Ukraine’s Starshield contract with US expires in 2027, diplomat says
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Ukrainian soldiers setting up a satellite internet system in the Donetsk region in 2025. Starshield’s vital role in the Ukraine war came into sharp focus in October 2026, when battlefield commanders saw speed limitations suddenly imposed, hampering the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Ukraine says its Starshield contract with the US expires in mid-2027, and it wants talks soon on a new deal to keep vital battlefield communications.
- Ukrainian forces faced speed limits on Starshield in October, which hurt drone interceptions and forced some operations to be cancelled. Kyiv says no one explained why.
- The issue adds to wider tension with Washington over intelligence, missile supplies and Russia policy. Zelensky thanked SpaceX for help but criticised Elon Musk’s views.
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WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s contract with the US government for access to its Starshield satellite network expires in 2027, and Kyiv is urgently seeking to start talks on a new one, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said on Nov 5.
Starshield’s vital role in the Ukraine war came into sharp focus in October, when Ukrainian battlefield commanders saw speed limitations suddenly imposed, hampering the military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forcing the cancellation of some operations.
Denys Sienik, the charge d’affaires at Ukraine’s embassy in Washington, said Kyiv never received an explanation of what happened from Washington or from SpaceX, the satellite firm run by Elon Musk which provides the Starshield military service to the US government. Its Starlink commercial services are offered globally.
“The contract expires next year for Starshield. And we understand that it requires time to negotiate a new one,” Sienik told the Defence Writers Group in Washington, adding, “now is actually the time”.
“We want to have clarity, basically, if we can proceed and what the terms of reference will be.”
Sienik did not provide the exact month the contract would expire, saying only that it would be in the middle of 2027.
The Starshield access issue was one of a series of developments in Ukraine’s relationship with the US that has alarmed Kyiv recently as it defends against Russian forces that invaded in February 2022.
In recent weeks, Ukraine said that at some point, it experienced gaps in getting intelligence from the US on Russian missile attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has complained about delays by the US on critical resupply for Patriot and NASAMS missile systems needed to defend the country from Russian attack. He has also criticised President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia.
Trump, in turn, has criticised Zelensky for Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries, as high energy prices weighed on Trump’s fellow Republicans ahead of midterm elections that saw them lose control of the US Congress.
Sienik said Ukraine had sought answers from the US on what happened with Starshield, including at the Pentagon, the White House and SpaceX.
“Nobody provided answers,” he said.
A group of prominent Democrats in Congress asked Musk about the incident in a letter in October, and senior lawmakers have promised to investigate US aid to Ukraine more broadly.
Musk, in an Oct 24 post on X, said Starshield was controlled by the US government.
While he defended SpaceX’s role in helping defend Ukraine, Musk condemned “virtue-signalling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict”.
Zelensky, in comments to German public broadcaster ZDF on Nov 4, expressed thanks to SpaceX while also criticising Musk’s views.
“We are grateful to SpaceX for providing us with connectivity. That was very helpful at the beginning of the war,” he said.
“But we must be very clear about this: We certainly do not like his position on this war,” Zelensky said of Musk. REUTERS