On February 16, 2023, Bakhmut, Ukraine, Russian troops gradually advanced. The picture shows the antenna of a Starlink satellite broadband system in the snow. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP)
[TheEpochTimesFebruary192023](Epoch Times reporter Takasugi compiles and reports) U.S. Secretary of State Blinken said on Saturday (February 18) that the U.S. government has negotiated with Musk on Ukraine’s free use of SpaceX’s Starlink (Starlink) ) to discuss the issue of satellite Internet.
A few days ago, the US Space Technology Exploration Corporation (SpaceX) stated that it has taken measures to restrict the use of Starlink space network equipment by the Ukrainian military to control its drones in combat.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, noted on Feb. 8 that the Starlink space network service “was never intended to be weaponized,” nor did it anticipate the Ukrainian military’s reliance on the technology to such an extent .
According to a CNBC report, in an interview with “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” (Meet the Press with Chuck Todd), when asked whether the United States had asked SpaceX CEO When asked by Elon Musk not to limit the Ukrainian military’s use of Starlink capabilities, Antony Blinken replied, “Well, I can’t share any of our conversations other than to say, we There’s been a conversation about that.”
SpaceX has privately shipped truckloads of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, allowing the Ukrainian military to use them to connect to nearly 4,000 satellites that SpaceX has launched into low-Earth orbit to date.
Musk said Russia tried to jam Starlink signals in Ukraine, but SpaceX fought back by beefing up the service’s software.
This isn’t the first controversy surrounding Musk’s aid to Ukraine’s Starlink service.
Musk launched the Starlink service for Ukraine in late February 2022 after internet service in Ukraine was disrupted by the Russian intrusion. Since then, SpaceX has delivered thousands of terminals to Ukraine.
In October 2022, several months after providing Ukraine with a large number of Starlink terminal equipment for free and providing Internet link services for these equipment to its space satellites, Musk stated on Twitter that SpaceX cannot indefinitely fund existing The space Internet system can no longer give away thousands of terminals. The data usage of the Ukrainian military’s Starlink terminal is 100 times larger than that of an average household. It is “unreasonable” that the private company SpaceX has been paying for this.
Starlink services for Ukraine cost SpaceX about $20 million a month, according to Musk.
And just before that, in early October 2022, Musk also attracted widespread criticism from Ukrainians for his “peace plan”. Critics included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and then-outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk, among others.
Musk himself confirmed this in a tweet at the time. He said in reply to a tweet that the Ukrainian ambassador had told him to “fuck off” earlier that month.
Musk responded in a tweet: “We’re just following his advice.”
In a tweet on October 3, Musk proposed a “peace plan” that he believed could resolve the Russo-Ukrainian war: suggesting that Ukraine permanently cede the Crimea region to Russia; Voted to decide the fate of territories controlled by Russia and recommended that Ukraine agree to remain neutral.
Ukraine responded by saying it would never agree to cede land that Russia seized by force; a legitimate referendum could not be held in occupied land, where many people were killed or driven out by Russian forces.
At the end of the last round of debate, Musk finally tweeted that he would continue to provide Starlink services to Ukraine free of charge.
In addition, the British “Financial Times” also published an interview with Musk on October 7, 2022. Musk said in the interview that Beijing has made it clear that it disapproves of his recent launch of the Starlink satellite communications system in Ukraine to help the Ukrainian military bypass Russia’s internet blockade.
Musk also revealed that Beijing sought assurances that he would not sell Starlink in China.
Editor in charge: Sun Yun #