I find it scary that this kind of infra falls under a commercial organisation from the US.
Literally any Nation, Company, or Individual is free to build a different one. All it takes an absolute shedload of money, time, and talent.
That does not alleviate my worries any more.
That’s not correct. Even though it was wanted and probably ahead of it’s time, in the end OTRAG was shut down due to political pressure.
Is using starlink a good idea for Ukraine? I’m sure Zelensky knows about this, but just in case you don’t.
What alternative to Starlink would you suggest?
The event described in the article you linked is not so obviously a “Musk is on Russia’s side!” Thing as most people present it as. Basically, a foreign government asked Musk, an American businessman, to provide support for a major attack on Russia’s navy. I would be more concerned if he jumped straight in on that. Companies aren’t supposed to make decisions to go to war, governments are supposed to do that. Ukraine should have gone through the American government on this.
I mean sure, if you’re on Russia’s side, he did a good thing? Musk should have never made that decision himself, he should have worked with Biden before shutting off anything. I’ll give you more articles if you want.
A Pentagon spokesman said the department responds directly to members of Congress on such matters. “However, we can reinforce that we are aware of the reports that some Russian forces in occupied Ukraine have used Starlink terminals,” he said. “DoD has been working closely with SpaceX and the Government of Ukraine to investigate and address this threat.”
he should have worked with Biden before shutting off anything.
There’s no actual proof that anything was turned off for that attack; there’s a claim that it was but there’s also a claim that the service was never ON around Sevastopol to begin with.
We saw this same kind of twisted press coverage when Starlink started disabling its service over the ground in contested areas of Ukraine; supposedly it was being done to damage Ukraine’s war effort but the truth is that US Federal Law constrains the sale of products and services considered “dual use” and Starlink has to play under those rules.
The US is currently damn grumpy with China for sending “dual use” technology to Russia despite the sanctions so it’s not just something that Musk / Starlink pulled out of their ass in order to shift blame.
Musk is an asshole but I do get tired of the twisted media coverage surrounding Starlink.
That is actually what Elon said yet the media keeps twisting it. He is prohibited from providing a signal in Crimea because of sanctions. If Biden agrees, he’ll turn it on. He can’t turn it on just because Ukraine makes a request as federal law overrides them. Now I’m surprised Biden has made such a request even secretly in the background
We should probably nationalize that company
