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This week isn’t off to a good start for Elon Musk or for any of his companies.
Tesla (TSLA) seems unable to catch a break, as shares continue to trend downward. March 10 marked the stock’s steepest decline in five years, as shares plunged 15% in just a few hours of trading.
Last week brought even more problems — SpaceX suffered its second disastrous rocket launch this year as another vessel exploded during a test flight. This could severely compromise Musk’s plans to corner the market on space tourism, one of his best-documented ambitions.
Yesterday brought new troubles as X experienced a network outage this morning, making the network inaccessible for hours. Musk attributed it to a cyberattack but few details have been provided as to who he thinks is responsible.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, however, there seems to be new trouble brewing for Musk as European rivals prepare for action.
European tech leaders aren’t afraid of Elon Musk
Musk has been experiencing quite a bit of tension regarding Europe lately. His recent antics have caused consumer sentiment toward Tesla to sour across the continent, pushing down both electric vehicle (EV) sales and share prices.
However, Musk’s new European headache actually concerns one of his other companies. He recently threatened to pull the internet service being provided to the Ukrainian people by Starlink (a satellite internet service controlled by SpaceX), and European rivals are prepared to step in.
Related: Elon Musk dealt second major blow as another disaster strikes
As many European satellite internet providers see it, if Musk decides to cease helping Ukraine, it could prove a valuable opportunity. According to reports, several prominent companies from different countries are in talks to replace Starlink, including Luxembourg’s SES, Spanish firm Hisdesat, France’s Eutelsat/OneWeb, and U.S. company Viasat VSAT.
Despite their willingness to provide these necessary digital services, all companies are facing a tall order. As the Financial Times reports:
“Replacing the ubiquitous laptop-sized devices that have become so crucial to Ukraine’s defence against Russian aggression remains a tall order. More than 40,000 terminals are in operation across the military, hospitals, businesses and aid organisations, according to Ukraine’s digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov.”
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