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Killing Starlink!
Russian
Media Says Over 4000 Missiles Required To Destroy Starlink Service;
Experts Say ‘Mission Impossible’
US billionaire Elon Musk-owned
SpaceX’s satellite network system Starlink is in the limelight again.
Local Russian media has revealed how the destruction of the Starlink
satellite network may be achieved, confirming Musk’s suspicions that
Russia could attempt to ‘kill’ the satellites.
According to
local Russian media reports, a massive number of missiles with a
target engagement range of at least 500 kilometers will be required to
obliterate the Starlink satellite network.
The Starlink
satellites ensure high efficiency of interaction between the Armed
Forces of Ukraine and the NATO command, aiding military operations.
The report,
which claims that it is based on military experts’ opinions, further
noted that with more than 3000 SpaceX satellites currently in orbit,
at least 4,000 missiles would be required to
destroy the satellite network.
However, the network might still be able to
work, albeit in a minimal mode, since some of the satellites are
orbiting at an altitude of 600 kilometers beyond the missile’s reach.
The report comes after Elon Musk said on
October 15 that Russia was trying to
“kill” Starlink satellite services in Ukraine. The system could
stop working regardless of the resources invested in its protection.
“Starlink is the only comms [communications]
system still working at the waterfront – others are all dead. Russia
is actively trying to kill Starlink. To safeguard, SpaceX has diverted
massive resources toward defense. Even so, Starlink may still die,”
Musk said in a tweet.
Starlink is
a next-generation satellite network designed to provide broadband
internet services worldwide. SpaceX launched the project in February
2018. In September, Musk announced that Starlink satellite internet
provider is available on every continent.
According to
a SpaceX report published in September, the company has donated more
than $120 million in Starlink services to Ukraine this year, and it
anticipates that continuing to do so might cost as much as $400
million in the future.
This is
potentially why the corporation recently asked the US Pentagon to take
the mantle and
pay for this satellite assistance to Ukraine.
Mykhailo
Fedorov, the minister of digital transformation for Ukraine, requested
Musk to send Starlink stations and satellite internet to his country
on February 26, right after Russia launched the invasion and disabled
Kyiv’s communication network. Soon after, Musk declared that the
Starlink service was running in Ukraine and pledged to send more
terminals there.
File Image: Elon Musk
However, the
satellite terminals put together by Musk over Ukraine have been in the
eye of the storm for a while. Earlier this month,
media reports indicated that Ukrainian troops encountered
widespread interruptions in Starlink’s internet connectivity.
Two
government officials informed the media that Ukrainian troops suffered
connectivity problems when they went to cities that had just been
freed from Russian rule.
According to
experts, the difficulty may have been brought on by SpaceX staff
members attempting to stop the Russian military from deploying the
technology, as the liberation of some areas had not yet been
officially proclaimed.
Sabotaging SpaceX?
Earlier this
month, media
asserted that the Russian military was trying to jam Starlink’s
satellite communications with the Tirada-2S electronic jamming device.
There are few details about the system available in the public domain.
A military
review journal claims that the Starlink system is one of the potential
targets for Russian forces. The report also stressed how Starlink is
so efficient that it is almost the only way for Ukrainian military
forces to communicate in space, ensuring continuous communication,
surveillance, and navigation.
When asked
if Russia would try to obliterate the Starlink network, Squadron
Leader Vijainder K Thakur (Retd), Indian Air Force veteran and
in-house analyst with EurAsian Times, said: “An attempt to physically
take out the Starlink system would be foolhardy.
Surely,
Russia neither has the resources nor the inclination. It could
contemplate degrading Starlink satellites using EW or its Persevet
laser weapon, but even that would not make sense.
Satellite
communication is versatile and cheap, but it’s not the only way to
communicate. Alternatives abound – troposcatter, microwave, HF, etc.
Also, attacking satellites is a game that others can also play.”
An artist’s illustration of
SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites in orbit. (SpaceX)
Starlink’s
Satellite system has assisted Ukrainian troops with precision strikes.
Several drone systems and advanced missiles are guided by satellite
navigation service provided by Starlink and other NATO satellites.
This is why the Russians have grown wary of Starlink. The Russians
warned that they could destroy civilian satellites assisting the war.
SpaceX
satellite network has garnered much interest and attention in the
aftermath of a Russian invasion. Chinese military observers have grown
increasingly concerned that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network will
aid in the US military’s space dominance, as reported
by EurAsian Times.
“SpaceX has
decided to increase the number of Starlink satellites from 12,000 to
42,000 – the program’s unchecked expansion and the company’s ambition
to use it for military purposes should put the international community
on high alert,” said the
article on China Military Online, the official news website
affiliated with the Central Military Commission (CMC), China’s highest
national defense organization headed by President Xi Jinping himself.
Group
Captain Arvind Pandey (Retd), a geospatial intelligence analyst, told
EurAsian Times that Russia could not eliminate the entire Starlink
network.
He said,
“Moscow could obliterate a handful of Starlink satellites but not
thousands. The only way it could achieve this was through Directed
Energy Weapons (DEWs) or Anti-Satellite missions for which satellites
would have to be launched into space.
The Starlink
satellite network is based in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Even if missiles
were to be launched, they would be launched from the ground and in
thousands. Further, even the Starlink satellites are not stationary.
This is, in my opinion, very heavy speculation.”
This brings
us to Musk’s media interactions in which he
stated that it would be challenging to “take out” the satellites.
“If you attempt to take out Starlink, this is not easy because there
are 2,000 satellites,” he said.
He added:
“That means a lot of anti-satellite missiles. I hope we do not have to
put this to the test, but I think we can launch satellites faster than
they can launch anti-satellite missiles.”
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