Musk Italy contact in Starlink sovereignty protection guide

Stroppa gives 'unbiased' journalists reassurances amid row

By: ansa.it

Jan 06 2025
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Musk Italy contact in Starlink

Elon Musk's Italy contact Andrea Stroppa on Monday issued a guide to the security and sovereignty protections built into Starlink amid reports the SpaceX owner's satellite programme may take over management of Italy's telecoms security.
    "It's a vademecum in the days of misery for non-biased journalists", titled the post on X by Stroppa, with which - with questions and answers - he sought to reassure people on the Starlink system amid reports Premier Giorgia Meloni had made the telecoms deal with her personal friend, reports she flatly denied as "ridiculous." The first FAQ concerns the security of the system: "Is it safe? Yes, it is very safe", he assures.
    "It uses the most advanced encryption protocols, complex frequency modulations, a dynamic satellite system to be resistant to attacks, it uses inter-satellite links".
    And "while there are no public reports of sabotage of low-orbit satellite networks - he adds -, there are numerous sabotages with major damage to cables.
    Ukraine - Stroppa gives as an example - has not only continued to use it since the beginning of the war, but has increased the range of services adopted".
    Another question, also central to the political debate that has ignited in these hours, is on the doubts that data can be sold off abroad.
    "No", is the answer.
    "There are configurations that allow for full control of the data and complete technical and legal sovereignty".
    No "scandal", then, for the fact that American technology is used in Europe ("all communication systems in European countries use US technologies" such as Microsoft, iOS, the National Strategic Pole, Google and Oracle) and nor is there any risk of losing control of the companies: "telecommunications companies in Italy - Stroppa explains - have not been under complete public control for years".
    A separate chapter on the possibility of using, preferring it, the European system: "There is no European system to date", he points out.
    "There is the IRIS2 project with a cost of over 10 billion that will be led by French and German companies with a minority Italian group. It will be operational in 2030 - if all goes well - with only 270 satellites that will not be enough to cover the needs of a single medium-sized state".
    Starlink, on the other hand, "has the capacity to launch satellites and has over 7000 active and is about to launch the new generation of even more powerful satellites".
    Which - another answer to another question - also leads to economic savings as well as time.
    And to the last exception that Stroppa preemptively raises in place of the doubters ("Yes, but those at SpaceX and Musk are crazy!") the reply passes through the collaborations "with the Pentagon, numerous NATO governments" the "missions for NASA and ESA" the activities in "more than 110 countries in the world".
    And if in the end "biased" journalists were to object that "but I don't like Musk", Stroppa responds: "yeah, yeah, yeah".