On October 22nd, local time, The Wall Street Journal reported exclusively, citing American officials, that U.S. President Donald Trump called Elon Musk on October 21st, asking him to lift the restrictions on military-grade services provided by Starlink within Ukraine. Previously, SpaceX’s CEO had imposed speed limits on these services.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials said that the system resumed more normal operation shortly after their phone call on October 22nd. Some Ukrainian officials stated that the system has not yet fully restored to its optimal functionality, but the operating speed is higher than before the speed restrictions.
According to officials, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the system's speed being limited to around 100 miles per hour (about 160 kilometers per hour). This speed limit prevented some of Ukraine's attack drones and interceptors from functioning effectively in the face of Russian attacks.
Before this conversation, The Wall Street Journal reported that it was Musk who ordered the speed limit to be imposed. However, SpaceX and the White House gave different accounts regarding whether this action by the world’s richest man was a personal decision or in response to the demands of the U.S. government.
On October 22nd local time, when asked about a Wall Street Journal report stating that he had contacted Musk, Trump said: “I won’t comment on this. In any case, he has restored it.”
On the same day, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut announced that he would investigate the restrictions imposed on Ukraine’s services by SpaceX without prior notice, and assess the impact of the Pentagon’s dependence on critical satellite communications from SpaceX.
