Poland donates 150 Starlink satellites to Ukraine

Poland has donated 150 Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine, a senior Polish official has said.

Residents use a Starlink antenna provided by volunteers to contact their relatives in Kupyansk, Ukraine, October 14. Kupyansk is one of the villages liberated by Ukrainian forces during the September counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region.

Photo: PAP/Viacheslav Ratynskyi

"Poland has handed over 150 Starlink terminals to Ukraine," minister Michał Dworczyk said on Twitter.

"Thanks to them, connectivity is being restored in areas liberated from Russian occupation. The terminals were installed mainly in towns in the Kharkiv region."

Polska przekazała Ukrainie 150 terminali Starlink, dzięki którym przywracana jest łączność na terenach wyzwolonych spod rosyjskiej okupacji. Terminale zainstalowano głównie w miastach obwodu charkowskiego. 🇵🇱🤝🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mDOkZXqMoy

— Michał Dworczyk (@michaldworczyk) October 14, 2022

Starlink, operated by SpaceX, provides high-speed Internet connections through a constellation of satellites deployed to low-earth orbit.

The announcement comes after Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said on Friday that the company cannot indefinitely fund its Starlink internet service in Ukraine.

According to an earlier media report, SpaceX had asked the Pentagon to pay for the donations of Starlink.

Source: IAR, Reuters

(ał)