Christopher Miller
UkraineX: How Elon Musk’s space satellites changed the war on the ground
The United States, European Union and other NATO countries have donated billions of dollars in military equipment to Ukraine since the war began in late February. But Elon Musk’s Starlink—based on a cluster of table-sized satellites flying as low as 130 miles above Ukraine and beaming down high-speed internet access—has become an unexpected lifeline to the country: both on the battlefield and in the war for public opinion. Ukrainian drones have relied on Starlink to drop bombs on Russian forward positions.
Electricity transformed rural America nearly a century ago. Now, millions of people on farms and in small towns desperately need broadband.
At a time when people can work remotely and run businesses from practically anywhere, the internet should be a boon to the rural economy. Not only could it keep Wisconsin's signature farming industry connected, it could help curb population losses in small towns, where many young people feel they must leave for opportunities elsewhere. Yet a significant portion of rural Wisconsin — if it has access to the internet at all — lacks access at broadband speeds, meaning a connection of at least 25 megabit per second downloads and 3 Mbps uploads.