Russia warns that SpaceX Starlink satellites could become a "legitimate target"

[midian182]

WTF?! SpaceX's Starlink satellite system has, not for the first time, been threatened with destruction by a foreign government. Unsurprisingly, it was Russia that made the veiled threat against Elon Musk's company, which has been a huge asset to Ukraine in its battle against invading Russian forces.

The warning came during a United Nations working group meeting on reducing space threats last week. Konstantin Vorontsov, a member of the Russian delegation, said that the country "would like to underline an extremely dangerous trend that goes beyond the harmless use of outer space technologies and has become apparent during the events in Ukraine. Namely, the United States and its allies use the elements of civilian, including commercial, infrastructure in outer space for military purposes."

Received the second shipment of Starlink stations! @elonmusk keeps his word! Thank you for supporting Ukraine and peace in the entire world! @OMarkarova thanks! pic.twitter.com/hNZwsXkOCT

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 9, 2022

Vorontsov never mentioned Starlink by name, but there was no doubting what he was referring to. The Russian Foreign Ministry member and head of the country's UN Office for Disarmament Affairs delegation added a warning: "It seems like our colleagues do not realize that such actions in fact constitute indirect involvement in military conflicts. Quasi-civilian infrastructure may become a legitimate target for retaliation."

"At the very least, this provocative use of civilian satellites is questionable under the Outer Space Treaty, which provides for the exclusively peaceful use of outer space, and must be strongly condemned by the international community," Vorontsov added.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to the threat with a tweet emphasizing that Starlink is meant for peaceful use only.

Starlink is meant for peaceful use only

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2022

The world's richest person has clashed with Russia on several occasions since he sent shipments of Starlink terminals to Ukraine so its citizens can continue accessing the internet in cities under siege. SpaceX has supplied over thousands of terminals to the country, which now has well over 150,000 active Starlink users per day.

Back in November, Russia tested an anti-satellite missile by destroying one of its old satellites. It drew international condemnation for the resulting debris field that SpaceX satellites have been forced to avoid. Musk responded by saying SpaceX can launch satellites faster than Russia can shoot them down.

Earlier this year, Musk said that SpaceX could stop the ISS from crashing into Earth, a scenario put forward by the since-fired Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin, who also made a veiled threat against the Tesla boss' life. Musk previously offered to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin in "single combat" to decide the future of Ukraine.

If I die under mysterious circumstances, it's been nice knowin ya

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2022

It's not just Russia that has issues with SpaceX. A paper by government-affiliated researchers published by China's Modern Defence Technology in May said the Asian nation should develop methods to destroy the satellites, which had brought hidden dangers and challenges to the country.

h/t: Futurism

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96028-russia-warns-spacex-satellites-could-become-legitimate-target.html

 

[George Keech]

If WW3 starts because of that pillock I will be very annoyed

 

[Lozzy]

Maybe they'd like to explain how that differs from their own warplanes using GPS. Can't have it both ways...

 

[Hexic]

The pot calling the kettle black. Russia's just salty they're losing the game they started.

 

[DSirius]

Both Russia and Elon are walking on a thin ice. Hope that global warming will not fall over.

 

[BobDolesGhost]

I think SpaceX can build and launch starlink satellites faster than Russia can build and launch anti-sat missiles.. Its kind of comical but SpaceX would hardly notice

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Can russia explain....how.....they're going to hit these things? Their systems cant reliably hit an ENTIRE AIRBASE, let alone a satellite orbiting the planet.

Both Russia and Elon are walking on a thin ice. Hope that global warming will not fall over.

It's amazing how pissed people are over elons existence because he dares to allow people to say naughty things on the blue bird platform.

 

[fps4ever]

Can russia explain....how.....they're going to hit these things? Their systems cant reliably hit an ENTIRE AIRBASE, let alone a satellite orbiting the planet.
It's amazing how pissed people are over elons existence because he dares to allow people to say naughty things on the blue bird platform.

Russia doesn't have the equipment, expertise or the funding to do that. Its just them blowing smoke as usual. The war with Ukraine has shown us that.

 

[rmcrys]

Can russia explain....how.....they're going to hit these things? Their systems cant reliably hit an ENTIRE AIRBASE, let alone a satellite orbiting the planet.

Russia tries to maintain a status that their real arsenal (= tech) can't keep. Russia based their army on:
- flesh for cannon (= many dispensable soldiers)
- brutal force (many nuclear, many canons and tanks)
- the world depends on our energy so we'll keep them in a short leash (wrong...)

The USA/NATO and China base their army on high-tech (quality) and quantity.

In a WW3 everyone loses. But there are people who don't care, as long as they can show force (Russia and China and NC), because Putin and everyone of the "high heads" save themselves...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Russia doesn't have the equipment, expertise or the funding to do that. Its just them blowing smoke as usual. The war with Ukraine has shown us that.

Oh I know that, I was just curious if they pulled a new wUnderweapon from their collective arse for this.

Russia tries to maintain a status that their real arsenal (= tech) can't keep. Russia based their army on:
- flesh for cannon (= many dispensable soldiers)
- brutal force (many nuclear, many canons and tanks)
- the world depends on our energy so we'll keep them in a short leash (wrong...)

The USA/NATO and China base their army on high-tech (quality) and quantity.

In a WW3 everyone loses. But there are people who don't care, as long as they can show force (Russia and China and NC), because Putin and everyone of the "high heads" save themselves...

Russia's nuclear projection capability is being called into question given the state of the rest of their military. So far all their "advanced" tanks have gotten blown up by 80's manpads.

 

[wiyosaya]

Putin is a grade-school clown throwing a temper-tantrum because he started a war that he thought he could win, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen - as recent events have shown. Now that he is getting his own shoved back up his rear, he is showing the rest of the world his maturity level. Putin/Russia have been lobbing these empty threats for months now. He knows very well that if he lobs the first Nukes, he is damning himself and his country to certain death.

The faster those in Russia succeed in a plot to rid the world of this giant pile of excrement, the better off Russia will be.

 

[terzaerian]

I think SpaceX can build and launch starlink satellites faster than Russia can build and launch anti-sat missiles.. Its kind of comical but SpaceX would hardly notice

Nobody is going to launch **** ever again if Russia triggers Kessler syndrome by blowing up Musk's stupid orbital modems en masse.

 

[wiyosaya]

The latest Putin BS - He's willing to end the war as soon as possible, but Zelensky is unwilling to talk. The loads of crap from Putin never stop.
https://www.reuters.com/world/russi...end-war-zelenskiy-not-ready-talks-2022-09-16/

 

[wiyosaya]

Nobody is going to launch **** ever again if Russia triggers Kessler syndrome by blowing up Musk's stupid orbital modems en masse.

I agree, and that includes Russia - and they know it. I doubt that Russia is that F'ing stupid. But hey, you never know.

 

[emmzo]

Threats is what they do best. The war has exposed their paper tiger army. They don't have very much else. Except nuclear, which we can all agree is going to be really tough on humanity. They know tho, this is pure lunacy and it's ludicrous threatening the West. But the average Joe could still soil his pants and they hope there's enough of those to change politics.

 

[netman]

"Musk responded by saying SpaceX can launch satellites faster than Russia can shoot them down."

Be careful what you say...! Even Musk wants his satellites to be shut down let alone Russia or China...!

 

[Endymio]

Russia's nuclear projection capability is being called into question given the state of the rest of their military. So far all their "advanced" tanks have gotten blown up by 80's manpads.

Actually, their tanks are being destroyed by all the FGM-148 Javelins the US has sent them (Ukraine estimated recently they're launching 500 of these per day). This is not an "80's manpad": it was designed specifically to destroy advanced tanks, it entered service in 1996, and the upgraded 'E' and 'F' variants being sent date from 2017.

Russia doesn't have the equipment, expertise or the funding to do that....The war with Ukraine has shown us that.

Well, the war has shown that as long as NATO feeds Ukraine the equivalent of Russia's entire annual defense budget, Ukraine can maintain an uneasy status quo ... at least with Russia's current tactics. If Russia decides to do a full mobilization (giving it 2 million more troops) and switches to the sort of carpet-bombing tactics that the US used in places like Iraq (200,000+ civilians killed), then the outcome is a little less clear.

 

[fps4ever]

Actually, their tanks are being destroyed by all the FGM-148 Javelins the US has sent them (Ukraine estimated recently they're launching 500 of these per day). This is not an "80's manpad": it was designed specifically to destroy advanced tanks, it entered service in 1996, and the upgraded 'E' and 'F' variants being sent date from 2017.


Well, the war has shown that as long as NATO feeds Ukraine the equivalent of Russia's entire annual defense budget, Ukraine can maintain an uneasy status quo ... at least with Russia's current tactics. If Russia decides to do a full mobilization (giving it 2 million more troops) and switches to the sort of carpet-bombing tactics that the US used in places like Iraq (200,000+ civilians killed), then the outcome is a little less clear.

That will certainly cause a backlash with Russia's citizens. There are already talks of an insurrection. NATO/US is not even feeding UKR the good equipment yet...good luck with that.

 

[terzaerian]

Actually, their tanks are being destroyed by all the FGM-148 Javelins the US has sent them (Ukraine estimated recently they're launching 500 of these per day). This is not an "80's manpad": it was designed specifically to destroy advanced tanks, it entered service in 1996, and the upgraded 'E' and 'F' variants being sent date from 2017.


Well, the war has shown that as long as NATO feeds Ukraine the equivalent of Russia's entire annual defense budget, Ukraine can maintain an uneasy status quo ... at least with Russia's current tactics. If Russia decides to do a full mobilization (giving it 2 million more troops) and switches to the sort of carpet-bombing tactics that the US used in places like Iraq (200,000+ civilians killed), then the outcome is a little less clear.

At this point it seems the Biden administration's mission is to make sure every man, woman, and child on the planet that *isn't American* has an arsenal, between Afghanistan and Ukraine

 

[Endymio]

NATO/US is not even feeding UKR the good equipment yet...

Wrong again. Javelins, Sentinel air-defense radars, Switchblade drones, and HIMARS mobile rocket launchers are the most advanced in their category. The only weapons NATO isn't sending are long-range systems that Ukraine would use to strike the Russian heartland. NATO wisely realizes that this would likely result in a nuclear escalation. Russia has some 2,000 tactical and op-tac nuclear weapons -- NATO has zero.

And before, you repeat the mantra that "Putin would never use these", realize there is a reason that, after the breakup of the USSR, Russia kept more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined. Standard doctrine since the 1950s has been that these weapons would be reserved to 'defend the heartland'.

 

[RudyBob]

Unrestricted space warfare coming to a planet near you

 

[fps4ever]

Wrong again. Javelins, Sentinel air-defense radars, Switchblade drones, and HIMARS mobile rocket launchers are the most advanced in their category. The only weapons NATO isn't sending are long-range systems that Ukraine would use to strike the Russian heartland. NATO wisely realizes that this would likely result in a nuclear escalation. Russia has some 2,000 tactical and op-tac nuclear weapons -- NATO has zero.

And before, you repeat the mantra that "Putin would never use these", realize there is a reason that, after the breakup of the USSR, Russia kept more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined. Standard doctrine since the 1950s has been that these weapons would be reserved to 'defend the heartland'.

Wrong again? You should read up more on advanced weaponry. Including Bradly's and better aircraft, etc... Tactical or not the US/Nato have plenty of Nukes to deal with Russia. And the state of their nuclear stockpile/maintenance ability to fire comes into question knowing what we know now about the poor state of their military equipment. Stop being afraid of Putin or pushing the fear factor.

 

[scavengerspc]

I agree, and that includes Russia - and they know it. I doubt that Russia is that F'ing stupid. But hey, you never know.

In my opinion, the problem isn't the collective intelligence of the Russian people, so long as Putt Putt is at the helm.

 

[Raunchy]

Can russia explain....how.....they're going to hit these things? Their systems cant reliably hit an ENTIRE AIRBASE, let alone a satellite orbiting the planet.

Did you even read the article, or the news over the last several years for that matter? The Russians ALREADY DID blow up a satellite, just as the asshøle Chinese did before them. Both actions scattered thousands more pieces of trash in orbit.

 

[fps4ever]

Did you even read the article, or the news over the last several years for that matter? The Russians ALREADY DID blow up a satellite, just as the asshøle Chinese did before them. Both actions scattered thousands more pieces of trash in orbit.

Speaking of that Starlink satellites cost between $250K-500K to make and can launch upwards of 50 at a time. So Russia is going to send up multimillion $ rockets to take out something that can be replaced in a month? Well we are talking about Putin so who knows...lol