At the end of February, as tensions with Russia escalated, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted asking for help from Mr. Elon Musk to provide internet service to the country through Starlink broadcasting stations.
Surprisingly, only 1.2 days later, the first Starlink satellite internet receivers arrived in Ukraine, even though SpaceX currently has no business in this country. The speed of responding to the request of the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine was so fast that almost everyone was amazed at the capabilities of SpaceX.
Just two days after the tweet calling for help from Mr. Elon Musk, Starlink satellite internet devices have arrived in Ukraine.
But recently a leaked Tesla email showed everyone how SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service was able to be deployed in Ukraine in just a few short days.
During a recent talk at the California Institute of Technology, Gwynne Shotwell of SpaceX revealed that, in fact, SpaceX has been planning to launch satellite internet service in Ukraine since 6 weeks before Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov made a plea on Twitter. Up to that point, the Starlink service was still waiting for Ukraine’s approval to cover the country, and Mr. Fedorov’s tweet was the step they needed.
The preparation for the coverage plan in this country is the reason why SpaceX is able to quickly operate satellite internet service for Ukraine in such a short time.
Ukrainian engineer Oleg Kutkov confirmed that he was able to use the internet from the Starlink satellite
In addition, in a recent email from Tesla, many of the company’s employees working in Germany have volunteered to pack Starlink signal receivers so that they can be quickly shipped to Ukraine. In addition to signal receivers, they also include Powerwall battery packs – Lithium-Ion battery blocks to provide backup power for satellite internet devices.
Some Powerwall cables are made from scrap from the new Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin. They were conditionally approved for commercial production earlier this month. Previously, Tesla also often donated these Powerwall batteries to disaster areas like Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Tesla is not the only foreign company supporting Ukraine today. Airbnb is currently offering free short-term stays to about 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, while Uber offers free rides from Ukraine’s border to major Polish cities.
Refer to Fortune