Russia’s offensive on Ukraine marks a major point of tension in a years-long conflict between the two countries. It also marks an interesting moment for a billionaire who is loath to pass up on a chance to innovate and prove his products to the world. SpaceX founder Elon Musk is stepping in to help Ukrainian citizens in the wake of the conflict. The SpaceX Starlink satellites are helping to keep these citizens close to incredibly important information surrounding the war.
As Russia continues to push into Ukraine, it is sending the country’s infrastructure into turmoil. Of course, the invasion is dominating the news cycle this week; Russia’s military action over Ukraine marks a boiling point for the tensions that have been building between the nations since the Ukrainian Revolution in 2014.
As a result of the fighting, Ukrainian is suffering from severely limited access to the internet. The outages are a massive deal, cutting off millions of people from the largest communication network in the world. News from the SpaceX camp today is offering assistance to the struggling nation. So, what is Starlink? And how does it serve to aid Ukrainians during the conflict? Here’s what you need to know.
SpaceX Starlink Satellites Deployed Over Ukraine
- Starlink is a project linked with Elon Musk’s aerospace side project, SpaceX. Starlink’s goal is to create a highly connected, high-speed network of broadband internet all over the globe using satellites.
- Starlink’s low-orbit satellites are still part of an expanding network; the company provides internet currently to Western Europe, the U.S. and Australia.
- In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, access to internet is crucial. In addition to providing important updates to Ukrainian citizens, the internet also allows these citizens to contact family and friends both within the country and abroad.
- However, internet has been a piece of infrastructure that’s hard to come by in recent days. The country saw widespread outages shortly after Russia’s invasion.
- Elon Musk and Starlink are showing off their technology on the world stage today. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov publicly reached out to Musk via Twitter asking for Starlink satellites.
- Musk very quickly replied to Fedorov’s pleas, announcing that Starlink would deploy satellites over Ukraine to assist with the crisis. According to maps, Ukraine is now the only spot in Eastern Europe connected to the Starlink network.
- This afternoon, Fedorov confirmed that Spacelink really did deploy its satellites. A photo from Federov shows a shipment of satellite receivers arriving via truck.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
