Ukraine Says SpaceX Capped Starlink For Its Military, Disrupting Drone Missions

SpaceX has restricted some Starlink services in Ukraine, disrupting combat drone missions that depend on the technology. Starlink terminals from Elon Musk's company are vital for guiding Ukraine's longer-range drone strikes in occupied southern and eastern Ukraine, strikes that have badly hit Russian logistics.

Presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said on Telegram that SpaceX had stopped its military-grade version from operating above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). He said Ukraine's defence forces 'did not receive a warning about this limitation,' and that the lack of notice disrupted several missions. This was first reported by Reuters.

Units cancel missions

Ukraine's 7th Rapid Reaction Corps, deployed in the southeast, said some units had to cancel missions. In a statement to Reuters, the corps said the connection could drop for 10 to 20 seconds at speeds of just 110 to 120 km/h during flights. The drones kept moving, it said, but the interruptions made them harder to control.

A source in Ukraine's defence ministry told Reuters the limits significantly complicate logistics and some drone operations.

Reason unclear, as Washington presses Kyiv

It was not immediately clear why the service was throttled. Reuters noted 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 also said it did not receive the usual advance warning from its allies about some recent missile strikes on the capital.

Starlink's role in the war

Since it was switched on over Ukraine in the early days of Russia's 2022 invasion, Starlink has been the lifeblood of Ukrainian battlefield communications, with units using it to talk to each other. Its resistance to electronic jamming later made it a key tool for flying long-range attack drones and large hexacopters that drop supplies to frontline troops.

Earlier limits aimed at Russian drones

This is not the first time SpaceX has limited Starlink speeds in Ukraine. Earlier this year, SpaceX imposed a speed limit of 75 kilometres per hour on Starlink terminals as a temporary fix, because Russian drones fly faster than Ukrainian ones. A later measure was a 'white list' so that only authorised terminals could operate, which Ukraine's defence minister said SpaceX agreed to within 48 hours. Those steps were taken at Kyiv's request to stop Russian forces using Starlink on attack drones. This week's restriction, by contrast, has hit Ukraine's own operations without warning.

Published on: Thursday, October 15, 2026, 10:27 AM IST