Elon Musk activates Starlink in Ukraine after vice prime minister’s plea

SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk responded in a matter of hours after a desperate plea by Ukraine’s vice prime minister.

Starlink is now active in Ukraine, Elon Musk announced after Ukraine’s vice prime minister requested the SpaceX billionaire help the embattled country with communication satellites.

“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine,” Musk tweeted about 10 hours after the call for help. “More terminals en route.”

The response came after Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked for the controversial business magnate for Starlink stations.

“@elonmusk, while you try to colonise Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!” Fedorov, also the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, tweeted “We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”

Musk’s response came as Ukraine faced a third day of assaults from Russia and troops continued their assault on Kyiv.

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Elon Musk said his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service had been activated in Ukraine, after a Kyiv official urged the tech titan to provide his embattled country with stations. (Photo by Mariana SUAREZ / AFP)

You just had to ask. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP)

Musk has via SpaceX launched thousands of Starlink satellites into Earth’s orbit, increasing broadband service in parts of the world.

The satellites help carry large amounts of information rapidly to any point on Earth, avoiding the need for fibre-optic cables.

The satellites could provide data links to areas of Ukraine that have lost internet access during the war. Russia’s assaults on cities across Ukraine have left parts of the country with internet outages.

It comes after Musk said SpaceX will rescue the International Space Station if Russia tries to drop it from orbit after threats by Vladimir Putin’s space chief.

This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission

Originally published as Elon Musk activates Starlink in Ukraine after vice prime minister’s plea