5 ms·

For terminally online people, prehaps. But in real life, no, people aren't generally obsessed by twitter drama. Real life usage is what matters, and if it's goo

For terminally online people, prehaps. But in real life, no, people aren't generally obsessed by twitter drama. Real life usage is what matters, and if it's good enough for the ukrainian army in an active war zone...

vore 4y ago
Well, the guy who owns SpaceX seems to care a lot about Twitter drama...
ohgodplsno 4y ago
[flagged]
- dmix 4y ago
  They cut off access to military drones... drones which will still have access to military satellite data feeds from NATO countries. Yet every video posted on Reddit of commercial drones used by UA soldiers is still obviously using Starlink. Beyond drones it's still a critical asset, probably as much or more important than Javelins / HIMARs. This is a PR move, since Starlink is trying to deploy globally it doesn't look good when they are supporting a military. Making it seem like you're ostensibly a civilian org is a wise move, while in practice Starlink remains the #1 technical contribution by a foreign entity supporting the war effort. Of course, what it actually means IRL won't stop the people looking for a villain and spreading FUD as if they cut off the entire military.
- dragonelite 4y ago
  Because Russia might just blow up LEO satellites, civilian objects/devices can now be blown up for national security reasons, the US recently normalised it with their weather/spy balloon saga.
t43562 4y ago
It's not good enough for them because Musk seems to be limiting its use in line with his political views.
- mardifoufs 4y ago
  I'm out of the loop on that one, what are you referring to?
  - sebzim4500 4y ago
    He's referring to the fact that SpaceX are trying to abide by weapons export restrictions, so they are trying to prevent Ukraine from using Starlink from drones etc.
    - t43562 4y ago
      That is a spin which leaves out the moralising I think. This is a newspaper quote: "A senior Ukrainian presidential aide has reacted with anger after Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it had taken steps to prevent its Starlink satellite communications service from controlling drones, which are critical to Kyiv’s forces in fighting off the Russian invasion." 'Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, said at a conference in the US that the surprise decision had been taken because it had never been the company’s intention to allow Starlink to be used “for offensive purposes”. ' That's quite an interesting claim as I wonder what one would expect from people fighting desperately to save their country. It was at the least going to be used for command and control. 'Shotwell said Starlink was “never, never meant to be weaponised” by Ukraine, although it cannot come as a surprise to the company as Kyiv’s military has been using it to pilot drones for months. “Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,” she added.' 'She said SpaceX was able to take measures to curb Ukraine’s use of the technology to pilot drones, although it was not immediately clear what those were and whether Kyiv’s military could work around them.' 'The row is not the first between Ukraine and Musk. Last October, Musk asked Twitter users to vote on a poll for Russia-Ukraine peace that included Ukraine handing over Crimea and allowing UN-supervised referendums on whether Moscow could keep other land it had occupied after its unprovoked invasion.' I think it's reasonable to say that Starlink is far from the ideal solution now and you can also see why it's going to be essential for there to be competitors no matter what the economics are - perhaps national ones with only local coverage. Why would anyone build any reliance on a system which is controlled from afar and suddenly becomes unreliable when it's needed the most?

vore 4y ago

Well, the guy who owns SpaceX seems to care a lot about Twitter drama...

ohgodplsno 4y ago

[flagged]

dmix 4y ago
They cut off access to military drones... drones which will still have access to military satellite data feeds from NATO countries. Yet every video posted on Reddit of commercial drones used by UA soldiers is still obviously using Starlink. Beyond drones it's still a critical asset, probably as much or more important than Javelins / HIMARs. This is a PR move, since Starlink is trying to deploy globally it doesn't look good when they are supporting a military. Making it seem like you're ostensibly a civilian org is a wise move, while in practice Starlink remains the #1 technical contribution by a foreign entity supporting the war effort. Of course, what it actually means IRL won't stop the people looking for a villain and spreading FUD as if they cut off the entire military.
dragonelite 4y ago
Because Russia might just blow up LEO satellites, civilian objects/devices can now be blown up for national security reasons, the US recently normalised it with their weather/spy balloon saga.

t43562 4y ago

It's not good enough for them because Musk seems to be limiting its use in line with his political views.

mardifoufs 4y ago
I'm out of the loop on that one, what are you referring to?
- sebzim4500 4y ago
  He's referring to the fact that SpaceX are trying to abide by weapons export restrictions, so they are trying to prevent Ukraine from using Starlink from drones etc.
  - t43562 4y ago
    That is a spin which leaves out the moralising I think. This is a newspaper quote: "A senior Ukrainian presidential aide has reacted with anger after Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it had taken steps to prevent its Starlink satellite communications service from controlling drones, which are critical to Kyiv’s forces in fighting off the Russian invasion." 'Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, said at a conference in the US that the surprise decision had been taken because it had never been the company’s intention to allow Starlink to be used “for offensive purposes”. ' That's quite an interesting claim as I wonder what one would expect from people fighting desperately to save their country. It was at the least going to be used for command and control. 'Shotwell said Starlink was “never, never meant to be weaponised” by Ukraine, although it cannot come as a surprise to the company as Kyiv’s military has been using it to pilot drones for months. “Ukrainians have leveraged it in ways that were unintentional and not part of any agreement,” she added.' 'She said SpaceX was able to take measures to curb Ukraine’s use of the technology to pilot drones, although it was not immediately clear what those were and whether Kyiv’s military could work around them.' 'The row is not the first between Ukraine and Musk. Last October, Musk asked Twitter users to vote on a poll for Russia-Ukraine peace that included Ukraine handing over Crimea and allowing UN-supervised referendums on whether Moscow could keep other land it had occupied after its unprovoked invasion.' I think it's reasonable to say that Starlink is far from the ideal solution now and you can also see why it's going to be essential for there to be competitors no matter what the economics are - perhaps national ones with only local coverage. Why would anyone build any reliance on a system which is controlled from afar and suddenly becomes unreliable when it's needed the most?