SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the Ukrainian military won’t be allowed to use the company’s Starlink internet satellites for combat purposes for fear of being an accomplice to the start of World War III.
Musk gave the confirmation amid an exchange on Twitter, which he also bought last year, with former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.
After Kelly tagged him in a post and pleaded with him to “restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites” in Ukraine, Musk said the company would do no such thing.
“Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other internet connectivity has been destroyed,” he replied. “But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”
In reply to another Twitter user who pointed out that Starlink actually hasn’t cut off its service in Ukraine, Musk added that “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.”
“We’re trying hard to do the right thing, where the 'right thing' is an extremely difficult moral question,” he added.
Musk’s comments come after SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told reporters that Starlink “was never intended to be weaponized.”
“Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,” Shotwell said. She later added that “there are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that. There are things that we can do, and have done.”
Indeed, numerous media reports have exposed the Ukrainian military’s extensive use of Starlink in the conflict, including a naval drone found near the Russian port of Sevastopol with a Starlink antenna lashed to its stern.
Starlink is a network of more than 3,500 low Earth orbit satellites offering high-speed internet access. SpaceX started launching them in 2019 and it presently provides service in 48 countries. Included in its terms of use is the clause: “Starlink is not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses.”
In response to news that Kiev was violating these terms, Musk moved last year to stop offering the service for free in Ukraine, and pressured the Pentagon to pick up the bill. The move also came after Musk offered his thoughts on how to end the conflict through negotiations and concessions, and Kiev’s envoy to Warsaw, Andrij Melnyk, told him to “f**k off.”
“We’re just following his recommendation,” Musk quipped to one reporter who protested the decision.