Musk's Spectacular 'Space Show'... Is There Another Aim?

Exclusive Control of Low Earth Orbit Satellite High-Speed Communication Services... Calls for Checks and Balances Arise

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The 'eccentric genius' Elon Musk has once again drawn attention by safely returning SpaceX's manned spacecraft to the sea.

At 2:57 a.m. on the 2nd (Eastern Time, USA), SpaceX's manned spacecraft 'Crew Dragon' capsule (Resilience) pierced through the pitch-black darkness and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, carrying four astronauts who had been staying at the International Space Station (ISS). This manned spacecraft splashdown return attracted international attention for the first time since Apollo 8 in December 1968. SpaceX has been leading the private space development industry, having successfully launched the first-ever private manned spacecraft in May last year. It has long outpaced competitors such as Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO's 'Blue Origin.' Musk is pursuing ambitious plans including building a city on Mars by 2030.

Musk is virtually monopolizing the vast 'pie' of the space development industry. A representative example is being selected as the developer of the lunar lander for NASA's recently commissioned 'Artemis Project.' This is a massive project with a total budget of $2.89 billion (approximately 3.22 trillion KRW). The price competitiveness achieved through spacecraft reuse was a key factor. NASA plans to maximize the use of private companies not only for lunar and Mars exploration but also for satellite services, so the effect of market preemption through technology development is expected to be significant.

SpaceX is especially focusing on the low Earth orbit satellite high-speed communication service market, effectively running solo. Since 2010, it has launched a total of 12,000 small satellites to provide ultra-high-speed communication and internet anywhere on Earth without geographical restrictions through the 'Starlink' project. Since October last year, it has been offering a pilot service in North America at 120 megabits per second (download speed) for $99 per month (installation fee $499).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The target population is about 3 billion people, mainly in Africa and the Sahara Desert, where terrestrial networks are poorly established. The UK’s OneWeb and Amazon’s Blue Origin are also planning similar services but are still in the early stages. Satellite high-speed communication services are linked to the future deployment of 6G networks, offering vast scalability. At the end of last month, SpaceX used its powerful lobbying to push through a plan to lower the altitude of its launched satellites from the existing 1,100 km or higher to below 570 km to improve communication efficiency.

Voices of caution are emerging both domestically and internationally. At the '1st Public-Private Space Policy Council' convened by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 30th of last month, Song Kyung-min, CEO of KTsat, urged that investment from companies and the government is urgently needed to stop SpaceX’s dominance. In fact, the US small satellite market alone is worth $18 billion. A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "There have been calls to prepare for the era of space communication and internet like Starlink in the long term," adding, "Currently, there are no clear government-level countermeasures in place."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.