There is a big risk in becoming dependent on Elon Musk’s Starlink –satellite Internet service. Given his eccentric nature, he can shut down the internet – the very moment his relations with a country get strained, and plunge it into crisis.
On March 11 and 12, 2025, Indian telecom giants Airtel and Jio, announced separate partnerships with Elon Musk’s Starlink to explore bringing Starlink’s satellite internet services to India. This has happened despite their initial apprehensions and opposition to it. Why, it’s anybody’s guess; but, you know better. Both deals are subject to SpaceX getting government approval to sell Starlink in India.
What is Starlink internet?
Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX, an aerospace company founded by Elon Musk. Unlike traditional broadband that relies on terrestrial infrastructure like cables and cell towers, Starlink uses a constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites—currently over 7,000 as of September 2024—to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet globally. These satellites, orbiting at altitudes of approximately 340 to 1,200 kilometers, communicate with ground-based user terminals (small satellite dishes) to provide connectivity, even in remote or underserved regions where traditional infrastructure is impractical.
SpaceX has made over 100 rocket launches to deploy these satellites. The company typically launches 60 satellites per mission on its Falcon 9 rockets, although this number can vary slightly depending on the specific mission. The deployment process has been rapid, thanks to SpaceX’s ability to reuse its Falcon 9 rockets, significantly reducing costs and increasing the frequency of launches. SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in May 2019 and has steadily increased the frequency of its launches since then. From 2019 to 2025, it has taken SpaceX approximately 6 years to deploy 7,000 satellites. Of these, about 6000 are operational. This is a very fast deployment compared to the usual timelines for satellite constellations.
Key features of the Starlink Internet include:
Speed and Latency: Starlink offers download speeds ranging from 25 to 220 Mbps, with latency as low as 20 milliseconds, suitable for streaming, gaming, and video calls.
Global Reach: It serves over 100 countries, with plans to expand further, targeting rural areas, disaster zones, and mobile users (e.g., RVs, ships).
User Setup: Customers purchase a kit (dish, router, cables) for a one-time fee (e.g., $349-$599 in the U.S.) and pay a monthly subscription ($50-$165, depending on the plan).
Innovation: Unlike older geostationary satellite systems (22,236 miles above Earth), LEO satellites reduce latency and improve performance, though they require a larger constellation for global coverage.
Starlink’s focus on civilian Internet market contrasts with Starshield, a separate SpaceX service tailored for military and government use with enhanced security features.
Musk, Ukraine, and the Starlink shutdown threat
During Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Starlink became critical for Ukrainian civilians, government, and military after traditional networks were disrupted. Initially, Musk donated thousands of terminals, funding the service largely himself. By October 2022, SpaceX reportedly faced mounting costs—estimated at $100 million—and Musk tweeted that the company could not sustain this indefinitely, suggesting that the US government should pay.
This sparked outrage, as Ukraine relied heavily on Starlink for battlefield communications. Threatening a beleaguered country like Ukraine in the middle of a war with Internet shutdown was highly despicable and unethical.
A notable controversy arose in September 2023 when Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk claimed he had secretly ordered Starlink coverage disabled near Crimea in 2022 to thwart a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The claim soon ran into dispute and because until that time Ukraine was deeply in love with the US brimming with gratitude for its critical help in its war effort, Ukrainian General Kyrylo Budanov also said that Musk had not ordered for Internet shutdown. Musk, on his part, defended his stance, emphasizing Starlink’s civilian purpose and alleging misuse for combat, as if he expected the poor country to have a separate Internet network for the military. The puerility of his logic and his shallow defence were obvious.
Finally, the US government stepped in, contracting SpaceX in June 2023 to fund Starlink in Ukraine, ensuring continuity. The episode highlighted Musk’s unilateral influence over a critical wartime asset and raised questions about private control of such technologies.
Has Musk Arm-twisted other nations also?
Because of the unpredictable behaviour of Elon Musk tensions have surfaced with other nations also:
Brazil (2024): Starlink faced a standoff with Brazil’s government after a court banned Musk’s X platform for spreading misinformation. Brazil’s telecom regulator threatened sanctions, and Judge Alexandre de Moraes froze Starlink’s accounts. Starlink resisted blocking X access until the freeze was lifted, risking its license, but a shutdown was averted.
Taiwan (2024): Reports in October 2024 claimed Musk avoided activating Starlink over Taiwan at Russia’s request to appease China, though this is unconfirmed and based on alleged talks with Putin. Musk has not commented directly on this.
These cases suggest Musk uses Starlink’s leverage strategically including through explicit shutdown threats. His decisions obviously align with SpaceX’s business interests.
Scenario: Country dependent on Starlink, Musk shuts it down
If a country becomes heavily reliant on Starlink and Musk terminates service—say, citing a contractual breach or geopolitical dispute—it could face severe disruption. Business agreements often include termination clauses in the fine print, and Musk could legally justify a shutdown (e.g., non-payment, misuse, sanctions). Without viable alternatives, the country’s internet access could collapse, triggering a crisis. Even if the country has terrestrial backups from other service providers, a large number of customers dependent on his Internet would be in deep trouble.
Are countries held hostage by Starlink dependency?
Yes, potentially. Dependence on Starlink introduces vulnerability to Musk’s whims or SpaceX’s priorities, as seen in Ukraine. Countries with limited infrastructure might have no immediate recourse if service is cut, giving Musk leverage akin to blackmail.
Mitigation: Nations could reduce risk by diversifying providers (e.g., OneWeb, Amazon’s Kuiper) or maintaining terrestrial networks.
Contracts: Government deals, like the Pentagon’s with SpaceX, can impose obligations, though private terms may still favour SpaceX.
Shenanigans of the Shadow POTUS
Quite like his bosom pal Donal Trump, Musk is also inherently unreliable, unpredictable and inconsistent. Given the fact that this time he is acting almost like a shadow president, his erratic behaviour is all the more dangerous. This is all the more evident in all its stark ugliness from their behaviour yesterday.
There has been a call for a boycott of Tesla amid a combination of factors related to Elon Musk’s public statements and actions, as well as the political and social context surrounding his business practices. The boycott campaign was led by various groups, including those who were critical of Musk’s political views, his stance on specific issues, or his corporate behaviour. Tesla’s approach to labour and unions has also been a source of controversy. Musk’s stance against unionization, especially in the U.S., has been seen as anti-worker by critics, leading to calls from labour activists and unions to boycott the company.
Musk appeared unmistakeably rattled by the growing criticism, even though Tesla’s share price and market position remained strong. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. In a most unusual and ethically and legally wrong move, Trump jumped to the defence of a private company like Musk’s, which he had no business doing. There could not have been a better example of crony capitalism.
Trump praised Tesla’s innovation and suggested that Tesla was an example of American success. Trump also made an eyebrow-raising statement about his intention to purchase a Tesla vehicle for the White House, which led to both admiration and criticism. Many critics found Trump’s comments on Tesla highly inappropriate, as he appeared to endorse the company and personally extol its virtues in a way that seemed to cross into marketing. This was seen as politically biased, especially given that he was serving as the President of the United States at the time. The promise to buy a Tesla for the White House raised serious legal and ethical issues regarding the US government’s purchasing process. U.S. federal procurement laws require that government contracts be awarded through a transparent and competitive process. This ensures that taxpayer money is spent with transparency and fairness, and it prevents the appearance of cronyism or favouritism. Trump’s endorsement of a private company reinforced the concerns about his using the office of the President to promote private business interests, undermining trust in the fairness of government operations.
Point being made here is that if he could stoop so low as to act like a salesman for Tesla, it needs no imagination to what lengths he would go to support him over Internet shutdown to arm-twist a country disagreeing with them both.
Crisis resulting from internet shutdown
A complete or partial Internet shutdown would cause:
Communication Breakdown: Loss of email, messaging, and VoIP, isolating individuals and institutions.
Economic Disruption: E-commerce, banking, and remote work would halt, crashing GDP in internet-reliant economies (e.g., India’s digital economy is 10% of GDP).
Government Paralysis: Public services, emergency response, and military coordination could fail, as seen in Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink.
Social Chaos: Misinformation and panic could spread without digital channels to counter them, especially in crises like natural disasters.
Education and Healthcare: Remote learning and telemedicine would stop, disproportionately harming rural areas.
Partial shutdowns (e.g., urban vs. rural) might mitigate some effects but still cripple key sectors.
National Security risks due to Starlink
Beyond shutdown crises, Starlink poses great national security risks:
Interception: Starlink transmits data through foreign satellites, which raises concerns about data interception and unauthorized data storage outside the country. LEO signals can be intercepted, though encryption could theoretically mitigate this. Starshield’s military-grade security isn’t standard for civilian Starlink, raising espionage concerns.
Data Sovereignty: Foreign-hosted data (e.g., not terminated locally, as India mandates) could be accessed by SpaceX or US authorities, compromising privacy or state secrets.
Vulnerability to Cyberattacks: The interconnected satellite network poses cyber risks, as data in transit could be susceptible to hacking or signal jamming from hostile actors.
Risk of Foreign Surveillance: With Starlink’s global reach, data and communications in sensitive regions could be vulnerable to foreign surveillance. Satellites could theoretically monitor traffic patterns.
Military Misuse: Russia and China have flagged Starlink’s potential as a military asset, fearing intelligence or jamming capabilities.
Geopolitical Leverage: Dependency gives Musk influence over a nation’s connectivity, as seen in Ukraine and speculated in Taiwan.
Compromise in Communication Security: Starlink’s infrastructure could expose military and government communications to interception or disruption by hostile entities.
Lack of Regulatory Control: As Starlink operates under US jurisdiction, the host country may have limited ability to monitor data handling practices, potentially leading to unauthorized data access by third parties.
Space Debris and Orbital Interference: The large number of Starlink satellites increases the risk of space debris collisions, which could disrupt the host country’s space operations and satellite security.
A nation must demand local data termination to address these risks.
It is not cheap either
Starlink’s cost for ~100 Mbps varies by country but often exceeds terrestrial broadband. Even in the USA, it is $120/month + $349 equipment (Standard plan, 25-220 Mbps) as against Terrestrial (e.g., Xfinity), which is ~$50-$70/month, with no hardware fee.
