Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Coons have asked Elon Musk to preserve all documents related to restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the Starlink and Starshield satellite services. They are demanding written confirmation by November 30 that all necessary measures have been taken to preserve the documentation.
The request covers SpaceX documents and correspondence dating from September 1 onward. The senators want messages related to the operation of Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine, as well as communications between Musk, SpaceX’s leadership, the White House and the Pentagon, to be provided.
„The restrictions in October and November raise the troubling possibility that these vulnerabilities also exist in systems on which the US government relies,“ Shaheen and Coons said in the letter to Musk.Dispute over control of the systems
Starshield is the military version of Starlink, and Ukrainian forces use it for communications on the front lines and drone operations. In October, Ukrainian officials said access to the service had been restricted without prior explanation or warning. According to data cited by Reuters, this hampered complex operations against Russian forces and slowed drones used to intercept Russian unmanned aircraft.
Shaheen and Coons said the restrictions raise „serious questions“ about SpaceX’s control over communications systems that are important to national security. They also criticized the decision-making process, describing it as opaque.
Conflicting accounts of the decisions
Reuters reported in October that the order to restrict Starshield, which is used by the Ukrainian military, had come from the White House. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied the report and said that decisions on Ukraine’s access to the service were being made by SpaceX and Elon Musk.
Later in October, Ukraine said that Starlink and Starshield were operating normally. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, reported that Ukrainian military units had again recorded interruptions in communications via Starshield.
The senators’ request seeks to clarify how decisions on the restrictions were made and whether representatives from outside SpaceX were involved. The documents could also show how actions were coordinated between the company, the US administration and the Pentagon.
Sources: unian.net, investing.com, marketscreener.com