Trump Asks Musk to Lift Starlink Restrictions in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump phoned Elon Musk, founder of the space company SpaceX, on Wednesday and asked him to lift restrictions on the use of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite communications system, in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reported the call, citing US officials. The system is used in Ukraine under wartime conditions, so disruptions to it carry real weight.

The restrictions and their effect

Last week it emerged that Starlink had introduced a speed limit of 160 kilometres per hour in Ukraine. This meant that any weapon moving faster than that would lose its network connection.

Musk initially assumed the US government might be behind the restrictions, but US authorities denied having imposed them. On 16 October, responding to journalists' questions about the cause, Trump said: "I don't know what that could have been, because it wasn't me, I don't think it was Elon."

Situation after the call

On Thursday the system appeared to start returning to normal. Some Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that earlier performance levels have not been fully restored, but that speeds are higher than they were while the restrictions were in place.