Life said that Elon Musk's Starlink satellites in Russia are considered a “dual-use system” that can be used for military purposes. Experts interviewed by the portal said that cruise missiles can be guided through any tactical communications satellite, even located in low orbit.
Since 2018, Musk's SpaceX has launched 1,265 mini-satellites of the Starlink system, the global Internet coverage, into low-Earth orbits.
In the future, SpaceX plans to deploy a constellation of 12,000 and then 30,000 satellites to provide broadband Internet access throughout the Earth.
In 2020, satellites provided Internet coverage throughout North America.
The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, previously stated that Starlink satellites could later be used to control cruise missiles.
Life notes that spacecraft, even in an orbit of several thousand kilometers, are able to retarget cruise missiles in flight.
“SpaceX's technology is likely to help accelerate this process, but it would be at least strange to call it new and threatening to security. It is not the first time for the Pentagon to use private companies, ”the newspaper emphasized.
At the same time, American scientists reported that they were able to create algorithms that use open data on the geolocation of Starlink satellites and allow determining the coordinates of the “ground base station” with an accuracy of seven meters.
“In fact, this means that the location of any Starlink user can be determined from home and even“ to the window ”. Where the data will go after that is a difficult question that no one has yet answered, ”the portal notes.
Satellite expert Zak Kassas believes Starlink could provide an alternative to traditional navigation systems for the military. According to Life, if their rent is cheaper than maintaining GPS satellites, the system will have a military potential.
“Since the orbits of GPS satellites allow them to hang over the territory of Russia and over the wilderness steppes of Mongolia,” the publication concluded.
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