As the Russian invasion of Ukraine goes on, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX’s Starlink internet is keeping many connected throughout the country.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has around 150,000 active users per day in Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official on Monday (via Twitter).
Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, @Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted the figure on Monday, following SpaceX’s donation of around 5,000 of the country’s 10,000 or more Starlink dishes. His tweet was ‘liked’ by Musk, a sign the number is indeed accurate.
In addition to providing a rough estimate on Starlink users in Ukraine, @Fedorov also added, “This is crucial support for Ukraine’s infrastructure and restoring the destroyed territories. Ukraine will stay connected no matter what.”
Rough data on Starlink's usage: around 150K active users per day. This is crucial support for Ukraine's infrastructure and restoring the destroyed territories. Ukraine will stay connected no matter what. pic.twitter.com/XWjyxPQJyX
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) May 2, 2022
Ukraine received around four Starlink terminal shipments from Musk and SpaceX between February and March.
The Starlink dishes from SpaceX were funded primarily by France and Poland.
Starlink was made operational in Ukraine on February 26, after Fedorov tweeted at Musk saying “We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
In early tests, Starlink users in Ukraine were seeing over 200 Mbps download speeds, though Russian cyberattacks have been considered a large threat to the country and its citizens.
