Unpleasant “surprise” from Elon: Musk’s company restricted APU access to Starlink to control drones

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has taken steps to prevent the Ukrainian military from using the Starlink satellite Internet service to control drones during the war with Russia.

This was stated by SpaceX President Gwyn Shotwell during a conference in Washington, writes Reuters.

“The SpaceX Starlink satellite Internet service, which provided the Ukrainian military with broadband to defend against the Russian military, was never intended to be used as a weapon. However, the Ukrainians inadvertently used it in a way that was not part of any agreement.”- she said.

Later, in a conversation with reporters, Shotwell referred to a report that the Ukrainian military used the Starlink service to control drones to identify enemy positions, conduct long-range fire and drop bombs.

“There are things we can do and we’ve already done them”- noted referring to the use of Starlink with drones.

Recall that the unfriendly step of SpaceX surprisingly coincided with the onset of the Russians in the Lugansk region. Analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that in the Kremennaya region there is a “maximum aggravation” due to attempts by Russian troops to break through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For the offensive, the Russians attracted parts of several divisions. Also, the Russian troops continued their offensive operations northwest of Svatovoe.