Finding the cloud under the sea: Chips with Everything podcast

Jordan Erica Webber dives down to the ocean floor to look at the fibre-optic cables that carry nearly 99% of all transoceanic data traffic

In July 2018, Facebook confirmed reports that it planned to launch an internet satellite called Athena into low-Earth orbit early next year. According to an application filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the goal is "efficiently providing broadband access to unserved and underserved areas throughout the world".

Early in November the FCC approved SpaceX's request to launch a constellation of 7,518 satellites into orbit. Elon Musk's private American space technology company now has the permission to launch its full satellite internet constellation, Starlink, which adds up to nearly 12,000 spacecraft. The two firms have ended up in a 21st-century space race, of sorts.