While Elon Musk was on stage in Texas advertising a flying Tesla on October 16, his other venture, SpaceX, was reshaping geopolitics in Ukraine.

SpaceX operates Starlink, the satellite communication system that has played a crucial role in Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Its military-grade spin-off, Starshield, has become a backbone of Ukrainian military communications and of its drone warfare.

On October 14, reports emerged that Starlink services in Ukraine had been cut off for Ukrainian drones moving at speeds exceeding 100mph. Initial disruptions had even affected slower units, reportedly causing them to fall from the skies.

The restrictions hampered Ukraine’s ability to conduct drone strikes in Russian-occupied territory. They also made it harder to detect and intercept Russian attacks. This was felt in Kyiv and other big cities, where nightly strikes killed civilians and left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, also implied that intelligence sharing with the US had temporarily stopped, leaving early-warning systems unable to detect the incoming strikes.

Musk remains firmly in control over SpaceX – and, by extension, Starlink. After taking the company public this year, a special type of stock provides Musk with about 82% of voting power.

Musk’s decisions have interfered with Ukraine’s war efforts before, as my research highlights.

Shortly after Russian forces crossed into Ukraine in February 2022, SpaceX began supplying large numbers of Starlink terminals.........

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