An order to restrict Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite communications system reportedly originated from within the White House.
According to two U.S. officials and a Western official familiar with the matter,the Pentagon leaders were instructed to limit the service, which supports Ukrainian battlefield communications and drone operations. However, a senior U.S. official has denied that President Donald Trump made such a request.
The reported restrictions have complicated Ukrainian strike missions targeting Russian forces and logistics in occupied territories, while also slowing the deployment of interceptor drones against Russian Shahed attacks.
A Ukrainian Defence Ministry official says the receivers are now functioning while in motion, but only at speeds of up to one hundred miles per hour. Meanwhile, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk says Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, stressing that decisions on its speed and usage rest with the U.S. military or the president.
