Order to limit satellite system used by Ukraine came from White House: Report

A Ukrainian drone company, SkyFall, demonstrates StarGate, an aerial medical evacuation drone designed to carry wounded soldiers from front-line positions, potentially saving lives where conventional rescue vehicles cannot reach

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The officials said leaders at the defence department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not specify who in the White House made the decision or who was responsible for implementing the order. The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service. Ukrainian officials said this week that military-grade Starlink receptors stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.

Trump didn’t order limits on Kyiv’s SpaceX access: US President Trump didn’t order any limitations on Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s Starshield satellite technology, according to a senior US official. The US official’s comment didn’t preclude the possibility that another US official or agency directed Kyiv’s access be curbed, but it does rebut Zelenskyy’s claim that Trump was responsible.

Starlink speed not yet fully restored, says Zelensky Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Starlink services in his country were still being restored, after partial curbs impeded the military’s ability to defend against Russia. “Has the speed been fully restored to what it was before? No. Is the speed being restored now? Yes,” Zelensky said at a presser in Brussels.