- distributed the same as other equipment - loaded up on transports coming from the west
- war zone moves - what is accessible today may not be accessible tomorrow, so setting up backup access in nodes currently not affected is important
- ISPs could use them as emergency down/up link when international cables are cut
- military actions are very unevenly distributed - you can literally drive past a column of invading army forces because you're not relevant (see lots of civilian videos)
This a feel-good measure on both sides for the most part. It takes time to ship all the hardware.
I'm just genuinely curious about wartime logistics.
But the problem with logistics is real in the actual war zones. See reports of Russian forces being impacted by Ukraine attacking not the incoming armed vehicles, but the support groups behind them.
(Dragon's return payload mass is 3000 kg, and the mass of the terminal kit is ~15 kg, so 200 tops - through probably couldn't fit that many inside)
Will Russia point their anti-satellite capability at it?
Not being critical of this, just curious.
They do have the ability to ‘point’ service with electronically steerable antennas, but at ~50 degrees N, Kyiv is actually in a very good place for Starlink support.
The main question is where Starlink will have ground stations and how vulnerable they might be to attack. A single ground station can service users within 3-4 hundred mile radius. In addition, the terminals require zero local infrastructure beyond basic power and can sole m supply 200+Mbps down, 40+ up.
I would suppose they would go across the border to poland along with all the NATO weaponry, but its still quite a logistics feat, I don't know that musk can snap his fingers and consider it done
Plus I'd be surprised if they had base stations in stock just sitting in a warehouse when they could already be in revenue service.
Forgive my cynicism of musk's grandiose gestures
