How Elon Musk’s satellites have saved Ukraine and changed warfare
And the worries about what comes next
IT IS ONE of the wonders of the world—or, more accurately, off the world. The Starlink constellation currently consists of 3,335 active satellites; roughly half of all working satellites are Starlinks. In the past six months new satellites have been added at a rate of more than 20 a week, on average. SpaceX, the company which created Starlink, is offering it as a way of providing off-grid high-bandwidth internet access to consumers in 45 countries. A million or so have become subscribers.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “The satellites that saved Ukraine”
From the January 7th 2023 edition
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