Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX is building spy satellite network for US intelligence agency, sources sayhttps://www.reuters.com/technology/space/musks-spacex-is-building-spy-satellite-network-us-intelligence-agency-sources-2024-03-16/The contract with the NRO is valued at $1.8 billion for space based imaging capabilities.
“Starlink is in the process of being licensed. And other operators are being encouraged to land in Ghana. We must also invest in operationalizing RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Company) instead of each country going at it alone.“All network operators must arrange and implement alternate routes to restore phone services as they’re currently doing,” Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu disclosed to MPs in Parliament on Monday.
Starlink rental serviceWith the internet cut in some parts of Sudan (accusations of blame have been thrown around by both sides), Starlink satellite internet devices, which are made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, have also become part of illicit trading networks.Zain telecommunication company has succeeded in restoring the network in Port Sudan and other states in the east and north of Sudan controlled by the army, promising that coverage will return to the entire country soon. An eyewitness from el-Gezira state said that the RSF has exploited the internet blackout –for which many blame the paramilitary group – to trade in Starlink devices, which can deliver broadband internet via satellite and are the only form of communication in the state right now.“They are using the Starlink internet and they are even trading the Starlink devices… they are selling the service for 3,000 Sudanese pounds [$5] per hour and are making a huge amount of money from it,” Hassan Ahmed said. “People need to communicate with each other and with their relatives, and even depend on the internet to get some transactions from their friends or relatives elsewhere through mobile banking services,” he said. . . . Mohamed Taj Aldin, from el-Geneina in West Darfur, told MEE that the entire state’s internet service was controlled by the RSF, as they are bringing Starlink devices in from Chad, South Sudan and CAR. “All the devices have been smuggled into the state by RSF soldiers or through traders close to the RSF, or those who get protection from the RSF. We paid between 2,000 and 3,000 Sudanese pounds per hour for using the internet,” he told MEE.
The order, which mandated the immediate cessation of unauthorised Starlink satellite services in Samoa, including Starlink user terminals and service plans not approved by the Office of the Regulator, is now superseded by the government's approval. . .Highlighting the government's proactive approach, La'auli revealed that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are actively collaborating to ensure the security and economic benefits of utilising Starlink services remain within Samoa's borders. This strategic partnership aims to explore avenues for retaining a portion of the revenue generated from Starlink services within the local economy.
Bloomberg investigated the availability of Starlink service for terminals smuggled into several countries where SpaceX does not have landing rights or the country is a conflict zone. They found it very available. It is getting a lot of play in the media. The article is behind a paywall, but an accompanying podcast is not.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2024-03-25/big-take-starlink-has-a-black-market-problem-podcastThe headline frames this as a problem, but the podcast discusses the complicated interests involved. While the terminals are getting into the wrong hands, they are also getting into the right ones. So I would say overall, the US government is interested in seeing the service proliferate.
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 03/26/2024 02:47 pmBloomberg investigated the availability of Starlink service for terminals smuggled into several countries where SpaceX does not have landing rights or the country is a conflict zone. They found it very available. It is getting a lot of play in the media. The article is behind a paywall, but an accompanying podcast is not.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2024-03-25/big-take-starlink-has-a-black-market-problem-podcastThe headline frames this as a problem, but the podcast discusses the complicated interests involved. While the terminals are getting into the wrong hands, they are also getting into the right ones. So I would say overall, the US government is interested in seeing the service proliferate.Listened to the podcast and found it very weak. I personally do not like these discussions in which no numbers are used to indicate the scale. How many black market users versus legal users, how many of the black market users use is for bad things (the Sudan case) versus using it for good things (didn’t people demand Starlink being enabled in Iran). Same with the concern about US government control over how/where it is used. Verbally (at least I got that feeling) they wanted to paint a picture of risk/danger of a private company having this advanced technology and capabilities and “you never know with Musk what he will do, how he will use it”. Also they gave the impression that SpaceX could do something about the black market and “use by wrong people”, but didn’t say how. There was not a glimpse of technical explanation about Starlink. They just switched to “the boss at the top”.Not sure what the intended audience is for Bloomberg Big Takes, but for this audience of one, me, I didn’t learn anything new, heard only yet another article about “careful with Musk”. Not impressed.I am not a fan of Musk as person lately and what he expresses on X. But I have great respect for what he accomplished as CEO of SpaceX (and Tesla). Not impressed with how he changes X, but who cares, it is his company. I abhor what he spouts on X, and the way he does it. But that has no impact, at least what I can see, on Starlink.
Listened to the podcast and found it very weak. I personally do not like these discussions in which no numbers are used to indicate the scale. How many black market users versus legal users, how many of the black market users use is for bad things (the Sudan case) versus using it for good things (didn’t people demand Starlink being enabled in Iran). Same with the concern about US government control over how/where it is used. Verbally (at least I got that feeling) they wanted to paint a picture of risk/danger of a private company having this advanced technology and capabilities and “you never know with Musk what he will do, how he will use it”.
Quote from: GmP on 03/27/2024 05:00 amListened to the podcast and found it very weak. I personally do not like these discussions in which no numbers are used to indicate the scale. How many black market users versus legal users, how many of the black market users use is for bad things (the Sudan case) versus using it for good things (didn’t people demand Starlink being enabled in Iran). Same with the concern about US government control over how/where it is used. Verbally (at least I got that feeling) they wanted to paint a picture of risk/danger of a private company having this advanced technology and capabilities and “you never know with Musk what he will do, how he will use it”.Even in the case of Sudan, I don't think the podcast described it as unalloyed bad. That said, I agree that the story and podcast could have been much more helpfully framed and at least some effort to count the extent of distribution should have been attempted.The US as a whole needs to decide how to press the advantage that SpaceX and Starlink represent. For my part, I think there's a fair bit of room to maximize it. We shouldn't worry so much about Starlink terminals falling into the wrong hands because at the end of the day, proliferation of the terminals is hugely in the US interest. True, the method is a bit "active" -- Musk shoving US/French tech down the throats of the unaligned world. It's not a method for the squeamish. We are seeing various forms of blowback, which will continue and may intensify.
Starlink is now available in Argentina, making it the seventh country in South America and 72nd in the world where people can access high-speed, low-latency internet from space 🛰️🇦🇷 → starlink.com/map?country=AR
Should those of us who like what Elon’s doing with X now post a counter to your view above? Where exactly does that take the discussion? Nowhere.In short, personal views on Elon’s politics (so most of the last paragraph of the post) are not really helpful and just create animosity.
QuoteShould those of us who like what Elon’s doing with X now post a counter to your view above? Where exactly does that take the discussion? Nowhere.In short, personal views on Elon’s politics (so most of the last paragraph of the post) are not really helpful and just create animosity.My apologies if that part of my post offended you. I added it only to clarify that my opinion about the Bloomberg article was not pro Elon because I like everything he does. Many (most) responses on various forums nowadays split in two camps: those who defend him no matter what, and those that attack him no matter what. Did you have comments on the comments about the article I made?
Telesat is expecting more revenue decline in this year, projecting to lose about CA$150 million ($111 million) in GEO business. Goldberg said decline is split between broadcast and enterprise. The broadcast market is facing cord-cutting, and the enterprise market is facing competition from Starlink. Maritime service revenue is most affected, he said. “The biggest driver of lost revenue in the enterprise segment is the migration of customer requirements from GEO to LEO — namely to Starlink as they are the first in the market,” Goldberg said on a Thursday call with investors. “Enterprise customers want affordable, low latency broadband connectivity, which we’ve been talking about for quite some time. The transition to LEO is happening a little faster than even we expected. Although we don’t love seeing Starlink cannibalize some of our GEO customer requirements, it’s a strong validation of the market embrace of LEO and the compelling path that we’re on with Telesat Lightspeed.”
The Ministry of Communication and Information ensures low orbit satellite-based telecommunications services owned by billionaire Elon Musk will soon be available at retail in Indonesia. Director General of Post and Informatics at the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) Wayan Toni Supriyanto said that currently PT Starlink Services Indonesia, a legal entity owned by Starlink in Indonesia, has been established. The Indonesian government has removed the satellite-based telecommunications services business from the negative investment list (DNI).This means that foreign investors can invest their capital in this sector in the homeland. Moreover, foreign investors can own 100 percent of the shares in this sector.According to Wayan, the VSAT permit submitted by PT Starlink Services Indonesia is complete. There is still a lack of ISP permission because the company still has to complete a cooperation agreement with the network access provider (NAP) company.
