Elon Musk chose to throttle Ukraines access to Starlink: report

WASHINGTON — SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made the decision to throttle Ukraine’s access to a military version of Starlink satellite internet service that powers drone operations that can repel Russian attacks, according to a new report.US officials told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that Musk chose to cap the satellite internet speed on Oct.14 without consulting with the White House, while another source familiar with the interference claimed the tech mogul consulted senior administration figures and President Trump before doing so.The military-grade version of the service, also known as Starshield, is critical for helping Ukraine operate offensive and interceptor drones.

But under the Musk-ordered cap, objects flying faster than 100 mph couldn’t connect with Starshield, interfering with drone operations.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed the US and SpaceX for the issues, which lingered through most of last week.The loss of service came as Russia was launching drone attacks on Ukraine’s power plants, violating a fragile energy cease-fire that Trump brokered between the warring countries on Oct.11.Musk denied having limited access in an Oct.

14 post on X that stated, “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.”“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX.

Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” Musk said.Trump, who has increasingly criticized Zelensky for being unwilling to engage in peace talks, and other administration officials vehemently denied US interference.“I didn’t do that.No, we didn’t do that at all.

In fact, I don’t even think it was slowed down from what I understood.Because I just checked this morning,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House Friday ...