Elon Musk responded to an account on the X Platform [SEE HERE] that made a good point about how Zelenskyy’s unauthorized use of Starlink commercial satellites can create a downstream issue that is not being discussed.
FilmLadd – “Analysts who have been bashing Elon Musk for days over this don’t get it. Russia has the capacity to blow up satellites in space. They proved this on November 15, 2021, by firing a PL-19 Nudol missile at an old satellite of their own.
The impact created a large debris cloud—more than 1,500 trackable fragments plus hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces. The International Space Station was forced to implement safe-haven procedures: the seven-person crew (including Russian cosmonauts) sealed hatches and sheltered in the docked Soyuz and Crew Dragon spacecraft for several hours as the debris cloud repeatedly crossed their orbital path.
The ISS even had to perform thruster burns on multiple occasions over the following months to avoid the debris cloud orbiting the Earth.
If Russia decides that the civilian Starlink satellite network is weaponized and fair game, we risk a serious Kessler syndrome. First modeled by NASA’s Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais in 1978, it describes a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit gets so high that collisions start producing debris faster than natural processes (mainly atmospheric drag) can remove.
Each collision creates more fragments, which raise the odds of further collisions, leading to a self-sustaining cascade, a runaway cloud of satellite debris that can make certain orbital bands increasingly hazardous.
Space could become unusable for years to centuries.
You like driving around with GPS? Starlink MUST remain a civilian entity.” [source]
“This is indeed one of the main reasons that Starlink must remain a civilian operation.
It can be used for infrastructure that is military, but it cannot be used for unequivocally offensive strikes that make it fair game to be struck back.
An adversary blowing up Starlink satellites would create a domino effect of destruction that would generate a vast field of debris making space unusable.” [source – Elon Musk]
This is not a far-fetched concern. As recently as last week this issue was in the news cycle but generally not discussed too much.
Multiple media and government reports confirmed that Russia’s military satellite Kosmos‑2612 maneuvered extremely close—between roughly 26 meters and 500 meters—to the U.S.-registered commercial radar satellite ICEYE‑X36 in mid‑October 2026. This close approach is considered unprecedented and raised concerns about potential surveillance or counterspace activity.
What Happened:
- The Russian satellite Kosmos‑2612 performed a series of deliberate orbital maneuvers to approach ICEYE‑X36, a U.S.-registered commercial radar-imaging satellite operated by ICEYE US.
- U.S. officials described the behavior as “deliberately reckless” and consistent with rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) that could be used to inspect, shadow, or interfere with another spacecraft. RF Europe
- Tracking firms such as LeoLabs observed the Russian satellite adjusting its orbit repeatedly to match and close in on ICEYE‑X36. Yahoo
How Close Did They Get? Different sources reported varying closest-approach distances:
- ~26 meters (85 feet) at the modeled closest point (unconfirmed). Yahoo
- ~500 meters (1,640 feet) according to high-confidence assessments by LeoLabs. Yahoo
- Within 200 meters, according to some U.S. estimates. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Even the largest estimate (500 m) is considered extremely close in orbital terms.
Why It Matters:
- ICEYE‑X36 provides synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imagery, valuable for military intelligence and used by Ukraine. This likely explains Russian interest. hoodline.com
- The maneuver is considered the first known uncoordinated close approach between two active satellites in low Earth orbit where one owner did not give permission.Yahoo
- U.S. officials warned the behavior resembles on‑orbit weapons testing or at least hostile reconnaissance. Ars Technica
Current Status:
- After the close approach, Kosmos‑2612 began drifting away, though analysts caution it could resume proximity operations or other Russian satellites may attempt similar maneuvers. Interesting Engineering
Thankfully President Trump and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin are able to just pick up the phone and talk to each other. They have developed a relationship that allows direct talks and immediate deconfliction.
However, if U.S. Starlink satellites are being used by Ukraine, without authorization, to target objectives deep inside Russia, a nuclear-armed power, this could develop into a very serious issue. Thus, avoiding this problem becomes the issue that Elon Musk is trying to mitigate.
From an operational perspective, Russia now seemingly has a very valid claim that U.S. assets (a nuclear power) were being used to target Russia (another nuclear power). This is not a good scenario.
Zelenskyy is putting the USA in a very difficult position. Musk is essentially trying to mitigate the potential threat from Zelenskyy’s self-centered and short-sighted behavior.
As much as we have criticized him in the past, Elon Musk is the right guy with the right position on this issue.
The problem is not Zelinsky it is Blackrock, Vanguard and ahead of them the Rothschild’s. The conflict was purposely started as a plan to break up Russia and plunder her massive assets. Those I have named will never give up their war. The only way to stop it is for President Trump to cut off all resources to Ukraine. Such will be a very dangerous move as the president will be up against the most powerful and evil men in the world.
There are a number of others that could be added to this short list of evil. In particular, I mention BlackStone – the purchaser of Ancestry . com and Ancestry’s DNA data.
They do want to destroy Russia. But they also want to destroy, degrade, europe and the US. The plan is to let China and Japan to plunder the east while they rape part of the west.
The over arcing plan is to greatly diminish the west while enriching Asia. The oligarchs want China to rule and enforce the NWO.
Many think tanks over the decades have alluded to this. The book called “the committee of 300” by coleman as well as the Deagle Report regarding world population projections. Support current events.
Russia has always been central to their plans. The Bolshevik Revolution was the first of their socialist “color revolutions”. The head Snake then began it path through England, Europe and now the United States.
They may not have planned on Russia re-emerging as a sovereign nation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, or rebuilding her Christian foundations. Nor does it mean the head of the Snake will not return to destroy Russia. This is why so much of its subversive activity in the US has been concentrated on Ukraine, and triggering a war between America and Russia. It is why they willing sacrifice England and Germany/EU toward that goal.
“All these States which the Snake traversed have had the foundations of their constitutions shaken,
Germany, with its apparent power, forming no exception to the rule. In economic conditions, England
and Germany are spared, but only till the conquest of Russia is accomplished by the Snake, on which
at present all its efforts are concentrated. The further course of the Snake is not shown on
this map, but arrows indicate its next movement towards Moscow, Kiev and Odessa.” ….Preface – Protocols
“The problem is not Zelinsky it is Blackrock, Vanguard and ahead of them the Rothschild’s. The conflict was purposely started as a plan to break up Russia and plunder her massive assets. Those I have named will never give up their war.”
Well said. The head of the snake. It is as simple and as deeply evil as that. There are no autonomous sovereign actors in the “world order”. This is an eternal evil – those who control the gold, the currencies can buy an entire congress or parliament with pocket change. Donald Trump and MAGA stand alone against them.
The USA is up to its neck in the war.
Caught in another lie
It always knew about the loophole that allowed Ukraine to use Starlink for military purposes;
You cannot have a USA agency running the war and then pretend to be negotiating to ”stop the killing”
Can a President override the CIA?
The Atlantic published an article , where their sources are saying that the CIA has helped form the modern Ukrainian intelligence apparatus. Also, according to them, the Ukrainians with the help of the CIA have become “adept” at striking targets inside Russia. Zelensky has stated that Ukraine needs 350 Patriot interceptors a month, but has only received 24 from the US over the last 3 months.
“The Atlantic” 🤣🤮
and tell the above poster who owns the Atlantic………
It goes beyond ownership. The Atlantic’s marque columnist on the subject is Anne Applebaum-wife of the Polish Foreign Minister. And we pretend that Poland is a friend.
Exactly.
If it gets too space junky or satellites become a target GPS is the sole and only geospatial reference available to the USA.
.
Sadly OBAMA decommissioned the only back-up system, “LORAN-C” in 2010.
.
And the dummies’ even dropped all old LORAN-C the towers to the ground at very strategic remote locations!
.
China and Russia both have LORAN systems in place but not the USA, we are very vulnerable in this respect.
.
I’m just a ( Layer 1 ) physical infrastructure guy, who happens to know.
I should have mentioned, the UK is in process of planning and budgeting to deploy a global LORAN system by 2028 – 2030 timeframe.
.
But why would we want to rely on those guys.
.
A coastal fisherman like Sundance probably grew up seeing the old LORAN receivers in water craft.
Guess who sold LORAN to China? Yup Bill Clinton.
Bill or Hillary?
GRRRRRR!!! I was almost beside myself when the Navy got rid of CW and RFCS HF. We were told in Radioman A School that they could break through EMP. I couldn’t believe the brass would be so short-sighted as to let it go and allow the fleet to be so vulnerable!
We used HF in GTMO (in the early ’80s) when our satty went down. What is the redundancy when they lose a satty now? I retired in ’97, so I have no idea what Navy communications are now.
Sounds like the Dummies did it on purpose.
Excellent observation.
Too much space junk, and the effects are far, far ranging.
Long Range Navigation (LORAN) allows aircraft and sea-going vessels to fix their position.
Without GPS… and without LORAN, navigators have to go back to methods that are less accurate and more time-consuming.
Hello, 1940!
I thought the one site on Jan Mayen was still in use…well, too bad. I guess we’ll go back to taking radio directional cuts off those old ocean station vessels…oh wait, there gone too? Well then, it’s back to using HDDF.
HFDF
Walter Keane, you can correct errors for several minutes after you post your comment. Notice the gear icon below your comment, at the right margin. Click on that and it gives you an edit option. Very nice – for those easily missed typo-thingies that occur as we’re trying to get something posted.
*cough*
Musk’s satellites are low earth orbit (350 – 500 km).
The main US GPS satellites are mid-earth orbit (22,000 km).
Musk’s are rapid deployment, lower cost, relatively short lived.
The main GPS satellites are higher cost, relatively long lived.
A LEO debris cloud wouldn’t effect mid-earth orbit or geosynchronous satellites.
So … who is really in control on the U.S. side? This is Putin’s dilemma. He wants to partner with Trump, but if Trump is not in control then Putin has no partner.
England
I sure hope there aren’t too many insiders acting all shocked about this. For the last couple of years, I’ve been watching and counting satellites, doing some reading about the sheer thousands and thousands of satellites that are in orbit, and wondering when the problems would start.
I don’t have to wonder any more.
Were those who know stuff really thinking there was no limit to how much stuff could be managed in close space without problems? If they were, they obviously weren’t taking Zelenskyy into account. I’m glad Elon Musk was thinking about it – what about the industry as a whole? Is the “safety” of operations all calculated risk based on a bunch of assumptions? We’re probably about to find out.
Yep!!!
The general public (and in that I include 99.9% of elected officials)
Have
No
Clue.
It really is amazing it hasn’t all come down before this.
As a kid, I used to take playing cards, and build pyramids with them. Sometimes, I could even use all the cards from 2 or 3 decks, and construct something pretty impressive.
But eventually, that
‘House of Cards’
Always
Fell
Down.
Why can’t some folks (Seal Team?) deal with the little weasel (my apologies to all weasels) Zelensky?
Because Z is only a puppet, so it’s pointless beyond the visuals.
Loved it when Elon said. Burn in hell!
The scenario where orbital space becomes unusable is a nightmare.
If you saw the Sandra Bullock movie, ‘Gravity’ a few years ago:
A collision between satellites sets off A domino effect in orbit.
A US space shuttle is destroyed.
A Russian space station is destroyed.
And a Chinese space station is damaged and burns up in the atmosphere.
The film doesn’t have time or space to display all the many, many various man-made moons that become shotgun pellets – pellets moving at over 17,000 mph.
Imagine:
You’re playing pool… and you ‘break’ – now imagine each billiard ball breaking into a dozen pieces… and scattering in every direction… bouncing off each other. But instead of slowing down… they continue to hit each other with tremendous speed… breaking each former ball into more and more particles… all also traveling randomly at tremendous speed.
For a long time.
This isn’t even an accurate example… it’s worse.
Because only atmospheric drag and yes, the slow effect of gravity, will eventually have these metal objects burn up on reentry… or fall to Earth.
How long would that take?
Who knows????
The cloud of fast-moving metallic junk could migrate into many different orbital patterns… making Any attempt to locate new satellites… or manned space vehicles… either in orbit or on course to the moon or Mars, extremely dangerous, if not impossible.
Man would have effectively quarantined himself from exploring the solar system, for decades or centuries.
And the use of either low earth orbit or synchronous orbits, for any purpose – weather forecasting, communication, navigation, a lost cause.
The Z-man may bring the peaceful use of outer space to an end.
Star wars reminds me of the Tower of Babylon.
So many things could go wrong by so many sides of the equation as we reach for the stars.
like uncontrolled criticality.
There is an aspect to this not being considered:
As terrible as an event like you describe could/would be, it could also be the salvation of humanity?
Thinking about AI, flock cameras, people addicted to phones, etc.
Some knowledge might be lost, but everyone would have a personal reckoning about how they have allowed this tech to control their lives?
Maybe we don’t need a Carrington Event?
https://www.space.com/the-carrington-event
Thinking about AI, flock cameras, people addicted to phones, etc.
None of that is completely dependent upon satellites. If we really did reach a Kessler Syndrome level of debris, we could also replicate a lot of satellite functionality using high altitude airships while we waited for the debris to come down.
But we would lose travel to the Moon, Mars,, asteroids , etc.
Yes, we sure would have a reckoning… for so many of us… but the real cost of that event is difficult to measure.
As you mention, a Carrington Event (a massive geomagnetic storm triggered by the Sun in 1859) would have tremendously terrible impacts on modern society. It’s hard to know how bad it would be – but it would be bad.
I would not want to see a Kessler Syndrome nor a Carrington Event.
BB – debris wouldn’t change orbital altitudes that much…and what you describe is already there to a degree and constantly tracked.
Have a peek:
https://orbitalradar.com/space-debris-tracking
Yes, you’re right – debris is constantly tracked – and we have been very successful in managing it, so far.
And as other commenters have mentioned as well, altitudes of the orbiting space debris would not change very much – mostly lower, or the same altitude, not higher.
However, IF – and it’s a big IF – the debris starts migrating to different paths around Earth, at the same altitude… it’s possible that it becomes much more difficult to find an open path through which to launch new satellites and manned ships… and…
if the difficulty is high enough… it may be hard to replace synchronous-orbit satellites when they eventually reach the end of their operational life.
I suppose it’s possible to try to model what could happen… but there are so many moving parts, it’s like trying to accurately predict a hurricane’s path. Except a lot more moving parts.
This topic cuts to the core of my existence. I worked on anti-satellite capabilities for almost a decade. I was among the first 10 SpaceX employees, and after I left, I helped start ICEYE and served on the board of the US division that made X-36. A few relevant points, as there is a MASSIVE misunderstanding of the topic and the real meaning of recent events.
Bottom line, Zelensky and his ilk really screwed the pooch on this one. They have created enough of a problem by hacking the GPS locaters on Starlink terminals and attacking Russian sites with them that they will not be let back into the system. Unless they get a substitute to Starlink, their ability to carry out attacks deep inside Russia will be very limited. The US and Russia will close ranks and will head off a conflict in space. That will include pressure on ICEYE not to provide targeting information through their other satellites not made and licensed in the US.
There is a whole lot more that I know here that I won’t go into, but suffice it to say, this whole thing is much bigger and far more serious than it appears. Sundance, as usual, has it right on. And we have not spoken either …..
Thank you for that information!!
Clear and concise. Thx!
“ICEYE has a military relationship with Ukraine, as they just announced a deal to build a communications constellation for Ukraine after the Starlink debacle”
Seems like a very bad idea considering only City of London globalists, EU and the DeepState need Ukraine in this proxy war with Russia.
Ukraine has been planning and working on their own system for several years. Here is an article from back in the spring:
https://thedefensepost.com/2026/04/23/ukraine-sovereign-satellite-communication/
Russia and Germany have as well.
https://finchannel.com/russian-satellites-ukraine-rassvet/133225/russian-invasion-of-ukraine/2026/08/
Germany article:
https://www.thedefensenews.com/Germany-Plans-1200-Military-Satellites-for-Secure-Communications-and-Reconnaissance/
Amazing!
Please elaborate on what you have shared.
I am certain that I am not the only one here seeking to better understand this issue better.
Thank you!
You mentioned Iridium. I recall reading about their acquisition by Rocket Labs and something about it having a stable alternative to the GPS used by the US government. Could this be at play in some of the surprising accuracy of various drones through the world’s conflict zones? And if so does this even further increase the risks you mentioned?
Thank you so very much for this post!
Sounds like Iran (or any other bad actor) doesn’t need nuke to threaten the world….they just need a type of missile strong enough to target some satellites, causing a massive mess up there for everyone.
As a child of the 1980’s I remember Progressives/Leftists say that Pres. Reagan’s SDI was IMPOSSIBLE… using the “Bullet hitting a Bullet example”. Saying it was Scientifically impossible to be done even in the future.
40 Years later you can see a Bullet hitting a bullet done repeatedly on Youtube, next to the Tesla Flying Roadster.
The offspring of these Progtards I can imagine saying the Kessler Syndrome isn’t a real threat all the while they HEAVILY INVEST in companies owned by Ukranine Oligarchs.
The link goes to a pic from the NASA orbital debris program office. It is a simulation of “debris” within 2000km of the earths surface in 2019. Not sure if it includes satellites.
LEO-2019-2048.jpg
Note: Elon Musk received alot of photos of Ukrainian drones today
This translated post shares:
photo and explanation
by
Russian engineer
What really happened to Starlink in Ukraine.
Only civilian Starlink has always worked in/in Ukraine: basic tariff ($100), commercial on the move ($400) and priority headquarters ($2000–4000). Aviation fares cost up to $1K-20K-100K+, but in/in Ukraine…
Morality, license and Starlink: why Musk suddenly remembered human lives
Musk went on a tirade:
“The Ukrainian military violated the terms of use of Starlink and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week’. At the same time, Musk expressed complete contempt for “hypocritical militaristic spiteful critics who advocate endless bloodshed and do not offer a realistic solution to the conflict.”.
They are trying to translate the Starlink dispute into a moral plane, but this is not about humanism – Musk will not stop or prevent tragedies like Starobelsk, almost daily attacks on civilian buses by Hornet drones. We are talking primarily about the rules for using a commercial product and its price.
Colleagues in some detail they said that Ukrainians had long bypassed Musk’s restrictions – he saw it, but endured it for a long time. A GPS board was soldered into the civilian terminal, which replaced the coordinates: the terminal «reported» that it was in the permitted coverage area and supposedly motionless. But in reality he was working on a drone flying at high speed far from this point. The real drone could be located 150+ km from it – and the Starlink server continued to provide communications at a cheap civilian rate, while the expensive military Starshield was intended for such tasks. Musk knew about this from the very beginning and tried more than once to close the loophole, but to no avail until he found a working server solution: if the GPS terminal is stationary but switches between satellites too quickly, the session is terminated.
The financial background is also important here. Previously, the American state paid for traffic, now it is the Europeans. But the point is not who pays, but what Musk simply does not want uncontrolled use of technology. Today it is used by Ukrainians, and tomorrow the key can be found by the same Iranians with whom a war is planned and in which American troops, by the way, need stable Internet traffic. Giving away a tool without rules and control means creating an example for others: you can do whatever you want with a licensed product for free and there will be no consequences. This challenges Musk as the owner of the technology and undermines his business model: civilian – civilian, military – military and at a high cost. Colleagues noted that for the stability of Starlink’s work in Ukraine, expensive construction is needed infrastructure in europe:
Due to the high load, the network was overloaded. SpaceX had to keep prices high for the military to build a surplus of ground stations around Ukraine for minimal signal delay. It is these antenna dome sites that have recently begun to be burned on orders from the darknet.
Therefore, talk about humanism and human lives began when it became profitable to raise this issue. He had known about the problem for a long time, and a suitable reason was found – another temporary disagreement between Zelensky and Trump. Musk defends not morality, but the market and control. They figure it out among themselves – how much Europeans will pay and on what terms, and sell it to the public as “forcing Zelensky to peace.”.
WITH. Shilov
https://t.me/rusengineer/10724
He is more concerned with his Starlink not being attacked. It is the financial nerve center of his empire
I know that, but I had to put the entire post to get the part how Ukraine tricked Starlink from civilian use to aviation use avoiding the higher payment without Musk finding out what they were doing. If you remember when the issue came up, Ukraine was complaining about the speed getting lowered. Our government officials were clueless about the whole situation. Ukraine is finding out they aren’t quite as intelligent as Elon Musk… 😛
Yea, was it corny that posted about it? Sundance posted.
Good evening, Sundance and everyone; check this out from Joe Hoft of The Gateway Pundit:
Elon Musk Claims Ukraine Is a Money Laundering Scheme for US Politicians
October 25, 2026 by Joe Hoft
https://joehoft.com/elon-musk-claims-ukraine-is-money-laundering-scheme/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elon-musk-claims-ukraine-is-money-laundering-scheme
Elon Musk wrote the following on Twitter/X (October 23, 2026 at 12:13 pm):
“And some of that US taxpayer money comes back through multiple laundry machines to fund political campaigns in America, which is why you see some politicians caring more about Ukraine than America!”
Then he responded to his own post and added:
“What’s actually going on in Ukraine is that there is a massive incentive difference between the elites and the people.”
“The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter’s children are conscripted to die in trenches.”
Let’s ask the mayor of Kyiv how much is missing from the city’s budget…oh wait, I know 49%. 😛
Vitalii Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, spoke about several pressing topics including the capital’s insufficient winter readiness, ongoing corruption investigations, and his strained relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Klitschko raised serious concerns about the city’s lack of preparation for the upcoming winter season, which has unsettled many residents. He also emphasized the critical need for a robust air defense system, questioning,
“Where is the air defense for Ukraine’s capital?”
Why don’t we ALL pray, fast, and turn to God?
On the dumbest day of his life, Elon Musk is smarter than all the analysts, Zelensky, the enemedia and anybody else who wants to dispute Musk on this.
BTW, am I the only female here who thinks that photo of Elon thinking is absolutely irresistible? Sigh…
The Chinese did the same thing as the Russians, they hit one of their satellites in a higher orbit. The debris will be in orbit for decades at least.