A shipment of terminals from Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink has arrived in Ukraine.
The vice prime minister of the besieged country Mykhailo Fedorov shared a shot on Twitter of a truckload of Starlink terminals, writing, “Starlink – here. Thanks, @elonmusk.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO replied, “You are most welcome.”
The Starlink terminals receive internet from SpaceX’s 2000 satelittes, so users can get online even if their service has been disconnected.
Musk was quick to answer Fedorov’s recent Twitter callout while Russia moved in on the nation.
“@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars – Russia try to occupy Ukraine!” Fedorov wrote.
“While your rockets successfully land from space – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
Just hours later, Musk replied that Starlink was now active in Ukraine, and that he would send more terminals.
The satellite venture is also helping remote villages in Tonga still cut off after January’s underwater volcanic eruption and subsequent devastating tsunami.
“Elon Musk probably didn’t know much about Tonga until January 15, but gave generously,” Tonga prime minister Siaosi Sovaleni says of the 50 VSAT terminals the billionaire provided the country for free.
The service will remain working and free until the severed undersea fibre-optic cable connecting Tonga can be fixed.
In Australia, NSW Police were early to get with Starlink, which only released here as a beta version in April last year.
“SpaceX Starlink – We now have the first commercial service in Australia,” NSW Police innovation manager Leighton Schraw wrote in a LinkedIn post in May.
“Big, big thank you from NSWPF Innovation to the folks at SpaceX for letting us join the program so quickly.”
