How Musk’s Starlink Satellites Impact Wars

Starlink satellites provide internet access to remote areas – the service is popular in war zones like Ukraine. According to the media, Russia is also said to be using Starlink, although it is not licensed.

The Internet begins with a rocket explosion: around 6,000 satellites were launched into space using launchers. They can currently provide internet to 70 countries, even in the most remote regions. For this you need the recipient, who reminds Thomas Grove, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, of a pizza box.

Starlink’s company website shows positive examples: students on computers in a remote school in Rwanda and internet access after a flood disaster. In otherwise cut-off parts of the world, Starlink can provide internet – for a monthly usage fee. Depending on how fast the connection and how large the uploads and downloads should be, this costs between 120 and 5,000 dollars.

“Arbiter over the outcome of the war”

Ukraine has been using Starlink since the Russian attack in 2022; it is the backbone of communication, says Starlink boss and billionaire Elon Musk with a bit of pride. The Internet is particularly useful and precise for the use of drones. But Musk no longer wanted to pay for the service in October 2022 and basically passed the bill on to the US Department of Defense, which also led to discussions about Musk’s role in world affairs.

“This was an unusual situation in some respects because at the time this story began, there was no agreement between Musk and the Pentagon to deploy Starlink in Ukraine,” investigative reporter Ronan Farrow told NPR. “Yet he was a private citizen in a private company who had become the arbiter of the outcome of this war. And the government found itself in the unusual position of having no control over the private citizen who was supposed to determine so much.”

Does Russia use Starlink?

There are now increasing reports that Russian troops are also using Starlink on Ukrainian territory – although Starlink has stated that it does not do business with the Russian government or the army. Russia denies its use – Starlink is not licensed and officially banned in Russia.

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporters researched and uncovered how Russian military officials can still get access to the stations: through middlemen who legally buy the terminals and then pass them on to Russia, WSJ reporter Grove reported in the newspaper’s podcast.

Starlink is also said to be used illegally by paramilitary groups in Sudan. Actually, Starlink could prevent use within the country because Sudan has not signed an agreement with Starlink, Grove said. This is called geofencing. “But this is not the case,” he says. “The internal policy at Starlink is inconsistent. Certain terminals could also be switched off and deactivated individually.”

The Pentagon is reportedly working on countermeasures to shut down illegal terminals, Grove said. Starlink has so far held back on details about this. The Ukrainian armed forces therefore have one main option: locate and destroy Starlink terminals.