Ukrainian officials said Friday that SpaceX's speed restrictions on Starshield, the military-grade version of its Starlink service, remain in place, contradicting statements from President Donald Trump that access was restored.
"Unfortunately, as of today, nothing has changed. We continue to wait," Denys Sienik, Ukraine's deputy ambassador to the U.S., said in a Friday post on X $TWTR. He said Ukrainians are hoping the limits get removed, giving defenders the tools required to keep people safe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that "the speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there, and the speed has not been restored." He said Ukraine hopes SpaceX and the U.S. administration will lift them.
Trump said Thursday that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had restored access. "The bottom line, he put it back," Trump said, without saying whether he called Musk. On Friday, Trump said he had not spoken with Musk, according to CNBC. He told reporters outside the White House: "I've heard it was fixed. But if it's not, I'll speak to him." Asked who ordered the slowdown, Trump said, "I have no idea, but I wouldn't tell you if I did."
Ukrainian officials said drones flying faster than 100 mph lose their link, which has interrupted a number of operations, according to CNBC. A Ukrainian Defense Ministry source told CNN there is "no confirmation that the restrictions have been lifted." A Ukrainian armed forces officer told CNN the connection drops for 10 to 15 seconds at a time and that "we lost a lot of assets, much more than usual."
Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, told CNBC: "They are losing drones." Serhii Beskrestnov, Zelenskyy's defense tech adviser, said in a Telegram post that the occasional instances of connectivity above the cap probably stem from how SpaceX's software behaves or from particular operating circumstances, not from the limits being lifted, according to CNBC.
Musk and SpaceX representatives have not yet answered CNBC's inquiry.
Ukrainian officials first reported on Oct. 13 that terminals moving faster than 100 mph stopped working. Musk has said on X that Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS.”
Four Democratic senators asked SpaceX to explain any restrictions placed on Ukrainian assets from Oct. 10 to Oct. 15. They requested answers and records by Nov. 2.
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