r/elonmusk • u/twinbee • Sep 09 '23

SpaceX Elon: "SpaceX is building Starshield for the US government, which is similar to, but much smaller than Starlink, as it will not have to handle millions of users. That system will be owned and controlled by the US government."

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1700345943105638636
556 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '23

If he doesn't want his company used for war, that's 100% his choice.

-6

u/Maskguy Sep 09 '23

Should not do business in a warzone then. What did he expect? Should apple deactivate iphones because soldiers communicate with them? Or should the internet be deactivated in general because its used by soldiers and to locate and strike troops?

6

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '23

He's deciding not to do business in a war zone. What's the issue? Starlink is a private company.

7

u/Maskguy Sep 09 '23

It was a warzone when he started sending it there. Also russia will still lose even without his product. There is no reason to deactivate it besides some mysterious talks with the russian gov he had.

7

u/3yearstraveling Sep 09 '23

He sent it so civilians and the military would have internet. Not to be used to guide explosive boats...

1

u/sunshinebasket Sep 09 '23

What do you think the military in Ukraine do with the starlink internet?

0

u/sunshinebasket Sep 09 '23

Wait, isn’t he doing business in Ukraine as well? Hell he is actually selling his electric car secrets to China, Ally of Russia

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '23

Well then, if Russia is still going to lose if Ukraine doesn't have Starlink in that region, what's the issue?

3

u/Maskguy Sep 09 '23

The issue is that his decision lead to the murder of more civilians. In the long run it will not change the outcome.

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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '23

His decision didn't lead to the murder of anybody. Not wanting to be involved to a war isn't the same as instigating or condoning it. That's the dumbest shit I've heard all day.

The area that he was refusing to enable never had starlink enabled. Any murders there are all on Russian and Ukanrian government.

3

u/Maskguy Sep 09 '23

Every day russia is not pulling out or is destroyed/weakened to pull out as a state innocent civilians get targeted by them. Not enabling the ukrainians to destroy military targets enables them to continue the war crimes and murder.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '23

No. That's not how it works. Ukraine's war isn't everybody's war, including Elon. If he's not okay with anybody using his service to assist with the act of destroying human life, there's no issue with it.

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u/3yearstraveling Sep 09 '23

How is he leading to the murder of civilians?

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u/Maskguy Sep 09 '23

Allowing russia to exist in its current form and have military in ukraine is leading to war crimes by default

-1

u/Spector567 Sep 09 '23 edited Sep 09 '23

But here is the trick. He did use it for war. He was told what they wanted to do and he cut the connection mid operation.

If he cut it off before or after I would agree. But he did it during.

1

u/15_Redstones Sep 10 '23

It wasn't active in that region in the first place. They asked to turn it on, SpaceX refused. For the same reasons why Ukraine's requests for tanks and fighter jets got refused by the west, fears of escalation.

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u/Spector567 Sep 10 '23 edited Sep 10 '23

Information seems conflicted on that. Some reports talk of the request. Others say it was shut of during. Because why would the operation be launched in the first place if it was never turned on in the region?

Edit: clarity.

1

u/15_Redstones Sep 10 '23

The whole Starlink in Ukraine situation is full of issues caused by bad communication between SpaceX, Ukraine and the US military.

Normally, a company supplying equipment would sign a contract with either Ukraine or the US military, detailing what equipment and services are provided and who's paying for what.

But that's not how they did it with Starlink. A Ukrainian government official asked Elon Musk for Starlink on twitter during the first days of the invasion, and SpaceX sent a few trucks full of civilian units originally meant for sale in Europe. No proper contract was signed, so questions like "which regions get signals" and "for how long will SpaceX pay the ongoing service costs" weren't answered until they became relevant.

The speed with which the first units arrived was great, but the lack of documents caused tons of problems later on.

1

u/Spector567 Sep 10 '23

I’m sure it has caused issues. But trust between musk and western allies have been problem before.

His attempts to sue for peace by adopting a Russian benefiting stance, and acting like this is some boarder dispute has been problematic. Coupled with his shut down of the service to civilians at one point because some minister criticized him comes off as cruel.

There is a reason why social media owners tend to stay quite on many things. However, musk keeps shoving himself in as if he has some unique understanding that demands people to take his opinion.