The speed limit in the sky

#What happened to Starlink in Ukraine on 13 October?

On the morning of 14 October Serhii Beskrestnov, a radio-communications specialist who advises President Zelensky on defence technology and writes as “Flash”, confirmed on Telegram that overnight SpaceX had introduced a speed limit for Starlink terminals in motion. It applied, he wrote, to StarShield, the “military package” of the service, and was set at 100 miles per hour. Ukraine's forces had not been warned, and “a number of missions” were disrupted.

The 7th Rapid Reaction Corps told Reuters that its connection could drop for 10 to 20 seconds at a time at only 110 to 120 km/h, below the stated limit; the drones kept flying but were harder to control. According to a source quoted by CNN, Ukraine's armed forces learnt of the limit from SpaceX customer support after filing a complaint, and the StarShield service came under arrangements contracted through the US government until mid-May 2027. Ordinary terminals, wrote the activist Serhii Sternenko, who first reported the outage, kept working.

By the evening Mykhailo Fedorov, who as digital minister first asked Elon Musk for Starlink in 2022 and later served as defence minister, posted that Starlink was being restored at speeds up to 160 km/h. “Strike drones and interceptor drones should fly again,” he wrote. “Now we need to work on removing the speed limit for Starshield altogether.” In English on X he added: “Thank you, @elonmusk. We hope for your continued support.” Within the hour Musk replied that the decision was not his: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” He did not say who had set this limit, or why. The White House had not commented.

To see how one number can cut a drone off in mid-flight, start with the network itself.

#Did Trump order SpaceX to restrict Starlink in Ukraine?

Elon Musk says decisions like this belong to the US military, and ultimately to the president. Nobody has yet said who set this particular limit; a Ukrainian reconnaissance specialist blames the Pentagon's head, Pete Hegseth, which no one has confirmed. Here is what is established, reported, claimed and unknown as of the night of 14 October.

• EstablishedOvernight on 13–14 October Ukraine's military terminals in motion lost their connection at high speed, and missions were disrupted.Beskrestnov and Sternenko on Telegram; the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps to Reuters
• ReportedThe cause is a 100 mph limit on StarShield terminals in motion, imposed by SpaceX without warning. Ukrainian officials say so; SpaceX has not confirmed it.Beskrestnov on Telegram; CNN, AP, Reuters
• ReportedThe StarShield service came under arrangements contracted through the US government until mid-May 2027.CNN, citing one source
• ReportedStarShield for Ukraine “is paid for by the Pentagon”.The New York Times, 14 October
• Musk says“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” His post does not say who set this limit or why.Musk on X, 14 October, 22:00 Kyiv time, replying to Fedorov
• Claimed“It was the Pentagon that did two things in a single day: restricted intelligence sharing and changed the parameters of Starshield accounts. This was a decision by the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth. Clearly on Trump’s orders.” No other source has confirmed this, and the Pentagon has not commented.Oleksandr “Serg Marco” Karpiuk, Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance specialist, on Facebook, as quoted in English by the journalist Illia Ponomarenko on X, 14 October
• Claimed“Probably SpaceX took these measures at the request of the Trump administration.” Sternenko offered this as his guess. Beskrestnov wrote that the timing “cannot be a coincidence” and was “linked to the current political situation”, without naming anyone.Sternenko and Beskrestnov on Telegram, 14 October
• ContextOn 10 October Trump said of Zelensky: “You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don't hit the refineries … He better damn well stop.” Musk replied: “Zelensky has gone too far.” On 11 October Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” with no published terms. CNN reported that the administration warned Kyiv it could suspend intelligence sharing if the strikes on Russian energy did not stop, and on 12 and 13 October Ukraine received no warning from partners before ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv. The European Commission said on 14 October: “We have no indication that intelligence sharing with Ukraine has stopped.”White House Rapid Response and Musk on X; Truth Social; CNN; Zelensky on Telegram; Kyiv Post; European Commission via LIGA.net
• No commentThe White House, the Pentagon and SpaceX itself had said nothing about the speed limit. On intelligence, Trump said on 13 October: “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel.”AP, NBC, CNN
• UnknownWho in the US government set the limit, whether the president was involved, why it is 160 km/h, and whether it will be lifted.

The fear is older than this week. In February 2025 Reuters reported that US negotiators pressing Kyiv over a minerals deal had raised the possibility of cutting off Starlink; Musk called the report false. Two weeks later he wrote: “My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off”, and then that “Starlink will never turn off its terminals … We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.” This time nothing was turned off. A setting changed, and some of the drones that need Starlink most could not use it. In the same reply this week, Musk drew the line he says SpaceX keeps for its commercial network: Starlink “is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action”, the position Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president, set out in 2023.

#How did Ukraine come to depend on Starlink?

It started with a tweet. Two days after the invasion, on 26 February 2022, Fedorov wrote to Musk: “while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! … We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations.” About ten and a half hours later Musk answered: “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.” On 28 February Fedorov posted a photograph of a truck full of dishes: “Starlink — here.”

Most of the dishes were paid for by others. Poland's digital ministry bought 24,560 terminals and paid the subscriptions on another 5,150, spending almost 323 million złoty in 2022–24; by April 2025 more than 29,500 of Ukraine's 50,000-plus terminals had come from Poland. In September 2022 SpaceX wrote to the Pentagon that it could not keep funding the service “for an indefinite period of time”; when CNN revealed the letter in October, Musk reversed himself within days. From 2023 the Pentagon contracted with SpaceX for Ukraine's service, and by late 2024 about 3,000 terminals had access to StarShield.

1. Feb 2022Fedorov asks; Musk answers the same day; the first truck arrives on 28 February.
2. Sep 2022Sea drones lose their link near Crimea, where Musk declined to switch coverage on.
3. Oct 2022CNN reveals SpaceX's September letter asking the Pentagon to pay; Musk says SpaceX will keep funding the service.
4. Feb 2023SpaceX's president, Gwynne Shotwell: “our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”
5. Jun 2023The Pentagon confirms it contracts with Starlink for Ukraine.
6. Feb 2025Reuters reports the threat to cut Starlink in the minerals talks; Musk calls it false.
7. Jul 2025Reuters, citing three sources, reports that Musk ordered coverage cut around Kherson in autumn 2022; SpaceX did not confirm it.
8. Feb 2026The speed limit and the whitelist cut off Russia's terminals.
9. Mar 2026Starlink caps its Roam and Priority plans at 100 mph in motion.
10. Sep 2026Fire at the ground station near Warsaw; Poland suspects sabotage.
11. Oct 2026A 100 mph limit on StarShield; being restored up to 160 km/h by the next evening, according to Fedorov. Musk says such limits are set by the US military and ultimately the president.