SpaceX courts Australian investors as government warns Elon Musk risk

As Elon Musk's SpaceX goes public, Australian government officials are flagging Starlink's risks Thu 11 Jun 2026 at 5:39am In short: About 200,000 Australians and several government agencies use Starlink, and major telcos are now partnering with SpaceX to expand satellite phone coverage. Federal government officials are privately flagging risks from relying on a foreign-owned provider, according to documents obtained by a freedom of information request. What's next? Australians are lining up to buy shares in SpaceX when it goes public on June 12. The money raised will fund SpaceX's investment in expanding Starlink's reach and capabilities. As tens of thousands of Australians line up to buy shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX blockbuster public offering, Australian government officials are privately flagging the risks of the country's growing reliance on its satellite internet service, Starlink. These concerns were made explicit in a little-noticed official spy agency notice describing satellite internet providers as a serious challenge to Australia's ability to enforce its own laws and protect itself. The satellite and artificial intelligence company has pitched prospective buyers on a business plan to build out a global — and one day interplanetary — phone and internet network. There were around 200,000 Australians who were Starlink customers, according to a 2025 government estimate. Since then, major telcos Telstra and Optus have signed deals with SpaceX to let their customers use its satellite phone services when they're out of traditional phone coverage. Now, documents obtained under freedom of information laws show government officials have been assessing the risk of having essential communications reliant on a privately owned, foreign satellite network, which is controlled by the world's richest man. Joel Lisk, a space law lecturer at Flinders University, said Australia had legal mechanisms to regulate Starlink, but the practical question was how much leverage the country had over satellites in orbit. "There's the inherent problem: how do you stop someone from doing it?" Dr Lisk said. SpaceX did not respond to questions from the ABC. Satellite operators like SpaceX have 'significant control' An internal presentation prepared by the Department of Home Affairs' Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre in May 2025 laid out the "security considerations" for low-earth-orbit satellite communications services like Starlink. The internal presentation acknowledged that satellite phone and internet communications services play an important role in Australia, particularly in regional and remote areas. The presentation also had a blunt warning specifically about the federal government not having direct control of Starlink because it is not physically based in Australia. One slide flagged "availability risks due to the offshore nature of Starlink". Home Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. The federal government has awarded more than a dozen contracts worth at least $7.13m, including services for the Department of Defence and Australian Electoral Commission. This total amount grows to more than $50 million when it includes state government contracts, most significantly including a $41 million contract with NSW Rural Fire Service for Starlink installations in thousands of its vehicles. Another government document, a public advisory note by the Australian Signals Directorate, published in March but garnered little attention, raised the alarm about the risks of relying on satellite internet. The note said the private operators of satellite services have "significant" control over the networks. "This influence may exceed the regulatory capacity of individual nations, raising concerns about sovereignty and the protection of national interests," the note said. Who regulates SpaceX? Starlink and SpaceX are currently covered by overlapping Australian regulations. The Home Affairs presentation identified that Starlink was considered a critical asset under Australia's critical infrastructure law. This designation comes with some legal requirements, including protecting itself from risks that would hurt its operation and reporting its ownership details. It is also a licensed telecommunication carrier which comes under the purview of the regulator, ACMA, Dr Lisk said. But he said the interaction between the different regulatory regimes was difficult. Dr Lisk said the issue was not unique to Australia. Regulators around the world were still dealing with the speed of the technology's development. "The regulation of large-scale satellite systems is a genuine area of regulatory concern, with regulators across the world still grappling with the speed at which the technology is evolving." 'That's not possible because our licenses don't extend into space' Telstra and SpaceX's attempts to get ACMA's sign-off on their agreement shows how complicated this can be. In correspondence released under FOI, SpaceX told ACMA it needed evidence from a regulator that it was allowed to use Telstra's spectrum from low-earth orbit "Of course, that's not possible because our licences don't extend into space," the Telstra representative wrote. Telstra told the ABC that its licence covered the Australian continent and coastline up to the stratosphere. Beyond that, in the altitude where SpaceX's Starlink operates, the spectrum is governed by international treaties administered by the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector. So, ACMA couldn't give SpaceX official approval to use Telstra's spectrum up there, despite the agreement between the two parties. ACMA did not respond by deadline. "Our partnership is operating in full compliance with domestic and international regulations and treaties," Telstra said. That does not mean Starlink is operating unlawfully, only that this service operates outside the typical, ordinary domestic controls people expect from a national telecommunications network. Telstra told the ABC it had ensured the interests of its customers, the Australian people and compliance with relevant rules were protected. Asked whether it could direct SpaceX to stop, modify or limit satellite transmissions using Telstra spectrum over Australia if there was a technical, security or regulatory concern, Telstra said: "Yes." Elon Musk and Starlink's familiarity with Australian regulators Both Starlink and Elon Musk have already had run-ins with Australian regulators. In May 2025, ACMA found that Starlink had repeatedly failed to meet its obligations as a telco provider to report the number of complaints it had received. Starlink told ACMA the failure was an administrative oversight. ACMA documents also show Starlink had previously been issued a direction to comply in August 2023, after an investigation found it had breached advertising rules for special promotions. In both cases, Starlink cooperated with ACMA when directed. Musk has also shown he is willing to fight Australian regulators personally, including getting involved with his social media company X's dispute with the eSafety Commissioner over orders to remove or hide violent footage from the Sydney church stabbing. Both Starlink and Elon Musk have also been accused of limiting access to their services in the past. Reuters reported in July 2025 that Musk allegedly ordered Starlink satellite coverage shut down over part of Ukraine's Kherson region during a 2022 counteroffensive. The report said the blackout disrupted Ukrainian communications, drones and artillery coordination as forces tried to encircle Russian troops near Beryslav. Musk has denied that he turned off Starlink for Ukraine, and the circumstances of Starlink's military use remain contested. The risk that Musk could consider doing the same to Australia is not a thought experiment. Earlier this year, SpaceX threatened to pull its service from Australia if it was forced to bid for spectrum rights. "[The spectrum uncertainty meant] we're not even sure we're going to be able to deploy in Australia," SpaceX vice president David Goldman told a Senate inquiry in April, according to the AFR. SpaceX is set to be publicly floated on the NASDAQ on June 12. For the first time, Australian retail investors will be able to directly buy shares in a US public offering. This float is expected to make Musk the world's first-ever trillionaire while leaving him still in control of the public company, due to its unusual share structure. The chance that the world's richest man with complete control over SpaceX could withhold Starlink from Australia is part of the complicated equation facing lawmakers tasked with regulating SpaceX and Starlink, Dr Lisk said. "All jurisdictions have had to contend with this: do we authorise SpaceX to broadcast into our jurisdiction? If we say no, what are the consequences? Could they do it anyway? Or alternatively, are we just going to disadvantage our own citizens?"