Elon Musk's Starlink Satellites Assist Ukraine's Drone Strikes: Report

Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX — the private space launch firm founded by Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk — are helping the Ukrainian army destroy Russian targets.

What Happened: A Friday report in the U.K.'s The Times said the "elite Ukrainian drone unit" Aerorozvidka "destroyed dozens of "priority targets" by attacking Russian forces as they sleep with the aid of Starlink communications satellites. The satellites provide internet access that works even when local infrastructure is unavailable or damaged — as in a war zone.

Targets destroyed by Aerorozvidka include tanks, command trucks and vehicles carrying electronic equipment. Yaroslav Honchar, the unit’s battle-hardened commander, told the newspaper. 

“We strike at night, when Russians sleep."

The Russian army is static during the night, and completely still convoys are a prime target for the unit Honchar leads thanks to the aid of thermal cameras and the modifications needed to let the drones drop anti-tank grenades on targets, he reportedly said. 

Honchar also said that using thermal vision drones at night requires connecting through a Starlink "to the artillery guy and create target acquisition." Musk announced that SpaceX activated the Starlink service in Ukraine and sent the equipment needed to connect to it to the country's government at the end of February. The announcement was a tweet answering a request by Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister of Ukraine, to provide the country with Starlink stations.

At the beginning of the month, Ukrainian engineer Oleg Kutkov reportedly said the Starlink internet service was providing "really good (internet) connectivity" in the country.