The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from its metal skids into the caiman-inhabited waters below. Their target? A hulking steel mining dredge, caught red-handed as it pulverized the riverbed in search of gold.
Onboard, troops from the national environmental agency, Ibama, and the federal highway police discovered typical tools of the illegal mining trade: mercury, gold, and an enormous drill bit. However, it was a sleek white receiver made by Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, that truly caught their eye. This device, providing communications to the entire criminal network, was one of many seized from such operations this year. Every mining dredge appears to have at least one of these antennas, connecting remote areas seamlessly.
As recently as two years ago, few inhabitants of the Amazon’s remote backlands had even heard of Starlink or its parent company, SpaceX. Today, however, Starlink’s antennas are ubiquitous, found not only in illegal mining operations but also in isolated Indigenous villages, jungle lodges, ranches, and even military bases across a rainforest larger than the EU. The company claims to have more than 250,000 clients in Brazil, with nearly 70,000 in the Amazon.
Pedro Doria, a notable Brazilian tech writer, emphasizes, ‘Starlink is a revolution in the way it brings good quality internet connectivity to pretty much any remote place in the world. It’s revolutionary, and I’m not sure that many people in [the political capital] Brasília understand how, especially in the Amazon, you can’t live without Starlink anymore.’
Ronaldo Lemos, a tech lawyer, traveled to the Amazon to document Starlink’s impact for his series ‘Expresso Futuro.’ He was astonished by the rapid spread of the technology as he ventured up the Negro River toward the Colombian border. Lemos encountered a physiotherapist who had abandoned his profession to sell Starlink terminals at inflated prices, driven by the massive demand for connectivity.
Despite acknowledging Starlink’s benefits, Lemos returned home with concerns. He worried about the extent of information that Starlink could gather on the region, potentially more than the Brazilian government. This access to sensitive data regarding a resource-rich area poses a significant security risk. Additionally, Starlink’s dominance grants Musk dangerous leverage over Brazil’s government. Lemos described Musk’s erratic behavior as unstable and juvenile, warning that it is risky for a country to rely on him for critical applications like connecting the Amazon.
Brazil is not alone in its anxiety over dependence on Musk. With more than 3 million customers in almost 100 countries, the technology’s influence is global. In Ukraine, Starlink has been a crucial asset for military, medical, and energy sectors amidst the Russian invasion. However, Musk’s refusal to enable a drone attack on the Russian fleet in Sevastopol demonstrates the potential peril of relying on a single vendor for vital operations.
Makena Young, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that while it is not unusual for large companies to have geopolitical impact, it is rare for them to make significant political decisions. This is intensified when such decisions are led by visible and potentially polarizing individuals like Musk.
As competition for Starlink emerges, with companies like Amazon developing alternatives, the Musk factor may influence customer choices. Lemos hopes the conflict between Musk and Brazil’s supreme court serves as a wake-up call for democracies, urging the Brazilian government to seek other providers for low-orbit satellite connectivity. He warns of Musk’s use of his social network, X, to stir political division, raising concerns that Starlink might become part of this contentious strategy.
Starlink’s rapid expansion in the Amazon presents both opportunities and significant challenges. While it offers essential connectivity to remote regions, its dominance and the unpredictable nature of its owner, Elon Musk, raise important questions about security and dependency. As other providers develop alternatives, it remains crucial for Brazil and other affected countries to evaluate their reliance on this powerful and potentially volatile technology.
Source: Theguardian