Musk Pitches 10-Terabit Laser Links for Starlink to Compete With Subsea Cables
Key Facts
Elon Musk said at the Baron Investment Conference on November 6 that next-generation laser links could reach 10 terabits per second, and that Starlink’s fourth generation could offer capacity equal to ten times that of the third generation. Musk linked those figures to the possibility of competing with subsea cables, saying a network with such capabilities “should be able to outperform subsea cables.” The figures reflect a vision stated by Musk and do not represent final specifications or available operating capacity. The remarks put a potential space-based data transmission route at the center of the debate over diversifying communications infrastructure.
Talk of alternative routes takes on added importance in light of a Windward report on unusual maritime movements near cable corridors in the Gulf of Oman. The company said three U.S.-sanctioned tankers and an Iranian-flagged fishing support vessel moved near those corridors between October 5 and 28. The report documented the routes of three tankers off Oman’s Al Batinah coast between October 14 and 28. It said the tanker Celestial Sea went dark inside the 2Africa and Bay of Bengal Gateway cable corridors for 86 hours. The tanker resumed transmitting about 9 nautical miles from where it disappeared, according to Windward. The report does not establish that sabotage took place or that the vessels caused damage to the cables.
Windward’s data details some of the tanker’s movements during the signal outage. It circled for 4.3 hours between October 14 and 15, at speeds ranging from zero to 1.4 knots and 0.65 nautical miles from the 2Africa corridor. The company said seven cable systems pass through the corridors where the tankers operated. This highlights the density of undersea infrastructure in the area covered by the report, without establishing a link between the vessels’ movements and any actual service disruption. In this context, Musk’s comparison between space lasers and subsea cables remains a claim about potential capacity, not an announcement of a ready alternative network.
Starlink’s current technical page describes its inter-satellite laser network as optical links connecting satellites within a global internet network. The company says each satellite has 3 space lasers, and that a single link can reach speeds of 200 gigabits per second. “Mini laser” links are also targeting speeds of 25 gigabits per second in low Earth orbit. These figures provide context for what is currently disclosed compared with Musk’s remarks about the next generation, but they do not establish that the network has reached the newer speeds he cited. The gap between the published technical description and the future vision remains central to assessing what the network could offer as an alternative to subsea cables.
SpaceX disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that about 9,600 Starlink broadband and mobile connectivity satellites were in low Earth orbit as of March 31, 2026. The company said third-generation satellites are designed for a download capacity of one terabit per satellite, and that it expected to begin deploying them using Starship in the second half of 2026. The filing added that a single Starship launch could carry up to 60 third-generation satellites. It estimated that this could represent a potential twentyfold increase in deployed download capacity compared with a Falcon 9 launch. These are company-announced plans and design capacities, while the fourth-generation and laser figures cited by Musk remain separate statements.
In the market, EL7 data showed SPCX closed at $134.27 on November 6, compared with $123.62 at the previous session’s close on November 5. The price data do not establish that the move was linked to Musk’s remarks about Starlink or the Windward report. The close places the stock’s performance near the timing of the remarks without attributing a specific cause. SpaceX’s next announced step in its filing is a plan to deploy third-generation satellites using Starship in the second half of 2026. The fourth generation’s ability to compete with subsea cables depends on the technical vision Musk outlined being realized.