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Elon Musk Defends Starlink Restriction: ‘No Escalation to World War III’
14 February 2023
EIRNS—After the Starlink communications satellites’ use by Ukraine was for the second time restricted (not stopped) on Feb. 9, Elon Musk has defended the statements by SpaceX spokespersons and by the company. Ukraine is directly violating the terms of its contract with SpaceX for these satellites, which says they are “not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses.” It is also using the system without paying for it. But Musk’s statement Feb. 13 is on a different level. He responded to Congressman and former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who demanded that he restore “full functionality” of Starlink for “Ukraine’s defense.” Musk said, “You’re smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs. Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.” There were a flurry of reports last October that Musk had been put on Ukraine’s notorious Myrotvorets kill list, which then proved to either not be true or that his name had been quickly removed. But warning against World War III has proven before to be sufficient grounds for someone to be added to that list. [pbg] |