Starlink Internet Active in Ukraine, Says Elon Musk

As internet service suffers blackouts, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he has made Starlink internet service active in Ukraine.

News of internet outages in Ukraine is coming out as the country reels under fresh Russian aggression. As per the reports, Kharkiv, the second-largest city of the embattled nation has suffered severe communications disruption since the invasion. But Musk’s revelation will delight the internet consumers in Ukraine. 

The disruption has occurred mostly around Kharkiv which is only 25 miles from the Russian border. The Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA) project at Georgia Tech has reported that partial network outages started at midnight on February 23rd. The report said the service blackout continued through February till the morning of February 24^th.

Internet monitoring platform tweeted, “Significant Internet disruption registered in #Ukraine-controlled city of #Kharkiv shortly after huge explosions heard; users report loss of fixed-line service on provider Triolan while cellphones continue to work.”

But American company SpaceX has come to address Ukraine’s internet disruptions.

Starlink Internet in Ukraine to Allevaite Fiber Broadband Disruptions

Musk said that SpaceX satellite internet broadband service is available in Ukraine last Saturday, February 26th.

“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” Musk wrote on his Twitter account.

In fact, he was responding to a tweet by Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister who sought help from Starlink stations.

“@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars – Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!” Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said on Twitter.

In response, Musk tweeted that Starlink’s internet service is active in Ukraine. But at what capacity and in how many regions the satellite internet is available is not yet known.  

Internet service has been compromised in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Particularly, in the southern and eastern part of the country, internet outage has been more conspicuous, internet monitors have reported.

Read more: Causes of Mobile & Internet Network Outage And What You Should Do?

But Starlink’s internet service would help to alleviate the situation to an extent.

This also shows the real potential of satellite internet. Where fixed-line broadband blacks out, satellite services can be an ideal alternative. It can also cover the areas where telecom service doesn’t have a network.