Italy’s plan to buy Starlink data deals a serious blow to European space network

The 290-satellite constellation, developed by the European Union and the European Space Agency with participation from Italy, is scheduled to be operational by 2030 at a development cost of $10.5 billion. After lengthy negotiations, Italy even managed to obtain one of the three main ground stations in the Abruzzo region of the country.

The reaction from some Italian and European officials to the potential agreement between Italy and SpaceX has been furious.

Antonio Misiani, former Italian deputy finance minister and senator from the opposition Democratic Party, told Politico that the completed agreement would constitute an “unacceptable sell-out of national sovereignty.”

This was announced by Beniamino Irdi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former political adviser to the Italian government. Financial Times“This sends a political signal to the EU,” Irdi said. “Iris² is a symbol of Europe’s strategic autonomy, and a key EU member’s move to a different solution could be interpreted as a sign of abandonment.”

Iris² aside, there are several levels of disappointment here. One of them concerns Musk, who, after the election of Trump, turned his attention to promoting far-right political ideas in Europe, especially in Germany and the UK. Meloni, Italy’s conservative leader, counts Musk as a friend and ally. Andrea Stroppa, one of Musk’s advisers in Italy, explained in September that “Elon recognizes Georgia Meloni’s leadership. And he sees in her the same thing he sees in Donald Trump, a man who can defend Western values ​​in danger.”

Battle with Breton

Musk also had a long-running feud with French businessman Thierry Breton, who was the European Union’s internal market commissioner for five years until September last year. Breton led the Iris² initiative to provide secure communications from low Earth orbit. He also supported the Digital Services Act, which aims to curb misinformation published online in Europe. The European Commission was vigorously exploring The social network Mask X is subject to the law.