Elon Musk’s SpaceX has come under scrutiny over reported disruptions to satellite internet. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has come under scrutiny over reported disruptions to satellite internet services used by Ukrainian forces, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing the company of restricting access during the war with Russia.
A report by The Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the matter, said Musk had directed an intentional slowdown of Ukraine’s essential military Starlink network, triggering alarm in Kyiv and leaving the Trump administration bewildered. US officials, however, have denied ordering any slowdown.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington had not directed any reduction in the satellite services, while secretary of state Marco Rubio maintained that the White House was not responsible for the reported disruption. US says it did not order a slowdownSpeaking to reporters, Hegseth said the US military had not instructed any changes to the satellite service used by Ukraine."
We haven't pulled anything back," Hegseth said. " Nothing's changed from our view.
We haven't made any directives or anything like that. And we wish the Ukrainians obviously success."
He said any operational changes or performance adjustments would fall under the satellite provider's contractual terms." There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied with," Hegseth added, noting that "that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions."
Rubio also rejected claims that Washington had ordered Starlink's speed to be reduced. He stressed that Starlink is a commercial service operated by SpaceX, whereas Starshield is a separate military-grade system controlled by the US government."
Starshield is a defence and military product; that is something that the United States military uses. It is not available to Ukraine, and it is under discussion how they want to use it.
I don’t know if Zelenskyy knows what he is talking about. In the United States, nobody ordered that Starlink's speed be slowed down.
In my understanding, it has been restored. That is Starlink; they were using Starlink.
Starshield is in contract with the US military, has nothing to do with Ukraine." Rubio said Ukraine was seeking access to Starshield for operations inside Russia, but insisted that the reported disruption had nothing to do with the White House."
