Neither the United States nor Israel: Elon Musk ‘forgets’ Trump and chooses this European country to develop his new ground project

Elon Musk seems to have moved past his recent feud with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. The entrepreneur and, until recently, Trump’s advisor has apologized for his latest attacks against the White House occupant. “I regret some of my posts about President Trump from last week. They went too far,” read his post on X.

Following this apology, Musk is now fully immersed in the next big project from one of his many companies: Starlink, the satellite internet network operated by his aerospace firm, SpaceX. The goal is to build one of Starlink’s largest ground stations yet, and he’s chosen one of Europe’s wealthiest countries for the job: Switzerland.

The selected site is the municipality of Leuk, located in the canton of Valais. According to Swiss news outlet SRF, the plan involves installing forty antennas on a site above the town, where several large satellite dishes are already in place. German communications company Signalhorn AG has applied to support the installation.

The antennas, each about 2.5 meters tall, will be housed under protective domes. This new facility will serve as a gateway for Starlink, acting as a crucial connection point for the network. A similar system previously helped Starlink users in Spain stay online during a major blackout.

A Strategic Location

This isn’t the first time Leuk has hosted satellite infrastructure. For decades, the area has been home to numerous ground stations for satellite communications, some even larger than those proposed by Starlink. As such, Leuk already has much of the necessary infrastructure in place. Its elevation of 700 meters above sea level and clear skies make it an ideal location for such a project.

The site is also strategically appealing to Musk’s company due to its central location in Europe and Switzerland’s well-known political neutrality. According to SpaceX, Starlink currently has over 6,750 satellites in orbit and nearly five million subscribers worldwide. These customers are served by around twenty ground stations across Europe, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). The project is now awaiting approval, with a decision expected by June 28. If approved, construction could begin this fall, although no completion date has been set.

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