The US has been asking SpaceX for years to alter the Starlink service in Ukraine and the Middle East - Reuters

The administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump approached SpaceX several times with requests to restrict or activate Starlink in Ukraine, Iran, Yemen and Lebanon. Reuters reports, UNN writes.

Details

"Long before Ukrainian military access to Elon Musk’s satellite communications system was restricted this month, the Biden and Trump administrations asked SpaceX several times to turn its Starlink service on or off in various countries, six former senior U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters," the publication writes.

In particular, four former officials say that "during Joe Biden’s presidency, the requests included shutting down the service to prevent Iranian proxy militias in Yemen and Lebanon from using Starlink for communications, and activating the service to provide Internet access inside Iran and in Ukraine to support its military"

"Similarly, President Donald Trump’s administration asked Musk, who is SpaceX’s CEO, to make the service available in Iran after the U.S.-Israeli strikes in 2025 and 2026, hoping that this would improve Internet access and communications for anti-government protesters," a former senior Trump official and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"The recent controversy surrounding Ukraine’s restrictions on the use of SpaceX satellite services has raised questions about the ties between the U.S. government and Musk, whose company owns systems vital to the U.S. armed forces and U.S. allies. The Biden era and Trump’s appeals to Musk demonstrate a close relationship in which U.S. administrations rely to an unprecedented extent on a private company to help implement foreign policy," the publication writes.

"Reuters reported that the order to restrict Starshield came from the White House. The Trump administration acknowledged the slowdown but did not say whether it had issued the order. The White House, contacted for comment, referred to Trump’s remarks on Friday, when he said he had not spoken with Musk about Ukraine’s Starlink access problems and that \"if a problem arises, I will resolve it\"," the publication writes.

Halyna Yusypiuk, a spokesperson for the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, said that Ukraine’s priority was "to restore normal connection speeds as soon as possible, since our people’s lives depend on it".

According to the publication, SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment. However, Elon Musk said in a social media post earlier this week that "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any restrictions on speed or use are determined by the U.S. military and, ultimately, (the president of the United States)".

As a reminder

Starlink/Starshield operating speed has been restored to more than 400 km/h, and the connection is stable, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara reported on October 24.