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Politics · October 15, 2026

British defense secretary to ask Hegseth about Starshield outage as UK tries to ‘bridge’ US and Ukraine ‘back together’

3 sources →

British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting is meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discuss a recent service outage of Starshield, the military-grade satellite system used by Ukraine for defensive targeting and drone guidance. The outage occurred amid rising tensions between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding a failed "energy ceasefire." While Ukraine recently resumed strikes on Russian refineries, claiming the truce was one-sided due to ongoing Russian attacks, Elon Musk clarified that the U.S. government maintains authority over Starshield's military applications. The United Kingdom is positioning itself as a mediator to mend relations between Washington and Kyiv as European allies express concern over their dependence on U.S. space infrastructure.

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Reported across the spectrum

  • British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting is meeting with his U.S. counterpart to discuss the Starshield outage.
  • Elon Musk stated that the U.S. government, not SpaceX, controls the military-grade Starshield system.
  • Ukraine reported a temporary loss of Starshield functionality that affected military operations.
  • President Trump attempted to broker an 'energy ceasefire' between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries, including a strike on a Rosneft facility.

Reported by only some outlets

  • British Prime Minister Andy Burnham hosted President Zelensky at 10 Downing Street to discuss accelerating support.
  • European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius stated the outage highlights the need for Europe to develop its own space capabilities.
  • A source in Ukraine’s defense ministry reported that Starshield functionality was restored as of Thursday.
  • Musk distinguished between commercial Starlink (controlled by SpaceX for civilian/defensive use) and Starshield (controlled by the U.S. government).

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