US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, Oct. 21, that decisions about Ukraine’s access to Starlink rest with SpaceX and Elon Musk rather than the White House, amid conflicting accounts of restrictions affecting Ukrainian military operations.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to India, Rubio said a private commercial contract governs the service, Reuters reported.
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The agreement determines “how their stuff can be used and what speeds they’ll allow it to be used at,” he said.
Rubio said he was not aware that the administration knew about the decision beforehand. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
WSJ says Musk ordered the restrictions
The remarks followed a Wall Street Journal report published on Tuesday, Oct. 20, which said Musk ordered restrictions on the military-grade satellite service used by Ukraine, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
The newspaper said the decision disrupted Ukrainian offensive and interceptor drones and caused confusion inside the Trump administration.
Accounts differed over the timing of discussions with Trump. One source said Musk, Trump, and White House officials discussed the matter before the restrictions, while two said Musk and the president discussed it afterward.
Reuters has separately cited two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter as saying the decision ultimately came from the White House. The administration has denied that account.
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Conflicting accounts from Washington and Musk
Trump previously denied ordering the restrictions and said he did not think Musk was responsible either.
His comments came despite Ukrainian reports that satellite connections were failing during military operations. Kyiv has repeatedly sought an explanation and the restoration of full service.
Musk, meanwhile, said on Oct. 14 that limits on Ukraine’s military Starshield terminals were determined by the US military and ultimately the president.
The distinction between Starlink and Starshield has also become a point of contention. Rubio has said Ukraine never had access to Starshield, while President Volodymyr Zelensky has described disruptions affecting both services.
Why speed limits matter for Ukraine
The restrictions concern the speed at which a terminal can move while remaining connected, a separate issue from how quickly it transfers internet data.
Zelensky said on Oct. 17 that terminals in Ukraine disconnected above 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), causing Ukrainian forces to lose control of interceptor drones.
He said Ukrainian specialists tested terminals traveling at 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour) in EU territory without experiencing the same disconnections. He argued that the comparison showed the limits were specific to Ukraine.
The effects are concentrated on faster aircraft relying on satellite links, including drones used to intercept Russian jet-powered Shaheds and conduct strikes beyond conventional radio range.
Stationary ground terminals and most short-range first-person-view drones, which normally use direct radio links, have been largely unaffected by the movement-speed restriction.
Starlink also carries military communications, targeting information, and logistics data, making the network important well beyond individual drone missions.
Kyiv seeks answers as Europe weighs alternatives
During a virtual meeting with US lawmakers on Monday, Oct. 19, Zelensky said Washington had still not explained the satellite restrictions or failures to provide advance warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks.
He raised the issues with a bipartisan group from the Senate and House as Ukraine sought to restore communications needed for its defenses.
European governments have also been examining alternatives, but EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Oct. 16 that Europe could not replace Starlink’s capabilities in the short term.
The European Commission has been discussing Ukraine’s participation in GOVSATCOM, a program pooling satellite resources for secure government communications. Brussels has not confirmed that it could meet the same battlefield requirements as Starlink.
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