(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Song Jin-won = The Democratic Party, which won the U.S. midterm election, announced an investigation into the controversy over Ukraine's restrictions on the use of Starshield satellite communication service and requested SpaceX owner Elon Musk to preserve related data.
The US daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) obtained a letter sent to Musk by Democratic Senators Gene Chahine (New Hampshire) and Chris Coons (Delaware) and reported this on the 13th (local time).
In the letter, the two lawmakers pointed out that restrictions on Starshield satellite communication service that occurred from October 13 to 24 and on the 12th of this month disrupted Ukraine's military operations. StarShield is a military version of SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink.
Ukraine has been relying on Musk's Starlink and Starshield since the Russian invasion decimated its ground communications network. Satellite communication is a core foundation that supports the Ukrainian military's drone operations and precision strikes, and is an essential means for command and control and sharing battlefield situations.
However, after Ukraine came into conflict with the United States in the middle of last month over the 'energy truce' proposed by US President Donald Trump and the US-Russia 'transit deal', speed limits were imposed, causing controversy. Recently, it has been reported that serious disruptions have occurred in Starshield operations throughout Ukraine.
Restrictions on satellite communications significantly hamper the Ukrainian military's ability to strike Russian forces and defend against Russian attacks. In fact, the letter pointed out that Russia carried out about 4,000 airstrikes against Ukraine during the October service disruption period.
The difference in explanations between Musk and U.S. government officials regarding who approved the service restrictions is also at the core of the controversy.
Musk asserted that "restrictions on military Starshields are decided by the U.S. military authorities and ultimately the U.S. President," asserting that he was in fact following President Trump's instructions.
On the other hand, President Trump said, "That wasn't what I did. It wouldn't have been Elon (Musk) either," and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also dismissed the claim that the White House ordered a communications blockade as "completely false."
In response, Representatives Shaheen and Coons pointed out that the restrictions on Starshield service "raise serious questions regarding SpaceX's control over national security communications networks." It also criticized the "opaque decision-making" behind the move and demanded that Musk reveal who outside SpaceX approved the service speed limits.
The two lawmakers emphasized that the Ukraine case raises "concerns that these vulnerabilities may still exist even within the systems that the U.S. government relies on."
Democratic lawmakers asked Musk to preserve all related data to understand the circumstances of the incident and the decision-making process. Those subject to preservation include all records and communication data related to Starlink and StarShield services in Ukraine since September 1, as well as related communication data exchanged between Musk and SpaceX executives with the White House and the Department of Defense.
Lawmakers asked Musk to answer specific questions and confirm compliance with data preservation requests by the 30th of this month.
The Democratic Party, which has secured a majority position in both houses of Congress, plans to launch an investigation into influential corporate executives with close ties to the current government, including the Trump administration and Musk. House Democratic leaders also designated an investigation into Musk's work at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the beginning of the second Trump administration as a priority.
