The Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating national security concerns raised by Elon Musk’s decision not to expand his private Starlink satellite network to assist Ukraine in attacking Russian warships off the coast of Crimea.
Committee Chairman Jack Reed said in a statement Thursday that reports on Starlink use have exposed “serious national security liability issues that are being addressed by the committee.”
“The committee is actively investigating this issue from all angles,” he said.
Musk’s SpaceX has also become a major U.S. contractor, launching spy satellites for the Department of Defense and operating the Starlink network. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reed said the committee would look at the broader satellite market, government contracts and “the huge role that Mr. Musk and his company play here.”
Reid and other senators questioned why the decision was not made by administration officials.
“Neither Elon Musk nor any private citizen has 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, have pressed the Defense Department for answers about why Musk — and not U.S. government officials — decided on Ukraine When will satellite internet be available?
Shaheen and Warren plan to send a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking for details about Starlink and Musk’s work in Ukraine, said a congressional aide who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The aide said the group has not launched a formal investigation and is simply gathering information.
Shaheen said in a brief interview that she asked government officials during classified briefings about controls over Starlink’s use in Ukraine but has not yet received a response.
Musk had yet to receive any U.S. funding for Starlink operations in Ukraine when Ukraine requested it last year, although the project currently receives financial support from the Pentagon.
—With assistance from Loren Grush
Svlook
