SpaceX is currently transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but that’s not all Elon Musk’s airline does. It is also preparing for a Mars colonization effort and the implementation of a satellite internet constellation called Starlink. You can get Starlink internet in a few places, but Russia does not want any of its citizens to go through the SpaceX system as it expands. In fact, the country has driven the idea of fining people for using Starlink or other foreign satellite internet services.
Starlink relies on the same basic premise as traditional satellite internet – the subscriber on the ground has an antenna pointing upwards to communicate with the spatial network. Services like Hughes and ViaSat have been around for years and offer mediocre speeds for an exorbitant amount of money. You can not blame them too much – it is expensive to launch satellites unless you are SpaceX.
The company is constantly launching 60 Starlink satellites aboard its Falcon 9 rockets, which are much easier and cheaper to launch thanks to SpaceX’s reusable design. There are currently nearly 1,000 nodes in the Starlink network, but the company has been approved for 12,000 total satellites to offer faster speeds and cable-like delays. As it gets closer, Starlink should be available worldwide, but Russian citizens can discourage their government by using Starlink.
Russia is heavily invested in monitoring and controlling internet traffic among its people. In the Russian edition of Popular mechanics, reads a report the government is looking at fines for anyone using Starlink or a similar “western” satellite internet service. The fines can range from 10,000 to 30,000 rubles ($ 135- $ 405) for individuals using Starlink. Businesses can see fines ranging from 500,000 to 1 million rubles ($ 6,750 to $ 13,500).
What does a SpaceX Starlink satellite look like in orbit?
Any traffic going through a satellite internet service will bypass any controls or monitoring programs that are active in Russia. Russia’s head of spaceflight, Dmitry Rogozin, has also targeted the support of the US government of SpaceX, which he considers “predatory”, on the projection of US power around the world. However, satellite internet can be unavoidable as even the rural areas have started to expect reliable connections. A recent survey found that more than half of Americans are at least willing to switch to Starlink if it’s available in their area – that’s how much we all hate our ISPs.
Russia has begun making plans for a national satellite internet platform called Sphere that could launch as early as 2024, but the cost of using such a system with Russia’s current launch assets could be exorbitantly high.
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