SpaceX has decided to postpone their first starship flight in order to focus on cyber defence.
KEY HIGHLIGHTED POINTS
Humans will be able to travel to the Moon and Mars aboard a spaceship.
The Starship vehicle has been chosen by NASA to land people on the Moon.
Ukraine has received complimentary Starlink terminals from SpaceX.
WHY IN NEWS
SpaceX has decided to postpone the launch of Enterprise, the spacecraft planned to take people to the Moon and Mars, in order to focus on cyber defence and signal jamming, according to CEO Elon Musk. The tech mogul remained tight-lipped about just who was behind the attacks against SpaceX. However, Musk's Starlink Internet satellite system, which is owned by SpaceX, has been supporting Ukraine in staying online since the Russian invasion. At the demand of the Ukrainian government, SpaceX has supplied complimentary Starlink terminals. Since then, these assets appear to have been a possible target for the Russian military since then.
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Starlink terminals are meant to send input signals to Earth through a network of low-Earth-orbit satellites. These satellites have been shown to be beneficial in disaster-stricken areas where current infrastructure has been damaged. According to Musk, Starlink is the only non-Russian communications infrastructure operating in portions of Ukraine, 'so the risk of being attacked is significant.' He later tweeted that certain airports near war zones were experiencing delays. However, he noted, the most recent software upgrade was able to bypass the jamming. Given the circumstances, SpaceX has opted to focus on cyber defence and signal jamming for the time being, which may cause the company's Moon and Mars ambitions to be delayed. 'SpaceX has shifted its focus to cyber defence and signal jamming. 'This will cause minor delays in Starship and Starlink V2,' Musk wrote on Twitter.
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SpaceX's upcoming Starlink system is called Starlink V2. The US Federal Aviation Administration is currently reviewing the newest Starship model for environmental system protection. According to SpaceX, the entirely reusable Starship will be the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever created, capable of carrying more than 100 metric tonnes into orbit. SpaceX had hoped to fly the first uncrewed Starship orbital voyage in the coming months, but Musk's tweet hints the wait may be longer. So far, no revised timeframe has been disclosed. For its Artemis mission, NASA has chosen the starship vehicle to land people on the moon.