The US Senate emphasizes that Elon Musk does not have the last word on national security
The US Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating national security issues through Starlink activities. This is due to the decision of American billionaire Elon Musk not to expand his private satellite network to help Ukrainian attacks on Russian warships off the coast of Crimea.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
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< p>Committee Chairman Jack Reed said reports on the use of Starlink have identified serious national security liability issues and the committee is looking into the matter. “The committee is aggressively exploring this issue from all angles,” he said.
SpaceX Musk has also become a major U.S. contractor, launching spy satellites for the Defense Department and operating the Starlink network. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reed said the committee will look at the broader satellite communications market, government contracts and the “outsized role that Mr. Musk and his company have played here.” Senators are concerned about why this decision was not made by anyone in government.
“Neither Elon Musk nor any private citizen can have the final say when it comes to U.S. national security,” Reed said.
Other Democratic senators on the committee, including Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, pressed the Defense Department to answer why Musk, and not a U.S. official, decided when Ukraine could use satellite network.
Elon Musk previously said on the All-In Podcast that he would have continued Starlink for Ukrainians in Crimea if President Joe Biden had directed him to do so, but there was no such directive. According to him, the satellite network was initially turned off in Crimea due to US sanctions against Russia.
Shahin and Warren plan to send a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking for details about the work of Starlink and Musk in Ukraine. This was said by a congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions. He notes that the commission has not yet begun an official investigation, but is only collecting information.
As Shaheen noted, during secret briefings she asked administration officials about monitoring the use of Starlink in Ukraine. However, unfortunately, I did not receive an answer.
Previously it was said that Elon Musk transferred a certain amount of equipment and services of the Starlink satellite network under the control of the Pentagon.
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