(CNSNews.com) – On Feb. 8, SpaceX announced that it has limited the Ukrainian military’s ability to use its Starlink satellite internet service to control drones, citing that the “Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.” The service reportedly has been weaponized in the fight against Russia.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Elon Musk’s SpaceX sent thousands of Starlink satellite internet kits to help the country stay online while Russian attacks caused disruptions to their internet service.
At the time, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told the public that their efforts were designed “to ensure people are still communicating” on the ground in Ukraine.
“I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said of Musk at the time.
However, as the war in Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary, Musk and SpaceX have expressed concerns over the ways in which his Starlink services are being used by the Ukrainian military. Furthermore, Musk’s rhetoric online in recent weeks suggests the billionaire is among those who fear that the ongoing conflict has the potential to escalate in the coming months.
Shotwell told a crowd at the 25th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference that the Starlink systems provided to Ukraine were “never intended to be weaponized.”
“You offer a commercial product by connectivity to people, which is helpful in conflict, but you also want to be careful of how they use it,” explained Shotwell.
According to Starlink’s terms of service, “Starlink is not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end uses.”
Shotwell added that Ukrainians are “trying to fight for their country, so I understand it. The thing is, it’s not what was intended.”
While Shotwell did not go into specifics as to how Kyiv has been weaponizing Starlink, the Ukrainian military has been using the system to connect with troops on the ground as well as coordinate strikes on invading Russian forces.
Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs, said on Twitter in response to SpaceX’s announcement that, “Ukraine doesn’t offense, we liberate, protect ours,” and added that there is “no neutrality in fight of good and evil.”
Musk’s decision prompted former NASA Astronaut and US Navy Captain Scott Kelly to tweet the following plea to Elon:
“.@elonmusk Ukraine desperately needs your continued support. Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It’s survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you.”
Musk responded to the former serviceman with the following remarks:
“You’re smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs.
Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed.
But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”
Musk also said in another tweet responding to a reply that he is “trying hard to do the right thing, where the ‘right thing’ is an extremely difficult moral question.”