As it faces increased attacks from Russia and pressure from the White House, Ukrainian forces said Tuesday that its battlefield operations had been hampered because they had lost some access to vital satellite-based comm…

As it faces increased attacks from Russia and pressure from the White House, Ukrainian forces said Tuesday that its battlefield operations had been hampered because they had lost some access to vital satellite-based communications.For years, Ukraine’s armed forces have relied on SpaceX’s Starlink, which provides internet connectivity from satellites in lower Earth orbit, and more recently its military-grade sister service, Starshield. Ukraine said Tuesday that some military operations had been jeopardized, and specifically cited restrictions on Starshield.“Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions, and this led to the failure of a number of missions,” Serhiy Beskrestnov, who advises President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on weapons technologies, wrote on social media.Satcom row: Starlink says built India infra with requisite govt approvals, ready to offer hi-speed internetBeskrestnov said the restrictions, which applied to devices traveling over 100 mph and using Starshield, were related to “the current political situation.” Devices that broadcast satellite internet to users, which SpaceX calls “terminals,” can be placed on vehicles or drones to help guide them when traveling at high speeds.The Trump administration has been pressuring Ukraine to limit its strikes on Russia, pushing Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries so more diesel can be pumped onto global markets. High fuel prices have stoked inflation and dented the prospects of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party before midterm elections next month.Officials from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry placed the blamed on SpaceX, saying it had unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals. They said the restriction complicates the operation of drone missions and reduces capabilities for front-line logistics, reconnaissance and relaying signals.SpaceX and its leaders, Elon Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, did not return requests for comment.Ukraine’s issues with Starshield are the latest problem in a complicated history with Musk and his company’s satellite internet offerings.Here’s what to know:What is Starshield?More and more people are becoming familiar with the SpaceX subsidiary Starlink, which now has more than 13 million subscribers including in some homes as an internet provider. SpaceX describes Starshield, which was publicly announced in late 2022, as “a secure satellite network designed specifically for government customers and national security applications.”Starshield offers deeper security than Starlink so it can host and process classified information. On a company website, SpaceX said Starshield is “designed to support U.S. National Defense use cases for the Department of Defense and other Government partners.”The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars on the technology, which makes up a part of the nearly $4.2 billion that SpaceX reported in revenue last year in providing connectivity to governments and enterprises. In turn, the Pentagon allows Ukraine to use Starshield.SpaceX went public this summer in a blockbuster share sale that made Musk the world’s first trillionaire.How is Starshield related to Starlink?The two services rely on the same underlying satellite technology. SpaceX, which dominates the private rocket launch market, has been sending its own payloads into lower Earth orbit for years, building a backbone of interconnected satellites that can beam relatively reliable internet back down to Earth.Musk has said Starlink is a civilian service, while Starshield is intended for military operations.Check Grok’s response when asked ‘list the disadvantages of allowing Starlink in India’“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk said in a post on his social platform X on Wednesday. Limits on use, he said, were decided by the U.S. military and “ultimately” the president. “Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” he added.Some observers have raised concerns that Starlink and Starshield aren’t truly independent, as service outages have taken out both services at the same time. And despite the distinction in the services between civilian and military use, governments, including Ukraine’s, have long been using Starlink to conduct their war efforts.What role does Musk play in these services? Musk has expressed reservations about allowing armed services to use SpaceX’s satellite services to conduct offensive attacks. Early on in the Russia-Ukraine war, he denied Ukraine’s request to turn Starlink on over Russian-controlled Crimea, before a planned drone attack on an enemy boat.In February, SpaceX also cut off Russian troops who had been illicitly using Starlink in battle in Ukraine.The Ukrainian government has maintained an uneasy relationship with Musk, who has been critical of Zelenskyy and his country’s war effort against Russia. Because of its reliance on Starlink and Starshield, Ukrainian officials have alternated between praise and criticism of the world’s richest man.

Source: Deccan Herald