The Russian invasion of Ukraine has widely disrupted internet services across the
country and the capital city of Kyiv. The risk of a total internet shutdown brought
on by shelling and cyberattacks has prompted Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation,
Mykhailo Fedorov, to ask SpaceX's founder for aid.
1
Federov's plea resulted in SpaceX, an American space and communications company,
sending roughly 20,000 satellite terminals to Ukraine as of October 2022. Consequently,
the Ukrainian populace and military can now access high-speed internet from SpaceX's
satellite internet service, Starlink, which comprises numerous low Earth orbit satellites.
1
Such an example demonstrates how satellite technology can provide internet support
anywhere in the world, no matter the state of an area's infrastructure.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- About 150,000 People in Ukraine Are Using SpaceX's Starlink Internet Service Daily.2022 (government official says)
- Real-time Internet connections: implications for surgical decision making in laparoscopy.Ann Surg. Aug 2001; 234: 165-171https://doi.org/10.1097/00000658-200108000-00005
- Leveraging 5G technology for robotic surgery and cancer care.Cancer Reports. 2022; : e1595
- Health-related internet use in older primary care patients.Gerontology. 2012; 58: 164-170https://doi.org/10.1159/000329340
- Healthcare assistance to COVID-19 patient using internet of things (IoT) enabled technologies.Mater Today Proc. 2021; (2021/07/24/)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.07.379
- Do Americans lacking a local orthopaedic surgeon have adequate broadband for telehealth?.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2022; (10-1097)
- A need for digitally inclusive health care service in the United States: recommendations for clinicians and health care systems.Perm J. 2022; 26: 149-153
- Musk says SpaceX cannot fund Ukraine's vital Starlink internet indefinitely.(@Reuters. Updated 2022-10-14)
- Ukraine suffered a comms outage when 1,300 SpaceX satellite units went offline over funding issues | CNN Politics.(@cnnpolitics. Updated 2022-11-04)
- Transatlantic robot-assisted telesurgery.Nature. 2001; 413: 379-380
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 18, 2023
Accepted:
January 18,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 15,
2023
Received:
September 25,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.