Key insights
- The White House reportedly directed SpaceX to limit its Starshield satellite service for Ukraine's military, impacting battlefield communications and drone operations. This restriction, which occurred as former President Trump urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian refineries, has disrupted Ukrainian forces. The Pentagon is a major customer of Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Starlink service.
Investing.com -- The White House directed SpaceX to restrict its Starshield satellite system used by Ukraine’s military for battlefield communications and drone operations, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official familiar with the matter.
Defense Department leaders received a message instructing them to slow down the SpaceX Starshield service for Ukrainian forces, Reuters reported. The officials did not identify who in the White House issued the decision or who carried out the order.
The Pentagon is the largest customer of Starshield-- the military-grade version of SpaceX’s satellite communications service Starlink.
Ukrainian officials reported this week that Starshield receivers stopped functioning in Ukraine when attached to fast-moving objects. This disruption affected Ukrainian drones that depend on the receivers for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory, and hampered frontline operations for Kyiv.
The temporary restriction of the communications system occurred as President Donald Trump has pushed Kyiv to halt its strikes on Russian refineries. Trump has attributed rising energy prices to these attacks, saying they threaten his Republican Party’s performance in the November midterm elections, and also announced a diesel supply deal with Russia-- which was criticized by Ukraine and U.S. lawmakers.
Ukrainian officials also said they received no intel from the U.S. and Western allies regarding a fresh Russian missile attack on the country this week. Trump denied that Washington had held back any intel from the country.
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