With over two-thirds of all operational satellites now under Elon Musk’s control, the space entrepreneur has cemented his supremacy.
This event comes one day after SpaceX launched its 7,000th Starlink satellite, increasing the overall count of operational satellites to 6,370.
Since its launch in 2019, SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of broadband satellites has grown at an astounding rate, launching an average of three satellites every day.
Over 62 percent of the world’s operating satellites are currently under SpaceX’s control, according to statistics from the nonprofit satellite tracker CelesTrak.
To expand its reach into additional nations, SpaceX intends to launch as many as 42,000 satellites overall. Due to trade embargoes and internet restrictions, Afghanistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Syria are not included on the list; nonetheless, there have been allegations of illegal Starlink equipment infiltrating prohibited areas such as Iran.
With a recent tweet stating, “Starlink now constitutes roughly 2/3 of all active Earth satellites,” Musk demonstrated his grip over the satellite network.
Concerns regarding Musk’s level of power through Starlink, Tesla, and X (previously Twitter) have been raised by this control.
“With Tesla, Starlink, and Twitter, I may have more real-time global economic data in one head than anyone ever,” the billionaire once asserted.
Starlink has encountered difficulties as well. Following the X platform’s prohibition by Brazilian lawmakers last week, Starlink first allowed users to access the app but subsequently cooperated with the ruling.
