Ukraine loses satellite link, two die

Two people died and at least 17 were injured when Ukrainian interceptor drones stopped working during Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. The failure occurred last week after SpaceX throttled the Starshield service, the military version of its Starlink network. The restriction prevented terminals moving above certain speeds from connecting to the system.

The Ukrainian military reported that it received no advance notice of the change. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the action as a direct message from the United States. He made this statement amid growing tensions between his administration and President Donald Trump. Public criticism followed, targeting both Trump and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.

Accounts of how the decision was made have changed over the past several days. Musk initially stated that SpaceX did not control Starshield and that the US military made such choices. The White House subsequently denied taking action. Later reports indicated that Musk proposed the slowdown to Trump, who accepted it. Other reports claimed Musk ordered the restrictions personally. Access to the service has since been restored in Ukraine.

Ukraine relies heavily on US technology for its defense. This dependence includes prior limitations on access, such as the 2022 decision not to extend coverage for a counterattack in Crimea. Experts describe the current situation as a result of industry concentration. Wendy Whitman Cobb of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base said SpaceX holds a practical monopoly on launch. She noted that rivals like United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, and Rocket Lab exist but do not match SpaceX in frequency, scale, or cost.

SpaceX has deployed more than 10,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit using Falcon 9 rockets. Andrew Reddie of the University of California, Berkeley, described the arrangement as an antitrust issue because SpaceX launches its own constellations while having little incentive to launch competing ones. Space economist Oğuz Karasu of the Oxford Space Initiative said the monopoly is practical rather than legal. He noted that launch represents about 8 percent of the space industry, but the rest of the sector cannot function without it.

Whitman Cobb and Karasu said they have heard complaints that Falcon 9 prices for low Earth orbit are rising. Starlink prices have also climbed since the service entered beta in 2020. The experts stressed that satellite infrastructure affects daily life beyond military use. Whitman Cobb noted that a GPS outage could disrupt fuel pumps, ATMs, financial transactions, and ambulance dispatch.

SpaceX is reportedly retiring the Falcon 9 and will accept no new missions after 2028. This move leaves the Space Force searching for launch options for military satellites and raises questions about NASA's future access to the Crew Dragon capsule. A Falcon 9 issue in February briefly grounded the rocket and affected the Crew-12 launch. Michele Scataglini of the Oxford Space Initiative said the market needs more competition, adding that without it, it is not a market.

Reddie identified the central security problem as a non-state actor making decisions typically reserved for governments. He noted that this episode directly affected Ukraine's defensive capability. Scataglini called the event a global wake-up call, warning that one firm could determine which countries access space. Whitman Cobb said she is cautiously optimistic that the events will raise awareness of the risks of relying on a single company, though she observed that it took deaths for the problem to be recognized.