4 ms·

Musk Used Starlink to Foil Ukrainian Drone Attack on Russian Ships

36 points by davidbarker 3y ago

cf100clunk 3y ago
Original CNN Exclusive revealing the incident: ''’How am I in this war?’: New Musk biography offers fresh details about the billionaire’s Ukraine dilemma'' https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-...
- verdverm 3y ago
  SpaceX has contracts for launches with the military, and StarLink has US military contract too. What is so perplexing to him here?
  - dekhn 3y ago
    Don't take anything musk says at face value. Or expect him to consider reality from a rational perspective.
  - dzhiurgis 3y ago
    Does ITAR apply to starlink?
  - sneak 3y ago
    It appears that SpaceX has not launched weapons, but only reconnaissance. Reconnaissance is nonviolent. The payloads are classified, of course, so I can't be certain, but I assume without evidence that the NRO is not launching weaponry. SpaceX's refusal to allow Starlink to be used to conduct offensive war operations further bolsters this assumption.
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      Reconnaissance is non-violent? That’s a bit of a stretch (and certainly if reconnaissance is non-violent, so is comms).
      - sneak 3y ago
        It absolutely is. I put up security cameras on my house (which contains deadly weapons); it is not an act of violence to know who comes and goes. I am of the belief that being maximally situationally aware is one of the best ways of avoiding and preventing violence. Comms are indeed nonviolent: you will note that he provided the Starlink terminals for free and comped some service for them as well. The special case of using comms to remote control a deadly weapon is obviously violent, and is the point at which it was shut off. It doesn't much matter if you are using linkages, hydraulics, electrical cables, or RF to murder people remotely. Despite the euphemistic use of "defense" as a cover for all war operations, in the traditional sense of the word, there actually remains a big difference between defense and offense, ie between using technology to protect your own, versus using technology to harm your enemies. The lines have intentionally been blurred to make it impossible to support one without the other, but they are actually different.
  - mgiannopoulos 3y ago
    Starlink did not have a US military contract in Ukraine at the time I believe.
    - verdverm 3y ago
      It's with the Pentagon, they are paying for Ukraine's access. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-... There were deals going on in 2022 iirc, but it's hard to find those links given recent Musk shenanigans
      - mgiannopoulos 3y ago
        “At the time of Ukraine’s request last year, Musk wasn’t getting any US funding for Starlink’s operations in Ukraine” https://archive.ph/ctNVZ https://archive.ph/ctNVZ
71a54xd 3y ago
[flagged]
DyslexicAtheist 3y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20230907164627/https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1699814531763970203 https://web.archive.org/web/20230907164627/https://twitter.c...
victortan83 3y ago
Sounds like you guys should read the Starlink Terms of Service https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1020-91087-64 https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1020-91087-64

36 points by davidbarker 3y ago

Original CNN Exclusive revealing the incident: ''’How am I in this war?’: New Musk biography offers fresh details about the billionaire’s Ukraine dilemma'' https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-...

verdverm 3y ago
SpaceX has contracts for launches with the military, and StarLink has US military contract too. What is so perplexing to him here?
- dekhn 3y ago
  Don't take anything musk says at face value. Or expect him to consider reality from a rational perspective.
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  Does ITAR apply to starlink?
- sneak 3y ago
  It appears that SpaceX has not launched weapons, but only reconnaissance. Reconnaissance is nonviolent. The payloads are classified, of course, so I can't be certain, but I assume without evidence that the NRO is not launching weaponry. SpaceX's refusal to allow Starlink to be used to conduct offensive war operations further bolsters this assumption.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    Reconnaissance is non-violent? That’s a bit of a stretch (and certainly if reconnaissance is non-violent, so is comms).
    - sneak 3y ago
      It absolutely is. I put up security cameras on my house (which contains deadly weapons); it is not an act of violence to know who comes and goes. I am of the belief that being maximally situationally aware is one of the best ways of avoiding and preventing violence. Comms are indeed nonviolent: you will note that he provided the Starlink terminals for free and comped some service for them as well. The special case of using comms to remote control a deadly weapon is obviously violent, and is the point at which it was shut off. It doesn't much matter if you are using linkages, hydraulics, electrical cables, or RF to murder people remotely. Despite the euphemistic use of "defense" as a cover for all war operations, in the traditional sense of the word, there actually remains a big difference between defense and offense, ie between using technology to protect your own, versus using technology to harm your enemies. The lines have intentionally been blurred to make it impossible to support one without the other, but they are actually different.
- mgiannopoulos 3y ago
  Starlink did not have a US military contract in Ukraine at the time I believe.
  - verdverm 3y ago
    It's with the Pentagon, they are paying for Ukraine's access. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-... There were deals going on in 2022 iirc, but it's hard to find those links given recent Musk shenanigans
    - mgiannopoulos 3y ago
      “At the time of Ukraine’s request last year, Musk wasn’t getting any US funding for Starlink’s operations in Ukraine” https://archive.ph/ctNVZ https://archive.ph/ctNVZ

71a54xd 3y ago

[flagged]

DyslexicAtheist 3y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20230907164627/https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1699814531763970203 https://web.archive.org/web/20230907164627/https://twitter.c...

victortan83 3y ago

Sounds like you guys should read the Starlink Terms of Service https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1020-91087-64 https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1020-91087-64