Elon Musk’s dangerous grip on outer space
Published
What's this about?
Last week, Starshield - the version of SpaceX's Starlink used by the Ukrainian military - was throttled to block terminals traveling above certain speeds from accessing the service. The Ukrainian army's interceptors, which counter Russian drones carrying bombs, suddenly stopped working at high speed
The one-panel cartoon
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A military operations room with large screens displaying satellite feeds and maps, where a technician is urgently trying to fix a malfunctioning Starshield terminal while drones fly ominously outside.
Caption: When space becomes the new speed bump for defense.
Read the full 3-panel strip
Based on the original story on theverge.com.
Editor's note
The delicate balance of technological dependencies reveals itself as a double-edged sword, where the same infrastructure that empowers defense can be just as readily crippled. As space-based services become integral to warfare, the unchecked control over such systems by a single entity raises troubling questions about resilience and vulnerability in times of conflict.
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Panel 1
(a) What the subject is and does: SpaceX's Starlink is a satellite internet constellation designed to provide global internet access. Starshield is a version of Starlink used specifically by the Ukrainian military to counter Russian drone attacks. (b) The real irony or absurdity: The very technology designed to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression is now being used against Ukraine, due to its reliance on a service controlled by Elon Musk, who has a history of unpredictable and controversial actions. (c) The single funniest observation: The Ukrainian military’s high-speed interceptors, designed to counter Russian drones, suddenly stopped working because they were cut off from their satellite internet, leaving them defenseless.
Panel 2
*Setting: A Ukrainian military command center. Soldiers are clustered around a large, high-tech console displaying satellite images and radar data. The air is tense.* Soldier 1 (frustrated)
Soldier 1: These interceptors are supposed to be our shield. Why aren't they working?
Panel 3
*Setting: The same command center, but now the soldiers are looking at a digital map showing the movement of Russian drones. The map is glitching, and the interceptors are shown offline.* Soldier 2 (puzzled) Soldier 3 (reading from a tablet)
Soldier 2: It's like they're cut off from the internet. How?
Soldier 3: It says Starshield is throttled for terminals moving at high speeds.
Panel 4
*Setting: A dimly lit office in SpaceX headquarters. Elon Musk is sitting at his desk, staring at a screen showing real-time data of Starshield satellites. He has a smirk on his face as he types something on his keyboard.* Elon Musk (dryly)
Elon Musk: You can't trust the internet when it's controlled by a satellite... and the satellite is controlled by me.
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