Starlink’s Role in Ukraine: Portent of a Space War?

Starlink, a satellite internet constellation owned by Elon Musk, provides satellite-based internet connectivity to consumers globally, and has been actively involved in guiding Ukrainian military drones and missiles against Russian military positions, thus becoming party to the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict and a bonafide military objective. Russia had also accused Starlink of helping the Ukrainian forces to guide and modify fire of the two Neptune missiles, which led to the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva. As a United States (US) based privately owned organisation, Starlink’s participation in an international war without formal US governmental authorisation has opened a Pandora’s Box insofar as customary international laws of armed conflict are concerned. Moscow has now declared that it would destroy Starlink’s assets in space to ensure the safety of its military in its areas of operation around Ukraine. Any attack by Moscow on a US-based satellite company’s assets has the potential to draw the US out of its strategic forbearance into the quagmire of another ‘un-winnable’ war.