Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine; Wall Street Journal, October 21, 2026

Alexander Ward, Natalie Andrews and Josh Dawsey, Wall Street Journal; Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine

"Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

Both Musk and President Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices. Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, the people said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.

Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, two of the people said. One of the people also claimed Musk and Trump discussed the matter prior to the decision to throttle Starlink." 

Zelenskyy thanks Trump for resumed intelligence sharing after US Starlink ‘message’; The Guardian, October 18, 2026

Andrew Roth and Sam Jones, The Guardian; Zelenskyy thanks Trump for resumed intelligence sharing after US Starlink ‘message’

"Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday thanked the Trump administration for resuming intelligence sharing between the two countries, but maintained the US had intentionally throttled its Starlink satellite internet access so that Donald Trump could send a “message” in his ongoing feud with the Ukrainian president.

In an interview on NBC, Zelenskyy said the US had “unblocked” intelligence on impending Russian ballistic missile strikes, which have pounded the country’s energy infrastructure as winter draws in.

“It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” Zelenskyy told NBC’s Meet the Press. “Only [the] United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.”

Zelenskyy also said that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was responsible for suddenly limiting the speed at which Starlink terminals worked in Ukraine, hampering drone operations on the frontlines as well as some air defence missions.

“It was a message from [the] American government to limit the speed,” he said. “And technically, SpaceX did it.”

GOP senators press Pentagon over Ukraine’s loss of Starshield data; The Hill, October 16, 2026

ALEXANDER BOLTON , The Hill; GOP senators press Pentagon over Ukraine’s loss of Starshield data

"Four Republican senators have joined their Democratic colleagues in pressing the Trump administration for information about whether Pentagon officials ordered restrictions on Ukraine’s access to the satellite-based Starshield network, which Ukrainian officials said limited their ability to intercept Russian drones.

Ukraine needs access to fast Starshield data speeds to operate drones along with fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, which are critical to its national defense.

Ukraine’s full access to Starshield-provided data was quickly restored Wednesday, prompting speculation on Capitol Hill that President Trump didn’t make the call to cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine but that the decision may have come from senior officials.

Four Republican senators — including two senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee — signed a bipartisan letter to Platte Moring, the Pentagon’s inspector general, demanding he investigate whether any Department of Defense (DOD) or other U.S. government officials “directed” or “authorized” changes to intelligence-sharing arrangements or Starlink and Starshield services affecting Ukraine."

Navy Official: Concerns About Intellectual Property Rights Becoming More 'Acute'; National Defense, NDIA's Business & Technology Magazine, November 29, 2018

Connie Lee, National Defense, NDIA's Business & Technology Magazine;

Navy Official: Concerns About Intellectual Property Rights Becoming More 'Acute'

"Capt. Samuel Pennington, major program manager for surface training systems, said the fear of losing data rights can sometimes make companies reluctant to work with the government.
“We get feedback sometimes where they’re not willing to bid on a contract where we have full data rights,” he said. “Industry [is] not going to do that because they have their secret sauce and they don’t want to release it.”
Pennington said having IP rights would allow the Defense Department to more easily modernize and sustain equipment.
“Our initiative is to get as much data rights, or buy a new product that has open architecture to the point where [the] data rights that we do have are sufficient, where we can recompete that down the road,” he said. This would prevent the Navy from relying on the original manufacturer for future work on the system, he noted.
The issue is also being discussed on Capitol Hill, Merritt added. The fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Pentagon to develop policy on the acquisition or licensing of intellectual property. Additionally, the NDAA requires the department to negotiate a price for technical data rights of major weapon systems."