Iran and Russia accused Starlink of violating international law

Representatives of Iran and Russia said at a UN scientific conference in Vienna that Elon Musk's Starlink satellite constellation of Elon Musk's SpaceX violates international law by blurring the line between commercial and military technologies, Bloomberg reports.

Iranian officials said at a conference on February 9 that the "illegal operation" of Starlink in Iran violates the country's sovereignty. According to Tehran, the “commercial satellite mega-constellation” is being used unauthorized for military purposes.

Russian representatives, in turn, said that Starlink may violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which was ratified by the United States and more than 100 countries. The treaty requires satellite operators to take into account the interests of other space participants.

Russian officials said a large satellite network operated by a private entity “is unlikely to be in the interests of the long-term sustainability of space activities and the use of outer space.”

Iranian representatives also spoke out against Starlink at the International Telecommunications Union, the UN digital agency based in Geneva. According to Tehran, the Starlink network violates rules prohibiting the use of telecommunications services that are not authorized by national governments.

• SpaceX operates a network of approximately 9,600 Starlink satellites. The satellite communications network is actively used by the Ukrainian military, which is opposing the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian military also used Starlink, but in early February, satellite communication terminals were turned off en masse at the front.
• Starlink was also used by protesters in Iran during demonstrations in January. Starlink became a key communication channel when authorities shut down the country's internet. Starlink is banned in Iran, but in recent years about 50 thousand satellite communication terminals have been illegally imported into the country.