Over 4500 satellites already in orbit, another 25 thousand to be placed within the next couple of years and a company worth it 180 billion dollarshas a practically monopoly on the Internet from Space and belongs to the richest man on Earth.
This company is called Starlink, belongs to Elon Musk and according to many, including political and military leaders in the world, would have a worrying dominant position into a key technology for the future.
Curiosity Starlink and the problem of kittens: the antennas get hot and they use them as a doghouse by Emanuele Capone 11 January 2022
From Ukraine to Taiwan, Musk decides
As well reported by the New York Times, Starlink is not only an interesting solution for having a connection in more remote areas of the world (one can also have in Italy, but it costs a lot), but above all it is the only possibility if you want to have access to the Net in areas affected by natural disasters or in war zones: it was and still is essential in Ukraine and is used by activists in Iran e Türkiye to circumvent the controls of their governments.
In the United States, the Department of Defense is a client of Starlink and many militaries, including Japan’s, are testing the company’s technology, believed to be the most reliable. Also because it is practically the only one.
Herein lies the problem, but it is not only this: what is worrying is both the fact that all this power has been amassed by one person both the fact that this person is Musk. Which at this point actually has the power to autonomously decide to stop access to the Internet through its satellites for a customer or for an entire country. It is not a remote eventuality, conspiracy is political fiction, but the reality: in Ukraine, Musk repeatedly restricted access to Starlink during the waron one occasion going so far as to deny the request to activate the connection near the Crimea.
All these episodes have pushed Kiev to look for alternatives, while aware that no one is able to provide the same service: as early as last March, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi asked the US Chief of Staff, Mark Milley, for an evaluation (and probably also an intervention) on the work of Musk. Similar questions have been asked of US officials by at least 9 governments across Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Taiwan allegedly had contacts with Starlink, but the discussions (according to the New York Times) would have stopped due to Musk’s “strong concerns” about the possible repercussions on relations that Tesla has with the rich Chinese market; a couple of months ago, just China she complained to the UN about the excessive number of Musk’s satellites in orbit; and in February Turkey rejected Musk’s offer to provide Internet access via Starlink after the earthquake.
The Starlink story in the Amazon, and criminal organizations take advantage of it by Jaime D’Alessandro March 16, 2023
Is the only hope Jeff Bezos?
There are so many criticisms and potentially explosive situations that don’t seem like it capable of undermining Musk’s space domain, at least in the short term. One possibility could come next year with Project Kuiperan Amazon service that aims to do the same thing as Starlink (and the little one OneWeb): offer satellite connectivity to the Internet.
The company founded by Jeff Bezos has opened in Florida, in the United States, the first plant for the construction of satellites thanks to an investment of 120 million dollars: here the first 3200 satellites will be prepared, which should be launched into space by the end of 2023.
Introduced for the first time in 2019, Project Kuiper is a constellation of satellites for Internet connections conceived by Amazon: the devices should be placed in low orbit (about 500 km) through 83 launches with at least 4 different types of different rockets. As anticipated, distributed as follows: 18 with the European Ariane 6 rocket operated by Arianespace, between 12 and 15 with Blue Origin (which is another Bezos company) and 38 with the Vulcan rocket and 9 with Atlas V, both from the American United Launch Alliance.
The program provides that by 2026 at least 1600 satellites are put into orbit, otherwise Amazon will lose the rights to use the satellite communication frequencies already granted. In short, Musk is warned.
@capoema