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posted by hubie on Tuesday January 24 2023, @10:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the probably-voids-the-warranty dept.

Ukraine Might Be Modifying Starlink Dishes to Mount On Drones:

Although many believed the war in Ukraine would be over in mere days, we are closing in on a year of vicious fighting. Early on, Ukraine gained a notable advantage over the Russian invaders: connectivity. Access to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet has allowed the Ukrainian Army to keep lines of communication open and control drone aircraft. A new report appears to show Ukraine has gotten even more creative with Starlink, modifying one of the dishes to mount it aboard a drone.

[...] KCPN claims the hardware is a high-performance dish, which SpaceX only started providing to Starlink RV customers in December. However, our friends at PCMag believe it's more likely to be a standard Starlink dish. In either case, the antenna has been freed of its plastic housing to make it easier to fit on the drone. The drone also contains a Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer and a CubePilot module for flight control.

With an integrated Starlink dish, the drone would have had internet access anywhere it could see open sky. That would allow it to be controlled from anywhere in the world. It could even supply Wi-Fi access to Ukrainian positions on the ground. However, drone aircraft don't have exceptional battery life even before you start wiring satellite dishes to them — it's unclear how long the autonomous vehicle could have operated. This probably runs afoul of some provision in the end-user license agreement for Starlink's terminals, but Ukraine has bigger problems.


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  • (Score: 1) by GloomMower on Wednesday January 25 2023, @03:17PM (3 children)

    by GloomMower (17961) on Wednesday January 25 2023, @03:17PM (#1288537)

    > With an integrated Starlink dish, the drone would have had internet access anywhere it could see open sky.

    I'm not that familiar with how the Starlink dish works, but I thought Starlink needs to change direction to point to the best satellite. Does it adjust that fast that it will adjust while flying and keep connection? They programmed the drone to keep the dish always pointed the same way through it's maneuvers?

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday January 25 2023, @03:35PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 25 2023, @03:35PM (#1288541) Journal

    I thought Starlink needs to change direction to point to the best satellite

    The satellites are moving very rapidly. Each one crosses from one horizon to the opposite horizon in a few minutes. A dish tracking a single satellite would be in constant motion and would soon lose that satellite.

    Starlink dishes move to get the best view of the constellation of satellites.

    The Starlink dish is self aligning, and doesn't require you to aim it. It will automatically tilt and spin to achieve the maximum signal from the satellites.Mar 28, 2022

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 1) by GloomMower on Wednesday January 25 2023, @06:59PM (1 child)

      by GloomMower (17961) on Wednesday January 25 2023, @06:59PM (#1288569)

      What if the drone does a 180 real quick, surely it would loose the constellation. They just don't make sudden movements with the drone? Still doesn't make much sense, might be fun to test a starlink unit.

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 25 2023, @07:43PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 25 2023, @07:43PM (#1288582) Journal

        A drone would probably use the "mobile" version of Starlink dish. Sort of like an RV making a sudden turn. But not as slowly as an ocean liner making a sudden turn.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.