Ukraine Says Starshield Connection Restored After Speed Restrictions
publishers 28articles 35first reported 14 Oct, 20:30 UTCdeveloping since 15 Oct · 16 editions
Ukraine said Saturday that its military satellite connection was stable again after days of speed restrictions that disrupted drone operations and strained relations with Washington.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink system, was operating at speeds above 400 kilometers per hour as of Oct. 24, compared with a previous cap of about 161 kph. Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said officials were continuing to monitor Starlink and Starshield performance.
The restrictions, reported in mid-October, caused connectivity losses for terminal-equipped drones traveling above the cap. Ukrainian officials said this impaired interceptor drones used against faster Russian attack drones. As recently as Friday, a Defense Ministry source and presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said there was no evidence the limit had been removed, despite occasional higher speeds.
It remains unclear who ordered or implemented the restrictions. President Donald Trump repeatedly denied involvement and said he did not know whether SpaceX chief Elon Musk was responsible. Musk said Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that limits are determined by the U.S. military and ultimately the president. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources, that Musk ordered the slowdown and later that Trump asked him to lift it.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised the disruption with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and called for service to be restored. Ukraine has also signed a letter of intent with Nokia and Finnish satellite company ICEYE to explore a sovereign satellite communications network.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 6 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 228 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 28
- Source articles
- 35
- Given to the writer
- 8, 6 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 228 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →