Tesla CEO provides Starlink service to Ukraine at war with Russia. But there are limitations that he has just reaffirmed.
Elon Musk is a big supporter of Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of the country nearly a year ago.
Eight days after this unprovoked invasion, according to the expression of the allies, Musk was the first CEO of a multinational to officially announce his support for Ukraine. The serial entrepreneur has thus taken part – something rare in the business world – of the environment in this conflict that has been presented since then as democracies against autocracies.
“🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Keep Ukraine Strong 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦,” the billionaire posted on March 4.
Starlink to Ukraine
The merit of this message is that it freed many CEOs who jumped into the breach opened by the Techno King, as he is known at Tesla. (TSLA) – Get a free reportto openly criticize Putin and personally condemn the Russian invasion.
Musk then did something weird: he decided to provide Starlink, the satellite Internet access service developed by SpaceX, his aerospace company. For many observers, Starlink has been a real game changer in this war. In fact, the service has allowed Ukrainians to benefit from secure, independent and uninterrupted Internet access, while Russia had destroyed the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.
“More than 100 cruise missiles attacked communication and energy infrastructure 🇺🇦,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, said last October. “But with Starlink we quickly restore connection in critical areas. Starlink continues to be an essential part of critical infrastructure.”
Musk said last October that 25,300 terminals have been shipped to Ukraine, but “at present, only 10,630 are paying for the service.”
At the time, there was a controversy over the financing of these terminals, the cost of which had increased due to the Russian cyberattacks of which they were victims. The serial entrepreneur asked the Pentagon to pick up part of the costs, but ultimately decided to continue providing the service for free.
Musk doesn’t want Starlink to control Ukraine’s drones
Starlink provides Internet access to residents of areas that are poorly served by telecommunications operators’ fixed and mobile networks. Thousands of small satellites circling in low orbit, mostly 342 miles (550 km) above Earth, enable the service.
In Ukraine, the secure and independent service is used especially by civilians in areas under Russian attack and in areas where infrastructure has been destroyed.
In addition, Starlink satellites have also become the only means of communication for the Ukrainian armed forces on the front lines. Starlink satellites are also helping Ukrainian military drones destroy Russian army tanks and trucks. The drones are equipped with anti-tank grenades to be thrown at the targets.
“Starlink is the main communications system of the Ukrainian army on the war front. If anyone else wants this job, please be my guest,” Musk repeated.
Musk, however, placed a limit on the use of Starlink antennas by the Ukrainian armed forces. SpaceX has taken steps to ensure that Starlink antennas are not used to operate Ukrainian drones. Musk just wants to avoid controlling the Ukrainian drones that badly need them in their fights against the Russians.
On February 9, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, told a conference that Starlink was “never intended to be a weapon.” She added that Ukraine had taken advantage of the technology “in ways that were unintended and not part of any agreement.”
The decision drew the ire of Ukrainian officials who have been calling for more military aid from allies — the European Union, NATO and the United States — as Russian bombing intensifies.
“A year of 🇺🇦 resistance and companies have to decide: either they are on the side of 🇺🇦 and the right to freedom, and not looking for ways to do harm. Or they are on the side of RF and their ‘right’ to kill and seize territories,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted at Shotwell on February 9. “#SpaceX (Starlink) and Ms. #Shotwell should choose a specific option.”
But Musk has just reaffirmed his group’s position. Basically, SpaceX is maintaining its measures to reduce the use of Starlink by the Ukrainian military to control drones. The billionaire made the announcement after a tweet from astronaut Scott Kelly asking him to fully restore service to Ukrainian forces.
“@elonmusk Ukraine desperately needs your continued support,” Kelly said on February 11. “Please restore full functionality to your Starlink satellites. Defending from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It is survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you.”
Musk wanted to be clear. It will not happen.
“You are smart enough not to swallow the media and other propaganda crap (bullshit),” the billionaire replied on February 12. destroyed.
He added: “But we will not allow the escalation of the conflict that can lead to World War III (World War III).”
Musk thus remains faithful to a statement he had already made at the end of January.
“We will not allow Starlink to be used for long-range drone strikes,” he said on January 31.
Last September he also claimed that Starlink was a “peaceful use only” tool.
This is not the first time that there have been tensions between Musk and the Ukrainian authorities. In October, the tech mogul proposed a controversial peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine War that caused uproar among Ukrainians.
The Russian war in Ukraine helped to impose Musk on the international geopolitical stage. The billionaire took the opportunity to build his image as a global CEO
