Follow-Up: Ukraine Says Its Starshield Contract Expires in Mid-2027 and Seeks Early Renewal Talks With Washington
WASHINGTON — Ukraine's contract with the U.S. government for access to the Starshield satellite network expires in mid-2027, and Kyiv wants to start talks on a new contract as soon as possible, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, Denys Sienik, told the Defense Writers Group on November 5. Negotiating a new contract takes time and "now is actually the time," he said, adding that Ukraine wants clarity on whether it can proceed, what the terms of reference will be and how funding will be arranged. He did not give the exact month of expiry.
Sienik also said Kyiv still has no answer from the Pentagon or from SpaceX about what caused October's restrictions on the Starshield service. The service is working now and the military can do its work, he said, but Ukraine does not want a repeat. Because there is no effective alternative to the low-Earth-orbit system, he said, a new contract matters all the more. Starshield is the military version of SpaceX's Starlink network, procured by the U.S. government; Ukrainian forces use it for drone operations and battlefield communications, including links relied on to intercept incoming drones.
In mid-October, Ukrainian officials said military-grade receivers stopped working on fast-moving objects, disrupting drone missions. Access was later restored, but the dispute over the slowdown has continued. On November 5 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent SpaceX founder Elon Musk a records-preservation letter requiring the company to preserve records of Starshield's restrictions in Ukraine ahead of an investigation planned for January.
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：乌克兰军人在前线架设星链终端（资料图）。照片：乌克兰支援部队司令部，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Ukrainian service members set up a Starlink terminal at the front (file photo). Photo: Support Forces of Ukraine Command, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-11-05Follow-Up: Ukraine Says Its Starshield Contract Expires in Mid-2027 and Seeks Early Renewal Talks With WashingtonThis story
