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SpaceX’s first (public) acquisition is nanosat and Internet of Things startup Swarm
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents suggest that SpaceX has wholly acquired a satellite communications startup – possibly the first public acquisition in the company’s 21-year history.
Known as Swarm Technologies, the startup has raised approximately $25 million in venture capital over several years of operations and launched dozens of spacecraft the size of a couple slices of bread – the smallest commercially operational satellites in the world. While small and modestly funded, Swarm has actually managed to turn that investment into a functional network offering commercial Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and developed an extremely affordable “Swarm Tile” radio to connect to said network.
In line with SpaceX’s philosophy, Swarm is also highly vertically integrated and has effectively built every part of its IoT network from scratch. Now more than 1600 functional satellites strong and the largest orbiting network ever built, SpaceX’s own Starlink constellation is dramatically more ambitious and expansive but still in the same vein. While it remains to be seen what exactly SpaceX hopes to get out of what could be its first official acquisition ever, it’s possible to speculate.
Notably, as the largest satellite constellation ever built by almost an order of magnitude with near-total global coverage, Starlink has always been a spectacular opportunity for hosted payloads. Over the last year and half, a consistent stream of job postings hinting at custom constellations and hosted payloads have implied that SpaceX already has substantial interest from public and private-sector customers.
Given that Swarm’s custom nanosatellites weigh as little as 0.4 kg (0.9 lb) apiece, it would be almost an afterthought for SpaceX to add their IoT capabilities to a fraction of – or all – future Starlink spacecraft, which weigh around 260 kg (~570 lb) and have several kilowatts of power available. Though SpaceX is currently on an unusual 6+ week launch hiatus, the company completed 13 dedicated Starlink launches in the first five months of 2021, orbiting approximately 800 satellites – almost a magnitude more satellites than Swarm has outright.
In that sense, the partnership is just a logical extension of Starlink’s potential to utterly dominate the global market for satellite communications services. It’s hard to say if low-bandwidth IoT communications will ever be more than a rounding error on SpaceX’s Starlink balance sheets, but acquiring Swarm means that the company should be able to add – and drastically expand and improve – Swarm’s IoT constellation with virtually no additional effort and no downsides.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
