Home · Technology · Oct 24 archive
Ukraine learns to fight without Starlink as Musk plays politics with satellites
Confirmed
In Short: The dispute over Starlink disruptions has strained US-Ukraine relations, with reports that US President Donald Trump asked Musk to remove restrictions affecting Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite internet services.
Ukraine is learning to operate without SpaceX's Starlink satellite service, which experienced disruptions in October 2026. The throttling of Starlink, reported by Ukrainian officials and military forces, affected terminals exceeding speeds of about 99 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour).
According to Ars Technica, the disruptions began on October 13, 2026, and lasted until October 24, 2026, when SpaceX restored the military-grade Starlink service. The restrictions reportedly interfered with Ukrainian air defenses and drone missions.
The head of hardware R&D at Ukrainian defense company BlueBird Tech noted that Starlink offers some of the best satellite coverage available, but the recent disruptions have highlighted the need for alternative technologies. In response, Ukrainian companies and their Western partners have begun deploying more drones that reduce or eliminate reliance on Starlink.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Starlink and Starshield operations had been restored to their previous speeds, but some Ukrainian officials, like Serhii Beskrestnov, an advisor to Zelenskyy, reported that restrictions were still in place as of October 24, 2026.
The US government and European countries such as Poland and Germany have provided tens of thousands of Starlink terminals and covered subscription fees for Ukraine. However, the new Starlink speed limits reportedly disrupted multiple Ukrainian drone missions when they began without warning in the middle of the night.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, accused the Ukrainian military of violating the company’s terms by using Starlink for offensive drone strikes. In response, bipartisan calls for more congressional oversight over Musk’s “space monopoly” and criticism from European leaders pressured SpaceX to reverse the restrictions.
Ukrainian drones flying faster than about 160 km/h began losing their satellite link, and Kyiv blamed Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the cutoff. The US government has also given Ukraine’s military access to a military-grade version of Starlink known as Starshield.
The disruptions have prompted urgent questions about how to move forward without Starlink. Analysts like Shu Hsiao-huang from Taiwan’s government-funded Institute for National Defence and Security Research emphasized the need to avoid over-reliance on satellite navigation services provided by a single company.
In February 2023, SpaceX implemented a system that only allowed Starlink systems on an approved “white list” to access the internet in Ukraine. This move was seen as a political decision by some, including Radosław Sikorski, who addressed Musk directly on X, asking if he was playing politics with his products.
The incident has also drawn attention to regulatory issues in other countries, such as India, where Musk criticized the regulatory environment while seeking approval for Starlink. India denied Musk's claims that oligarchs were blocking Starlink's services.
Ukraine's adaptation to the Starlink disruptions underscores the importance of diversifying communication technologies in times of conflict.
The Ukrainian government and military are now exploring alternative technologies and strategies to maintain their operations without relying solely on Starlink.
What this adds
The disruptions have prompted a broader discussion about the reliability and dependency on single-source satellite communication services during conflicts.
What's confirmed
- Two telecom companies signed pacts with SpaceX last year to bring Starlink internet services to country India on Thursday denied Elon Musk's claim that “certain oligarchs” were blocking Starlink's satellite communication services in the country to maintain their monopoly, terming it baseless.
What's still developing
- In practice, the throttling of Starlink in Ukraine made the satellite service unstable at even lower speeds like 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour), said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a social media post on October 19.
- Starlink terminals have also been deployed on Ukrainian ground robots and drone boats operating in the contested Black Sea, in addition to supporting many different aerial drone operations on the battlefield.
- As the world’s largest communications satellite network, Starlink can typically support high-speed Internet and data streams for any user or vehicle equipped with a relatively compact Starlink terminal.
- Musk said on social media that “certain oligarchs” were allegedly trying to prevent Starlink from entering the Indian market in order to protect their dominant positions.
- Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters Key Points The Indian government refuted Elon Musk's allegations that Starlink's satcom services are being blocked unfairly.
- Zelensky said he briefed Burnham about “Russian attacks against our cities, our people, and critical infrastructure”.
- US envoys Witkoff and Kushner met Zelensky in Kyiv after Moscow talks with Putin The trip is a renewed push to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine following Putin meeting 17 outlets told this the same way.
- The worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since last year’s Oval Office meltdown is deteriorating further over a dispute about who ordered a disruption to a critical Ukrainian military system running on Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service.