SpaceX and US Government Exchange Blame After Ten-Day Starlink Outage

Ukraine’s military regained full access to Starlink satellite communications on Saturday, ending a ten-day period of restricted speeds that disrupted frontline operations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the restoration in a Telegram video, stating that both Starlink and Starshield systems are now operating at the levels required for defense and logistics.

The disruption imposed a cap of 160 kilometers per hour, or 99 miles per hour, on terminal speeds. This limitation caused several combat missions to fail during the first half of October. The military lost the ability to intercept Russian attack drones, forcing the cancellation of strikes on targets behind enemy lines. Additionally, the US withheld advance warning of Russian ballistic missile launches, leaving Ukrainian defenses without critical data.

The timing of the restrictions coincided with Donald Trump’s announcement of a US deal to purchase Russian diesel. Trump initially denied that his administration orchestrated the cut in intelligence sharing. He stated that he did not believe Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, was responsible, despite the US government managing the terminals used by the Ukrainian military.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced this separation of duties last Wednesday. He noted that the president does not direct the operations of Starlink or Starshield, implying that Musk holds the decision-making authority. Musk countered by writing on X that the systems are owned and controlled by the US government. He argued that the US military and the president determine speed and usage limits, placing the responsibility squarely on Washington.

Vice-President JD Vance supported Musk’s position on Thursday, suggesting the billionaire would not mediate between two state actors without explicit government direction. Zelenskyy, however, assigned fault to both parties. He described the slowdown as a planned operation by the American government, executed technically by SpaceX. He noted that Starshield terminals in European Union countries faced no such restrictions, highlighting the specificity of the impact on Ukraine.

The timeline for the fix remained contested until the weekend. On Thursday, Trump claimed the service had returned to full speed, but a European official told the Associated Press that the system was not yet fully functioning. By Friday, Trump said he might need to instruct Musk to stop interfering, calling the tech leader brilliant and promising to straighten out any problems. Zelenskyy’s Saturday announcement clarified that speeds were sufficient for operational use by morning, allowing the military to resume defending against jet-powered Shahed drones and managing frontline logistics without interruption.