Musk's Move to Cut Off Starlink Sends Europe Into High Alert

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that he blocked the Ukrainian military from using the Starlink satellite internet service for offensive drone operations last week.

His remarks came after the service was normalized following disruptions to military operations caused by the satellite communication restrictions that lasted for more than a week.

On X (formerly Twitter) local time yesterday (October 24), Musk wrote, "The Ukrainian military violated Starlink's terms of service by using it for offensive drone operations to kill people," adding, "That loophole was blocked last week."

Musk emphasized, "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone operations to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it ever be allowed."

However, regarding Starshield, a separate military satellite communication system, Musk distinguished its operational responsibility by saying, "It is controlled by the U.S. government, and how it is used is up to them to decide."

Based on the Starlink satellite network, Starshield has played a core role in the Ukrainian military's drone operations and communications. However, it is reported that a speed limit was placed on Starshield following a clash between Ukraine and the U.S. in mid-month over the "energy truce" proposed by U.S. President Trump, disrupting Ukraine's military capabilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated local time yesterday that communication functions for Starshield, the military version of Starlink, have been restored to pre-restriction levels for now.

Yet, this incident has put U.S. allies on high alert.

As essential communication networks for military operations became subject to restriction by a single decision from Musk, there is a growing sense of crisis that heavy reliance on a specific company could become a vulnerability to national security.

The Wall Street Journal reported that this has prompted U.S. allies to rush the establishment of independent satellite communication networks.

Ukraine announced plans to first participate in a satellite network project pursued by Finnish satellite company ICEYE and telecommunications equipment maker Nokia, while Canada's Telesat is also pushing forward with the establishment of "Lightspeed," a low-Earth orbit network consisting of 288 satellites.

The European Union plans to invest about $17.5 billion (approximately 25 trillion won) to build "IRIS²," its own independent communication network consisting of 348 satellites.

However, while Starlink currently operates over 11,000 satellites, Europe's representative low-Earth orbit satellite communications company OneWeb has a mere 650, leading to forecasts that it will be difficult to replace Starlink in the short term.

Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.