by DAVID AXE
European powers must urgently break Elon Musk’s near-monopoly over military communications. It won’t be easy. It won’t be cheap. It won’t happen fast. But it’s necessary to ensure no one man can repeat the trillionaire’s treatment of Ukraine in early October, when he throttled Ukraine’s access to the Starlink and Starshield satellite systems now central to its military operations.
Starlink is a commercial satellite communications service, with Starshield a more capable military version. Both belong to Musk’s SpaceX. Ukraine—and many other Western powers, for that matter—relies on them for an array of vital military functions. They connect troops to their headquarters and drones to their operators.
Overnight and without warning in mid-October, thousands of satellite terminals failed in Ukraine. Operators discovered that SpaceX had imposed a speed limit of approximately 160 kmh (100 mph) or slower. Above that speed, a drone couldn’t connect to its operator. Many of the faster drones, including interceptor drones that Ukraine uses to defeat Russia’s own attack drones, couldn’t function.
Musk lifted the speed limit after around a week and eventually said he had ordered the restrictions because Ukraine had violated the satellite provider’s terms and conditions of service by using Starlink for offensive rather than defensive missions. Ukrainian officials denied that.
The problem isn’t going away. Starlink and Starshield are the world’s most flexible, affordable, and robust SATCOM services. For a small monthly fee, as low as $55 a month for private users in the United States, a subscriber gains access to a constellation of 11,000 signal-relaying satellites in low Earth orbit. Nearly 14 million people pay for Starlink.
No other SATCOM service can compare.
Read the rest at Europe’s Edge.
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David, I was struck by your opening: European powers must urgently break Elon Musk’s near-monopoly over military communications. You make it sound as if Musk is doing something nefarious to keep others out of the satellite launch business. He simply built something that others, so far, have not. Ironically, as SpaceX transitions from Falcon to Starship the resulting shortage of launch capacity may give competing rocket companies a boost. But Europe still lacks many good launch sites, local companies, etc.