PREVIEW — Bob Zimmerman — Russia Exploits Starlink on the Battlefield. Bob Zimmerman analyzes how the Ukraine war has extended into low-earth orbit through contested control of Starlink satellite communications infrastructure. Zimmerman documents that although SpaceX has publicly supported Ukraine through satellite access denial to Russian military forces, Russia has systematically acquired black-market Starlink terminals, enabling operational control of reconnaissance and attack drones throughout the conflict zone. Zimmerman characterizes this persistent technological challenge as a significant strategic problem that U.S. officials and Ukrainian military command are actively attempting to resolve through terminal tracking, signal disruption, and device authentication protocols, representing an emerging domain of space-age warfare previously unanticipated in terrestrial conflict planning.
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