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Musk suddenly bans Ukraine’s Starlink, disrupting communications in the war zone; Foreign media said there may be commercial interests behind this and it could force the Ukrainian military to switch to the more expensive Starlink service.
Provided generous aid in the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian Warukraine richest man in the worldmusk And now suddenly the use of Starlink by the Ukrainian military has been banned, resulting in grounding of drones and hampering military operations. The American “Atlantic Monthly” on the 28th, quoting more than a dozen US and Ukrainian officials and Starlink-related experts, revealed that in fact, the Ukrainian military had received a confidential warning as early as October 11. Unexpectedly, just two days later, Starlink actually encountered problems in the battlefield. Reports indicate that Musk’s stance may be driven not only by his opposition to Starlink being used in wars, but also by large commercial interests that want to force the Ukrainian military to switch to expensive military satellite services. SpaceX increased its related service fees fivefold during the US-Iraq war this year.
The confidential memo, released on October 11, was written by Narodny Starlink, a non-governmental organization that assists the Ukrainian military in acquiring and using Starlink equipment. At that time, the Trump administration had decided to begin purchasing Russian diesel and ease sanctions on Russia, causing People’s Starlink to worry that the United States might further restrict Ukraine’s use of Starlink and urged the military to prepare alternative communications solutions. The memo warned that the most serious scenario would be a complete disconnection of Starlink, which could also lead to Russia winning the war.
Sure enough, two days later, Starlink experienced a connection anomaly in the Ukrainian war zone, resulting in grounding of the drones and suspension of military operations. A senior US military officer bluntly said: “Without Starlink, this war would grind to a halt.” Musk posted a message on social media on the 24th, admitting that this was a deliberate move by SpaceX, accusing the Ukrainian military of violating its terms of service by using the service to launch offensive drone attacks. He said that this loophole has been closed.
The Atlantic Monthly reported that Ukraine would be unable to cope with the loss of Starlink and would not be able to survive in the long run. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 28th that Russia is in contact with Musk to discuss Starlink-related matters. Putin said Russia is developing its own satellite network, which is still in its infancy, and is maintaining close contacts with US industry figures, including Musk, to prevent the two sides’ satellites in space orbit from interfering with each other.
Ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Musk donated thousands of sets of Starlink equipment to help Ukraine maintain network communications. After this the Ukrainian military started using Starlink to control drones to attack Russian forces. However, the use of Starlink for military strikes gradually caused unrest within SpaceX. Musk also refused to allow the Ukrainian military to use Starlink to raid Russian warships near Crimea, insisting that Starlink was originally designed to give people access to the Internet, not to launch drone strikes.
In late 2022, it will also launch a “Starshield” service specifically for military customers. The US government covers most of the cost of this service for Ukraine, giving SpaceX a substantial profit. In return, the Pentagon has greater control over Ukraine’s satellite connections.
However, the Ukrainian military still mostly uses ordinary Starlink equipment, mainly due to the huge price difference.
Typically, Starlink costs as little as US$30 per month, while Starshield can cost as much as US$25,000 per month. Although Starlink’s terms of use prohibit military use, SpaceX has not strictly enforced them in the past. According to reports, Musk may now force the Ukrainian military and its allies to switch to the more expensive Star Shield service by strictly enforcing this rule.
A similar situation had arisen during the US-Iraq war in the same year. At that time, the US military used Star Shield to control drone attacks.iran After SpaceX found out, it increased the local Star Shield service fee from about US$5,000 per terminal device per month to US$25,000 in one fell swoop, and the Pentagon finally agreed to pay.
At present, the Ukrainian Defense Minister has announced that Starlink services in the theater have returned to normal, but the Ukrainian military is still worried that Musk may restrict services again at any time. Since it is difficult to find a satellite network large enough to replace Starlink in the short term, Ukraine is still heavily dependent on services provided by Musk.
Summary FAQ
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The report reported that SpaceX banned Starlink use in the Ukrainian theater, causing abnormal connections in some areas, grounding drones and disrupting military operations. Musk also said the move was to prevent Starlink from being used for offensive drone operations.
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The Atlantic cited officials and experts as saying Musk could use stricter enforcement of Starlink military sanctions rules to get the Ukrainian military to switch to the more expensive Starshield service, allowing SpaceX to reap more substantial profits.
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Because Starlink’s monthly minimum fee is only US$30, which is much lower than StarShield’s monthly fee of US$25,000, and the option is not easy to get. Even though services in the theater have been restored, the Ukrainian military is still worried about being restricted again in the future.
