SpaceX has taken steps to prevent Ukraine’s military from using the company’s Starlink satellite internet service to pilot drones in the region during the country’s war with Russia, the SpaceX president said on Wednesday.
SpaceX’s The Starlink satellite internet service, which has provided the Ukrainian military with broadband communications in defense against the Russian military, was “never meant to be armed,” Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said during a conference in Washington, DC.
“However, Ukrainians used it in a way that was unintentional and not part of an agreement,” she said.
In a later conversation with reporters, Shotwell referred to reports that the Ukrainian military used the Starlink service to control drones.
Ukraine has effectively used unmanned aerial vehicles to detect enemy positions, engage long-range fire and drop bombs.
“There are things we can do to limit their ability to do that,” she said, referring to it star links Use with drones. “There are things we can do and have done.”
Shotwell declined to say what actions SpaceX had taken.
The use of Starlink with drones went beyond the scope of an agreement SpaceX has with the Ukrainian government, Shotwell said, adding the contract is for humanitarian causes, like providing broadband internet to hospitals, banks and families , affected by the Russian invasion.
“We know the military uses them for communications and that’s fine,” she said. “But it was never our intention for them to use it for offensive purposes.”
SpaceX has privately shipped truckloads from Starlink terminals to Ukraine, allowing the country’s military to communicate by plugging them in and connecting them to the nearly 4,000 satellites SpaceX has put into low-Earth orbit to date.
Governments, including the United States and France, have paid for other deliveries of Starlink terminals in addition to those privately funded by SpaceX.
Russia has attempted to jam Starlink signals in the region, although SpaceX countered by hardening the service’s software, said Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive officer.
When asked if SpaceX anticipated using Starlink for offensive purposes in Ukraine when deciding to ship terminals in conflict zones, Shotwell said, “We didn’t think about it. I haven’t thought about it. I don’t know it. But we learned pretty quickly.”
Starlink suffered service outages in Ukraine late last year for reasons SpaceX didn’t explain.
When asked if these outages are related to SpaceX’s efforts to curb offensive use of Starlink, Shotwell said, “I don’t want to answer that because I’m not sure I know the answer.”
© Thomson Reuters 2023
