Musk’s New Political Power Is Making Starlink Rivals Nervous
SpaceX dominance in satellites is rattling the likes of Angela Merkel. Europe needs to do more than regulate to catch up.
Look out.
Source: Bloomberg
Yet Musk’s space successes have also been helped by European failures to adapt and compete. SpaceX’s rivals have exhibited classic incumbent blind spots: Europe has no reusable launcher to call its own after deciding against the technology a decade ago. Legacy businesses like satellite TV are suffering in the era of on-demand streaming like Netflix Inc. while markets like maritime and airline Wi-Fi are tempted by Starlink’s more affordable and easy-to-install kit. The disruptive impact of falling prices is ongoing, even amid a wave of mergers to bulk up: Luxembourg-headquartered Intelsat, which is being acquired by SES SA, posted a 9.4% drop in third-quarter revenue, with a 13.7% drop in in-flight services revenue. Shares of Paris-based Eutelsat Communications SACA, which has merged with the UK’s OneWeb, have fallen to a 19-year low.
As Europe dithers over how to catch up, Starlink is adding new wins to its 4 million-strong subscriber base. Airline Air France-KLM — part-owned by the French government — in September announced a deal with Starlink to offer high-speed Wi-Fi on its flights from next summer. That same month, Starlink announced a deal with marquee US customer United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Novaspace Managing Director Nathan de Ruiter says Starlink is able to improve and iterate its product as it launches more satellites.