Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War
In 2022, amidst the Russian invasion, Ukraine requested American aerospace company SpaceX to activate their Starlink satellite internet service in the country to replace internet and communication networks degraded or destroyed during the war. Starlink has since been used by Ukrainian civilians, government and military. The satellite service has served for humanitarian purposes, as well as defense and attacks on Russian positions.
SpaceX provided and funded Starlink services to Ukraine largely on their own in the beginning. Starlink expenses for Ukraine are currently covered by the US Department of Defense through a contract with SpaceX.
SpaceX executives have disapproved the use of Starlink for offensive warfare and declined to extend Starlink availability outside of the country's borders, including in Russian-occupied territories like Crimea. This stance was criticized by Ukraine as it prevented them from carrying out military operations in those areas.
In Russia, the use of Starlink to attack Russian targets has been criticized by government officials, while the country's military has repeatedly tried to disrupt Starlink services in Ukraine.
Through his company SpaceX and division Starlink, Elon Musk's involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian War has been significant, and met with concerns.
Background
Starlink is a branch of American aerospace company SpaceX. They operate a large satellite Internet constellation in low-earth orbit consisting of thousands of satellites. Starlink satellites have been launched regularly since 2019.
In February 2022, in the early days of the Russian invasion and amidst the Battle of Kyiv, Russia was conducting conventional offensives and cyberattacks against Ukraine's communication infrastructure. On February 24, an hour before the Russian invasion, cyberattacks outed the satellite Internet company Viasat that provided communications to Ukraine. In order to defend themselves and to maintain Internet connectivity during the war, Ukrainian officials deemed Starlink a potential solution.
Unlike conventional satellite internet like Viasat, Starlink internet access works in a network fragmented into individual parts.
Because Starlink uses the narrow beam of the Ku and Ka bands, the Starlink antennas are physically small. Any signal that intends to jam Starlink needs a precise aim into the antenna. This requires the attacker to get close to Ukrainian troops, in visual range of the terminals. The data carried over the network is also encrypted, with software in the terminal programmed to block off signals without the encryption. If the Starlink antenna steers itself towards another Starlink satellite in view, it could point away from the jamming source. These properties prevent Starlink from being taken out by a single Russian attack.
On February 26, the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked Elon Musk on Twitter to provide Starlink assistance to Ukraine. Musk agreed, and SpaceX responded by activating country-wide service, with the first shipment of Starlink terminals arriving two days later on February 28.
Those Ukrainians involved in bringing Starlink to their country "originally overlooked the significance of [Elon Musk's] personal control" over vital communications. SpaceX had been negotiating with Ukraine for the launch of Starlink a month and a half before the invasion, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said. According to her, SpaceX was waiting for an official letter with permission.
Civilian use
Starlink activated their service in Ukraine in February 2022 and removed the usual monthly subscription fee for the country. Starlink kits delivered to Ukraine included the outdoor-mounted circular or rectangular satellite dish. Detailed Starlink guides were shared online for Ukrainians after its arrival. Ukrainian regulators allowed Starlink to be used by anyone, including ordinary citizens and businesses.
Civilians have no reason to use Starlink other than in emergency and damaged regions with no good internet coverage, because Starlink is expensive by Ukrainian standards. Despite this, Ukrainian officials have declared in 2023 that Starlink was now the core of their communication infrastructure.
Ukrainian civilians have relied on Starlink to contact the outside world. Starlink's personal connectivity hotspot has been said useful for journalists, resistance groups and the elected government. Starlink dishes and associated terminals can also be rigged to run off a car battery in areas without electricity.
By April 2022, Starlink was officially registered and the Ukrainian government relied on it for various communication needs. Starlink was used to transmit the President Zelenskyy's broadcast and communication between Ukrainian mobile operators back on, with telecom companies also receiving Starlink terminals for emergency connection. Ukrainian officials noted people would have had to wait several months for Internet to be restored otherwise.
Starlink has been used to run parts of Ukrainian society like schools, hospitals (the which received 600 terminals in a month from SpaceX), the trains of Ukrainian Railways, operation of critical energy and telecommunications facilities, support of the sowing season, planning evacuations and return of de-occupied territories to life. Most towns on Ukrainian front lines had at least one or two Starlink terminals in October 2022, on which civilians could connect to like a public Wi-Fi network. 150,000 people were using the system every day in May 2022. Minister Fedorov remarked in 2023 that Starlink had saved lived by keeping the energy infrastructure running for doctors performing surgeries.
By June, Starlink had helped restore mobile communication in the Kyiv Oblast and had been used to report on the worsening conditions inside the city in the siege of Mariupol. At the time, Starlink was still the only mean of secure civilian and military communications in cities like Lysychansk and Severodonetsk which had not had phone coverage since April. There, civilians could connect with their families while soldiers could FaceTime their spouses from their base under-attack, using the service. Later in November 2022 during the liberation of Kherson, Starlink also allowed phone and internet service to resume within a few days.
Military use
Starlink was first requested during the Battle of Kyiv in early 2022. Starlink is free for the Ukrainian military, and since its activation, Starlink been used to carry out military operations in Ukraine and is still in use on all front lines as of late 2023. Starlink has been seen in use at numerous Ukrainian bases and been called "the essential backbone of communication" on Ukrainian battlefields. Most Ukrainian units have one Starlink terminal, which is sometimes camouflaged with cardboard or trash to avoid being spotted by Russian drones. In 2022, there was no official US legislative mechanism to authorize or restrain a military use of Starlink.
In March 2022, SpaceX director of Starlink operations reported that Starlink kits allowed Ukraine Armed Forces to continue operating theater command centers. These kits were vital and needed, as Russia focused on attacking Ukrainian comms infrastructure. The same month, the company provided voice connections for a Ukrainian special operations brigade. Starlink was also used to connect the Ukrainian military to the US Joint Special Operations Command. The same month, two helicopters of Operation Air Corridor carried Ukrainian Special Forces fighters, weaponry and the first Starlink terminal behind enemies lines to besieged Mariupol.
Around that time, the Ukrainian military began to use Starlink to help connect and fly drones to attack Russian forces. Starlink was also used to send back video to correct artillery fire. Starlink enabled mobile networks with encrypted group chats connecting Ukrainian commanders to their soldiers on the battlefield. The soldiers upload real-time images of potential targets while the commanders decide where to strike. Soldiers have been seen retrieving Starlink terminals from damaged areas after missile attacks. Drone-reconnaissance unit commanders drove with a Starlink terminal attached on the roof of their car.
Ukrainian drone operators adapted strike drones in order to strap a Starlink terminal on them, coming up with new "life hacks" when the setup no longer worked. They suspected this use of the terminals could arise concerns from SpaceX.
In April and May 2022, Starlink had key telecommunications role in the Siege of Azovstal, helping Ukrainian defenders to resist Russian troops in Mariupol. Thousands of Ukrainian troops cut off in Mariupol were able to use Starlink to send and publish online photos and videos to the outside world, before they had to surrender in May.
In May 2022, a Starlink-enabled Ukrainian Internet app was the key component of a successful new artillery fire coordination system. By June 2022, Starlink was used in various ways, such as enabling the connection between Ukrainian army commanders and spotters on the roof of buildings miles away. The password for Starlink terminal were written on infrastructure for easy access.
In September 2022, Ukrainian forces reported major Starlink outages across the front line, due to restrictions by SpaceX, resulting in "catastrophic" losses of communication. With several Ukrainian officials criticizing Starlink, speaking of widespread connection failures. (see below: §Restrictions). Ukrainian forces suspected the connection failures were due to SpaceX trying to curb the use of Starlink terminals on strike drones, or changes in the way the Starlink geofencing worked. A Ukrainian naval drone with a Starlink terminal attached to its stern had washed up in Crimea earlier that month.
In October 2022, seven similar drones were used to mount a successful attack on the Sevastopol Naval base, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is stationed. Meanwhile, Starlink services had to be requested by Ukrainian forces as new areas were liberated.
In February 2023, Fedorov reported "no problems with the operation of Starlink uplink terminals in Ukraine." A ministry official familiar with the situation said cities near the war's front lines found no indications of trouble with Starlink coverage.
Ukrainian soldiers have praised Starlink, for reasons such as preventing their army from collapsing in disarray or the war from being lost.
Funding
Ukraine incurred minimal expenses for Starlink, as SpaceX, the Pentagon and other countries and entities contributed to covering the costs. The satellite service was free for the Ukrainian military. The more expensive part of the costs is not the terminals but the ongoing connectivity. The terminals themselves cost $1500 and $2500 for the two models sent to Ukraine, more expensive than the consumer models on Starlink’s website. Meanwhile, service in Ukraine is just $60 per month, cheaper than the usual monthly price above $90.
Early US support for Starlink came via the USAID which spent roughly $3 million on hardware and services in Ukraine, later than March 2022 according to Shotwell. The largest single contributor of terminals is Poland with payment for almost 9,000 individual terminals. Other contributors include the UK, France, Germany, Czechia, NGOs and crowdfunding. Some volunteers and foreign companies independently purchased Starlink equipment for Ukraine.
By 6 April 2022, SpaceX had sent 5000 Starlink terminals. 3667 or 73% of those were donated by SpaceX, which also removed the monthly service fees, while USAID had purchased the balance of the terminals.
By mid August 2022, Ukraine internet service was being provided by more than 20,000 Starlink terminals. 85% of the 20,000 terminals in Ukraine were paid (sometimes partially) for by countries like the US or Poland, or other entities. Those entities also paid for about 30% of the Internet connectivity, which SpaceX says $4500 dollars each month per unit for the most advanced service. At the time, the US had provided almost 1,700 terminals. The same month, Musk tweeted the operation had cost SpaceX $80 million and would exceed $100 million by the end of year.
By December 2022, Ukraine had secured additional funding for Starlink from several European countries, and a Ukrainian official stated that "all financial issues have been resolved."
In early 2023, SpaceX made a deal with the US and European governments to pay for another 100,000 new satellite dishes to Ukraine.
In February 2023, Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov called Musk "one of the biggest private donors of [Ukraine's] future victory," estimating SpaceX's contributions at the time as over $100 million.
Pentagon deal
In July 2022, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi directly requested to Elon Musk 6,200 more Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military and intelligence services and 500 per month going forward to offset the losses. SpaceX responded by asking Zaluzhniy to ask the Department of Defense. An outside consultant for SpaceX said the company "faced difficult decisions" and did not think SpaceX had the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or service requested by the Ukrainian General.
In September 2022, SpaceX wrote in a letter to the Pentagon "We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time", asking the Pentagon to take over financing. These costs totaled to $124 million for the remainder of 2022, and would reach almost $380 million million for a full year according to the senior defense official. At the time, some senior defense officials at the Pentagon were worried Musk could turn off Starlink in Ukraine, which would have impacted the Ukrainians.
By October 2022, SpaceX said it had paid for about 70% of the service provided to Ukraine and claims to have offered that highest level – $4,500 a month – to all terminals in Ukraine, despite the majority only having signed on for the cheaper $500 per month service. Which CNN noted represented 1.3% of the service rate SpaceX said it needed the Pentagon to start paying. This was interpreted by CNN as an attempt by SpaceX to obtain government funding, or a disinterest in the war.
On October 14, 2022, Musk warned the service was costing Starlink $20 million per month and stated it could not go on indefinitely. At that time, SpaceX had already begun discussions with the Pentagon to fund Starlink for Ukraine.
During the discussions between the Pentagon and SpaceX in October 2022, the Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary was asked about the invocation of the Defense Production Act against Starlink in Ukraine. This law allows the government to give orders to private companies for national defense, and take action to restrict hoarding of needed supplies. The Defense secretary answered that she was not aware of this law being looked into being invoked for Starlink or any SATCOM capability.
The Pentagon deal was then leaked in the press, while Musk was sharing a controversial Ukraine peace plan. The situation garnered negative reactions in the medias, and a Ukrainian ambassador publicly told him to "fuck off". Musk then reconsidered the deal and tweeted on October 15 that SpaceX would continue to fund Starlink service in Ukraine for free. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Shotwell was livid at Musk's reversal, asserting "The Pentagon had a $145 million check ready to hand to me, literally." Quoted by Isaacson, Shotwell stated "Elon succumbed to the bullshit on Twitter and to the haters at the Pentagon who leaked the story."
Musk then complained "Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free."
In late 2022, SpaceX arrangements with government agencies led to the creation of Starshield. This separate Starlink service is specially destined for government entities and military agencies, solving SpaceX's issues with using the Starlink civilian network as a weapon in Ukraine. Starshield enables the DoD to own or lease Starshield satellites for partners and allies. Starshield will also have the usual requirements for mobile military systems like encryptions and anti-jam capabilities for which Starlink was not necessarily adapted for in the Ukraine war.
In June 2023, the Department of Defense officialized the contract with Shotwell's SpaceX to buy Starlink satellite services for Ukraine. The deal includes the Pentagon buying 400-500 Starlink terminals for Ukraine, giving the Pentagon control of where Starlink works inside the country without fear of interruption. The terms of services of the final contract were undisclosed for security issues. Following the contract, The Pentagon stated Starlink was a "vital layer in Ukraine's overall communications network" amidst "a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities they need."
Restrictions
SpaceX has continued to restrict the use of Starlink Internet services outside the borders of Ukraine, including in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. It has done so using geofencing, which consists in accurately limiting the availability of the service to only certain areas. SpaceX has also limited Ukraine's ability to use Starlink for military purposes such as drone control.
Ukrainian officials have acknowledged their over-reliance on Starlink but could not find an equivalent in terms of coverage or quality of service. A US Department of Defense official said in 2022 that other entities existed to provide communications on the battlefields in Ukraine as an alternative to Starlink. A contractual arrangement with SpaceX for Starlink in Ukraine, as well as Starshield, a separate military-focused version of Starlink, seem to have been the solutions chosen by the DoD and SpaceX against the restrictions.
Motives
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has vowed against the use of his company's Starlink for the military. He has openly declared Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars, citing peaceful activities like entertainment or online school instead of drone strikes. Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX and Starlink, largely aligns to this viewpoint.
Starlink legal documents claim it is not for use in weaponry as a military use of Starlink brings it under US export control laws like the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
On February 8, 2023 Gwynne Shotwell, President of Starlink, announced that the company had taken measures to prevent the use of Starlink service to control combat drones. SpaceX restricted the licensing of Starlink communication technology to exclude direct military use of Starlink on weapon systems, such as the Ukraine use of Starlink antennas on uncrewed surface vehicles. The same month, Elon Musk reiterated on Twitter "We will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3".
Ukrainians commanders had previously hypothesized that SpaceX could not selectively disable Starlink terminals used for drone strikes, forcing SpaceX to either ignore the issue or to switch off all terminals and start negotiating with the Pentagon for a military contract.
Shotwell has stated that "Ukrainians have leveraged [Starlink] in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement", as the free service was intended for humanitarian and defense purposes such as "providing broadband internet to hospitals, banks and families affected by Russia's invasion". Shotwell explained that her company agreed with Ukraine's military using Starlink for communications but never intended to have them use it as a weapon. She added "But then they started putting them on f---ing drones trying to blow up Russian ships. I’m happy to donate services for ambulances and hospitals and mothers [...] But it’s wrong to pay for military drone strikes."
Shotwell's statement drew criticism from supporters and politicians of Ukraine such as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mykhailo Podolyak. A Ukrainian military official called her statement "strange" given that the country's use of Starlink as a combat tool is well-established. Podolyak commented that companies had to decide if they were "on the side of the right to freedom" or "on the Russian Federation's side and its 'right' to kill and seize territories".
Consequences
The first communications black-outs caused by the restrictions happened in October 2022 when Ukrainian soldiers moved into Russian-contested areas in Southern Ukraine. Starlink did not work very close or beyond the frontline into Russian-controlled territories, as well as in very recently regained areas whose liberation had not yet been made public. Ukrainian and American officials said this caused units to become isolated, commanders risking themselves to get in radio range of the front lines, higher operational costs and loss of lives. The loss of communications prevented the Ukrainian military to defend themselves and coordinate their attacks in those areas, and had to retreat as a result. Outages were acute in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and occurred also in Kharkiv and the Donbas. Starlink still functioned in newly-liberated territory east of Izyum, in the southern Kherson region and for drone-reconnaissance around Bakhmut.
SpaceX restrictions of direct military use of Starlink was thought to potentially shift the balance of power in the naval war in the Black Sea.
Senior defense officials at the Pentagon tried to solution the problem in several meetings but were not used to have no leverage on a private entity. The Pentagon saw the solution in a contractual arrangement with SpaceX as the company would not be able to cease Starlink services in Ukraine on their own decision. (see above: §Pentagon deal)
Crimea
According to official Starlink coverage and Ukrainian officials, Starlink has never been activated or available in Crimea.
However in September 2022, a Ukrainian unmanned surface vehicle (USV) with a Starlink terminal attached to its stern washed up in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. The naval drone has been assumed to be for reconnaissance, but may also appeared to carry munitions and act as a bomb. Several experts noted that the sensors on the front of the naval drone could be used as a laser range finder to help in targeting.
In late October 2022, seven similar black naval drones were used to mount a successful drone attack on the Sevastopol Naval base in Crimea, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is stationed.
In September 2022, Ukrainian submarines drones strapped with explosives were attempting a sneak attack the Russian fleet in Sevastopol using Starlink to guide them to target. Walter Isaacson claimed in his Elon Musk biography that the latter had told his engineers to turn off Starlink coverage within 100 kilometers of the Crimean coast, though Isaacson has retracted and corrected the claim. According to Isaacson's clarification and Ukrainian general Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine thought the coverage was activated up to Crimea but it was not. Ukraine requested Musk to enable Starlink up to Crimea. Musk declined the request but did not disable any existing coverage. Some drones lost connectivity and washed ashore without exploding, others returned to Ukraine undamaged. Ukrainian presidential adviser Podolyak responded that civilians and children were being killed as a result, adding that this was "the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego".
Elon Musk said Ukraine's intent was to sink most of the Russian fleet. According to him, US Sanctions on Russia prevented Starlink from being turned on near Crimea without approval from the Biden administration such as a permission from the US President. Musk added that if he had agreed to the Ukrainians' request without US government approval, SpaceX would be in a "major act of war and conflict escalation". He also compared a successful hypothetical Ukrainian sinking of the Russian fleet to a "mini-Pearl Harbor". The Atlantic noted that a week later another Ukrainian attack using a different communications system did hit their targets in the port of Sevastopol, causing deterrence from the Russian Navy without escalation.
Musk had talked with Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov, who warned him an attack on Crimea would be met with a nuclear response. To address concerns from DC, Musk explained in a call with Biden's security adviser and the same US Russian ambassador, that he did not wish Starlink to be used offensively. Musk told Pentagon officials that he spoke with Vladimir Putin. Anne Applebaum wrote in The Atlantic that Musk's influence had been played by Russian disinformation, the latter having already been used in the Invasion of Ukraine as part of Russia's information war.
Russian response
The intervention of Starlink in the Ukrainian War against Russian forces has put the satellite service at risk of not being allowed in the Russian market in the future. The Russian military does not have access to a Starlink-like equivalent, giving the Ukrainian military an advantage. Russia has warned that Western commercial satellites used to help Ukraine could become a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike, describing such use of these satellites as "provocative".
Russia has tried to cut off and jam internet services in Ukraine, including attempts to block Starlink in the region. Russian cyberattacks against Starlink appear to have been ineffective compared to other satellite services. Reasons advanced include SpaceX's speed of response and Starlink engineers' ability to defeat Russian jamming. The director for electronic warfare at the US Secretary of Defense described the speed of the software response he witnessed to one attack as "eye-watering".
In October 2022, amidst Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Battle of Donbas, Russian forces reportedly disrupted a Ukrainian Starlink system in the Soledar-Bakhmut area after they destroyed a shortwave repeater. The same month, Starlink terminals were subject to Russian cyberattacks which were quickly prevented by hardening the service's software. It has been argued that the successful cyberattack has shown Starlink's vulnerabilities, even if the response was quick.
In early May 2022, the Russian head of Roscosmos and politician Dmitry Rogozin said Elon Musk will be held responsible "as an adult" for having provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Starlink satellites.
In August 2023, during Ukraine's counteroffensive, a Five Eyes report found that Russian hackers planted malwares designed to steal data to Starlink from the Android tablets of Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian Security Services said to have blocked some of the hacking attempts and conceded Russians had captured tablets on the battlefield and planted malwares on them.
Reactions over Elon Musk
The involvement of Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX and Starlink) in the Russo-Ukrainian War has been met with concerns. His influence has been described as "more like a nation state than an individual". A Pentagon insider commented in 2022 that "Elon Musk hasn't been elected, no one decided to give him that power. He has it because of the technology and company he built".
After Isaacson claimed in Elon Musk's biography that Musk had disabled Starlink coverage in Crimea (a claim he then retracted and corrected, see §Crimea), Ronan Farrow argued that "There was little precedent for a civilian becoming the arbiter of a war between nations while the government has no level of control over his decisions".
Musk has claimed then denied to have talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the latter and other Russian officials showed appreciation for him following his Western media backlash for denying Ukraine's request to enable Starlink in Crimea for drone attacks on Sevastopol.
Following Elon Musk’s decision not to extend Starlink to Crimea, the Senate Armed Services Committee has probed the situation as a national-security issue, the role of Musk and SpaceX, and asked the DoD why Musk was taking decisions instead of US government officials. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said letting billionaires taking decisions for national partners and allies was "unacceptable" and he was going to dig into it. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for an investigation on Elon Musk and Starlink in Ukraine.
Following comments Musk made about Taiwan, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted "Hope Elon Musk can also ask the CCP to open X to its people. Perhaps he thinks banning it is a good policy, like turning off Starlink to thwart Ukraine’s counterstrike against Russia."
Supplies
The first shipment of Starlink terminals arrived on February 28, 2022 during the Battle of Kyiv.
2,000 terminals were sent via Poland in the early days of the war. With 6,000 more terminals and dishes shipped a few days after.
By 6 April 2022, SpaceX had sent over 5000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine to allow Ukrainians access to the Starlink network.
By June 2022, Musk said over 15,000 Starlink terminals had been sent to Ukraine. The same month, Ukraine received a new batch of antennae for Ukrainian intelligence units.
In July 2022, European countries had sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine from their own supplies.
By mid August 2022, Ukraine internet service was being provided by more than 20,000 Starlink terminals.
In December 2022, SpaceX had sent 22,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine since the war began.
In February 2023, 10,000 Starlink terminals provided by the German government arrived in Ukraine.
See also
Space warfare
List of Starlink and Starshield launches
Russo–Ukrainian cyberwarfare
Corporate responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
List of military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Rocket Cargo, other SpaceX military contract
Rural internet
References
External links
Category:Starlink_in_Ukrainian_military_service on Wikimedia Commons.
Reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Economic history of Ukraine
Development in Europe
SpaceX satellites
Internet in Ukraine
Space warfare
SpaceX military contracts
Military satellites
Russian–Ukrainian cyberwarfare
Telecommunications in Ukraine