A Wall Street Journal report said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered the Starlink throttling that blindsided Ukraine’s air assault forces last week, despite Musk’s claim that all decisions on the military version of Starlink are made by the US military and President Trump.
Trump denied ordering the restrictions. While Musk may have spoken to Trump and administration officials before the decision, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Musk made the final call. The decision came after both Musk and Trump criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries.
“Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration,” the WSJ wrote, citing unnamed US officials and people familiar with the matter. The report said that “Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network… rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.”
Ukraine officials say the restriction affected Starshield, a satellite offering for the military that uses Starlink technology. In this case, “speed” refers to the flight speed of drones.
“The cap, imposed without warning early Thursday, cuts the Internet data connection when a communication terminal moves faster than 160 kph (100 mph), which is common for Ukrainian drones equipped with Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite service offered by SpaceX. The restriction forced the drones to fly slower than usual, making it easier for Russian weapons to target or evade them,” the Associated Press wrote last week.
The Starlink and Starshield names are often used interchangeably by government officials discussing military use, and Ukraine has been known to use both the Starlink commercial service and the Starshield military variant. But Ukrainian officials have made it clear they are objecting to new restrictions on Starshield.
One WSJ source said Musk spoke to Trump and White House officials before the decision.
