An article out from The New York Times about Elon Musk's Starlink service in war-torn Ukraine revealed that at least on one occassion, Musk declined to "turn on Starlink near Crimea," an area controlled by Russia since a 2014 invasion. Ukraine uses Starlink to facilitate coordinating rocket attacks.
The Times, in discussing concerns that the US and other nations have over the massive global sattelite network Musk has created, which has propelled his Space X company forward, said that "In Ukraine, some fears have been realized. Mr. Musk has restricted Starlink access multiple times during the war, people familiar with the situation said. At one point, he denied the Ukrainian military's request to turn on Starlink near Crimea, the Russian-controlled territory, affecting battlefield strategy."
The US has been assisting Ukraine in their targeting of rockets, and the US has given Ukraine many HIMARS. Though Zelensky has asked for long-range missiles, President Biden has refused to give them, citing concerns that Ukraine would use them to strike into Russian territory—such as Crimea.
No other government or company has been able to come close to matching Musk's dominance in the area of satellite communication. Musk has provided Starlink for free in Ukraine, and he launches sofa-sized satellites into low orbit about once a week.
Over 42,000 Starlink terminals are being utilized by Ukraine’s military, hospitals, businesses, and other groups. The system was largely responsible for helping keep Ukranians online as Russia was dropping bombs on the country that was destroying internet infrastructure last year.
Speaking on a Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that once his initiative is finished, “Everywhere on earth will have high bandwidth, low latency internet.
Biden's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will allow the Pentagon to purchase 400-500 new Starlink terminals and subscriptions for use in Ukraine. "The deal," the Times reports, "gives the Pentagon control of setting where Starlink’s internet signal works inside Ukraine for those new devices to carry out 'key capabilities and certain missions,' two people familiar with the deal said. This appeared intended to provide Ukraine with dedicated terminals and services to conduct sensitive functions without fear of interruption."
“The huge number of lives that Starlink has helped save can be measured in the thousands,” explained Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital minister. “This is one of the fundamental components of our success.”
