A Starlink satellite is hurdle into space to improve mobile phone coverage worldwide – Image by Starlink on X
Elon Musk and SpaceX confirmed the launch of 21 Starlink satellites on Sunday, while simultaneously, the Wall Street Journal published a report saying Europe wants a regional alternative to Tesla owners’ ‘unreliable’ space devices.
“Deployment of 21 Starlink satellites confirmed,” SpaceX said on X. “Watch Falcon 9 launch 21 satellites to orbit from Florida, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities,” it added in another X post.
Today’s batch of Starlink satellites was thrust into orbit from NASA’s Space Centre in Florida on Saturday. SpaceX said thirteen of them were equipped with direct-to-cell technology. The company aims to eliminate cellular dead zones for mobile devices worldwide.
“Falcon 9 lifts off from Florida, adding 21 satellites to the constellation and completing our 400th overall mission with a flight-proven booster approximately eight years after our first successful re-flight,” SpaceX added in a different X post. Musk’s satellite firm said Starlink now has 7,146 satellites in orbit, providing internet to over 100 countries.
A Starlink satellite has a lifespan of about five years, and SpaceX eventually plans to launch some 42,000 satellites in this so-called mega constellation.
Not everybody loves Musk’s satellites
Recently, Musk posted on X that if he turned off his satellite internet service to Ukraine, “their entire front line would collapse.”
That could not have made Eva Berneke happier. She is the CEO of Eutelsat, Europe’s smaller Starlink rival.
For her, Musk’s words could not be more “extremely positive,” particularly at a time when Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on Musk and his unreliable satellites.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, European authorities now want Eutelsat, based in a nondescript office district outside Paris, to provide a backup to Starlink in Ukraine as quickly as possible, via its satellite-internet service OneWeb.
And “in the longer term, they are counting on Eutelsat to help build a space communication network that would make the continent more autonomous,” the influential financial journal said.
“If SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” Poland Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski wrote on X in early March, responding to Musk’s assertion that Ukraine would collapse without him.
“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year,” Sikorski added, to which Musk responded, “Be quiet, small man. You pay a fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
The response shocked European officials, and Berneke was immediately called to ask how fast she could substitute Starlink in Ukraine.
However, the truth is that Berneke’s Eutelsat would require billions of dollars from her three key stakeholders, the French and UK governments, and Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, to compete with Starlink, so the idea for now seems a bit far-fetched.
Musk’s SpaceX under scrutiny
Three U.S. military departments are investigating Musk and SpaceX for allegedly failing to disclose meetings with foreign leaders. The reviews highlight concerns over Musk’s adherence to security protocol, crucial for SpaceX‘s role in U.S. military operations.
The reviews were initiated by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Air Force, and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
In March, A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday rejected a bid by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to block the National Labor Relations Board from pursuing claims that the rocket maker illegally fired engineers who were critical of Musk. He is also accused of sexist discrimination against women.
Whether SpaceX can be replaced or not remains to be seen, even as many believe it is on the path to failure. Barron’s, an American weekly published by Dow Jones & Company, recently said: “For SpaceX, failure is the only option.”
