[mschuster91]

> What more could they want?

The knowledge that even if Elon Musk goes completely off-script, Starshield/Starlink/SpaceX will still be there. Right now, there is nothing stopping Musk - whose shares control 78% of the voting rights [1] - to wind down shop at his will. Maybe he'll have to pay out the other investors, but like at Twitter he may just end up sticking the finger to anyone whom the company is in debt to.

Having the future of space flight, low-latency civilian and military communication and low-orbit recon satellites all held together in the hand of one increasingly erratic billionaire is not something the US can afford to accept.

[1] https://www.keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex/

[inemesitaffia]

They have their SATCOM solutions and at least 3 new ones under construction

[baq]

You seem to think the DoD and the NSA don't have anything to say in the matter. Frankly I'd be quicker to believe men in black suits and sad faces take over the operation before Musk manages to wind it down. It's worth as a military asset is simply too great to risk a madman have complete control, regardless of how many shares he's got.

[mschuster91]

> You seem to think the DoD and the NSA don't have anything to say in the matter.

It's not like Musk has shown much respect for the law (or, let's be real, anyone other than himself) over the years, and it's only declined exponentially. Musk's history is littered with instances of breaking the law without consequences (most especially, when it comes to the SEC), why should he shy away from taking revenge should Trump lose in November? He's already stated "I'm fucked" when Harris wins, so he might as well decide to go out with one final bang.

[baq]

He might think 'it can't possibly be worse' and there are three-letter agency people who will happily tell him that in fact yes, they can get much worse.

Either that or they have other contingency plans - or they're the most incompetent three letter agencies in the world.

[mschuster91]

> Either that or they have other contingency plans - or they're the most incompetent three letter agencies in the world.

It's not like the US' three-letter agencies (both national and foreign scoped) have inspired much confidence over the last decades, to be honest. Inadequate internal oversight, too many things outsourced to contractors with way too many privileges, completely fucked up contingency "plans" for a loooooooooot of crises - 9/11, the countless intifadas in Israel, the entire color revolutions and social media revolutions, Russia's/Iran's messing around everywhere for decades completely unchecked, China's industrial espionage including the F35 program, the disaster that was the retreat from Afghanistan, Trump inciting a putsch attempt claiming multiple lives, Trump getting almost shot...

The US security apparatus eats an awful lot of money and people but it regularly and spectacularly screws up.