Elon Musk’s Ukraine clash accelerates demand for Starlink alternatives

Elon Musk‘s latest clash with Ukraine underscores the critical role that his company’s Starlink satellite internet service has played in Kyiv’s defense against Russia, which invaded unprovoked in 2022.

It’s also laid bare the downsides of depending on a single provider for satellite internet communications, though other options are not yet comparable to SpaceX’s Starlink and its military-grade Starshield offering.

On Oct. 14, Ukrainian officials accused SpaceX of undermining the country’s ability to defend itself.

SpaceX and the U.S., they said, had suddenly and without warning imposed speed limits on Starshield. SpaceX describes Starshield as a “secured satellite network for government entities” that “leverages Starlink technology.”

The changes cut wireless internet connectivity in drones and other aircraft moving at speeds over 100 miles per hour that Ukrainian forces were using in the campaign against Russia. A Ukrainian senior commander told The New York Times the Starlink restrictions cost his unit more than $1 million and delayed missions by 3 days.

Musk and President Donald Trump, both critics of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have each shirked accountability for the communications disruptions in the war-torn nation.

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk individually ordered the service changes, and had discussed them with Trump before putting them in place. Trump insisted on Wednesday that he “was not involved.”

Robert Weissman, who is co-president of watchdog group Public Citizen, said the situation is an “extreme danger” that raises antitrust and security concerns around Musk’s ability to control a “crucial means of communication.”

“People worry about the political, as well as economic, impacts of oligarchy, and this is it,” Weissman said in an interview. “It’s not just that Musk can drown out other speakers, he can close down communications in a national security context for a country. No person should have that ability or power.”

The disruptions have prompted a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. to call for an investigation into Musk’s actions, including calls for him to potentially testify under oath.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told CNBC on Wednesday that he doesn’t believe Musk would have acted “without at least the acquiescence of the White House,” and called attempts to throttle Starlink service in Ukraine “frankly shameful.”

“There’s a reason why we’ve had relative peace in Europe since World War II,” Cornyn said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview. “And that’s because of the alliance between the United States and our European allies. And I think anything we do to undermine that or degrade that is a big…