> - You're nuking the ground-based command & control centers for those satellites. Again, nothing like 10,000 missiles needed.
With Starlink's peer-to-peer capabilities, hitting every single ground station and keeping the satellites from working through new ground stations may actually be quite difficult.
Starlink orbits close enough that they're looking into offering LTE coverage from "space". You don't need a giant dish to access the satellites, which means building new ground stations and reprogramming the network from an unassuming-looking ground device to use them is quite feasible.
The paths of the satellites are rather predictable, though, so your shrapnel attack executed with some precision should clear out enough of them.
The moment you launch a nuke (even if just to set off an EMP), you can expect nukes to come your way in retaliation before your nuke even detonates. Unless whatever war is going on has already gone full nuclear, I don't think nuclear weaponry is a viable move to take out satellites.
> With Starlink's peer-to-peer capabilities, hitting every single ground station and keeping the satellites from working through new ground stations may actually be quite difficult.
Yes-ish? I was thinking the command & control facilities - far scarcer than the (probably unmanned) StarLink-to-Internet Backbone connection ground stations.
> The moment you launch a nuke...
Yes-ish. The (great-)^n grandparent comment posited WWIII starting, and the nukes flying at scale. Between the widespread obliteration of ground-side infrastructure, ground-side EMP damage, and very likely EMP in space - I'd assume that Starlink would quickly go down. Plus, the ionosphere could become opaque to Starlink's radio frequencies. Finally, the ionosphere's upper layers might expand enough (due to nuclear detonations in or near space) that the orbits of the Starlink satellites started degrading very quickly.
With how easily any major space power could set off "small n" nukes in space during a major crisis, to knock out satellites - I would not rule someone doing so. The responsible parties need not claim responsibility. And sane leaders might hesitate to go full nuclear in response.