Pentagon working with SpaceX to cut off Russian military’s illicit use of Starlink internet

3 comments

1. Some key bits that I think are important in this article to get past a lot of the media hyperbole (that some of the congress people during the hearing exhibited):

   > [John] Hill [the Pentagon’s deputy chief of space policy] said SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, has been “more than cooperative” and “forward leaning” in working to identify terminals in Russian hands and turn them off.

   > “Not only has SpaceX been very cooperative with the entire United States government and the government of Ukraine, they’ve been forward leaning in identifying and providing information to us,” Hill told lawmakers.

   Also this is an ongoing process so don’t expect Russia to permanently stop using Starlink in Ukraine:

   > While the U.S. government and SpaceX have had some success working together to cut off identified terminals being used by Russian forces, Hill acknowledged it is an endless cat-and-mouse game because Russia keeps acquiring more terminals through black market channels as quickly as existing ones are turned off.

   > “I think we can continue to identify them or turn them off but I think Russia will not stop” trying to obtain more terminals illicitly, Hill said.

2. Apparently Russia simply activates the black market terminals under the name “Stinky” Sergei Semko from Kiev and claim the terminals are for his vacation homes in the east.

   Diabolical!

   /s

3. Serious question: if starlink was made available to ukraine, how do they keep russia out?

   Reaaaallllyyyy long WIFI password?