Rubio Says Ukraine Lacks Access to Starshield, Future Under Discussion
US Secretary of State says Kyiv's request to use the military-grade Starlink service for deep strikes inside Russia is being discussed
By AXY Defense Desk ·
Key points
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine does not currently have access to Starshield, a military-grade Starlink service, but its request is under discussion.
- Starshield is designed for military use with deeper encryption, while Starlink is a commercial product, according to Rubio and the report.
- Zelenskyy said satellite restrictions affect drones travelling faster than 161 km/h, which Ukrainian officials say has slowed some battlefield drones.
- Rubio rejected claims that the Wednesday disruption was deliberate and said the White House did not order speed reductions.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Ukraine does not currently have access to Starshield, a military-grade version of the Starlink satellite service, but that Kyiv’s request to use it for strikes deep inside Russia is “under discussion.” Speaking to reporters, Rubio said Ukraine had asked for access to the system and that it did not have it “at this moment.” His comments were released by the US Department of State.
Rubio drew a firm line between the two services. “Starlink is a commercial product, okay? And so it’s regulated and handled as a commercial product. Starshield is a defence product, a military product,” he said. He added: “They’ve asked for access to it in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia. They do not have access to it at this moment. That’s under conversation.”
What Starshield Is and How It Differs From Starlink
Starlink is the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. It works by linking small ground antennas, often called terminals, to a large network of satellites in low Earth orbit, which allows internet connections in places where laying cable or fibre is difficult or impossible. Because it is commercially sold, it is available to civilians, businesses and governments that subscribe to it.
Starshield is different in purpose. According to the report, it was launched in 2022 and provided to the US government. It is designed for military use because it allows deeper encryption to process sensitive information. Encryption is the scrambling of data so that only authorised parties can read it, and stronger encryption is central to military communications, where interception by an adversary could expose troop movements, targets or operational plans. SpaceX says Starshield is primarily used by US defence agencies and other “government partners.”
The distinction matters because it determines who can use the system and under what rules. A commercial product can be sold through standard business channels, while a defence product is governed by military procurement and security requirements. Rubio’s remarks suggest that moving a request from Kyiv through that framework is a government-level decision rather than a simple customer sign-up.
Restrictions on Starlink Terminals Hit Drone Operations
The dispute comes at a sensitive moment on the battlefield. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the war has since become a contest heavily shaped by drones, electronic warfare and long-range strikes. Ukraine has relied on Starlink for battlefield communications since the early stages of the war, a reliance widely reported by international media and officials on both sides of the Atlantic.
The report notes that last week, Ukrainian officials said restrictions on Starlink terminals had slowed some drones on the battlefield, as Ukraine tries to hold back Russian forces in what the report describes as a nearly five-year war. Drones depend on stable data links to receive control signals and send back video, so any disruption to connectivity can affect how well they perform.
Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the satellites are not tracking antennas on flying objects travelling faster than 161 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour). He said this was affecting Ukrainian drones in their defence against Russian jet-powered drones, as well as in Ukraine’s own medium-range attacks. A limit of this kind would matter most for fast-moving aircraft, where antennas must keep a continuous connection to satellites that are themselves moving quickly across the sky. Analysts who follow drone warfare have often noted that a connectivity gap of even a few seconds can cause a drone to lose control or fail to hand off between satellites.
Washington Rejects Claims of Deliberate Disruption
Rubio, speaking at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, also rejected Zelenskyy’s suggestion that a reported disruption to Starlink services in Ukraine on Wednesday was deliberate. “Well, I don’t know what Zelenskyy said. I’m not sure Zelenskyy knows what he’s talking about, but it wasn’t deliberate. We have nothing to do with that,” Rubio said.
He also addressed claims that the speed of the service had been reduced on purpose. Rubio said the US had not ordered Starlink speeds to be reduced and that the service had reportedly been restored to its previous level. “No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speed so that certain drones couldn’t use it,” he said, calling the reports “categorically false.”
The exchange is notable because it places a public disagreement between two governments at the centre of a service run by a private company. Rubio’s account attributes the disruption to neither the US government nor, by implication, to decisions aimed at Ukrainian drone operations. The report does not include a separate statement from Zelenskyy’s office responding to Rubio’s remarks, nor a detailed technical explanation of what caused the Wednesday disruption.
Why the Access Question Matters for Kyiv and Washington
For Ukraine, access to Starshield could affect how it plans long-range operations. Deep strikes are attacks on targets far from the front line, such as military infrastructure, depots or industrial sites. Those missions require secure communications and reliable control of drones and other systems over long distances, and an encrypted military system would be designed to meet those needs in a way that a commercial service may not.
For Washington, the question involves both military support and policy. Providing a military-grade satellite system to a foreign government would involve security reviews, legal authorities and coordination across agencies, and it could also raise questions about how far the United States wants to be drawn into specific strike decisions. Rubio’s wording, describing the request as “under conversation,” indicates that no decision has been announced.
There is also a commercial dimension. Starlink is owned and operated by SpaceX, so the company’s role in any arrangement affects what is possible in practice. Analysts often point out that reliance on a single privately owned network creates both capability and vulnerability for military users, since service levels, pricing and access rules can change through decisions made outside government. The fact that Ukraine’s disruption dispute involves a commercial service and a military variant shows how tangled these lines have become in modern conflict.
What Happens Next
The most immediate question is whether Washington will approve Kyiv’s request for Starshield access, and if so, on what terms. Rubio’s comments did not set a timeline, and the report does not say when a decision might be made. Any approval would likely involve US government agencies and SpaceX, and could take time to put in place even if agreed.
Other developments are worth watching. Ukrainian officials may give more detail on how the speed limits have affected drone operations, and Zelenskyy’s office may respond to Rubio’s denial. Confirmation that Starlink speeds have fully returned to their previous level, and any explanation of the Wednesday disruption, would help clarify the dispute. Observers will also watch whether Russia comments on the issue or changes its own tactics in response.
For now, the central facts are clear from Rubio’s remarks. Ukraine has asked for access to Starshield for deep strikes inside Russia. It does not currently have that access. Washington says the request is under discussion and rejects claims that the US deliberately slowed or disrupted Starlink service. How that discussion ends could shape both the battlefield and the wider debate over how commercial technology is used in war.
Topics: Starshield, Starlink, Marco Rubio, Ukraine, Russia, SpaceX, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Drone warfare
Sources: Al Jazeera