Washington – October 19, 2026 -- SpaceX shares fell 10.17% last week, from $162.57 to $146.03, as Ukraine accused the company of capping Starlink speeds on military-relevant terminals and Washington denied ordering it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said tests showed Starlink-equipped drones lost connection above roughly 100 mph inside Ukraine, while terminals moving at more than 112 mph inside the European Union worked normally. "In other words, this is a planned operation," he said. No one in Washington or at SpaceX has claimed the decision.
Washington and Musk trade responsibility for the Starlink limits
The restrictions reportedly cover both Starlink and Starshield, SpaceX's military-use service, which Ukraine uses for communications, logistics, live drone video and targeting. The Telegraph reported on Oct. 16, citing four unnamed sources, that Elon Musk proposed slowing Starlink in Ukraine to President Trump, who agreed. Musk said on X that Starshield speed or usage limits are decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Trump told reporters it was neither him nor Musk.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had nothing to do with it and that nobody ordered a slowdown. He also said Starshield was not available to Ukraine. Yahoo Finance noted that claim conflicts with a late-2024 Pentagon contract that expanded Ukraine's Starshield access from about 500 to roughly 3,000 terminals.
SpaceX has limited Ukrainian service before: in 2023, President and COO Gwynne Shotwell acknowledged the company could restrict how Ukraine used Starlink. Starlink has more than 13 million subscribers worldwide, and Yahoo Finance noted this is the first throttling episode since SpaceX went public. The stock remains above its $135 June IPO price.
US ambassador threatens "devastating" retaliation over EU satellite plan
The European Union is developing its own Starlink alternative. The US ambassador to the EU threatened "devastating" retaliation if the bloc advanced a proposal favoring EU-made satellites over companies such as SpaceX, Yahoo Finance reported.
Eutelsat posts its biggest one-day gain in 16 months
Eutelsat shares jumped 23% on Oct. 14, Reuters reported, after Ukraine said Starlink had restricted its military-grade service. Its OneWeb network has more than 600 low Earth orbit satellites against about 10,000 for Starlink, and it is the only company besides SpaceX offering space-based internet through a low Earth orbit network. Bernstein analyst Aleksander Peterc said European providers were back in the spotlight as potential alternatives.
Switching is not simple. Starlink users would need new terminals and supporting infrastructure to move to OneWeb, and consultant Christian Freiherr von der Ropp said treating it as a straightforward substitute overlooks operational and infrastructure constraints.
AST SpaceMobile drops 20.23% after Piper Sandler downgrade
AST SpaceMobile fell from $50.97 to $40.66. On Oct. 13, Piper Sandler cut it to Neutral from Overweight and lowered its price target to $54 from $98, citing SpaceX's direct-to-cell ambitions after its agreement to acquire Grain Management's 800 MHz spectrum for about $8 billion, subject to regulatory approval. Piper warned SpaceX could limit launch opportunities for rivals and pressure pricing by competing with telecom operators.
Analysts were split. Deutsche Bank upgraded AST to Buy on Oct. 12 with a $93 target. Clear Street reiterated Buy with a $115 target, arguing AST is about six months ahead of SpaceX in direct-to-cell.
Rocket Lab sheds 25.47% as Neutron's first launch slips into 2027
Rocket Lab fell from $68.21 to $50.84 after CEO Sir Peter Beck said the first Neutron launch would move from late 2026 into 2027. Inspectors found voids in the carbon-fiber layers of a recently made forward propellant dome after curing, according to Space.com. Beck said the voids do not necessarily mean the dome would fail in flight, but that possible success is not the company's standard.
Rocket Lab expects to finish a new forward dome by year-end and complete first-stage testing in the first quarter of 2027, after which it expects to share a new target launch date.
Iridium shares slip 7.82% while Rocket Lab acquisition moves toward mid-2027 close
Iridium fell from $47.47 to $43.76. Stockholders approved its acquisition by Rocket Lab on Sept. 24 with about 99.6% of votes cast in favor. Each share is to be exchanged for $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab stock under an exchange ratio subject to a collar, for a notional $54.00 per share. Closing is expected by mid-2027, subject to remaining regulatory approvals.
On Oct. 14, Iridium said Altair Semiconductor is adding Iridium NTN Direct to its ALT1350 and ALT1550 cellular IoT chipsets, letting device makers, module makers and mobile network operators add satellite coverage without a separate satellite modem.