Elon Musk Has Stepped In To Aid Ukraine, Moving His "Starlink" Satellites and Terminals To Get Them Back Online After Vice Prime Minister's Plea For Help
WSJ - Elon Musk said SpaceX had made access to its satellite-internet system, called Starlink, available in Ukraine and would be sending additional equipment so people could use the service amid the country's invasion by Russia.
Mr. Musk, the founder of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as SpaceX is formally known, responded in a tweet to a request from Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, who asked for access to the service via Twitter on Saturday.
"Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route," Mr. Musk responded on Twitter hours later.
SpaceX has been building out Starlink, a satellite-enabled, high-speed internet service, over the past few years. To use the service, customers need a terminal on the ground that can connect with the Starlink satellites.
What a boss move from the real-life Tony Stark.
You might be asking what the fuck is Starlink?
Aside from a badass-sounding name, Starlink is a no-brainer from a tech standpoint. I remember back in the AOL 56k days a company called Hughes Net attempted to do satellite internet service but it was somehow even slower than dial-up.
But it seems like Elon Musk has it figured out, and in true to Nikola Tesla form, his plan is to gift the world with his discovery for free one day.
(This is an awesome video that explains his vision and plan for execution.)
Russia has strategically been knocking out Ukraine's infrastructure, including cell towers and world wide web terminals.
So Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, had the foresight to reach out to Mr. Musk, via twitter of all places, asking for his assistance.
Within TWELVE HOURS Elon had the satellite and terminals in place, with a promise that more are on the way. Musk's SpaceX has thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit, which allow the company to beam broadband services around Earth, without the need for fiber-optic cables.
What a fucking guy.
Imagine if this guy ran the country? Shit might actually get done around here.
And as if that wasn't enough, Musk has also promised to protect the ISS (International Space Station), following a Russian space chief's claims it could crash into Earth.
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Rogozin, who leads the Roscosmos agency, tweeted Thursday: "If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or Europe?" On Saturday, Musk responded by posting the logo of his company, SpaceX.
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In that series of Rogozin's tweets he claimed the sanctions could have severe consequences for the ISS and "destroy" international cooperation related to the International Space Station.
Another of his tweets said: "There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them?"
TRANSLATED TWEETS
SANCTIONS OF ALZ-GEIMER Biden said the new sanctions would affect the Russian space program. OK. It remains to find out the details: 1. Do you want to block our access to radiation-resistant space microelectronics? So you already did it quite officially in 2014.
As you noticed, we, nevertheless, continue to make our own spacecraft. And we will do them by expanding the production of the necessary components and devices at home. 2. Do you want to ban all countries from launching their spacecraft on the most reliable Russian rockets in the world?
This is how you are already doing it and are planning to finally destroy the world market of space competition from January 1, 2023 by imposing sanctions on our launch vehicles. We are aware. This is also not news. We are ready to act here too. 3. Do you want to destroy our cooperation on the ISS?
This is how you already do it by limiting exchanges between our cosmonaut and astronaut training centers. Or do you want to manage the ISS yourself? Maybe President Biden is off topic, so explain to him that the correction of the station's orbit, its avoidance of dangerous rendezvous with space ..
garbage, with which your talented businessmen have polluted the near-Earth orbit, is produced exclusively by the engines of the Russian Progress MS cargo ships. If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled deorbit and fall into the United States or…
Europe? There is also the option of dropping a 500-ton structure to India and China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS does not fly over Russia, so all the risks are yours. Are you ready for them? Gentlemen, when planning sanctions, check those who generate them for illness
Alzheimer's. Just in case. To prevent your sanctions from falling on your head. And not only in a figurative sense. Therefore, for the time being, as a partner, I suggest that you do not behave like an irresponsible gamer, disavow the statement about "Alzheimer's sanctions". Friendly advice
After Musk confirmed SpaceX would get involved, should the ISS fall out of orbit, with the picture of SpaceX, a Twitter user asked if that's what the tech mogul really meant, to which Musk simply replied- "Yes."
And if you think that he's full of shit or just puffing his chest, he's not.
(Sidenote- Elon has been doing all of this while crushing churros at the "Charro Days" festival and parade in Austin.)
Last week students invited Musk to come, and he accepted.
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And he kept his word.
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He even entered a float into the parade-
Is it possible to be one of the richest people on planet Earth and a man of the people?