A Ukrainian serviceman prepares a Starlink satellite internet system, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in 2024. The satellite internet terminals are vital for guiding Ukraine’s longer-range drone strikes.Stringer/Reuters
SpaceX has introduced a limit on some Starlink services in Ukraine, disrupting combat drone missions for which the technology is crucial, officials said on Wednesday.
The satellite internet terminals from Elon Musk’s company are vital for guiding Ukraine’s longer-range drone strikes in occupied southern and eastern Ukraine, which have wreaked havoc on Russian logistics.
“Our defence forces did not receive a warning about this limitation, and this led to the disruption of several missions,” presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram.
Beskrestnov said SpaceX had stopped the operation of its military-grade version above 160 km/h.
Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed in the southeast, added that units had been forced to cancel some missions.
“According to our observations, during flights, the connection could drop for 10–20 seconds at speeds of just 110–120 km/h. The drones kept moving, but these interruptions made them harder to control,” it said in a statement to Reuters.
A source in Ukraine’s defence ministry added that the limitations significantly complicate logistics and some drone operations.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular US business hours.
Kyiv under pressure from Washington
Although it was not immediately clear why the Starlink service was throttled, the move comes as Washington pressures Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Starlink does not work inside Russia and the Ukrainian drones hitting Russia’s oil industry use other means of communication.
Ukraine has already said that it did not receive the usual advance warning from its allies about some recent missile strikes on the capital.
Since being turned on over Ukraine in the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2022, Starlink has been the lifeblood of Ukrainian battlefield communications, with units using its satellite internet to talk to each other.
Over time, its resistance to electronic signal jamming also made it a crucial tool for flying long-range attack drones as well as large hexacopters which drop supplies to Ukraine’s front line.