White House ordered Pentagon to throttle Ukraine's Starshield access
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Starshield is the military version of SpaceX’s satellite communications system (Photo: REUTERS/Inna Varenytsia/File Photo)
The White House ordered the U.S. Defense Department to throttle the Starshield satellite system used by the Ukrainian military for battlefield communications and drone operations, Reuters reported October 15, citing three officials briefed on the matter.
The White House directly ordered the Pentagon to slow down SpaceX's Starshield services for the Ukrainian military, though sources did not specify who initiated or executed the decision.
Starshield is the military version of SpaceX’s satellite communications system, which is built on Starlink technology. The Pentagon is its largest customer.
However, another Reuters source refuted reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had personally issued the order, with an unnamed senior official stating that “no such request was ever made by the president.”
The White House did not respond to Reuter’s questions about whether other administration officials might have made the request.
Starlink service restrictions in Ukraine
Ukrainian activist Serhiy Sternenko first reported the restrictions on October 14, stating that SpaceX throttled Starlink service for terminals traveling above a certain speed. Sternenko noted the outage disrupted “several critical missions,” a finding later corroborated by military technology specialist Serhiy “Flash” Beskrestnov, who warned that Ukraine’s interceptor drones require Starlink access to operate.
Ukraine’s 7th Corps reported communication failures in the Huliaipole sector, noting that the restrictions even hit Starshield – Starlink’s military-grade service that previously had no limitations. A defense ministry source confirmed that connection drops when traveling over 100 mph, crippling logistics, drone operations, and medium-range drone strikes.
Senior Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times that Kyiv was blindsided by the overnight restrictions, which were imposed without warning. Terminals began losing their signal at speeds above 100 mph, disrupting several military missions early Wednesday morning. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached out to Elon Musk directly, calling the Starlink slowdown a “big mistake.”
SpaceX owner Elon Musk later stated on October 14 that service limits for Starshield, the military subsection of Starlink used by Ukrainian defense forces, are determined by the U.S. government.
The restrictions coincided with the Trump administration pressuring Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries. Several media outlets reported that Washington threatened to halt intelligence sharing should the strikes persist.
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