Starlink satellites have now been deployed above Ukraine.

Starlink satellites have now been deployed above Ukraine.

According to SpaceX's billionaire CEO Elon Musk, Starlink satellites have now been deployed above Ukraine, with more on the way, following a request for assistance from the country's vice prime minister on Saturday.

Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted Musk, demanding that SpaceX activate its Starlink broadband satellites to complement its Internet services, which Russia's continuous invasion has hampered.

What exactly are Starlink satellites?

What is the significance of this? On the other hand, Starlink satellites can provide broadband Internet connections from orbit without the need for fibre-optic infrastructure on Earth.

The goal of SpaceX's initiative is to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to individuals in the world's most distant locations via a constellation of satellites orbiting the Earth.

With Starlink satellites stationed over Ukraine, the besieged country will be able to maintain Internet access without fear of the Russians deactivating it and disrupting crucial communications.

Users will require a Starlink kit containing a router and a good view of the sky to connect to the Internet.

Since the first 60 terminals were launched in 2019, SpaceX has launched over 2,000 satellites into space, hoping to have as many as 42,000 satellites in Earth's lower orbit in the future.

The initiative has not been without critics.

NASA has been outspoken in its disapproval of SpaceX's plans, stating in a petition to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this month that additional objects in orbit would reduce "our planet's capacity to detect and perhaps deflect a potentially catastrophic impact."