JAKARTA – The fate of Ukraine, which suffered because some of its internet networks were cut off, has brought sympathy from the world, due to the Russian invasion. One of them is from Elon Musk's satellite internet network, Starlink.
Ukraine on Monday said it had received a donated Starlink satellite internet terminal from SpaceX. However, an internet security researcher also warned this could be Russia's next target.
Starlink — here. Thanks, @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/dZbaYqWYCf
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 28, 2022
"Starlink — here. Thank you @elonmusk," tweeted Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov days after asking billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for help. Fedorov's tweet included an image of the back of a military-looking truck, loaded with terminals.
Musk replied to the tweet, "You're welcome".
The terminal looks like a home satellite television antenna and can provide relatively fast internet service, by residential standards, by connecting to a fleet of satellites in low orbit.
But John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab project, took to Twitter to warn the terminal could be a Russian target.
"Re: starlink donation @elonmusk. Nice to see. But remember: if #Putin controls the air over #Ukraine, the user's uplink transmission becomes a beacon... for airstrikes," he tweeted.
"#Russia has decades of experience hitting people by targeting their satellite communications," he added in a series of 15 tweets detailing the risks.
Re: @elonmusk's starlink donation.Good to see.But remember: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users' uplink transmissions become beacons... for airstrikes. Some background 1/ pic.twitter.com/0p6J87TtUF
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) February 27, 2022
Musk said on Saturday, February 26, that Starlink is available in Ukraine and SpaceX is sending more terminals to the country, whose internet has been disrupted due to the Russian invasion.
Fedorov thanked the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States for helping to quickly approve the activation of Starlink in Ukraine.
"Now one of the challenges is installing end-user terminals, which require a clear view of the sky to connect to Starlink," said Tim Farrar, a satellite communications consultant.
Since tall buildings can block service, one must go to the top of the tallest building nearby to install the antenna. "It's a pretty vulnerable place," Farrar said.
"It's not going to be something that can offer a replacement for the terrestrial internet on a large scale," he said.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on this assistance.
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