On: Europe's new heavy-lift rocket, Ariane 6, made its...

[threeseed]

> what prevents ESA from launching 90% of their payloads on SpaceX for reduced cost

You only have to look at what happened with Starlink and Ukraine.

Last thing EU wants is to put their vital strategic interests in the hands of Elon Musk and his erratic whims.

Especially given they are planning to fine X 6% of their revenue which may end up bankrupting the company given its perilous financial state.

[m4rtink → threeseed]

Well, that seems to have been a one-off episode. Since then modern versions of at least maritime drones & possible bigger aerial drones in Ukraine are almost certainly Starlink guided, possibly via the military version of it called Starshield.