Elon Musk’s satellites connect Ukrainians to the internet as what was first conceived as a civilian program. Now Starlink is helping Ukraine’s military conduct strikes on Russian tanks and positions where infrastructure is damaged and or no internet connection.
Using Starlink to monitor and coordinate drones to enable boots on the ground to target Russian military assets or staging areas puts Musk in the crosshairs of Moscow.
Musk told Mathias Dopfner, CEO of Bussiness Insider’s parent company Axel Springer, that even if Russia and or China wanted to target Starlink satellites, there are too many of them and near impossible to cripple the next-generation satellite internet service.
Dopfner asked Musk: “What happens if the Russians and Chinese are targeting satellites? Is that also a threat for Starlink?”
Musk replied, “If you attempt to take out Starlink, this is not easy because there are 2000 satellites. That means a lot of anti-satellite missiles.” He said the Russian anti-satellite test in November was a message to Western countries.
“I hope we do not have to put this to a test, but I think we can launch satellites faster than they can launch anti-satellite missiles,” Musk added.
Musk also said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin should be stopped: “I think the American government has done more than people may realize. But it is just not been very public.”
He continued: “But it is important to do something serious,” adding, “we cannot let Putin take over Ukraine. This is crazy.”
The question remains whether Moscow will prepare sanctions targeting Musk, Starlink, or any of his other companies, such as Tesla, over the providing goods and services for military and intelligence services of Ukraine to target Russian troops.
