Belarus petitions Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to test them Starlink satellite system in their country to the CEO tweeted offer sympathy and support.
Internet outages coincide with a fourth day of protests in Belarus, following a controversial presidential election on Sunday, saw Aleksandr Lukashenko re-elected to a sixth term in office.
Musk’s tweet was in response to an initiative to mark the fate of Belarusians, posted next to a video of incidents of police brutality against Protestants. Musk replied, “Sorry to hear that. What can we do to help? ‘
His response was greeted by a flood of requests to deploy Starlink – a constellation of more than 500 satellites that promised unrestricted access to the Internet from almost anywhere on earth. The mega-constellation is about to begin beta testing later this summer.
A petition on change.org, that Musk is asking Belarus to vote if the constellation’s first test case is close to its target of 7,500 votes. However, SpaceX has yet to reveal location specifications for the first test round.
The centralized Internet of Belarus
Belarus presents a strong case as a test site for Starlink. The internet blackout is likely to be believed government imposed. Experts have warned that a centralized infrastructure (as is the case in Belarus) makes it much easier to shut down the Internet – a measure already used in India, Pakistan, Turkey and other countries during times of civil unrest.
But Lukashenko has denied responsibility, blaming the outbursts on attacks from scattered opponents (DDoS) from abroad, without presenting evidence.
The strikes mean that the only ways for Belarusians to access the Internet are via standard satellite uplinks, or with customized connecting routes via neighboring countries with mobile service and WiFi.
Privacy browser Tor, and Canadian proxy service Psiphon have both seen one emergence of recent activity from Belarus, because people use alternative methods to gain access to accurate news and information.
But overcoming the restrictions requires tech skills that most Belarusians do not have, and today’s satellite services are unnecessarily expensive.
In contrast, the Starlink constellation is designed as a cheap internet service, for areas with poor connections. Musk’s bold goal is to bridge the digital divide.
Belarusians are now desperate to know if he can also bridge a political divide, and he may have some charges.
EThis year, Belarus’s Foreign Ministry invited Elon Musk to test his recently announced autonomous taxi service in Belarus. He has not yet responded to the request.
Lukashenko also said that he got a Tesla by Musk – a claim that the bad entrepreneur denies.
