The Pentagon inspector general’s office declined a request from US senators to investigate restrictions recently imposed on the Ukraine military’s use of SpaceX’s satellite network.
Ukraine, which uses SpaceX’s Starlink service and the military version known as Starshield, said earlier this month that military drones lost satellite connectivity when traveling above 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour). The limit was removed after about 10 days.
Five Democratic and four Republican senators sent an October 15 letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Platte Moring, asking for a probe into the reported disruptions of Starlink and Starshield. The letter asked, among other things, “whether any restrictions on Starlink or Starshield services were directed, authorized, or implemented by SpaceX, the Department of Defense, or other US government entities; whether such restrictions were consistent with applicable US government contracts, and what actions, if any, the Department of Defense took in response.”
Platte told the senators in a letter Tuesday that the questions should be directed to the US Air Force and Space Force, according to CNN. “They are better suited to address the matters raised in your letter and to coordinate any Department responses to your questions,” Moring wrote.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon inspector general’s office told Ars today, “The Department of War Office of Inspector General (The DoW OIG) answered recent correspondence from members of Congress regarding Starlink… We carefully considered the congressional request and determined that the matters raised were best addressed by the DOW. Should new information come to light, we may reconsider.”
We asked the Department of Defense whether it plans to investigate and will update this article if it responds.
The satellite problems “were discovered after the administration threatened to withhold intelligence to Kyiv over its strikes on Russian refineries and after President Donald Trump made a deal to buy Russian diesel and ease sanctions on Moscow,” CNN wrote.
The letter asking for an inspector general investigation was sent by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Thom Tillis (R-N.C.); Dick Durbin (D-Ill.); Susan Collins (R-Maine); Jack Reed (D-R.I.); John Cornyn (R-Texas); Chris Coons (D-Del.); Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
“These restrictions reportedly degraded Ukraine’s ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure… Starlink and Starshield capabilities are important components of Ukraine’s military communications infrastructure, supporting command and control, unmanned systems, and operational coordination,” senators wrote.
In addition to satellite problems, the letter raised concerns about reports of intelligence-sharing disruptions and asked whether the “reported intelligence-sharing disruptions and Starlink restrictions were connected.” Senators want to know whether “deliberate policy decisions, technical failures, contractor actions, or other causes” were behind the intelligence-sharing and Starlink problems:
We write with grave concern regarding reported disruptions to critical US-supported communications and intelligence-sharing capabilities in Ukraine that have endangered American personnel and potentially compromised Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. We are particularly alarmed by incidents in which US diplomatic, military, and security personnel were unable to reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids, amid reported disruptions to intelligence-sharing and early-warning capabilities.
Several days after a report that Musk ordered the slowdown, he accused Ukraine of violating Starlink terms of service by using it for lethal drone strikes. Musk said that offensive drone strikes must rely instead on Starshield, not Starlink.
Ukraine officials denied Musk’s accusation that it improperly used Starlink and said the speed limit affected their use of Starshield until it was fixed last weekend. “Ukraine’s Defense Ministry told reporters on Oct. 24 that Starshield was working above speeds of 400 kilometers per hour (about 248 miles per hour) again,” according to The Kyiv Independent.
Musk has said that all limits on Starshield speed and usage “are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Trump denied ordering the restrictions, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had “no foreknowledge” of the slowdown.
Shaheen yesterday said, “It is concerning that the inspector general has apparently decided not to investigate satellite communication disruptions that Ukraine relies on to protect its civilians,” according to CNN.
Shaheen said the Trump administration and SpaceX gave “conflicting accounts of what led to those disruptions, which weakened Ukraine’s defenses and put American personnel in Ukraine at risk unnecessarily. There must be an independent accounting and review to determine responsibility and prevent this from happening in the future. I urge the inspector general to conduct a full investigation.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday reportedly called Elon Musk a “genius” while discussing Russia’s plan to build a satellite constellation. Putin made the comment at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow.
“The admission was all the more striking because a version of Starlink, developed by Musk’s SpaceX, has been used by Ukraine’s military throughout the war with Russia as a key component of drone operations and battlefield communications,” Reuters wrote in an article describing Putin’s comments.
Putin reportedly made his comments during a presentation by a Russian government minister who was describing Russia’s initial launches of 30 satellites. “Just a second, I want to point out this is just our first step. Elon Musk is a genius, he’s just a real genius,” Putin said, according to Reuters.
Putin noted that Starlink already operates thousands of satellites, “while we are only taking our first steps,” and said he has been in “close contact” with Musk.
“We are in close contact with our American partners—including Mr. Musk—because it is very important, in orbit, not to get in each other’s way and to maintain a certain level of discipline and order,” Putin was quoted as saying.
