The European Union cannot replace Starlink for Ukraine in the short term, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Friday, October 16, ahead of a summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hours later in Washington, US President Donald Trump denied that either he or SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk had ordered the restrictions that slowed the service for Ukraine’s military this week, CNBC reported, as carried by Yahoo.
Key facts
- Restrictions detected overnight on October 13–14 hit Ukrainian interceptor and medium-range strike drones as well as reconnaissance, logistics and communications relay missions, defence ministry sources told the Kyiv Post. Units received no advance warning.
- The limits concern how fast a terminal is moving, not its internet download speed, the Kyiv Post reported.
- Zelenskyy said speeds have risen but not recovered fully. Asked in Brussels whether the previous speed had returned, he said no, but confirmed the speed had increased, according to UNITED24 Media.
- Accounts of who ordered the curbs conflict (see below).
- The European Commission is negotiating Ukraine’s full association to GOVSATCOM, the EU programme that pools satellite capacity for government users, spokesperson Thomas Regnier said.
- SpaceX shares fell nearly 2% in Friday’s regular session and a further 0.4% after hours, and are down 3% year to date, per the Stocktwits report published by Yahoo.
Why it matters
Kallas’s admission sets out the core problem for both Kyiv and Brussels: the service that Ukraine depends on is American-owned, and the dispute over who throttled it has not been resolved. “Starlink is really necessary for Ukraine and unfortunately in the short term Europe can’t replace this capability,” she told reporters, the Kyiv Post reported.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs made the same point more bluntly, telling reporters that Starlink is the key to Ukraine’s ability to fight back and that Europe has some comparable capability but not enough, according to AFP material carried by the Kyiv Post and TRT World.
Who ordered the restrictions is still disputed
Trump told reporters he did not know who was responsible, saying it was not him and that he did not think it was Musk. Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two US officials, that the call came from the White House, without naming who gave it. The Telegraph reported on Friday that Musk had “approached” Trump with the idea and that both played a role. All three accounts are summarised in the Yahoo report.
Musk has said the Starshield, SpaceX’s military satellite tier, is owned and controlled by the US government, with operational limits set by the US military and ultimately the president. A senior White House official told Axios the Trump administration was not involved, the Kyiv Post reported, an account that sits alongside earlier messaging that pointed Kyiv toward the Pentagon’s Starshield.
What the limits did on the front line
Zelenskyy said the service was not switched off but that its effective speed limit was cut sharply, UNITED24 Media reported. He said Ukraine uses Starlink-connected high-speed interceptor drones against Russia’s jet-powered Shahed-type drones, which he said fly at more than 400 kilometres per hour, while the reduced limit was 78 km/h. He described the episode as an unpleasant and dangerous surprise and said Ukraine could not shoot down a number of those drones.
The figures from Ukrainian officials are not identical. Defence ministry sources told the Kyiv Post that connections dropped at roughly 72 to 161 km/h (45 to 100 mph). Former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Wednesday evening that connectivity up to 160 km/h was being restored while calling for the Starshield limit to be scrapped. One Ukrainian source told the Kyiv Post that operating speeds need to reach at least 450 km/h.
Two Ukrainian officials told RFE/RL that connections had improved below the threshold but that intercepting Russia’s jet-powered drones remained complicated, per the Kyiv Post. Zelenskyy also said units use Starlink-connected drones to deliver food and water to troops in exposed positions, and that this was affected. Germany, which says it pays for part of the equipment, has called for the restrictions to be lifted, UNITED24 Media reported.
Europe’s alternatives, and their timelines
Brussels has not confirmed whether GOVSATCOM can match Starlink for combat operations. Regnier said commercial satellite services could be added to meet military needs, though the two reports date that differently: the Kyiv Post said as early as 2027, while TRT World said early next year.
The longer-term plan is IRIS², a constellation of more than 300 satellites intended to rival Starlink. Here too the sources differ: the Kyiv Post said it is expected to be fully operational in 2029, while TRT World said launches are planned for 2029 with full operations targeted for 2030.
Kallas said the European Defence Agency has mapped the critical military capabilities Europe lacks and must develop as soon as possible. French President Emmanuel Macron said after the talks that the EU is working to strengthen Ukraine’s defence through satellite imagery and early-warning systems. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said he discussed with Macron on Thursday how European countries could supply more satellite communications in the near term.
France’s Eutelsat already serves Ukraine through its OneWeb low Earth orbit and geostationary networks, TRT World reported, with a constellation of 648 satellites. The two outlets give different figures for the rival fleet: the Kyiv Post said Starlink operates more than 7,800 satellites, TRT World more than 10,000. The Kyiv Post said Starlink’s scale, business model and portable, affordable terminals give it an advantage over competitors using bulkier, costlier kit.
Renew Europe President Valérie Hayer said in an October 15 statement that recent days showed the urgent need for a European alternative to Starlink, according to the Kyiv Post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Ukraine use Starlink for strikes inside Russia?
No, according to Zelenskyy. He told the Brussels briefing reported by UNITED24 Media that Ukraine does not use Starlink for attacks or retaliatory strikes on Russian territory, and said Kyiv had asked SpaceX and the White House to open up that capability. He added that if Ukraine already had it, it would not be asking.
Why can’t Ukraine simply switch its drones to Eutelsat’s OneWeb?
Reuters, cited by the Kyiv Post, reported that Europe has no ready-made replacement Ukrainian troops can immediately attach to their drones. Independent satellite consultant Christian Freiherr von der Ropp told Reuters that OneWeb faces capacity and performance constraints and that terminal cost, weight, size and power consumption limit frontline suitability. Switching would also mean replacing thousands of terminals, because Starlink equipment uses proprietary technology that cannot connect to OneWeb.
Is Russia building its own Starlink alternative?
Russia’s main project is Rassvet, developed by Bureau 1440, according to the Kyiv Post. The company launched 16 spacecraft in March 2026, while six Rassvet satellites were in orbit at the time, Russian outlet Kommersant reported. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi warned in May that Russia could deploy a Starlink alternative across the front line within a year.
Who pays for the satellite equipment Ukraine uses?
Germany finances part of the satellite communications equipment used by Ukraine, UNITED24 Media reported, and Berlin has called for the speed restrictions affecting Starlink service in Ukraine to be lifted. The sources do not say what share of the equipment Germany funds.
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