Sources Say Musk Ordered Starshield Slowdown in Ukraine; Musk Says the Pentagon and Trump Set the Limits

Ukraine's military has been operating with a throttled satellite network for about a week, and nobody in Washington will say who did it.

The Ukrainian government said late Tuesday, Oct. 13, that its access to SpaceX's satellite service had been restricted. Ukrainian officials and soldiers told CBS News that troops hit sudden problems with Starshield equipment that night. Starshield is the military-grade version of Starlink, built by SpaceX for the US government and its partners.

What the limit does

PBS NewsHour's Nick Schifrin reported today, Oct. 21, that SpaceX capped the speed at which Starshield receivers work on Ukrainian drones at about 100 miles per hour. Multiple officials told him the capability had been a game-changer in the war.

The receivers sit on the drones themselves. They are faster and more heavily encrypted than commercial Starlink, which makes them harder for Russia to jam.

The speed cap hits Ukraine's defensive interceptors hardest. They are the drones meant to stop Russia's new jet-powered attack drones. Ukrainian officials told Schifrin the limit still hampers those interceptors. A Russian drone tore through apartments in Kyiv today and killed two people.

Zelenskyy's office told CBS News on Wednesday that Ukraine's use of the system remains throttled. Ukrainian military expert Serhiy Beskrestnov said forces received no warning and that the restriction caused "the failure of several missions."

There is no working alternative. CBS News reports that no competitor comes close to SpaceX's low-earth-orbit constellation, and Schifrin said no other company or country has the technology.

Who gave the order

The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Musk ordered the slowdown. CBS News, citing people familiar with the matter, then reported that Musk's decision led to the restrictions. Those sources said he held multiple conversations with administration officials beforehand and wanted clarity on the president's thinking. They also said Musk has expressed distaste at his company being seen as profiting from the war. Both reports rest on unnamed sources.

Musk's own public position is different. He wrote on X last week: "Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS." He did not respond to CBS's request for comment.

The administration is not claiming the decision. President Trump said Monday, "I don't know who it was, but I'd like to find out." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday, "We haven't pulled anything back. There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to. And that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions." He added, "We haven't made any directives or anything like that."

Officials inside the administration told CBS the restrictions surprised some of them. They said neither Trump nor the Pentagon ordered limits meant to disrupt drone operations.

Three accounts now sit side by side. Anonymous sources say Musk ordered it. Musk says the government sets the limits. The government says it didn't. Hegseth's reference to terms of service comes close to conceding that SpaceX can act on its own authority.

The Washington theory

Ukrainian officials suspect the orders came from Washington, according to a New York Times report cited by Common Dreams. The context is Trump's pressure on Kyiv to stop striking Russian energy infrastructure ahead of the midterms. Beskrestnov called the timing "not a coincidence" and tied it to "the current political situation."

No named official has confirmed that link. CBS's sources say Musk was seeking clarity on the president's thinking, which is not the same as receiving an order.

Musk has spent at least $276 million since July helping Republicans keep their congressional majorities, according to Common Dreams. He was Trump's biggest donor in 2024.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski posted publicly to Musk: "Hey, Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you." Ian Bond of the Center for European Reform said the restrictions "should set off a siren in every defense ministry in Europe."

A vendor with a veto

The government pays for Starshield and controls who can access it. Its use is limited to Ukraine and occupied territories, and it is not available in Russia. Yet when the service slowed, Washington could not say who made the call. That is a procurement problem regardless of who is right.

A privately owned company holds the only system of its kind, and a war depends on it. If the Pentagon's contract terms let SpaceX throttle a combat network on its own say-so, the Pentagon signed those terms. If Musk acted on his own, a single executive overrode a customer. If the White House leaned on him, it did so without telling its own defense secretary.

Musk's formal role with the government is also growing. On Oct. 1, Hegseth announced at Quantico that Musk will co-lead "Project Meridian," a Pentagon study on the future of warfare, alongside Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Musk left his DOGE post in May 2025 after a public falling-out with Trump.

CBS News said it has asked the White House and the Pentagon for comment. Trump has said he wants to find out who gave the order. Ukraine's interceptors are still capped at 100 miles an hour.