Italian opposition leaders roundly criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government for engaging in talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on a €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) deal for encrypted communications systems.

Italy is reportedly close to sealing a €1.5 billion (£1.25 billion) deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX that would provide the country’s government with secure telecommunications.

Billionaire Elon Musk is looking to carve out a role in Italy's telecommunications system by expanding his aerospace business Space X and satellite broadband venture Starlink.

Elon Musk is close to further solidifying his ties with Europe’s right-wing political class as his SpaceX group nears an historic deal with the Italian government to provide security services to the public sector,

Andrea Stroppa, Elon Musk's Italian representative, on Tuesday blasted media coverage of reports that were subsequently denied of an agreement between the Italian government and the world's richest man's SpaceX company.