Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: For the first time, Prime Minister Netanyahu is signaling that he wants to end the war on Gaza
Israeli Channel 12, citing an American source: We want to have entered a path toward captive release and a ceasefire before Netanyahu arrives in Washington
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and two injured in the Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in the town of Mahrouna
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle between the towns of Jwayya and Mahrouna.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: One martyred in the Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Kawnin
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli drone targets a car in the town of Kawnin
Naeini: If our national interests are attacked again, our response this time will be stronger and more destructive
Naeini: The war has proven that the settlers are defenseless against Iranian missile and drone forces
Naeini: Trump lacks an understanding of the true strength of the Iranian people and is so deluded as to believe he can change the reality of Iran's victory
Naeini: The defeat led to Trump's confusion and loss of balance, which was reflected in his ill-considered statements

How Elon Musk became a key geopolitical figure - Axios

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Axios
  • 25 Oct 2022 23:52
4 Min Read

Elon Musk's rise to geopolitics has been accompanied by a lot of hate, but even the US government cannot deny the billionaire's importance in terms of military and national security.

  • x
  • Starlink CEO Elon Musk
    Starlink CEO Elon Musk

Elon Musk has been a fan favorite in Ukraine over the past few months, as he granted - though at the expense of the Biden administration - Kiev access to his international satellite-internet service, Starlink, and largely expressed his pro-Ukraine position online.

The billionaire has been largely active online in terms of making plans for peace in Ukraine and proposing how the situation in the region should be resolved, in addition to suggesting solutions for the Taiwan issue, which got him quite a lot of hate.

However, the man of the hour has one tool on his hand that gives him a solid amount of significance; his Starlink company, which offers internet satellite services all over the globe.

Space companies are largely important in this day and age due to surpassing governments in terms of their abilities to grant technological and geopolitical powers they offer to those wielding their services.

The capitalization of space has offered these companies an ecosystem they can exist in with resources focused solely on developing their abilities, unlike states, which have to diversify where their taxpayer money goes.

The US did not make the decision that Musk activates Starlink in Ukraine, he decided the matter by himself after Kiev called him on to do so.

SpaceX was "trying to strong-arm the US government into paying for this service that they chose to send there in the first place," Kaitlyn Johnson, a space policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Axios.

Read next: Ukraine worried over Musk delve into geopolitics - reports

Now, the Pentagon is mulling paying Musk for the service that could give Washington a lot of advantages in the international arena.

Related News

DOGE loses control over federal grant applications review: WashPo

IRGC slams Trump's 'nonsense' statements following war on Iran

Despite the hate he is receiving, and despite garnering praise from its foes, such as Russia, Washington realizes Musk's importance. The Kremlin described Musk's initiatives as positive, but Ukrainian officials, diplomats, and even the country's president bashed the billionaire.

Musk's so-called peace plan said elections should be held under the supervision of the United Nations in the territories recently added to Russia to see whether they wanted to remain part of Russia or not; Crimea is recognized as Russian; Ukraine assures the water supply to Crimea; Ukraine remains a neutral party.

He also underlined that this would be the outcome of the war regardless, therefore, it was "just a question of how many die before then."

There are now 20,000 terminals in Ukraine that Starlink sends high-speed internet to from very low orbit. The high-speed internet has been very beneficial for Ukraine, with Musk coming together with the US government to give Kiev access to the service for free - the US paid for the majority of the terminals and Musk waived the usual monthly fees.

Starlink "changed the course of the war to Ukraine’s advantage," said Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister.

It is of such importance that Ukraine's train system depends on it, and so does the government, as it uses it to transmit communications, including Zelensky's broadcasts.

This comes at a time that space companies are growing in terms of importance, increasingly providing clients with satellite remote sensing and high-bandwidth communication via satellite.

Musk also helped the United States in Iran, activating his constellation of internet satellites in the country in light of the mass riots taking place there. 

"Activating Starlink", Musk said on Twitter, replying to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's announcement that Washington "took action today to advance Internet freedom and the free flow of information for the Iranian people."

Commercial satellites are not only important in terms of faster internet speed and a possibly more secure connection away from government surveillance. They are taking on a national security and military importance, which is shifting the playing field in space.

  • United States
  • Taiwan
  • Russia
  • Elon Musk
  • Ukraine
  • Starlink
  • Iran

Most Read

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a protest following the US attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Iran declares victory as ceasefire forces Israeli retreat

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire

Iran victorious as ceasefire with 'Israel' takes effect

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Iranian worshippers carry their country's flags in a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)

Iran warns of NPT withdrawal, Strait of Hormuz closure after US attack

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli occupation soldiers search for settlers amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central occupied Palestine, on Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran missile strike flattens Bat Yam, displaces 2,000 settlers

Palestinian fighters from the Islamic Jihad militant group riding on a truck with weaponry on display take part in an anti-Israel parade marking the 36th anniversary of the movement's founding, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 (AP)
Politics

Palestinian Resistance attacks Israeli forces in Khan Younis, Jabalia

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stands waiting to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, June 23, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran suspends IAEA cooperation, Araghchi blames Grossi for attacks

The commander of the Quds Force's Palestine Unit, Brigadier General Mohammad Said Izadi (Illustrated by Mahdi Rtail for Al Mayadeen English)
Politics

Who was Mohammad Said Izadi, head of the Quds Force's Palestine Unit?

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS