People normally say Musk doesn't care what you think and I am no different but Doug Ford repudiated a $100m contract with starlink and Musk would be starting to wonder what income hit he faces if Europe both repudiates starlink and backs eutelsat at scale.
I do think at some level he knows that common carrier is both a shield and a lead weight. If the department of state tells him to stop supplying internet he has an out, and we all get a signal about the reach of US legal arms to our own national strategic interest.
No action here has no downside consequences for him or anyone else. LEO is and always was a contestable market.
The real problem is launch. If he maintains a lock on cheap launch, competitors at scale will pay him to be there and again, the US government has a view.
Yes, he's a billionaire. Yes, $100m is chump change.
Poland pays for all officially donated Starlink terminals in Ukraine, including ~5K donated by State Department. Afaik its a silly number around $10mil month. The bigger hit would be Europe thinking about banning Starlink from operating in EU.
I do think at some level he knows that common carrier is both a shield and a lead weight. If the department of state tells him to stop supplying internet he has an out, and we all get a signal about the reach of US legal arms to our own national strategic interest.
No action here has no downside consequences for him or anyone else. LEO is and always was a contestable market.
The real problem is launch. If he maintains a lock on cheap launch, competitors at scale will pay him to be there and again, the US government has a view.
Yes, he's a billionaire. Yes, $100m is chump change.