Starlink's terms of service state that the service is "not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses."
Musk has previously tweeted about Starlink being used for "peaceful use only" and being banned for use in long-range drone strikes.
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SpaceX never intended Starlink internet to be 'weaponized' in Ukraine, says COO
- SpaceX's COO said the company didn't intend Starlink to be "weaponized" amid the war, per reports.
- Gwynne Shotwell claimed the Ukrainian military had used Starlink internet in "unintentional" ways.
- Ukraine has used Starlink for drones to help destroy Russian tanks, The Times reported last year.
Elon Musk's SpaceX never intended its Starlink satellite internet to be "weaponized" in the Ukraine war, COO Gwynne Shotwell said, per media reports.
She told a Federal Aviation Administration conference in Washington DC on Wednesday that SpaceX was aware Ukraine's military was using Starlink for communications in its conflict with Russia.
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However, Shotwell claimed Ukraine had used Starlink "in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement," according to a report by Space News.
"We were really pleased to be able to provide Ukraine connectivity and help them in their fight for freedom," the SpaceX COO said, according to Space News. "It was never intended to be weaponized, but the Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement."
Shotwell said SpaceX had taken steps to limit the Ukrainian military's use of Starlink in offensive operations, per Space News and other reports.
After the conference address, Shotwell spoke to the media about reports of the Ukrainian military using Starlink on drones, per Space News and other outlets.
The Times of London reported in March 2022 that an elite Ukrainian drone unit was using Starlink to help destroy Russian weaponry such as tanks and trucks at night.
SpaceX and Ukraine's defence ministry didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US working hours.
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Starlink's terms of service state that the service is "not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses."
Musk has previously tweeted about Starlink being used for "peaceful use only" and being banned for use in long-range drone strikes.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, SpaceX has provided thousands of Starlink dishes to Ukrainians and has helped Ukrainian troops stay online. One soldier told a British reporter that the satellite service had "changed the war in Ukraine's favor."
SpaceX didn’t intend that Starlink be ‘weaponized’ by Ukraine: Shotwell
The Starlink logo is seen on a mobile device with a Ukrainian flag in the background in this illustration photo in Warsaw, Poland on 21 September, 2022. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Ukraine military’s use of SpaceX’s Starlink internet communications service as a weapon system in its war with Russia was something the company neither foresaw or agreed to, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said today.
“We were really pleased to be able to provide Ukraine connectivity, and help them in their … fight for freedom. It was never intended to be weaponized, however,” she told the 25th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference here today.
“The Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement. So you know, we have to work on that [with] Starlink. You offer a commercial product by connectivity to people which is helpful in conflict, but you also want to be careful of how they use it,” she added. “On the other hand, they’re trying to fight for their country, so I understand it. The thing is, it’s not what was intended.”
Shotwell didn’t elaborate on what exact use the Ukrainian military made of Starlink to “weaponize” the satellite constellation and its communications terminals. It is clear, however, that the government in Kiev has been using the satellite network for not only strategic, but also tactical communications with embattled troops on the ground — for instance, for coordinating strikes on the invading Russian forces.
RELATED: A Musk monopoly? For now, Ukraine has few options outside Starlink for battlefield satcoms
Moscow further has charged that Starlink is directly enhancing the ability of Ukrainian forces to target weapons on Russian forces.
Konstantin Vorontosov, the head of Russia’s delegation to the UN Open Ended Working Group on Reducing Space threats that recently concluded in Geneva, told the group on Jan. 31 that Starlink satellites are being used “not just for communications, but also for guiding drones and also amending the trajectory of artillery shells.”
It also is possible that the communication network has played a role in Ukrainian efforts to fight back against Russian efforts at cyber intrusion, as it is at least technically possible that Russian hacking attempts into Ukrainian communications are being hacked back along the same route by Ukrainian malware.
Starlink has proven a challenge for Russian jamming and hacking attempts — due in part simply to the enormous numbers of satellites making up the constellation. As of mid-January, SpaceX has some 3,120 operational satellites on orbit.
“It’s just the ubiquity,” Shotwell said. “If you got six satellites in view or more, it’s really hard to point a weapon at it, whether it’s a kinetic or whether it’s anything.”
Shotwell: Ukraine “weaponized” Starlink in war against Russia
WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s president said that Ukraine used Starlink services provided to the country for offensive purposes in its war against Russia, an application the company didn’t intend to support when it enabled service in the country.
Speaking at the Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Space Transportation Conference here Feb. 8, Gwynne Shotwell described Ukraine’s use of the Starlink broadband satellite communication system for weapons systems like drones as an “unintentional” effect of donating services and terminals to the country after Russia’s invasion nearly a year ago.
“We were really pleased to be able to provide Ukraine connectivity and help them in their fight for freedom,” she said. “It was never intended to be weaponized, but the Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement.”
She didn’t elaborate in the conference talk on how Ukraine had weaponized Starlink. In a later conversation with reporters, though, she referred to reports that the Ukrainian military was using Starlink to control drones used in attacks on Russian forces.
SpaceX was providing Ukraine with Starlink services, she said, for humanitarian applications. Even some generic military communications were also acceptable. “We know the military is using them for comms and that’s OK. But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”
A general commercial agreement, like one any Starlink user signs, limits its use for offensive purposes, she said, but acknowledged SpaceX had not given the issue of how it might be used much thought when it started providing Starlink to Ukraine shortly after the invasion. “We didn’t think about it. I didn’t think about it,” she said. “But we learned pretty quickly.”
Shotwell said SpaceX has since taken steps to limit Starlink’s use in supporting offensive military operations. “There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that,” she said, declining to elaborate. “There are things that we can do and have done.”
Last fall, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk raised the possibility of ending the company’s donations of Starlink services to Ukraine, citing the financial burden on the company, unless the Defense Department stepped in to cover those costs. Musk then backtracked, saying the company would continue offering the service “even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions.”
Shotwell told reporters she led efforts to get Pentagon funding for Starlink services in Ukraine. “I was the one that asked the Pentagon to fund this. It was not an Elon thing,” she said. “We stopped interacting with the Pentagon on the existing capability.”
While Musk said in October that Starlink was losing money, Shotwell offered a more upbeat assessment. “This year Starlink will make money,” she said, noting that the company’s Falcon launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, and other unspecified work, already makes money.
“We actually had a cashflow positive quarter last year, excluding launch. This year, they’re paying for their own launches, and they will still make money,” she said.
She said cash flow from operations pays for development, supplemented as needed by outside investment. Tackling both Starlink and the Starship launch vehicle at the same time, she argued, drives that need for outside investment.
“If we had done Starlink and then Starship, or Starship and then Starlink, we probably could have funded them through customer contracts and revenue from Falcon and Dragon. But you do both of them at the same time it’s a lot of money every year.”
Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree... More by Jeff Foust
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