With the alarming need for internet and ahead of the official request made by the Ukrainian government, SpaceX was working for continuous six weeks to bring Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine. Even before the government minister of Ukraine tweeted a formal request to Elon Musk to provide Starlink Terminals, SpaceX was struggling hard to plan the expansion of Starlink services in Ukraine. They had been doing their best to get landing rights or government approval to provide internet services in the country.
SpaceX Joins the Group of Supporters Taking Action to Fight for Ukraine
After Ukraine’s lack of internet connectivity and Russia’s invasion to international condemnation, Elon Musk came through on a pledge to deliver a batch of new Starlink terminals. SpaceX did the right thing by sending Starlink services as the whole organization believed it was the best way to uphold democracies. The demand for the company’s next-generation launch system, Starlink’s broadband internet services, remains high. The ever-evolving anticipated need for Starlink forces SpaceX to plan a larger constellation that could ultimately include 30,000 satellites.
How Mega-Constellations Can Help War-Torn Parts of Ukraine
SpaceX’s ability to provide internet access to Ukraine proves what mega constellations can provide in terms of redundancy and capability. Although Russia has been doing all it can to block coverage and jam the internet signals for Ukraine, Starlink’s ability to deliver communications from space over Ukraine is commendable. SpaceX is seeking approval to deploy 30,000 more satellites even though it has permission to launch 12,000 satellites. Starlink, the world’s largest commercial satellite constellation, has nearly 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, but still, the increasing demand is a key reason the company is planning a larger constellation.
Ukrainian Government Websites and Banks Continues to Face Central Regional Internet Outages
With the continuous efforts of Russia in cutting off civilians’ connections with the rest of the world, Residents in the city of Mariupol have been almost entirely offline for a week. To minimize the access of Ukrainian citizens to reliable news and information, Russia is at its peak to target Ukraine’s communications infrastructure. While war zones are intrinsically agitated, taking out the enemy’s ability to talk to each other is becoming Russia’s top goal. Mariupol is under siege and getting shelled, even though it doesn’t account for a lot of the traffic of the country of Ukraine.
After Russia’s Invasion, the Overall Internet Connectivity in Ukraine Has Dipped About 20 Percent
Ukraine is currently facingnerve-wracking situations due to internet connectivity being dipped about 20 percent, and Ukrainians fleeing Russian forces cannot check in on their loved ones. Although wars have long been destined to shower the most deteriorating impacts on telecommunications, what Ukraine is facing is on an entirely next level. The disturbing commotion around Ukraine, entire outages, physical cuts involving power increase the threat in the minds of the Ukrainian government and the public in general.
Information War: Russian Forces Vs. Ukrainian Authorities
Russian forces are allegedly vandalizing the local government websites of Ukraine to declare they had surrendered falsely. They are also spamming the Ukrainian authorities with text messages since the lack of internet connection also exacerbates tensions in the information war. Although the information war in Ukraine doesn’t hinder the spirits of the Ukrainian government or its masses, both the officials and the public are fighting back on social media channels and government websites, both to share information about attacks and government services. The banning of authentic informational sources allows other voices outside the war zone to create misinformation with their propaganda.
War in Ukraine is still Affecting Lives Nevertheless, Ukraine is still fighting back, and Russia continues to drop cyber threats on internet services in Ukraine. Let’s see how much further the war can continue and how many lives will get affected in the coming times.
