On Wednesday, the Ukrainian authorities claimed SpaceX had restricted access to its internet terminals in the country, impeding the country's efforts to defend itself against Russian aggression.
Ukraine relies heavily on Starlink, the company’s satellite subsidiary, both for military operations and for connectivity across the country.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, a technology adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accused SpaceX of introducing a speed limit for Starlink mobile terminals. “Our defence forces were not warned about this restriction, which led to the disruption of a number of missions,” he said.
Beskrestnov even accused the US company of deliberately harming Ukraine for political reasons, amid tensions between Kyiv and Washington. “This action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to the current political situation,” he wrote on Telegram.
SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk said on X that the decision to impose restrictions on the service came from the US government, arguing that it “owns” and “controls” Starshield, one of the systems being used by Ukraine for target tracking and early missile warning. In subsequent posts, he implied Kyiv was responsible for the conflict and said: “it’s time for Zelensky to go”.
It’s not the first time decisions made by SpaceX have affected Russia’s war on Ukraine. When the operator deactivated Starlink terminals Moscow had acquired illegally in early 2026, Russian forces saw it as a serious blow, as they had grown to rely on the technology to coordinate strikes and avoid enemy jamming efforts.
“What everyone feared for a long time has happened,” pro-Russian blogger Yuriy Podolyaka wrote at the time. “Elon Musk flipped the switch… our communications are in chaos.”
All these developments show that demand for strategically important satellite technology is rapidly growing. And as long as other options remain unavailable, SpaceX’s leverage will also grow.
Zelensky has talked about creating or supporting alternatives to Starlink in the past. Last August, he claimed that Russia was developing its own LEONGSO, or non-geostationary satellite orbit… satellite network alongside China and spoke about the need for Ukraine to do the same “with a European country”.
The European Union’s planned multi-orbit satellite constellation, IRIS², is expected to start providing services in 2030. One of the initiative’s stated goals is to give Europe independence from Starlink. It’s an ambition that has been hindered by delays, amid criticism of its reported cost of €15.6 billion.
Europe has some catching up to do. The European Commission has proposed awarding part of the 2 GHz band to IRIS² in 2027, but more formal deliberations have yet to take place. In contrast, US regulator the FCC has maintained a much more aggressive pursuit of spectrum allocations for the LEO satellite sector, with many more planned in the near future.
Here’s what else PolicyTracker has covered this week:
Experts talk spectrum.
