UKRAINE has received a massive delivery of emergency internet satellite dishes from Elon Musk to help communications battered by Russia.
Traditional broadband connections have been hugely disrupted by the Russian invasion, leading to a desperate plea for support from Ukraine’s deputy prime minister to the SpaceX founder.
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Mykhailo Fedorov thanked the billionaire on Twitter, who responded: “You are most welcome.”
His Starlink service uses thousands of satellites in Low Earth Orbit to beam internet connections back down, instead of usual cables on the ground.
But to receive data, users need access to a Sky TV-style satellite dish.
Mr Fedorov – who also holds the position of digital minister – tweeted Mr Musk over the weekend, saying “while you try to colonise Mars – Russia tries to occupy Ukraine”.
“While your rockets successfully land from space – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!” he said.
“We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
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Within 10 hours the billionaire replied to say the Starlink service was online in Ukraine with more dishes “en route”.
Although the service is a key lifeline, it won’t be able to support all 44million people in the country.
At the moment, Starlink only has about 145,000 customers globally, mostly those in remote areas with poor broadband.
Some have already complained about slowing speeds as it has become more popular in recent years.
SpaceX plans to have around 40,000 satellites in space eventually, though the move has been met with concerns that it could block the skies and trap us on Earth.
Satellite internet is nothing new, but Musk’s technology and volume makes it possible to deliver speeds of about 150Mbps.
One Ukrainian in Kyiv revealed he was able to achieve top speeds of 200Mbps for a while, with a dish placed outside his window.
“I bought my Dishy on eBay a few months ago,” engineer Oleg Kutkov said.
“Just for research and experiments.
“I saw Elon’s tweet and decided to try to connect my Dishy.”
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What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite project launched by billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2015.
Musk intends to put 12,000 satellites into Earth’s orbit over next decade, possibly rising to 42,000 in future.
The “mega-constellation” will eventually be able to beam internet coverage to anywhere on the planet, according to SpaceX.
The California company says its network will provide users with high-speed, low-latency internet coverage.
Latency is the time it takes to send data from one point to the next.
Because Starlink sats are 60 times closer to Earth than most satellites, SpaceX’s WiFi latency is lower than traditional satellite internet.
The firm sends its satellites up in batches of 60 at a time and has deployed more than 1,400 into orbit since 2019.
They’re launched from Cape Carnaveral in Florida atop unmanned Falcon 9 rockets, which are also built by SpaceX.
The effect of the low-orbiting tech on views of the night sky is a major concern, as they appear brighter than many stars and planets.
Astronomers and amateur stargazers have repeatedly blasted SpaceX for ruining their observations.
The company argues that its satellites are only bright shortly after launch because they sit in a low orbit.
Over several weeks, the satellites move further from Earth, apparently dampening their effect on space observations.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
