U.S. Senate To Probe Elon Musk's Decision to Deny Ukraine Starlink Services To Launch An Attack On Russia

Bloomberg: Musk's Denial of Ukraine's Starlink Request Prompts Senate Probe

The Senate Armed Services Committee is looking into national security issues raised by ’s decision not to extend the private Starlink satellite network to aid a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships near the Crimean coast.

Chairman Jack Reed said in a statement that the reports on the use of Starlink exposed “serious national-security liability issues and the committee is engaged on this issue.” “The committee is aggressively probing this issue from every angle,” he said Thursday.

Musk’s SpaceX also has become a major US contractor, launching spy satellites for the Defense Department and operating the Starlink network. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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WNU Editor: This is the background on why the US Senate wants to probe Elon Musk's decision not to extend the private Starlink satellite network to aid a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships near the Crimean coast .... Elon Musk says he denied Ukraine satellite request to avoid complicity in "major act of war" vs. Russia (AFP).

Elon Musk responds (see tweet below).

Much appreciated, Walter.

The onus is meaningfully different if I refused to act upon a request from Ukraine vs. made a deliberate change to Starlink to thwart Ukraine.

At no point did I or anyone at SpaceX promise coverage over Crimea.

Moreover, our terms of service clearly… https://t.co/jmNtScM5LY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 9, 2023