Starlink probably was not originally intended to be an integral war-fighting system. There is a ghost system named Starshield that is controlled by the U.S. Government and does utilize SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. Civilians do not have access to that.
Since Elon Musk has decided to limit Starlink to civilian applications so far as is possible, there is vociferous protest from Europeans and American pundits of the kind that would ban hate speech and descry public execution while funding an unnecessary war on Russia over Ukraine. Pro-war speech is not regarded as hateful by those against hate speech paradoxically. Zelenskyy seems to regard Starshield as a public war-fighting tool that the Department of War has an obligation to provide.
War makes good stories for broadcasters; bad news is good news for the news business. At least the world’s richest man has enough character to eschew demands for allowing Starlink to be used to put human bodies in the ground. Musk does not control Starshield criteria or use. If it could be used to track fast movers, the Department of War will determine how.
Some columnists, leftists, and/or communists are calling for the nationalization of SpaceX so Starlink can be used as a global targeting system for drones and missiles in combat—and made as ineffective as NASA was in returning a man to the moon after the Apollo missions concluded. They may be referring to the U.S. Government. Expropriating SpaceX in order to wage a foreign war seems like a reach too far for the media.
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/elon-musks-2-trillion-spacex-151000917.html
Looking ahead, it is not improbable that the expropriators would utilize artificial intelligence—aka machine intelligence—to select targets with Starlink and order the launch of missiles and drones. People will use whatever is easy and works in both war and business.
Leave a Reply