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| The first truck full of Starlink dishes being delivered to Ukraine. Source: Tweeted by Mykhailo Fedorov (Creative Commons License). |
As the Ukrainian government tried to defend against attack by Russia, its top officials took to Twitter to request help. One of the people who volunteered their help was billionaire Elon Musk, and the besieged Ukraine was given SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet.
Even though the request may expose his political leaning between Russian and Ukrainian politics, Musk didn't hesitate to help out.
The government was aware that internet services would deteriorate as the attack progressed and they scrambled to have a backup in place. Satellite internet was the best fit as a backup, as it could not be easily destroyed like other internet infrastructures.
Within days, the first shipment of Starlink dishes arrived, and deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted a picture of a truck full of the receivers. The second shipment of Starlink dishes landed about ten days later.
How Did Starlink Manage to Respond So Fast?
One part of the story is that Starlink was already working on rolling out its service in Ukraine before Russian troops began the assault. SpaceX's president and COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed her company had been processing approval to start operation in the country as it expanded the service in Europe. This had started about six weeks before Fedorov's tweet.
SpaceX claimed Fedorov's tweet was the go-ahead it had been waiting for. It activated Starlink in Ukraine much to the approval and applause of the international community.
The other part of the story took place in Germany. Tesla employees volunteered to process Starlink terminals for delivery to Ukraine, as did some of their colleagues in EMEA who volunteered to assemble Tesla's Powerwall units to serve as backup power.
The workers reportedly used scraps from Tesla's Giga Berlin to make Powerwall energy storage system cables. The new plant gained conditional approval to start production, and some of its first products would help keep Ukraine connected to the rest of the world during these trying times.
As noted by Musk on Twitter, the second shipment included power adapters so that the equipment could be powered by car cigarette lighters or battery packs where there is no electricity.
The government was aware that internet services would deteriorate as the attack progressed and they scrambled to have a backup in place. Satellite internet was the best fit as a backup, as it could not be easily destroyed like other internet infrastructures.
Within days, the first shipment of Starlink dishes arrived, and deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted a picture of a truck full of the receivers. The second shipment of Starlink dishes landed about ten days later.
Received the second shipment of Starlink stations! @elonmusk keeps his word! Thank you for supporting Ukraine and peace in the entire world! @OMarkarova thanks! pic.twitter.com/hNZwsXkOCT
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 9, 2022
Within days, the first shipment of Starlink dishes arrived, and deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted a picture of a truck full of the receivers. The second shipment of Starlink dishes landed about ten days later.
How Did Starlink Manage to Respond So Fast?
One part of the story is that Starlink was already working on rolling out its service in Ukraine before Russian troops began the assault. SpaceX's president and COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed her company had been processing approval to start operation in the country as it expanded the service in Europe. This had started about six weeks before Fedorov's tweet.
SpaceX claimed Fedorov's tweet was the go-ahead it had been waiting for. It activated Starlink in Ukraine much to the approval and applause of the international community.
The other part of the story took place in Germany. Tesla employees volunteered to process Starlink terminals for delivery to Ukraine, as did some of their colleagues in EMEA who volunteered to assemble Tesla's Powerwall units to serve as backup power.
The workers reportedly used scraps from Tesla's Giga Berlin to make Powerwall energy storage system cables. The new plant gained conditional approval to start production, and some of its first products would help keep Ukraine connected to the rest of the world during these trying times.
As noted by Musk on Twitter, the second shipment included power adapters so that the equipment could be powered by car cigarette lighters or battery packs where there is no electricity.
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| Another shipment of Starlink satellite dishes being delivered (Creative Commons License). |
It is still unclear how the government plans to use the dishes and whether private citizens would access them. Ukraine has a population of about 45 million people, but more than a million people have fled to neighboring countries for safety at the time of this writing.
Tesla has also made charging at its Superchargers free in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to assist Ukrainians fleeing the area.
Tesla has also made charging at its Superchargers free in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to assist Ukrainians fleeing the area.