Elon Musk's SpaceX Endgame

In 2024, Elon Musk asked the U.S. government for permission to launch up to one million satellites into space. Not a thousand, not ten thousand: one million. And the most insane part is that half of the satellites already in orbit – about 14,000 out of 28,000 – are already his, operated by SpaceX. What’s at stake here is not just faster internet, but control over who can connect, where, when, and how – literally everywhere on Earth. Here’s the argument: The battle for space dominance is not a technology race, but an unprecedented power play, in which Musk aims to become a kind of overlord of global digital infrastructure. We think of networks as a public good, but instead, they are becoming the domain of a few private individuals with unprecedented leverage. Musk isn’t just dreaming about Mars: he’s securing low-Earth orbit so that no competitor can enter it anymore. And even if his most visionary projects fail, the real prize is right here: Starlink. Starlink is already the world's largest satellite internet provider, with over 10 million users in at least 150 countries. If you've ever taken a United or Qatar Airways flight, you may have used Starlink without even knowing it. But there is one detail that few people know: Musk has already used his power to turn internet access on or off in war zones. In Ukraine, for example, he restricted access to Starlink for both Ukrainians and Russians at different times, directly influencing the course of the conflict. In Venezuela, after Maduro's capture, he made Starlink free for the population. This is not the power of a tech executive: it is the power of a head of state. His next move is the most ambitious yet. Musk wants to make Starlink work directly on smartphones, without the need for dedicated hardware—no more “pizza box” antennas. He already has agreements with more than a dozen mobile operators to cover “dead zones” where regular cell phones don't reach. But he's not satisfied. He wants Starlink to become a global operator, capable of working on any cell phone, in any corner of the planet. Musk says, “You should be able to have Starlink the way you have AT&T or T-Mobile.” And the new generation of satellites promises to increase mobile speeds by 3,000 percent. Also behind this race is Amazon, which has just spent over $11 billion to acquire GlobalStar and has struck a deal with Apple to bring satellite internet to the iPhone and Apple Watch. But Musk has an advantage: if he fills orbit before the others, no one will be able to enter it anymore. And here comes the most unsettling twist. With control of Starlink, Musk can decide which apps you use for free and which you don't, a practice known as “zero-rating.” Starlink has already experimented with this approach: the apps available for free via T-Satellite include X and Grok, but not Instagram or ChatGPT. If he were to expand this practice, he could push millions of people—especially in the poorest countries—to use only his services, simply because they are free. And all of this ties into his crusade against what he calls the “woke mind virus.” Since buying Twitter, now X, Musk has reinstated hundreds of far-right accounts, removed nearly all moderation rules, and pushed his political views through the algorithm. With Grok, his “proudly incorrect” chatbot, and Grokipedia, his alternative to Wikipedia, Musk is building a closed ecosystem where he controls discourse, information, and infrastructure. It’s not about winning public debates; it’s about replacing the arena itself—by cutting out traditional media and becoming the direct channel for what people see, read, and believe. Here is the perspective that few people see: while Musk talks about colonizing Mars, he is conquering Earth – on his own terms. And if Amazon, Apple, and others try to follow suit, the risk is a digital cold war between private empires, where net neutrality will be nothing more than a distant memory. The bottom line is simple: whoever controls the satellites decides who can speak and who can listen. If this story resonates with you, on Lara Notes you can click I'm In – it's not a like; it's your way of saying: This idea is now mine. And if, in a few days, you find yourself telling someone that half of the satellites in orbit belong to Musk and that he could decide who stays connected and who doesn't, you can go back to Lara Notes and tag the people who were with you. It's called Shared Offline. This piece comes from The Atlantic, and I just saved you almost fifteen minutes of reading.