< p>The US Senate Armed Services Committee is studying national security issues arising from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's blocking of the Starlink satellite network during the Ukrainian attack on ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet off the coast of Crimea.
This was stated by its chairman Jack Reed, emphasizing that this case revealed “serious issues of responsibility for national security, and the committee is looking into this issue” by examining from all sides, writes Bloomberg.
They will also look at the broader satellite market, government contracts and the “huge role Musk and his company play here,” the senator said.
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— Neither Elon Musk nor any private citizen can have the last word when it comes to US national security, — Reed emphasized.
Democratic senators who sit on the Armed Services Committee today wrote in a letter to Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin demanding an answer to the question of why Musk, and not a US official, decides when Ukraine can use the satellite network.
— SpaceX — a prime contractor and critical industry partner for the Department of Defense and recipient of billions in taxpayer funds. We are deeply concerned by SpaceX's ability and willingness to interrupt its services at the whim of Mr. Musk and in order to impede the self-defense of a sovereign country, in effect protecting Russian interests, — the letter says.
In addition, they asked for a detailed report by October 31 on incidents in which SpaceX or other companies interfered with the provision of services in Ukraine, and what obligations the Pentagon imposes on such contractors.
< p>After CNN published on September 7 an excerpt from a book about Elon Musk, which talked about the disruption of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attack on the Russian fleet due to the shutdown of Starlink near Crimea, the billionaire said in his defense that the satellite network was not working in this area anyway, but he simply refused to turn it on.
