Ukrainian drones still face speed caps on Starshield despite Trump’s claim of lifted limits
Tests on Friday showed Starshield’s speed restrictions remain, limiting Ukrainian interceptor drones even after President Donald Trump said Elon Musk had removed them.
Ukrainian defense officials said that, as of Friday morning, Starshield – the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink – continues to enforce speed caps of 140-160 km/h, causing intermittent loss of connectivity for interceptor drones. An unnamed government source told POLITICO that “morning tests show the speed limits of 140–160 km/h are still there, and the navigation isn’t working properly.”
A defense ministry spokesperson confirmed that “instances of connectivity loss at speeds of 161 km/h are still being observed” and that there is no confirmation the limits have been lifted. Drone operators from the unit known as Magyar’s Birds reported that while some flights reached 200 km/h over the Black Sea, the signal dropped once speeds exceeded 180 km/h, briefly re-establishing at lower speeds. One pilot, call sign Leon, said the connection “works better, but with constant connection interruptions.”
President Donald Trump earlier told reporters that Elon Musk had restored full speed capability, a claim Musk did not directly address. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the U.S. government cannot direct SpaceX or Musk on service restrictions, as the company is private. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested the speed caps were a deliberate measure, though officials said they had not been given an explanation for the ongoing limits.
“I don’t want to say. That’s a very interesting situation. My relationship with Elon is very good. I don’t want to comment on it, whether I called, or someone else called … The bottom line: he put it back,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday evening.