The Starlink situation is a classic illustration of what can happen when one large corporation gains a monopoly where it can manipulate the market and it's customers. Capitalism is a great system but it has to be controlled to prevent abuse of the kind Musk has tried to inflict upon Ukraine. Our very best democratic countries can and will hunt down and circumvent abuse. What we are seeing organised by EU, UK, Canada and others is a great relief. I am just very sorry that the USA is now a delinquent declining influence.
Your analysis gives us hope. Thank you! It is a relief in these dire times to be able to keep reading with a smile. Drawing from real developments, not empty hopes for the best.
Musk is such an idiot. His politics are ruining his companies. The second he threatens to turn off Starlink, everyone knows he is not a reliable partner. Alternatives must be made.
Thank you Shankar, this brings on a smile, "But now, Eutelsat knows it has Europe’s backing. It knows it will have customers. And it knows exactly how far it still has to go. That clarity changes the game"
Good news indeed. I would feel a lot safer, even here in my little corner of the world, if I didn't have to share the skies or anything else with the likes of Elon Musk. Here's to his ultimate comedown. First Tesla, then the last four of his rocket launchings, then Starlink. And then maybe one of his baby-mamas will take him out for being a deadbeat dad. Fingers crossed.
This may sound corny, yet it is true, your article has put a spring in my step this morning! After so long thinking that Starlink had the whole world under their thumb, I now feel a new sense of hope!
Brilliant. Better and better. Another happy dance. Musk manages to self-sabotage all the time. I have been watching airing for that to happen with Starlink—and in a way it has. Now he won’t be the only game in town. Well done to France, Germany and Italy.
SO grateful there are still some strong democracies to hold the line until we rid ourselves and the world of the orange menace, and his little buddy, musk.
I'm no expert, but I think that the eutelsat architecture is different to the starlink one, with different aims, so a straight comparison of the number of satellites isn't really important. And this fact is important because the main bottleneck to getting lots of satellites in the sky is launch capacity.
Eutelsat uses a hybrid of low earth and geostationary satellites and the LEO ones are at higher altitude, which means they sacrifice a bit of speed and latency for increase coverage and reliability.
Also eutelsat has no consumer product, so they don't need as much capacity to serve their smaller number of commercial and government users.
Fantastic news. Still a perilous situation, but it sounds like Europe is doing all that is possible. I will declare a truce with France. I expect that Eutelsat needs time as much as money, and France's injection is well calculated.
That's excellent news. Starlink's monopoly on satellite communications was...and is...a concern, not just for Ukraine, but for any country utilizing it (and for Ukraine, a critical concern). Musk has proved himself to be an erratic...and dangerous individual...a huge question mark for any country doing business with him. While his fall from grace as a tech "boy genius" has been nothing short of spectacular, he, never-the-less, as Ceo of the most important near-space communication system is still the major "player" to be dealt with. It's a very positive move on the part of Germany and France, in particular, to address this "elephant in the room" in support of Ukraine but, also, developing a parallel system to ensure European independence from Starlink in the near future.
If it goes anything like with Galileo, Eutelsat will surpass Starlink in a year or two, in bandwidth, coverage and resolution.
Connect by mobile phone?
Oh, and fuck Elon Musk. Merz should burn down the Tesla factory in Germany just for the hell of it. And make up by paying for Elon's next batch of ketamine...
No nation can trust their sovereignty and defense to the weird oligarch tech bros, or for that matter, to the foolishness, ignorance, greed, racism and malice of American voters.
Thank you for this article. It snaps into further prospective the work of the G7 to move beyond the influence of the US in a number of ways, but this is a major move toward that goal which I would never have put together.
Eutelstat has a massive breach to overcome. Their satellites are designed for higher orbit, meaning latency, and their ground units are clunky compared to Starlink. I'm guessing they're one or two years behind. Meanwhile, Starlink will not sit idle.
Good for France for investing. Still, that just means the markets have serious doubt. I'm all for governments monetizing the risk with direct investment, especially with new tech. But playing catch up is tough to do. I'm hoping Eutelsat management is good enough to add value that lowers the technology gap or can even leapfrog.
It's an engineering problem as well as a major hardware modification. I too think they will, but it will not be overnight.
I was ready to jump on the investment bandwagon a few months back, but then did enough research to conclude the sidelines were the best place to view performance. It dropped below $3 from a high of nearly $9.The French transaction took the price up to nearly $5, but it has pulled back a bit.
For me, that's a strong suggestion that it will take time.
The Starlink situation is a classic illustration of what can happen when one large corporation gains a monopoly where it can manipulate the market and it's customers. Capitalism is a great system but it has to be controlled to prevent abuse of the kind Musk has tried to inflict upon Ukraine. Our very best democratic countries can and will hunt down and circumvent abuse. What we are seeing organised by EU, UK, Canada and others is a great relief. I am just very sorry that the USA is now a delinquent declining influence.
Your analysis gives us hope. Thank you! It is a relief in these dire times to be able to keep reading with a smile. Drawing from real developments, not empty hopes for the best.
"A rival constellation."
Knowledge, analysis, vision, and great writing!
Musk is such an idiot. His politics are ruining his companies. The second he threatens to turn off Starlink, everyone knows he is not a reliable partner. Alternatives must be made.
Yep. Overconfidence. But good thing he showed all of us who he really is.
Thank you Shankar, this brings on a smile, "But now, Eutelsat knows it has Europe’s backing. It knows it will have customers. And it knows exactly how far it still has to go. That clarity changes the game"
Yes, Sarah Frischer– so true!
Thank Shankar! We are so fortunate to have him write these tremendous essays for us!
Ha!. Thanks Sara, and Grant. I am glad it helps.
Exactly! I do thank Shankar today and as I have in the past! We are fortunate, Indeed!
Good news indeed. I would feel a lot safer, even here in my little corner of the world, if I didn't have to share the skies or anything else with the likes of Elon Musk. Here's to his ultimate comedown. First Tesla, then the last four of his rocket launchings, then Starlink. And then maybe one of his baby-mamas will take him out for being a deadbeat dad. Fingers crossed.
This may sound corny, yet it is true, your article has put a spring in my step this morning! After so long thinking that Starlink had the whole world under their thumb, I now feel a new sense of hope!
Brilliant. Better and better. Another happy dance. Musk manages to self-sabotage all the time. I have been watching airing for that to happen with Starlink—and in a way it has. Now he won’t be the only game in town. Well done to France, Germany and Italy.
SO grateful there are still some strong democracies to hold the line until we rid ourselves and the world of the orange menace, and his little buddy, musk.
I'm no expert, but I think that the eutelsat architecture is different to the starlink one, with different aims, so a straight comparison of the number of satellites isn't really important. And this fact is important because the main bottleneck to getting lots of satellites in the sky is launch capacity.
Eutelsat uses a hybrid of low earth and geostationary satellites and the LEO ones are at higher altitude, which means they sacrifice a bit of speed and latency for increase coverage and reliability.
Also eutelsat has no consumer product, so they don't need as much capacity to serve their smaller number of commercial and government users.
They can't compete with starlink using their current architecture. They will change as there is demand.
Fantastic news. Still a perilous situation, but it sounds like Europe is doing all that is possible. I will declare a truce with France. I expect that Eutelsat needs time as much as money, and France's injection is well calculated.
Yes. I have seen that. Let them go. They have changed. You know what I am talking about!
That's excellent news. Starlink's monopoly on satellite communications was...and is...a concern, not just for Ukraine, but for any country utilizing it (and for Ukraine, a critical concern). Musk has proved himself to be an erratic...and dangerous individual...a huge question mark for any country doing business with him. While his fall from grace as a tech "boy genius" has been nothing short of spectacular, he, never-the-less, as Ceo of the most important near-space communication system is still the major "player" to be dealt with. It's a very positive move on the part of Germany and France, in particular, to address this "elephant in the room" in support of Ukraine but, also, developing a parallel system to ensure European independence from Starlink in the near future.
He is revolting.
If it goes anything like with Galileo, Eutelsat will surpass Starlink in a year or two, in bandwidth, coverage and resolution.
Connect by mobile phone?
Oh, and fuck Elon Musk. Merz should burn down the Tesla factory in Germany just for the hell of it. And make up by paying for Elon's next batch of ketamine...
No nation can trust their sovereignty and defense to the weird oligarch tech bros, or for that matter, to the foolishness, ignorance, greed, racism and malice of American voters.
Thank you for this article. It snaps into further prospective the work of the G7 to move beyond the influence of the US in a number of ways, but this is a major move toward that goal which I would never have put together.
Eutelstat has a massive breach to overcome. Their satellites are designed for higher orbit, meaning latency, and their ground units are clunky compared to Starlink. I'm guessing they're one or two years behind. Meanwhile, Starlink will not sit idle.
Good for France for investing. Still, that just means the markets have serious doubt. I'm all for governments monetizing the risk with direct investment, especially with new tech. But playing catch up is tough to do. I'm hoping Eutelsat management is good enough to add value that lowers the technology gap or can even leapfrog.
I think they will move lower as the requirements are very different than before.
It's an engineering problem as well as a major hardware modification. I too think they will, but it will not be overnight.
I was ready to jump on the investment bandwagon a few months back, but then did enough research to conclude the sidelines were the best place to view performance. It dropped below $3 from a high of nearly $9.The French transaction took the price up to nearly $5, but it has pulled back a bit.
For me, that's a strong suggestion that it will take time.