Elon Musk said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government and that limits on their speed or use are decisions for President Donald Trump and the U.S. military, CNN reported on October 14. The statement came as Ukrainian officials reported restrictions on the military satellite service.
That statement described who controls Starshield; it did not establish who ordered the reported restriction.
Earlier that day, CNBC reported that Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on defense technology, said a limit had been imposed without notifying Ukrainian defense forces and had disrupted some missions. He described a 100 mph limit on terminals in motion under the Starshield service package. The measure concerned how fast a terminal was moving, rather than an internet download rate.
In CNN's afternoon update, Jim Sciutto reported that a Ukrainian official said the Starshield signal was improving but had not returned to normal. The roughly 100 mph limit remained in place at the time of that update.
The official told CNN that the available speed was insufficient to intercept Russian jet-powered drones effectively and that the restriction continued to affect Ukrainian air defenses.
