ORLANDO, Fla. — After a Ukrainian official reached out to Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder said the company’s Starlink internet service was active in the country with plans to send more hardware as connectivity in the country has taken a hit since the Russian invasion.
The vice prime minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, tagged Musk on Saturday in a post saying, “While you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
Musk reacted on Twitter, writing: “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.”
SpaceX has now launched more than 2,100 of the satellites since 2019, including nearly 100 more in just the last week from launches from both Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday and Vandenberg Space Force Station on Friday.
The Friday launch was the 39th Starlink flight overall since the first operational versions of the 570-pound satellites were sent up in 2019, and fifth Starlink launch of 2022.
The company currently has approval to place 4,408 Starlinks into service, each of which orbit at around 341 miles altitude. SpaceX is seeking Federal Communications Commission approval to increase its Starlink presence to about 30,000 with future launches on board its in-the-works Starship rocket.
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