---
title: "The earnings call never raised the Ukraine throttle, and buyers started pricing the off switch"
description: "The October 21 call priced an AI company funded by Starlink, yet neither Elon Musk, Gwynne Shotwell nor an analyst raised the throttle on the wartime network the same week senators sent it to the inspector general."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Robotics & Defense"
published: 2026-10-22T21:08:53.343Z
modified: 2026-10-22T21:08:53.343Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-earnings-call-never-raised-the-ukraine-throttle-and-buyers-started-pricing-the-off-switch
language: en
keywords: "SpaceX, Starlink, Elon Musk, Ukraine, Earnings"
---

# The earnings call never raised the Ukraine throttle, and buyers started pricing the off switch

> The October 21 call priced an AI company funded by Starlink, yet neither Elon Musk, Gwynne Shotwell nor an analyst raised the throttle on the wartime network the same week senators sent it to the inspector general.

[SpaceX](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/spacex) held its third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday and never addressed the Starshield throttling: neither [Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk), president and COO [Gwynne Shotwell](https://theinference.org/markets/people/gwynne-shotwell) nor a financial analyst raised it [3]. The same week, the Wall Street Journal and CBS News [reported that Musk ordered the military-grade network slowed in Ukraine](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-ukraine-spacex-starshield-trump-administration/), that Ukrainian strike drones lost their links mid-flight, and that bipartisan senators have asked the Pentagon's inspector general to find out who did it [1][2]. Investors got a record quarter and a governance problem in the same silence.

## The quarter was real

SpaceX, public since its June 12 initial offering, [reported revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161% year over year, and net income of $4.4 billion](https://metatrends.substack.com/p/spacex-earnings-heading-towards-the) against a $1.1 billion loss a year earlier [5][6]. The Super Intelligence segment, which rents AI compute, brought in $7.6 billion, more than Starlink's $5.25 billion and more than four times launch revenue of $1.8 billion [5].

*Chart: **AI compute is now SpaceX's biggest business, ahead of Starlink and launch** Bars comparing Q3 2026 SpaceX revenue by segment: Super Intelligence 7.6, Starlink 5.25, Launch 1.8, in billions of dollars.*

*SpaceX Q3 2026 revenue by segment, US$ billions, per the company's October 20 results as reported by Metatrends. [5]*

[The AI engine runs on money Starlink pulls in](https://theinference.org/article/spacex-is-now-half-an-ai-company-and-starlink-is-paying-for-it): connectivity revenue grew 69% to $5.25 billion, from 13.6 million subscribers in 174 countries, and $16.4 billion of the quarter's $19.6 billion capex went into compute [5].

![A technician installs a Starlink user terminal on a rooftop beside a satellite dish](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/c4967235187e010c.jpg)

*A Starlink user terminal on a rooftop in Misiones, Argentina. Ukrainian units report Starshield links dropping at speeds as low as 90 km/h. (Horacio Cambeiro)*

## Kyiv turned the cap into evidence

That network now carries a documented one-man throttle. Kyiv accused Washington of slowing Starshield on October 13; Ukrainian officials then [drove Starlink terminals across EU countries, where connections ran normally above 180 km/h, while Ukraine stayed capped near 161 km/h](https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/zelenskyy-says-starlink-restrictions-apply-only-in-ukraine-while-spacex-ignores-kyivs-inquiries-23549), evidence President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a planned operation [1][9]. Ukrainian units reported Starshield link drops at speeds as low as 90 km/h, and an analysis by a Ukrainian drone pilot estimates tens of millions of dollars in losses [1][9].

*Chart: **The throttle in the speed tests: normal above 180 km/h in the EU, capped at 161 in Ukraine, drops from 90** Column chart of three reported speed thresholds: connections normal above 180 km/h in EU countries, capped near 161 km/h in Ukraine, Starshield links dropping from 90 km/h*

*Speed thresholds from Kyiv's documented tests and Ukrainian units' reports: connections ran normally above 180 km/h in EU countries, stayed capped near 161 km/h in Ukraine, and Starshield links dropped at speeds as low as 90 km/h. Sources: CBS News; UNITED24 Media. [1][9]*

## Nobody takes the blame

Musk says limits on Starshield are decided by the US military and ultimately the president; Donald Trump says it was not him; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon issued no directive. Zelenskyy says service is still throttled, SpaceX has stopped answering Ukraine's Defense Ministry, though US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him the slowdown will be unblocked [1][2][9].

## The buyers noticed

[Palantir](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/palantir)'s executive vice president for the UK and Europe, Louis Mosley, [told Reuters its €480 million NATO system has no kill switch](https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/22/palantir-says-nato-ai-system-has-no-kill-switch-after-starlink-disruptions-in-ukraine); France and Germany have already declined to use Maven, Palantir's battlefield AI platform [4]. Eric Talley of Columbia Law School says Europe may view a bigger SpaceX with trepidation, [a problem for the proposed SpaceX-Tesla merger](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-10-22/behind-elon-musks-plans-for-mega-merger-of-spacex-tesla), which would pair caps of $2.15 trillion and $1.53 trillion [6].

Germany, which pays for Ukraine's Starlink, now wants the speed limits gone [9]. A wartime customer's combat link was slowed by terms of service one executive can interpret, so buyers are paying instead for written guarantees that theirs cannot be.

## Little competition, until now

[One reader on Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50175883) put the competitive consequence plainly: Starlink had little competition and the world little reason to build one, and now Russia, China, Japan and the EU are all building rivals [8]. Watch the pipeline: which government contracts carry a no-off-switch clause, and what the inspector general finds.

## Takeaway

SpaceX's record quarter and its Ukraine silence landed in the same week: AI compute is now the biggest segment, the call never raised the Starshield throttle, and with Musk, Trump and the Pentagon all denying the switch, buyers are paying for no-off-switch clauses while rivals build their own.

## Sources

1. [CBS News, Musk chose to restrict Ukraine's access to SpaceX satellite network, sources say, 2026-10-22](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-ukraine-spacex-starshield-trump-administration/)
2. [Cybernews, SpaceX investor Ross Gerber 'disgusted' with Elon Musk over Starlink limitations in Ukraine, 2026-10-22](https://cybernews.com/tech/starlink-ross-gerber/)
3. [Ars Technica, SpaceX will attempt to reach weekly Starship launches by early 2027, 2026-10-22](https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/spacex-will-attempt-to-reach-weekly-starship-launches-by-early-2027/)
4. [Euronews, Palantir says NATO AI system has no kill switch after Starlink disruptions in Ukraine, 2026-10-22](https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/22/palantir-says-nato-ai-system-has-no-kill-switch-after-starlink-disruptions-in-ukraine)
5. [Metatrends (Substack), SpaceX Earnings: Heading Towards the First $100 Trillion Company, 2026-10-21](https://metatrends.substack.com/p/spacex-earnings-heading-towards-the)
6. [Los Angeles Times, Behind Elon Musk's plans for mega-merger of SpaceX and Tesla, 2026-10-22](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-10-22/behind-elon-musks-plans-for-mega-merger-of-spacex-tesla)
8. [Hacker News thread, Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine, comment by rstuart4133, 2026-10-22](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50175883)
9. [UNITED24 Media, Zelenskyy Says Starlink Restrictions Apply Only in Ukraine While SpaceX Ignores Kyiv's Inquiries, 2026-10-17](https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/zelenskyy-says-starlink-restrictions-apply-only-in-ukraine-while-spacex-ignores-kyivs-inquiries-23549)


---

The earnings call never raised the Ukraine throttle, and buyers started pricing the off switch — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/the-earnings-call-never-raised-the-ukraine-throttle-and-buyers-started-pricing-the-off-switch