Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has announced on Twitter that the Starlink satellite made by SpaceX “is meant for peaceful use only”. He later added that it is meant “to help mend the fault in our stars”. Despite Musk’s comment, Starlink satellites have been extensively used by Ukrainian civilians and armed forces during the ongoing Russian invasion. 

Check out Musk’s Twitter post right here:

Starlink satellites, according to a Chinese government website, can contact unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and use facial recognition and big databases to identify targets. This has led some to believe that the satellites have already played a part in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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The Observer Research Foundation confirms that Starlink satellites have helped Ukrainian forces communicate “behind Russian lines”. European Satellite Communications (SATCOMs) terminals were jammed by Russia during the initial stages of the war, but Ukraine later formally asked SpaceX to allow them to use their Starlink satellites, which restored connection with SATCOM services.

Musk’s SpaceX has been making several deals with Pentagon through the years to launch their military satellites. In October 2020, the company was given a deal worth $149 million by the US Department of Defense (DoD) in order to manufacture missile-tracking satellites. In July of the same year, SpaceX was awarded a part (40%) of the US military’s contract to launch the latter’s Space Force rockets. In March 2021, SpaceX received a $159 million contract from the DoD to launch the latter’s military craft using its Falcon rockets.

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South China Morning Post, on the other hand, spoke to Zhou Chenming, a Yuan Wang-based military science and technology institute researcher, according to whom the new Starlink 2.0 satellites that are being built will not be big enough to carry weapons. 

A Chinese research team under the guidance of Ren Yuanzhen of the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications published a paper that suggested it was important for China to be able to neutralize Starlink satellites if they become a national security threat. 

Despite Musk’s claims that his satellites are meant for peaceful use, his company’s multiple military deals tell a different tale. SpaceX, through its actions, has shown that it is ready to jump to the aid of the United States and its allies to augment their war efforts. Musk’s cryptic “to help mend the fault in our stars” comment gets a new interpretation in the light of his many military deals.