U.S. Administrations Repeatedly Sought to Control Starlink Access in Ukraine and Middle East, Officials Say

WASHINGTON — Long before recent restrictions disrupted Ukraine’s military access to Elon Musk’s satellite network, officials from both the Biden and Trump administrations repeatedly asked SpaceX to activate or suspend Starlink service in various countries, according to six former senior U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Under President Joe Biden, those requests included shutting off the service to stop Iranian-backed militias in Yemen and Lebanon from using Starlink for communications, and turning it on to provide internet access inside Iran and to support Ukraine’s military, four of the former officials said.

Likewise, President Donald Trump’s administration asked Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive, to make Starlink available in Iran following U.S.-Israeli strikes in 2025 and 2026, with the aim of strengthening internet access and communications for anti-government protesters, a former senior Trump official and a person familiar with the matter said.

All sources spoke on condition of anonymity. The previously undisclosed U.S. requests regarding Starlink access are being reported for the first time.

The recent controversy over limits on Ukraine’s use of SpaceX satellite services has raised questions about the relationship between the U.S. government and Musk, whose company operates systems critical to the U.S. military and its allies.

The Biden and Trump administrations’ appeals to Musk illustrate a relationship in which U.S. administrations rely on a private company to an unprecedented degree to help carry out foreign policy.

The recent limits on Ukraine, despite its status as a U.S. ally, have also alarmed European officials, some of whom argue that Europe must develop its own military satellite communications capabilities because no viable short-term alternative currently exists.

STARSHIELD RESTRICTIONS HOBBLE UKRAINE MILITARY

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that access to Starshield, the military version of Starlink, had been deliberately restricted, interfering with the performance of Ukraine’s military drones. He added that speeds were reduced for standard Starlink, which Ukraine uses for some military operations, including defense against Russian missile attacks.

Reuters has reported that the order to throttle Starshield originated inside the White House. The Trump administration has acknowledged the slowdown but has not said whether it issued the order.

When contacted for comment, the White House referred Reuters to Trump’s remarks on Friday, in which he said he had not spoken with Musk about Starlink access issues for Ukraine and that “if there is a problem, I’ll get it straightened out.”

Halyna Yusypiuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s embassy in Washington, said Kyiv’s priority is “to have the service restored to normal speed as soon as possible, as the lives of our people depend on it.”

SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment, though Musk said in a social media post earlier this week: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately by the president of the United States.”

Democratic U.S. Representative Jason Crow called on Friday for clarity regarding the recent changes to Ukraine’s satellite service, warning of risks tied to U.S. dependence on SpaceX.

“Unelected billionaires and private corporations should not decide what is in the best interest of America’s national security,” Crow said.

For Ukraine, Starlink has become the lifeblood of frontline communications between units, which say there is currently no rival to SpaceX’s capabilities.

Starshield receivers, largely resistant to radio jamming, are used as onboard guidance systems and to provide links to remote pilots for Ukrainian drones, including operations deep behind Russian lines inside Ukraine.

MUSK’S INFLUENCE RAISES UNCERTAINTY

Musk’s role as the strong-willed chief executive of a company with outsized influence over U.S. national security has at times raised questions about who is making decisions regarding SpaceX’s satellite services.

The SpaceX CEO is “supposed to be a business executive, with government contracts, and he’s essentially making huge foreign policy decisions,” said Armand Musey, president of Summit Ridge Group, a satellite industry consultancy.

“He’s sufficiently ambiguous of a person that you don’t know if his decisions are personal quirks, or whether some other influence is impacting him,” Musey said.

In previous years, Musk has acted to limit Ukraine’s access to Starlink. In 2022, according to prior Reuters reporting, Musk ordered SpaceX personnel to cut Starlink coverage in areas Ukraine was trying to retake, surprising White House officials.

Musk has said publicly that he refused a 2022 Ukrainian request to activate his satellite network in Sevastopol, Crimea’s port city, to support an attack on Russia’s fleet there, saying he feared complicity in a major act of war.

The Biden administration at times relied on Musk to help implement policy, five of the former officials said.

Biden officials coordinated with SpaceX to counter U.S. adversaries by cutting service, and to support allies by expanding Starlink’s availability, they said.

They added that discussions between the government and SpaceX, typically involving Pentagon and White House officials, often centered on preventing groups such as the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon from using Starlink terminals.

Biden officials several times shared intelligence with SpaceX indicating that the Houthis and Hezbollah were using diverted Starlink terminals—hardware that reached the militants through intermediaries.

In October 2023, during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, intelligence officials told the White House that individuals linked to Hezbollah might have gained access to Starlink terminals. Similar concerns arose regarding the Houthis in Yemen in 2024 during a U.S. air campaign against the Iran-linked group, five of the officials said.

In both cases, the administration contacted SpaceX and asked it to identify the terminals and shut them off. At least some of the terminals were deactivated, two of the officials said.

In a 2024 submission to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, SpaceX said it works closely with U.S. government agencies to secure export authorizations where required and to safeguard technology in support of U.S. national security objectives and foreign policy goals.

Soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Biden officials pushed SpaceX to expand Starlink use for the Ukrainian military, two of the former officials said.

In a separate instance, the Biden administration asked SpaceX to activate Starlink in Iran during a protest movement that began in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman arrested for improperly wearing her hijab, according to one former official.

Starlink terminals were moved into Iran with the administration’s help, the official said, declining to specify how many were transferred.

The Trump administration took a similar step earlier this year and discussed with Musk and SpaceX delivering and activating Starlink terminals in Iran following U.S.-Israeli strikes in June 2025 and again in February 2026, a former senior Trump official and a person familiar with the matter said.

Neither the Trump administration nor SpaceX has publicly confirmed that those terminals were turned on. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that the U.S. government had sent thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran.

Iran’s delegation to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

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