-25, a 32% year-on-year increase. PLI allocations for electronics rose from 5,747 crore (FY24-25) to 8,885 crore (FY25-26) a clear signal of continued commitment,' the post reads. Malviya said that under PM Modi, India has transformed from an importer to a global manufacturing powerhouse. He said the government has approved major semiconductor projects worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore and that electronics production is expected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026. He dismissed Rahul Gandhi's criticism as outdated and said India is growing, building, and leading in the tech and manufacturing sectors. 'The government has approved landmark semiconductor projects worth 1.52 lakh crore, a critical leap into deep-tech manufacturing. Overall, electronics production is projected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026. Under PM Modi, India has transformed from an importer to a global manufacturing powerhouse. Rahul Gandhi's narratives are outdated, misinformed, and disconnected from reality. India is building. India is growing. India is leading,' the post further reads. Earlier in the day, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that despite promises of a 'Make in India' factory boom, manufacturing in the country is at a record low and youth unemployment is very high. Gandhi questioned the effectiveness of the 'Make in India' initiative, highlighting that manufacturing in the country has fallen to a record low of 14 per cent of the economy since 2014. (ANI)
