Confusion arose around Elon Musk’s Starlink on Wednesday after Ukraine’s military experienced restricted access to the satellite system. The issue, reported by The Hill, was that Starlink services were shut off for objects moving over 100 miles per hour, which affected Ukraine’s drones, airplanes, and helicopters.
This led to numerous questions online, prompting Senator Thom Tillis to urge Musk to explain the situation. According to Musk, decisions regarding the speed or usage of Starshield, Starlink’s military version, are made by the U.S. military and ultimately sanctioned by the president.
The root cause of Ukraine’s military losing access remains unclear. Musk stated, “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” He mentioned that Starlink is a commercial service handled by SpaceX and intended only for civilian or defensive activities.
By Wednesday afternoon, Ukraine’s defense minister announced that SpaceX was working to restore satellite speeds. This followed a warning from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the risks of the slowdown. Mykhailo Fedorov, in a social media statement, thanked Musk for his involvement and reinstated the speed limits.
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.
You can find the full report at TheHill.com.
In other related tech news highlighted by The Hill, there’s a brief on Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn using AI in a Kendrick Lamar video, with mixed reception. Also covered is a report showing 84% of ransomware victims experienced AI being leveraged against them by attackers.
Finally, Japan will fund a $21 billion initiative to expand chip production in New York, with significant investments in two new plants. This aligns with broader tech industry developments and policies affecting both local and international players.
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