Musk Says Starlink Could Outcompete Undersea Cables
Elon Musk claims about 100,000 V4 Starlink satellites could replace the global network of subsea telecommunication cables.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Data Centers
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Elon Musk stated that a constellation of about 100,000 V4 Starlink satellites could outcompete undersea cables. The claim comes as Iran-linked ships were seen lingering over undersea cables in the Gulf of Oman.
Why it matters
Subsea cables carry most of the world's internet traffic, and concentrated routes such as the Strait of Hormuz are vulnerable to disruption. Iran has explicitly threatened subsea cables in any future flare-up of hostilities with the US and/or Israel, making redundancy a central goal.
Each V4 satellite is slated to carry 100 lasers at 10 Tbps each, compared with a V3 downlink of 1 Tbps and uplink of 160-200 Gbps. The projected V4 capability has not been demonstrated in deployed hardware.
The players
Elon Musk
Chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla who has repeatedly promoted Starlink as a global connectivity platform.
SpaceX
Aerospace company that builds and operates the Starlink low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation.
The details
The V4 design is described as offering 10 times the capability of V3, with next-generation laser links operating at 10 terabits per second. Separately, the ship Celestial Sea lingered near the 2Africa cable for more than four hours on October 14, and later over the Europe India Gateway and Transworld cables, while as many as seven major undersea internet cables run through the Strait of Hormuz.
Timeline
July: SpaceX announced readiness to mass produce V3 Starlink satellites.
October 14: The Celestial Sea lingered near the 2Africa cable for more than four hours.
Late October: The Celestial Sea lingered over the Europe India Gateway and Transworld cables.
The Tech Race
The V4 proposal extends the Starlink V3 design, which already claims a tenfold downlink increase over prior satellites, into a plan to challenge the subsea cable networks that have carried international internet traffic for decades. It positions a private satellite operator as a possible alternative to infrastructure long controlled by cable consortia and governments.
For most internet users, the practical effect of any shift from subsea cables to satellites would depend on pricing, latency, and reliability, none of which are addressed in the source. The proposal remains a projection, so current service is unaffected by this claim.
The takeaway
Redundancy in global internet infrastructure is becoming a strategic priority as undersea routes face military and geopolitical risk. Whether satellites can carry that load at the scale described remains to be shown.
Further reading
For the infrastructure behind this debate, see our coverage in Data Centers.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Wccftech.
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