Italy eyes Musk’s Starlink for secret government communications

ROME — Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has said Italy may employ Elon Musk’s Starlink service to provide encrypted satellite communications to link its military contingents around the world because there is “no public alternative.”

Meloni said Starlink offered advanced technology and, unlike European collaborative satellite program IRIS2, was ready.

“This is a European problem,” she said, adding the European Union “did not get there in time to have public technology able to secure this communication.”

Italy is in talks with Starlink, part of Musk’s SpaceX aerospace business, to use its 6,700 satellite constellation in a reported five-year, €1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) deal.

“Space X has illustrated to the government its technology that allows secure communication nationally and globally which means for us guaranteed communications with our diplomats and military missions abroad,” Meloni told reporters in Rome on Thursday.

She said no decision had been made, and that talks were also being held with other private operators, but said Space X had “the most advanced technology.”

She added, “There are no public alternatives.”

Meloni said, “Tomorrow there will probably be public entities able to guarantee the protection of communication. Today there are not.”

On Monday, Elon Musk said he was “ready to provide Italy the most secure and advanced connectivity.”

The European Union has signed to develop an array of 280 satellites known as ISIS2 which will offer encrypted satellite communications to governments, but it will not be ready until at least 2030.

Meloni said that she considered relying on a private operator to protect sensitive military data less than ideal, but could not wait for IRIS2.

“There are two scenarios and neither is optimal,” she said.

Fabiana di Porto, an expert on Innovation and Regulatory policy at Rome’s Luiss University, said, “Musk’s satellites are cheaper than IRIS2 and there are more of them, but the security aspect is important since we are talking about government communications in the hands of a private operator.”

She also pointed out that Italian state-controlled defense champion Leonardo had a stake in IRIS2.

Meloni said that Microsoft had previously worked on data centers in Italy, adding, “no-one complained.”

She said, “Is the problem with Space X that it is private, or is it the political ideas of Elon Musk?”

Handing control of Italy’s military satellite communications to the U.S. tech tycoon has prompted sharp criticism in Italy from opposition politicians given Musk’s recent use of his social media platform X to lambast governments in the U.K. and Germany.

Meloni has forged a friendship with Musk, recently calling him a “genius.”

“I value investments overseas through one lens – national interest – and not through friendships or political ideas,” she said, adding, “I have never talked to Elon Musk of this project.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼表示，意大利可能会采用埃隆·马斯克的星链服务，为遍布全球的军事部队提供加密卫星通信，因为“没有其他公共替代方案”。

梅洛尼表示，星链提供了先进的技术，并且与欧洲合作卫星计划 IRIS2 不同，它已经准备就绪。

“这是一个欧洲问题，”她说道，并补充说欧盟“没有及时拥有能够保障这种通信安全的公共技术”。

据报道，意大利正在与马斯克旗下 SpaceX 航天公司旗下的 Starlink 公司洽谈，计划在五年内以 15 亿欧元（15.5 亿美元）的价格使用其 6700 颗卫星组成的星座。

梅洛尼周四在罗马告诉记者：“SpaceX 向政府展示了其技术，该技术可以实现国内和全球范围内的安全通信，这意味着我们可以确保与海外外交官和军事使团进行通信。”

她表示尚未做出任何决定，并且还在与其他私人运营商进行谈判，但她也表示 SpaceX 拥有“最先进的技术”。

她补充说：“没有其他公共替代方案。”

梅洛尼说：“明天或许就会有公共机构能够保障通信安全。但现在还没有。”

周一，埃隆·马斯克表示，他“准备为意大利提供最安全、最先进的网络连接”。

欧盟已签署协议，将开发名为 ISIS2 的 280 颗卫星阵列，为各国政府提供加密卫星通信，但至少要到 2030 年才能准备就绪。

梅洛尼表示，她认为依靠私人运营商来保护敏感的军事数据并非理想之选，但她等不及 IRIS2 了。

“有两种情况，但两种都不理想，”她说。

罗马路易斯大学创新与监管政策专家法比亚娜·迪·波尔图表示：“马斯克的卫星比 IRIS2 更便宜，数量也更多，但安全方面很重要，因为我们谈论的是政府通信掌握在私人运营商手中。”

她还指出，意大利国有国防巨头莱昂纳多公司持有 IRIS2 的股份。

梅洛尼表示，微软之前曾在意大利的数据中心工作过，并补充说，“没有人抱怨过”。

她说：“SpaceX 的问题在于它是私营企业，还是埃隆·马斯克的政治理念？”

将意大利军用卫星通信的控制权交给这位美国科技巨头，引发了意大利反对派政客的强烈批评，因为马斯克最近利用他的社交媒体平台X抨击了英国和德国政府。

梅洛尼与马斯克建立了友谊，最近还称他为“天才”。

“我看待海外投资只从一个角度出发——国家利益——而不是通过友谊或政治理念，”她说道，并补充道，“我从未与埃隆·马斯克谈论过这个项目。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。