Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX made a statement on Twitter this Monday where he said his company will be seeking exemption from sanctions put against Iran. The exemption request is to establish a satellite internet broadband service called Starlink across the country.
Elon Musk sent the tweet when the Iranian Twitter was going up in flames due to mass protests(both offline and online) in Iran over a woman’s death under police custody. Some people on Twitter had also demanded Musk provide Satellite-based internet connections.
The protests were linked to the tight restrictions and heavy monitoring over Internet social media platforms. Controversial content on the Iranian internet is heavily controlled and in this case, protest-related media/opinions were blocked which caused “near-total” disruption. On Monday, the most affected region where internet connectivity was hindered was the region of the Kurdish capital.
News agencies like Reuters had tried to reach high-ranking Iranian officials who had till now made no comments and statements regarding the tense situation. Iranian Communications and Information Technology Ministry did not immediately respond and the foreign ministry of Iran also did not immediately respond to the agencies’ requests.
SpaceX is currently in a tough and close race to establish its dominance over Satellite broadband communications. They are trying to quickly expand Starlink to assert triumph over rival companies’ products such as the yet-to-launch, Project Kuiper, a collaboration between OneWeb and Amazon.com Inc.
Elon Musk’s earlier statements regarding Starlink
Just recently Russia had called out Elon Musk’s satellite project as a ruse to cover up hidden intentions such as using civilian satellites for retaliation. CEO Musk in response tweeted that Starlink will only be used for peaceful purposes.
According to Ars Technica, the statement was raised as a concern by a Russian delegate in a United Nations meeting held on 12 September.
The meeting discussion was about reducing space threats. The official was named Konstantin Vorontsov, who had said he, as a representative of Russia, would like to highlight the immediate dangerous trends which had become apparent in the recent events of the Ukraine war where the concerns go beyond over harmless use of space technologies. One of which to name is the exploitive use of civilian elements for military purposes such as commercial infrastructure in outer space by the United States of America and its allies.
He also emphasized that the people present in the meeting might not realize the fact that such actions might indirectly involve the military and civilian infrastructure and can potentially become a target, especially for retaliation purposes.
In addition to this, the Russian delegate also cited that the use of civilian satellites should be avoided to not violate the Outer Space Treaty.
The link between Starlink and Ukraine
The Russian delegate’s words are currently being speculated and it is hinted that “The US and its allies” actually refers to the Starlink activation in Ukraine upon the request of Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister. The request by Vice PM Fedorov was sent on February 24 and as soon as Russia had attacked Kyiv After the establishment of Starlink in Ukraine, many civilians used the Internet and the telecommunication support service and even the military utilized the service to deflect Russian troops.
Just a while ago, SpaceX also announced that Starlink is now established in all continents, even including remote Antarctica, and that it is also undergoing a new test to integrate a new laser network to increase internet connectivity. The Starlink Antarctic connection is established on the McMurdo Station which is currently home to roughly a thousand people.
Under the Starlink artificial constellation, there are 2,800 active satellites which will keep increasing in the coming weeks. Currently, there are speculations that SpaceX might launch 54 new satellites, one of which was already launched on September 18 at 6:13 am IST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Elon Musk plans to rapidly expand his influence over the space frontier by establishing a strong communications and networking service. He has plans to accomplish many goals through the Starlink project which might include the hugely debated “Men on Mars.” He already has big leeway in terms of popularity and fame about his billionare rising and with a strong team of expert engineers behind him and SpaceX, the goal to supply internet and connections all over the global single-handedly might just be possible soon enough. Also see How SpaceX makes a record for launching satellites?
