New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- Earlier this month, Elon Musk kicked up a storm, claiming that SpaceX's Starlink satellite service was "being blocked by certain oligarchs" in India and asking whether Mukesh Ambani was the country's "real boss". The government dismissed it as "baseless and misconceived", while Reliance Industries responded by saying that the company "never feared competition" and welcomed competition in satellite communications.

To be sure, India is not Musk's only target. He had earlier targeted Delta's chief executive for choosing Amazon over Starlink, Ryanair's chief for rejecting Starlink, and South Africa for denying him a licence. Starlink's numbers explain the aggressive push-it is SpaceX's main source of profit, and its gro...