Brussels, Europe Brief News – SpaceX chief Elon Musk said that several Government officials are asking its Starlink satellite broadband services to restrict Russian news sources.
Elon Musk said in a tweet “We will do unless at gunpoint, sorry to be a free speech absolutist”.
He also mentioned that SpaceX has made some changes to reprioritize it’s cyber defence to overcome signal jamming, which will cause slight delays in starship and V2.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk warned that it is highly likely that its Starlink could become the major target for Russian forces that have launched an invasion almost a week ago.
Use Starlink devices with Caution
He even tweeted “ Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communication system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so the probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution”.
The warning came days after an Internet security researcher warned that devices used for Satellite communications could become “beacons” that Russia could target for airstrikes.
Musk requests users to turn on Starlink only when required and position the antenna as far away from people as possible and place light camouflage over the antenna to avoid visual detection.
On Saturday, Elon Musk said Starlink was activated in Ukraine and SpaceX was sending more terminals to the country, responding to a tweet by a Ukraine Government official who asked Musk to give their country a bunch of Starlink stations.
On Monday, Ukraine said it had received donated Starlink satellite internet terminals, however, Internet security researchers warned that these could become Russian targets.
John Scott-Railton, A senior researcher at the University of Toronto said “ If Putin controls the air above Ukraine, users uplink transmission become beacons to airstrikes”.
He further added that Russia has years of experience hitting people by targeting their satellite communications.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine Vice Prime Minister thanked Starlink for enabling the cities to stay connected with each other and emergency services for saving lives.
He also mentioned that the country requires generators to keep Starlink services online due to attacks on infrastructure. Russia has damaged most parts of the infrastructure in Ukraine to force country officials to surrender.
In response to that request, Elon musk said SpaceX is working to update software to decrease peak power consumption, this way users will be able to activate starlink even with the help of car cigarette lighter.
