Starlink satellites, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, provide high-speed internet that modern warfare relies on heavily. Ukraine has adopted the service as a vital battlefield communications tool and uses it in drone operations as well.
A sudden speed restriction on drones connected to Starlink has disrupted some battlefield missions, according to a senior Ukrainian official. Serhiy Beskrestnov said Ukrainian officials had not been informed about the 100mph (160km/h) speed limit that SpaceX set overnight on Tuesday.
Why Starlink has become central to Ukrainian forces
Ukrainian drones can maintain stronger connections with their operators over longer distances than conventional radio networks. They are also less vulnerable to jamming, which is a key advantage on the front.
George Barros, Director of Innovation and Open Source Tradecraft at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), described Starlink as the backbone of military communications in Ukraine. He said it is used across Kyiv’s naval, land and air forces. Barros also said the technology allows drones, artillery and command posts to operate as a single real-time network, which shortens the time between spotting a target and firing on it.
Starlink does not work inside Russia, but Ukrainian drones can use the satellites to send information back to their operators during strikes. Analysts quoted in the reporting said there is no ready replacement for the network. Tom Whittington, an electronic warfare expert and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the system lets Ukraine move large amounts of data, including video, text and voice calls, in a similar way to smartphones but without the infrastructure that phones need.
Speed limit raises concerns over interceptor drones
The ISW said that throttling drones on the network to this relatively low speed makes Ukrainian efforts to intercept jet-powered Russian drones all but useless. Barros said Starlink-enabled interceptors are among Ukraine’s most effective answers to Russian Shahed drones.
Shaheds reportedly fly at speeds above 198mph, so the SpaceX restriction makes efforts to chase them down all but impossible. Whittington said the limits effectively prevent anything connected to the network from going above 100mph. He said this makes drone navigation difficult within Ukraine and in Russian-occupied parts of the country.
Political tensions and Musk’s explanation for the restrictions
Beskrestnov, who is an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said he believes the restrictions are not a coincidence. He linked them to the latest strains between Kyiv and Washington. President Trump has criticised Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries and called for a new leader, and Musk has echoed those criticisms.
The dispute has also drawn attention to Starshield, a military-grade version of the network that SpaceX developed for the Pentagon. Musk says the two systems are separate, although in many cases they share the same underlying satellite technology. In a post on X, Musk suggested the US government could be responsible for the slowdown affecting Ukrainian use of the technology.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” he wrote. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. SpaceX’s satellite communications have proved vital to both armies during the four-year war. Earlier this year, Musk cut the use of Starlink terminals for Russian forces, a move that blunted Moscow’s advance and caused confusion among Russian commanders.
