By Andrew Osborn
MOSCOW, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Russia needs to urgently expand its homegrown equivalent to Starlink, its Security Council said on Friday, warning that Elon Musk’s satellite network could be used to destabilise society and politics in unspecified countries.
President Vladimir Putin last month hailed Musk as a genius, acknowledging Russia is only beginning to roll out its answer to his Starlink satellite internet system.
The military version of Starlink has been used by Ukraine’s military throughout the war with Russia as a key component of drone operations and battlefield communications.
Russian Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev told Putin last month that Russia has so far launched just over 30 satellites as part of its nascent Rassvet (Dawn) low-Earth orbit satellite network. Starlink by comparison has more than 10,000 active satellites.
Experts on Russia’s Security Council warned on Friday that Russia needed to pick up the pace after cautioning that Western satellite communications services such as Starlink, developed by Musk’s SpaceX, and OneWeb posed a risk.
“To boost the development of the (Rassvet) system, it is necessary to rapidly scale up the mass production of communications satellites and terminal equipment,” the Security Council said in a statement, according to state media.
It said that relevant state agencies had been told to draw up proposals to ensure the full-scale deployment and sustainable operation of the new system.
The warning followed a gathering of the body’s presidium of the Scientific and Expert Council which discussed information security issues and internet access.
“During the meeting, the main risks and threats posed by the use of Western space-based communications systems over the territory of sovereign states to destabilise the socio-political situation were highlighted. This applies, first and foremost, to the widely used satellite communications services Starlink and OneWeb,” state media cited the same statement as saying.
Separately, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council and a former president, issued a statement criticising Musk for letting the Ukrainian military use his satellites.
Ukraine said on Friday Russia was already using its new Rassvet satellite network for military communications over Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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