What happened?
Ukrainian officials said SpaceX imposed a speed limit on military-grade Starshield satellite terminals in Ukraine without prior warning. According to Reuters, the restriction affects terminals in motion: connections drop above 160 km/h.
Impact on the ground
Starshield terminals mounted on drones and military vehicles provided real-time communications during transit. Ukraine's 7th Rapid Reaction Corps confirmed it had to cancel multiple missions after the restriction. According to observations, connections can drop for 10-20 seconds even at 110-120 km/h; volunteer Serhiy Sternenko said restrictions are tightening further, with drops occurring at 60-70 km/h.
Why now?
SpaceX did not explain the restriction. Ukrainian officials believe it is intentional, as it coincides with Washington's pressure on Kyiv to halt long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries. Elon Musk posted on X that "Zelensky has gone too far."
The dependency problem
Starlink plays a critical role in Ukraine's frontline communications. Ukrainian defense tech company Stetman is developing a domestic satellite communications system called UASAT-NANO to reduce reliance on SpaceX.
