A truck full of Starlink user terminals from Elon Musk has arrived in Ukraine that is not only bravely fighting the Russian invasion but full-fledged cyber warfare from its aggressive neighbor. The news was confirmed by Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, along with a picture of the shipment and a thank you message on Twitter. A couple of days back, Fedorov, who also serves as the country’s Minister of Digital Transformation asked the SpaceX CEO via Twitter to provide assistance by sending Starlink stations to Ukraine and helping the country maintain internet connectivity with the rest of the world.
Musk responded by saying that the satellite internet service had been activated for the country and the equipment to use the company’s services were on their way. It’s incredible how quickly Musk was able to fulfill his promise by sending the hardware into the war-torn country.
Starlink — here. Thanks, @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/dZbaYqWYCf
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 28, 2022
There are around 2000 Starlink satellites orbiting the earth right now and a terminal is needed on the ground to access the company’s internet services. A standard Starlink kit costs $499 and the terminal has a white flat dish that connects with the Starlink satellites with a clear view of the sky. It’s unclear, however, that the terminals shipped to Ukraine will be all the hardware needed to use the Starlink internet service. The picture also doesn’t tell us how many of those terminals made their way to Ukraine. But any help in such circumstances can be hugely beneficial, especially when the country’s internet services have been crippled by the unrelenting cyber-attacks by Russia’s state-sponsored hackers.
It’s not the first time SpaceX has helped a country in need by offering its Starlink high-speed internet. Musk offered to send the terminals to Tonga last month after a volcanic eruption disrupted the country’s internet services.
