Order to Limit Starshield for Ukraine Came From Inside the White House, Reuters Reports
Washington — The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter told Reuters on October 15. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Defense Department leaders received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed. They did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing it.
Starshield is the military-grade counterpart of SpaceX's Starlink service, and the Pentagon is its biggest customer. Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade terminals stopped working when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with drone missions that rely on them for guidance. A person in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on October 15 that the terminals were working again in motion, but only at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.
The restriction came as President Donald Trump pressured Kyiv to stop attacks on Russian refineries, which he has blamed for soaring energy prices. Asked about the reported White House order, a senior U.S. official said no such request was ever made by the president. The White House did not respond to questions about whether other administration officials made the request.
SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said on October 14 that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military or the president, while commercial Starlink is owned and controlled by SpaceX and limited to civilian or defensive activities.
(Source: Reuters exclusive, October 15, and Reuters Starshield explainer, October 14)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：「星链」卫星在火箭上待部署的轨道画面（资料照片）。图片来源：SpaceX官方照片，CC0，取自维基共享资源。 / Photo: Starlink satellites stacked aboard their launch vehicle before deployment (file photo). Source: Official SpaceX Photos, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
