Elon Musk fears Starlink could be misused to start ‘WW3’
Elon Musk has confirmed that he would restrict the Ukraine military’s use of his Starlink satellite internet service so that it could not be used in a way that would lead to the “escalation of a conflict that may lead to” World War III.
The space pioneer raised the alarm after former NASA astronaut over reports that Starlink would limit access to the war-torn nation’s military amid fears it was being “weaponized.”
“Ukraine desperately needs your continued support,” Kelly tweeted Musk.
“Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. Itās survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help,” he wrote with a “Thank you.”
However, that Kelly was “smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs.”
He stressed that the SpaceX-run internet service remains “the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed.
“But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3,” Musk tweeted.
Musk also replied to a blogger who stated that he “continues to actively help Ukraine” and that — despite raising fears — SpaceX had not yet banned Ukraine’s military from using Starlink.
“SpaceX commercial terminals, like other commercial products, are meant for private use, not military, but we have not exercised our right to turn them off,” .
Still, “Weāre trying hard to do the right thing, where the ‘right thing’ is an extremely difficult moral question,” he continued.
The exchange followed comments last week by SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, who said that “Ukrainians have leveraged” Starlink “in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.ā
“It was never intended to be weaponized,” she said.
The network of 2,200 low-orbiting satellites has been a lifeline for Ukraine since Russiaās Feb. 24 invasion, with invading forces bombing elāØectrš²ical power and telecommunications systems.
But it has also been crucial to Ukraineās use of battlefield drones andš» for fighters to locate the enemy and target long-range artillery strikes.
A top aide to Presidešønt Volodymyr Zš°elensky, Mykhailo Podolyak,needs to decide whether it is on the side of Ukraineās right to freedom or Russiaās āārightā to kill & seize territories.ā
However, as Musk said, there has been noā indication of anyš“ interruption to Starlink in Ukraine.
Musk had tweetedš¹ in September that Starlink was meant for peaceful use only and the teš°rms of use specify that the internet connections were not to be used for military activities.
In fact, Starlink’s terms of service document clearly states: “Starlink is not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses.”