China raises alarm over military capabilities of Elon Musk’s Starlink
The official newspaper for China’s military has taken aim at Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites over concerns about their military capabilities.
SpaceX founder Musk has sent thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, with the help of the US military, in order to restore communications in the country amid the Russian invasion.
State backed Chinese media said the “international community” should be on “high alert” over the expansion of Starlink’s space presence.
“SpaceX has decided to increase the number of Starlink satellites from 12,000 to 42,000 – the program’s unchecked expansion and the company’s ambition to use it for military purposes should put the international community on high alert,” said an article on China Military Online, the official news website affiliated with the Central Military Commission (CMC).
The comments come as Musk faces threats from the head of Russia’s space agency for offering support to Ukraine.
In a statement shared by Musk to Twitter, Dmitry Rogozin, fired a warning shot at Musk for sending internet terminals to militants in Ukraine. “For this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool,” he wrote.
Eccentric billionaire Musk joked about the prospect of being assassinated by Russian military forces.
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” he wrote on Twitter, the social media platform he is in the process of purchasing for $44bn.
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