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The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk directed throttling of Starlink satellite internet service used by Ukraine's military. Musk responded on social media that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the President, not by him personally.
A new report states that Elon Musk directed a slowdown of Starlink satellite internet service used by Ukraine. The report also notes U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's remark that Washington is no longer the guarantor of global security, and Netflix's disclosure of its slowest revenue growth in years.
SpaceX posted Q3 revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161 percent year-over-year, with its newly reported Super Intelligence (SI) segment generating $7.6 billion, an 830 percent jump attributed to new cloud agreements, the Cursor acquisition, and Grok adoption. Its Connectivity unit, which includes Starlink and its 13.6 million subscribers, brought in $5.2 billion and $2.4 billion in operating income, while the core Space business earned $1.8 billion but posted a $7 million operating loss.
The four largest European mobile carriers have signed a letter of intent to jointly pursue Mobile Satellite Services spectrum for direct-to-device connectivity. Rather than building their own satellite constellation, they plan to construct ground infrastructure and coordination systems while partnering with an as-yet-unnamed satellite operator. The companies say the service would be open to other operators on equal terms and aims to extend coverage to underserved areas.
Four major European telecommunications companies have announced a partnership to explore direct-to-device satellite connectivity for mobile phones. The effort is positioned as a potential rival to Elon Musk's Starlink, which already offers similar satellite-based phone connectivity in some markets.
Starlink offers a $55 Residential plan with unlimited data at 100 Mbps for fixed-location homes, and a separate $55 Roam plan aimed at RVs and travelers that instead caps usage at 100GB per month with speeds up to 300 Mbps before slowing. Higher-priced tiers exist in both categories, including a $175 unlimited Roam option, and Starlink notes speeds can drop during network congestion.
SpaceX has agreed to acquire a large tranche of low-band spectrum to expand Starlink, following its roughly $20 billion EchoStar spectrum purchase last year and the FCC's approval of 15,000 next-generation Starlink satellites. Analyst Walter Piecyk of LightShed Partners says these moves show SpaceX is now serious about competing directly with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for wireless customers.
President Trump said Friday that neither he nor Elon Musk directed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield service to Ukraine's armed forces this week. Ukrainian officials had reported SpaceX cut off connectivity without warning for drones and vehicles exceeding 160 km/h, disrupting military operations, while Musk said the Starshield systems are government-owned and controlled.
Ukrainian military and government officials said this week that sudden restrictions on Starshield, SpaceX's military-grade satellite internet service, interrupted drone operations and communications. Commanders reported lost drones and disrupted missions tied to the outage, raising concerns about who controls access to the system.
Eutelsat's stock surged 16.5% on Friday and roughly 25% over the week after Ukraine reported sudden restrictions on SpaceX's Starshield military satellite service. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Starlink connectivity was cut overnight, hampering drone defenses against Russian attacks and contributing to civilian deaths. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded by saying control over Starshield systems rests with the U.S. government and President Trump, not SpaceX.
Andreas Stuhlmüller, CEO of AI research firm Elicit, posted a tweet recommending people stockpile cash, water, food, a Starlink terminal, batteries, solar panels and an emergency radio in case AI-powered cyberattacks disable financial systems, power grids or the internet. His advice follows a cyberattack on refrigeration systems at hundreds of French grocery stores that spoiled food and caused fires, with Intermarche's CEO estimating losses of tens of millions of euros in a single day.
United Airlines now offers Starlink satellite Wi-Fi on nearly half of its daily flights, with 635 aircraft equipped and more than 37.7 million passengers served to date. The carrier has launched an online tracker letting passengers check, within 48 hours of departure, whether their specific flight will have the service, accounting for possible last-minute aircraft swaps.