Ukraine gets Starlink internet terminals - and friendly warning about safety

-Ukraine on Monday mentioned it had acquired donated Starlink satellite tv for pc web terminals from SpaceX, however an web safety researcher warned these may develop into Russian targets.

“Starlink — right here. Thanks, @elonmusk,” Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted, days after asking SpaceX’s billionaire chief government officer Elon Musk for assist. Fedorov’s tweet included an image of the again of a military-looking truck, loaded with terminals.

Musk tweeted again, “You might be most welcome”.

The terminals appear to be residence satellite tv for pc tv dishes and may present comparatively quick web service, by residential requirements, by connecting to a fleet of satellites in low orbit.

However John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher on the College of Toronto’s Citizen Lab challenge, took to Twitter to warn the terminals may develop into Russian targets.

“Re: @elonmusk’s starlink donation. Good to see. However keep in mind: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, customers’ uplink transmissions develop into beacons … for airstrikes,” he tweeted.

“#Russia has a long time of expertise hitting individuals by focusing on their satellite tv for pc communications,” he added in a sequence of 15 tweets detailing the dangers. (https://bit.ly/35BEFs2)

Musk mentioned on Saturday that Starlink is offered in Ukraine and SpaceX is sending extra terminals to the nation, whose web has been disrupted because of the Russian invasion.

Fedorov thanked Ukraine’s ambassador to america for serving to to swiftly approve the activation of Starlink in Ukraine.

One of many challenges is to put in end-user terminals, which require a transparent view of the sky to connect with Starlink, Tim Farrar, a guide in satellite tv for pc communications mentioned.

As high-rise buildings can block the service, one has to go to the highest of the very best constructing close by to arrange the antenna, he mentioned. “That’s a reasonably susceptible place to be.”

“It's not going to be one thing that may provide a alternative for terrestrial web on a big scale,” he mentioned.

SpaceX didn't instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

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