Article · Geopolitics · Technology
Musk: limits on Ukraine's military Starlink are "decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS". What that means for Europe, which gets its own network only from 2029
On 13-14 October 2026, according to an unnamed Ukrainian presidential adviser quoted by Al Jazeera, SpaceX restricted Starshield, the military Starlink package, for terminals moving faster than about 160 km/h, which disrupted Ukrainian drone flights. Elon Musk wrote that limits on speed or usage are "decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS". Donald Trump says it was not him, Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls the accusation "categorically false", and on 18 October Volodymyr Zelenskyy said SpaceX acted on a "message from [the] American government". Who actually gave the order is unconfirmed. According to Kyiv Post, Poland pays about 50 million dollars a year for Ukraine's Starlink, and the first launches of the EU alternative, IRIS², are planned for 2029.
Elon Musk himself wrote that the speed of Ukraine's military satellite link is "decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS". According to Kyiv Post, Poland pays about 50 million dollars a year for Ukraine's Starlink, and the first satellites of the European Union's own network are due to go up only in 2029.
This is not only a war story. It is a question of who holds the switch when a state relies on one private person's company, and that company says another country's president decides.