Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently hit the headlines after purchasing the social
media platform Twitter.
While that news has been in the forefront, his asset is silently rendering important
services in Ukraine.
Viewers may note that just days after Russia launched its so-called “special military
operation” in Ukraine, Musk announced on February 26 that his Starlink internet service
had been activated in that country.
Musk responded to a request by Ukrainian Vice Prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who appealed
on Twitter for the SpaceX CEO to help.
“@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine!
While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian
civil people!” Fedorov said in February.
“We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how Elon Musk’s Starlink is continuing to play
a critical role in Ukraine thwarting Russian Electronic attacks in its path?
Let's get started.
Starlink is a
satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access
to most of the Earth.
Musk's Starlink aims to sell internet connections to almost anyone on the planet by way of a
growing network of private satellites orbiting overhead.
As of April 2022 Starlink consists of over 2,100 mass-produced satellites.
Space X describes the Starlink system as a “high-speed, low-latency broadband internet”
option for users all over the world.
There are plans that could see the number of satellites potentially reach 42,000 in
the future.
Instead of relying on fiber-optic connections or 5G towers, Starlink connects users to satellites
using transceivers that can be set up anywhere.
Users can switch off a transceiver and take it with them.
Users usually see download speeds between 100 mb/s and 200 mb/s and latency that can
be as low as 20ms Over 10,000 Starlink terminals are currently
in use in Ukraine and and each terminal can serve many users.
More than $15 million has been spent by various stakeholders to provide the hardware and transport
them to Ukraine.
Lots of people are using the system.
A Ukrainian soldier identified as “Dima” and based in the city of Dnipro had described
Starlink’s impact during an interview with journalist David Patrikarakos – noting the
satellite-based broadband has made it more difficult for Russia to interfere with communication.
“I want to say one thing: @elonmusk’s Starlink is what changed the war in #Ukraine’s
favor.
#Russia went out of its way to blow up all our comms.
Now they can’t.
Starlink works under Katyusha fire, under artillery fire,” the soldier said, according
to Patrikarakos’ Twitter thread detailing their interview.
It was indicated that Starlink has played a key role in Ukraine’s military operations
– reportedly providing a connection for Ukrainian drones that are being used to target
and destroy Russian tanks.
A top Pentagon official praised Starlink’s ability to resist Russian hacking and jamming
efforts.
Dave Tremper, the Director of electronic warfare for the Office of the Secretary of Defense,
described how SpaceX’s impeccable ability foiled the Russian endeavor to jam the Starlink
satellite service in a bid to destroy Ukraine's internet connectivity.
He told the C4ISRNET Conference that Starlink countered the attack faster than the US military
would have been able to.
We may remember Musk said on March 25 that Starlink had, at that point, "resisted all
hacking and jamming attempts.
Tremper said that the day after reports of a Russian jamming attack emerged, "Starlink
had slung a line of code and fixed it," and suddenly the attack "was not effective anymore."
He said the countermeasure employed by Starlink was "fantastic," adding "How they did that
was eye-watering to me."
Tremper said the US had a "significant timeline to make those types of corrections," adding:
"There's a really interesting case study to look at the agility that Starlink had in their
ability to address that problem."
He added, "In the way that Starlink was able to upgrade when a threat showed up, we need
to be able to have that agility."
Director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, has warned that the Starlink
space program being pursued by Elon Musk’s SpaceX could pose a threat to Russian security.
This discussion was in the context of the U.S. government having provided SpaceX with
around $900 million for Starlink so far, with subsidies expected to reach approximately
$20 billion under the next budget
Rogozin stated regarding the program, “The question arises: Why does the U.S.
government need this?
Because this kind of spacecraft does not only distribute internet, but can become a tool
for controlling cruise missiles, recalibrating their flight tasks mid-flight, controlling
special forces, or an agent network.”
It is no secret that Starlink is designed to be robust and Space X has already worked
with the US military.
In 2019, tests by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstrated a
610 Mbit/s data link through Starlink to a Beechcraft C-12 Huron aircraft in flight.
Additionally, in late 2019, the United States Air Force successfully tested a connection
with Starlink on an AC-130 Gunship.
In 2020, the United States Air Force utilized Starlink in support of its Advanced Battlefield
management system during a live-fire exercise.
They demonstrated Starlink connected to a "variety of air and terrestrial assets" including
the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.
It is evident that Starlink is showing its potential and not only it has prevented the
Russian attempt of cutting the Internet in Ukraine but is actively playing a role in
the Ukrainian military fightback.