Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, which launches the Starlink satellites, has extensive contracts with the US Department of Defence, and he has a security clearance which gives him access to classified information. Nasa relies on his Falcon rockets to carry astronauts to the International Space Station.
Starlink is not available in Taiwan, with a map of global availability on the company’s website stating “service date is unknown at this time”.
China views democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take control of the island, and has never renounced the use of force to do so.
Taiwan, which restricts foreign satellite operators, has been seeking to establish its own low-Earth orbit satellite network since the end of 2022. Some politicians have cited Mr Musk’s conflicts of interest with China, where his electric carmaker Tesla has manufacturing facilities, as justification for building its own an alternative.
This effort gained renewed urgency after shipping vessels damaged two sub-sea internet cables connecting some of Taiwan’s outlying islands near the Chinese mainland last year, almost completely cutting them off from contact with the outside world. Some analysts viewed the outage as Beijing carrying out a dress rehearsal of its invasion tactics.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s ministry of digital affairs launched the island’s first domestically produced high-altitude balloons to serve as backup communication channels in the event of emergencies.
In February, members of US Congress said Starlink’s approach to Taiwan could threaten its government contracts. Mike Gallagher, a Republican representative for Wisconsin, said that by not making its service available in Taiwan, SpaceX could be in breach of its contract to make the service accessible to the US government worldwide, according to a letter reviewed by The New York Times.
SpaceX “is in full compliance with all of its US government contracts”, the company said at the time. “SpaceX notified the select committee last week that it is misinformed, but the committee chose to contact media before seeking additional information.”
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $270 billion according to Bloomberg, has recently thrown his support behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, joining him on the campaign trail and giving away millions of dollars to encourage voters in swing states.
His increased presence has lead to speculation Musk may be seeking greater influence in a new administration in 2025.
Trump has also made regular phone calls to Vladimir Putin since leaving office, according to a recent book by veteran political journalist Bob Woodward.
