7/4/2026 at 12:27:26 AM
I worked on the Starlink program in the Redmond facility during the growth from a couple sats as proof of concept to thousands of sats regularly providing internet. I’ve since moved on to other ventures, but I’m still incredibly proud of what I did there. Mostly because it brought internet to those unserved and those who no one was ever going to serve, at least any time soon. I believe the internet and access to the same knowledge and tools as everyone else is such an equalizer. My favorite was getting the monthly emails with stories from rural areas or countries with spotty to no internet and how many of those folks could now commune with the rest of the planet and take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge provided by the internet.by snohobro
7/4/2026 at 1:41:58 AM
I have a Starlink shout out! My brother in law worked on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska a couple of summers ago. They are at sea for weeks and keep fishing until the boat is full. He's done crabbing trips before and was basically out of communication for a month. On this trip, they had Starlink and were able to send us pictures and even FaceTime. Starlink delivered a huge quality of life improvement to guys who work a hard, dangerous job. They really appreciated it!by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 2:26:57 AM
man I am happy to hear that. in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink.I think that many people appreciate Starlink in rural parts but your story is one of many that are just amazing
by zuzululu
7/4/2026 at 3:12:23 AM
Ontario ended a $100M contract with Starlink to help connect 15k rural and first nations households because Elon was connected with the US administration when tariffs were announcedhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/starlink-deal-void-on...
AFAIK there has been no replacement contract since it was killed in 2025
by dmix
7/4/2026 at 3:36:15 AM
Elon has total control of Starlink and he’s currently enjoying his bond villain phase.I am very happy my tax dollars are not going into his pockets.
It’s not a crusade. You send him your money if you want. It’s none of my business.
Pretty sure they are doing a bunch of AI training with your data now too. Opt-in by default. So yeah, no thanks.
by rapind
7/4/2026 at 3:52:53 AM
Tax payers are already responsible for the fees paid to cancel the contract early, but won't tell the public how much it cost. They also already paid for a test run with a first nations community in 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-s...I personally see more value in connecting poor and isolated rural communities. Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics.
by dmix
7/4/2026 at 8:01:18 AM
> Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics.I don't think the decision was meant to influence, rather, it's self-defense against said "Elon's dumb Twitter politics."
Americans having challenges conceptualizing how problematic Starlink is to non-Americans: imagine the same satellite service was provided by Huawei - but helmed by Chinese Elon.
by overfeed
7/4/2026 at 7:36:12 PM
Imagine Europe importing natural gas from Putin through 2027.by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 10:11:48 PM
Imagine the US buying rare earths critical for national security from China with no planned end date.The empirical evidence that your rejoinder is a false equivalence is that the US also expunged Huawei hardware from its telecoms infrastructure.
It's much harder to subvert extractive resources, compared to frequently updated software platforms like 5G switches or internet terminals.
by overfeed
7/4/2026 at 10:08:08 AM
You might be right, SpaceX and xAI are merged. Starlink users better read the policy documents very carefully.by baranul
7/4/2026 at 9:48:22 AM
[dead]by Nervhq
7/4/2026 at 5:09:23 AM
The primary purpose of Starlink and SpaceX was from the start to support military goals, civilian goals were never the primary purpose. SpaceX and Elon Musk claimed that reaching Mars was a primary goal, but these are blatant and repeated lies, also by shills in this comment section, as is evident by Michael D. Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering from 2018 to 2020, being involved from the beginning. Strangely enough, no comment in this Hacker News section seem to discuss the role Starlink plays in Ukraine currently.> In early 2002 he met entrepreneur Elon Musk and accompanied him on a trip to Russia, where they attempted to purchase ICBMs.[8] The decision to found the company SpaceX was made on the flight home, and Griffin briefly considered serving as chief engineer,[9] but eventually he instead became president and COO of In-Q-Tel, a private enterprise funded by the CIA to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve national security interests.[10]
by questiona
7/4/2026 at 6:23:43 AM
Would you prefer that it weren’t used in Ukraine? I believe they find it rather useful.by skybrian
7/4/2026 at 7:29:30 AM
[flagged]by nbardy
7/4/2026 at 1:53:05 PM
Really? It's what he did after he spent nearly a third of a billion dollars to influence an election (which doesn't include the incalculable value of his influence via Twitter!) that makes him a Bond villain.It's Chesterton's Fence[0] in action - Elon took a self-proclaimed woodchipper to the United States government without understanding what he was destroying and without concern for the repercussions to society. He used that influence to benefit himself and his companies directly. It's not sharks with laser beams, but it's far more impactful and the world will living with it for decades to come.
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#Chesterton's_...
by digdugdirk
7/4/2026 at 11:32:33 PM
If you think that was Elon's doing, read up on Stephen Miller^, who was talking about what he'd like to do to the federal bureaucracy even before Trump won a second term.Elon has some racist and oligarchical views, but was also a convenient, socially-awkward autistic guy to brand as the face of DOGE (and stupidly fell for that) while Miller et al. rolled out their preexisting plans.
Then knifed him in the back and tossed him overboard when public opinion soured on DOGE's excesses, since Elon never developed a political base.
^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Miller#White_House_dep...
by ethbr1
7/5/2026 at 4:28:58 AM
Miller is the Antichrist, but I don't buy Elon as a victim for a second. I suspect he'll be spending some of that wealth on image rehabilitation and political influence though as the turns tide. The retcon will be entertaining at least.by rapind
7/5/2026 at 3:18:14 PM
I wouldn't say victim, but I would say ideologically-aligned patsy.Watching Elon seem flummoxed at politics as usual was entertaining.
Like, yeah, of course this administration is going to try to dump the blame at his feet and cut him out as soon as it's in their benefit to do so.
And the only reason they're still vaguely nice to him is because he owns a strategically important rocket+telecom company and Twitter.
by ethbr1
7/4/2026 at 7:56:46 AM
Someone did not follow the news last year.by karmakurtisaani
7/4/2026 at 8:00:00 AM
Does a nazi salut make him one?Regardless, the technology itself is amazing, and eventually should (will) be common infrastructure
by kmarc
7/4/2026 at 1:45:46 PM
Trying and helping to incense violence surely counts. He is one of the most harmfull men in the west. It is tight competition, sure, but he is there among the worst.Backing fascist parties actually do make you a villan, regardless of whether they win or not.
by watwut
7/4/2026 at 4:21:07 PM
He's the richest man in the world, a nazi and controls communication in war zones.by CyberDildonics
7/4/2026 at 7:36:24 AM
There is no replacement because the pockets of Canada's political inner circle hasn't be lined yet with someone that can match StarlinkI think that a more expensive and crappier version of Starlink is going to be offered to Canadians , looking at how its run as an outsider.
by zuzululu
7/4/2026 at 1:30:35 PM
Carney seems to flirt with China [1] so they might make him an offer he can't refuse.[1] https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/01/16/prime-...
by Leonard_of_Q
7/4/2026 at 3:23:30 AM
My wife and I live in Japan, and her job is in a very, very rural area, while I am able to work remote. Before I moved into her house, we checked her local internet, it was 11mbps with a wired connection. yikes. On top of that there are often landslides and other connection issues. Starlink saved the day.by shoobiedoo
7/4/2026 at 2:54:23 AM
I get that he is an ignoble dude, and I dislike him as much as anyone, but why do we judge an entire company by the largest shareholder's personal scruples?There are likely thousands of hardworking people making that ship sail, and it's really short sighted to just write them all off because he is a dumbass.
We are SO ready to judge but so unwilling to THINK. Why?
by from_memory
7/4/2026 at 4:51:05 AM
Why do we judge an organization by their leader and head executive who has complete control over direction and operations? Who individually has a controlling interest which can and has been used to elect himself the leader? Who regularly, openly, and publicly talks about how he needs to have control over the operation of the organization to be willing to run it?You would be hard pressed to find a person who is more responsible or more representative of their organization than that.
by Veserv
7/4/2026 at 3:01:05 AM
Most judging isn't anything more than parroting other people, a mimetic reflex to help you fit in with the people around you.Thinking risks you forming an opinion that might not align with the zeitgeist.
There was a student newspaper editorial not too long ago... I think maybe it was at Harvard?... the crux of the piece was there's no reason to debate or engage, because we know we are right. Having independent thought risks putting you in a position of staying silent, or publicly disagreeing with people who have this kind of mentality.
by zdragnar
7/5/2026 at 2:56:01 AM
There are alternatives. Amazon Leo is currently on a soft launch and will be ramping up over the next 12 monthsby jnaina
7/4/2026 at 10:16:00 AM
Rightly so, subscribing to starlink is giving money to Heilon Musk, one of the worst people alive (he’s in very good company though there are many like him)by ornornor
7/4/2026 at 7:30:35 AM
Claiming that its 'especially Starlink' is just not true. I heard lots of discussion about Musk but very little about Starlink. Starlink mostly gets discussed in terms of space policy and people who care about that.That said people are somewhat right that in most of Western and Central Europe there isn't a huge need for Starlink, it will be quite niche. But I have not heard any 'vitrol' against Starlink.
by panick21_
7/4/2026 at 4:48:05 AM
>in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink.European Tesla sales are rising yoy again. <https://www.statesman.com/business/article/tesla-sales-q2-20...>
by TMWNN
7/4/2026 at 5:28:02 AM
Elon Musk is quite cotroversial figure for Europe.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk_salute_controversy
On one hand Elon Musk and JD Vance supported far-right German party AfD, a party with strong links to Russian. On the other hand Starlink helps Ukraine in the fight against Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/24/germany-...
by leonidasrup
7/4/2026 at 7:33:59 AM
[flagged]by zuzululu
7/4/2026 at 8:13:51 AM
> won majority of UK are being accused of being far right, nazi, russian.Labour? I don’t think many people call Starmer any of those things..
by wqaatwt
7/4/2026 at 11:53:48 AM
Well in that case however it’s anything but silly, with AfD chapters being classified as confirmed extremist right[1], holding its party congress on this very day, exactly 100 years after the NSDAP held an important congress focusing around Hitler and introducing the hitler salute[2], holding meetings to make plans about expelling German citizens[3], had an employee convicted of being a Chinese spy[4] just to cite a few.1: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/sachsen-anhalt-ve... 2: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesparteitag_der_AfD_2026#D... 3: https://www.dw.com/de/vertreibungs-pl%C3%A4ne-befeuern-debat... 4: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/ex-mitarbeiter...
by bcye
7/4/2026 at 9:22:41 AM
Hm. Unfortunately, nationalistic movements and nazis objectively have share some common ground. If the basic premise of your political movement is “I hate foreigners,” you’re inviting a level of hateful thinking and on some level inciting & encouraging some very raw and aggressive emotions among people who also hate foreigners deep down. Nazi Germany is a deeply sad example of what happens when that kind of thinking gets normalized for too long, and the right people figure out how to manipulate a divided society to assume absolute power.So tell me, why shouldn’t we call out political movements that on the surface, appear to be heading down a path that leads to deeply sad situations? We should absolutely not assume that humans are all better now and could never become that hateful again.
Are they Russian linked? Well, I’d love if there was some good investigative journalism about it, because I’m not very familiar with European politics. Just responding to the generalization you’re generalizing about. But don’t forget that Russia has been caught many times trying to destabilize western societies by inciting divisive movements, even just with social media bots. And it works, which is also sad.
by anon7000
7/4/2026 at 11:02:51 PM
They are Russian-linked:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-germany-far-right-forum/33544...
by geoka9
7/4/2026 at 1:49:28 PM
> I personally don't care much about politicsYeah, I dont care about politics, therefore conservatives cant be fascist. I dont care the label fits perfectly, I dont care they have similar goals and values.
Important is, important is not to call them that.
> I think you should be aware of how this looks when you keep parroting unsubstantiated talking points from the opposition party.
They are well substantiated at this point. What is unsubstantiated is knee jerk "their opposition must be wrong, I dont care what is going on".
by watwut
7/4/2026 at 2:58:37 AM
Elon musk is a scumbag and starlink is very useful. Both things can be true.I will say having the world ISP run by a man with his ... proclivities is less than optimal.
by idiotsecant
7/4/2026 at 3:07:37 AM
[flagged]by kappar
7/4/2026 at 3:12:04 AM
[flagged]by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 3:47:10 AM
>Elon voted the same way as 51% of naturalized citizensDoesn't make him right.
by shigawire
7/4/2026 at 4:16:21 AM
[flagged]by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 2:18:46 PM
Imagine having an entire worldview that boils down to which of two buttons you push and whether someone else pushed the same one. Elon musk has a rich tapestry of reasons he's a shitbag, that's not even near the top of the list.by idiotsecant
7/4/2026 at 5:32:20 PM
That would be a fair criticism if the post I was responding to wasn’t specifically about immigration.by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 7:26:35 AM
Elon musk is a fascist and does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.He has also literally killed more people in Africa via his illegal self-enriching actions at DOGE than he has provided internet service to. So you can take this stupid hero worship and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
by solid_fuel
7/4/2026 at 2:18:23 PM
It had turned into a state department front that was getting people killed by interfering in domestic politics. Even Mexico’s President, who is one of Trump’s strongest critics, agreed with that move: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shu...“During a press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum voiced support for shutting down USAID, criticizing the agency's role in funding organizations she described as working against Mexican interests.
‘It's involved in so many things that, honestly, it's better if they just shut it down. If there's going to be aid, it should come through other transparent channels—that's the real issue,’ Sheinbaum said.”
Also the former African Union ambassador to the U.S.: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bottom-line/2025/3/16/ch... (“Chihombori-Quao: USAID was ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ in Africa”).
USAID was funding political organizations in either India or Bangladesh, which kicked off a shitstorm in both countries: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/usaid-biggest-scam-in-histor...
Like I said, the world is a lot more complicated than you learned about in elementary school. Your teacher taught you foreign aid workers selflessly help starving kids in poor countries. But interfering in domestic politics gets kids killed. My dad worked on USAID’s maternal health and vaccine programs in Bangladesh. But if it contributed in any way to the destabilization of Bangladesh in 2024, then it will have killed far more children in the long run than it saved. The math is brutal: in a poor country like Bangladesh, GDP growth directly drives down child mortality. Anything that sets back economic growth even a few years translates to hundreds of thousands of dead children.
by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 5:55:58 PM
You can make all the excuses you want, it doesn’t change the truth. He illegally cut food aid and directly killed vulnerable people around the world.It is that simple.
> My dad worked on USAID’s maternal health and vaccine programs in Bangladesh.
Your dad seems like a much better person than you, spending his time helping people while you spend your time here carrying water for a fascist. Maybe you should try being like him, instead of whatever it is you are doing here.
by solid_fuel
7/4/2026 at 7:48:51 PM
[flagged]by rayiner
7/4/2026 at 8:27:49 PM
> My dad is sad that USAID got shuttered, but his hatred is directed to Antony Blinken and Samantha Powers for how they politicized the agency and interfered with other countries’ domestic politics.That's idiotic, his anger should be directed at the people who took a chainsaw to the agency.
> So maybe sit the fuck down and educate yourself
Take your own goddamn advice, you're talking about things you don't even understand and defending actions that have killed thousands just because you want to defend a billionaire against any and all criticism. It's sycophantic and beyond pathetic. So basically exactly in line with your behavior here.
Edit:
You might even have a point if any of the criticisms about USAID being a soft form of imperialism had been why it was shut down, but it was shut down by drooling idiots angry about "muh tax dollars" going to "dirty foreigners". Every justification you offer is posthoc - just whatever comes to mind to try and defend indefensible actions. You're a liar and continue prove it every time you post something contradictory like this.
by solid_fuel
7/4/2026 at 8:08:09 AM
[dead]by LIMEVINCE
7/4/2026 at 5:03:25 PM
It perfectly fits the current timeline that the top 'feel good success anecdote' for this is about Starlink making raping the most remote areas on earth more enjoyable.These guys get paid outsized rewards for exploiting our/everyone's oceans. Imagine a giant blimp getting paid outsized pay hovering for days over national forests hauling in every last animal they could get until the blimp was overflowing with dead creatures leaving behind a biologically weakened forest. We wouldn't hype them as working hard/dangerous jobs, we'd label them as crappy people/a crap industry. So glad we're making them more comfortable.
by _DeadFred_
7/4/2026 at 1:36:45 AM
If it hadn't been for Starlink I wouldn't have been able to work remotely from my parents house during covid.by mips_avatar
7/4/2026 at 7:49:15 AM
You also brought internet to the long range kamikaze drones enabling hunting mode there.by ponector
7/4/2026 at 11:17:56 PM
Yes, for a while Starlink was available to the invading Russian troops killing Ukrainians, but this is over now, thanks god.by geoka9
7/5/2026 at 5:04:03 PM
But it is still used in Ukrainian kamikaze drones.by ponector
7/4/2026 at 11:19:28 AM
[dead]by threerouter
7/4/2026 at 9:32:22 AM
With the massive bot networks shoving misinformation and propaganda, it's also a new infrastructure that will destabilize a lot of countries unfortunately.by libertine
7/4/2026 at 2:57:55 PM
That just feels like status quo bias. Consider the reverse: should we cut off people's internet access because "that will destabilize a lot of countries"?by gruez
7/5/2026 at 5:50:48 PM
Not at all, just that tech companies should take action on this matterby libertine
7/4/2026 at 12:40:21 AM
> take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge provided by the internetSeems like a bit of a stretch in modern times. Do you have any idea what percentage of traffic is TikTok/YouTube/Facebook?
by cactusplant7374
7/4/2026 at 2:13:07 AM
YouTube has excellent creators for almost any topic you can think of and for almost any video style you can think ofby bathtub365
7/4/2026 at 11:17:16 AM
The average person isn't interested in that. They watch funny videos. We are talking about the average person here -- not HN commenters.by cactusplant7374
7/4/2026 at 2:04:47 AM
Hi, I'm a Youtuber.I talk about computer history. Is my knowledge not valid just because I'm "on youtube" ?
by CursedSilicon
7/4/2026 at 11:16:09 AM
Where did I target you specifically?by cactusplant7374
7/4/2026 at 7:20:59 PM
When you derided people using it for youtube :)by CursedSilicon
7/4/2026 at 12:48:37 AM
I mean yeah, it’s a ton and totally a topic worth discussing on its own. Those aren’t the only options though. There is still plenty of available data out there for people to access and do practical and educational things with outside of purely entertainment. That’s a choice anyone accessing the internet has to make, and I was able to help give them that choice. Better to have a choice to learn and grow vs scroll than have no choice at all I’d say.by snohobro
7/4/2026 at 12:46:50 AM
All places laden with useful information.by llbbdd
7/4/2026 at 12:18:56 PM
That the average person doesn't consume. Yes, that is true.by cactusplant7374
7/4/2026 at 5:48:56 AM
Ahh yes, the ole throw the baby out with the bathwater retort.by snayan
7/4/2026 at 11:16:30 AM
Ah yes, a snarky comment of no substance. Thank you.by cactusplant7374
7/4/2026 at 10:27:18 PM
You're welcome!by snayan