Starshield restricted in Ukraine again, 100% of missions disrupted - Axios
Photo: Ukraine has once again faced disruptions to Starshield (open sources)
All missions in Ukraine are being disrupted due to new restrictions on the Starshield satellite system, which the military uses to control drones and intercept Russian UAVs, according to a statement by an anonymous Ukrainian official to Axios.
One Ukrainian official said that the restrictions had been introduced gradually over three days.
On the first day, they affected 10% of missions; on the second day – 50%, and on the third day, according to the source, 100% of missions were being disrupted due to the restrictions.
In addition, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in the US, Denys Siienik, said that the Starshield system shuts down when drones reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour (about 161 km/h).
According to him, the Ukrainian side has so far received no explanations from either SpaceX or the Pentagon regarding the reasons for the new restrictions.
Starshield restrictions
Ukrainian troops have once again encountered disruptions in the operation of Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink satellite system. This is the second such incident in the past few weeks.
On November 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported serious disruptions in the system's operation. According to him, Ukrainian units were experiencing significant Starshield outages along the entire front line, as well as in temporarily occupied territories.
The head of state clarified that, following reports from the defense minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian troops had checked the circumstances of the incident.
It turned out that these were not accidental technical failures but systematic restrictions on the operating speed of the equipment.
What SpaceX says
Elon Musk's company denies introducing any new restrictions for Ukraine.
In response to a request from Axios, SpaceX said, "This is false. There has been no change."
At the same time, the Ukrainian side is continuing to clarify the circumstances of what happened with its American partners.
