US Democratic Senators Demand Musk Preserve Records on Starlink Restrictions for Ukraine
Democratic US senators have urged SpaceX chief Elon Musk to preserve all documents related to restrictions placed on Ukraine's use of the Starlink and Starshield satellite services. Democrats plan to launch investigations into the administration's conduct regarding the war in Ukraine once they take control of Congress in January.
Two Democratic members of the US Senate have written to SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, asking him to preserve all documents connected to restrictions on Ukraine's access to the Starlink and Starshield satellite communication services. The letter was seen by The Wall Street Journal and cited by the Ukrainian outlet European Pravda.
The letter was signed by Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. Coons is expected to become the next chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the new Congress. Shaheen is currently the committee's ranking Democrat but will leave the Senate at the end of her current term.
What the senators raise
The letter refers to service disruptions between 13 and 24 October, as well as on 12 November. The senators write that the October and November restrictions raise the troubling possibility that such vulnerabilities persist even in systems relied on by the US government.
They say the restrictions raise serious questions about the control SpaceX holds over communication channels important to national security. They also criticised the lack of transparency in how such decisions are made. The senators asked Musk to state whether anyone outside SpaceX authorised the restrictions.
The letter also demands a large set of SpaceX documents dating from 1 September. These include all communications about the use of Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine, as well as correspondence between Musk, SpaceX management, the White House and the Pentagon.
Background
After winning the 4 November midterm elections, Democrats plan to open a series of investigations into the administration's actions related to the war in Ukraine when they take control of Congress in January. It was previously reported that 105 members of the bipartisan Ukraine support group in the US House of Representatives demanded that Donald Trump's administration and SpaceX restore Ukraine's full access to Starshield, amid reports of new restrictions.
