Pentagon watchdog tells lawmakers it won't investigate Starlink slowdowns to Ukraine
The watchdog said the Air Force is better positioned to review the outages as lawmakers question who authorized the slowdown and Musk’s role.
- In a Tuesday response, the Pentagon's Inspector General declined a bipartisan request to investigate recent Starlink and Starshield service disruptions in Ukraine, stating concerns are better addressed by the Air Force.
- Nine lawmakers, including four Republicans and five Democrats, had requested the investigation to determine if U.S. officials authorized satellite service changes or if Elon Musk exploited system loopholes.
- The Trump Administration and SpaceX have offered contradictory explanations for the slowdowns, with Musk claiming Ukraine violated terms of service while President Donald Trump denied ordering any restrictions.
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen criticized the watchdog's decision, calling for an independent accounting to determine responsibility for disruptions that impeded the interception of Russian attack drones.
- Finnish satellite company Iceye announced a partnership with Nokia and the Ukrainian defense ministry to explore building sovereign satellite communications capabilities following the service interruptions.
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78 Articles
The untold story of Ukraine's Starlink crisis
The crisis in Ukraine over restrictions on the military use of SpaceX’s satellite constellation in the Russia-Ukraine war won’t be readily resolved. US lawmakers and the European Commission have now joined the fray, raising questions about the accountability of Trump administration officials and SpaceX executives. Nobody likes being held accountable, so even lifting the restrictions […]
Pentagon watchdog declines to investigate Starlink outages in Ukraine
The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office declined a request from nine senators to investigate outages in Starlink and its military version, Starshield, in Ukraine, the Associated Press and CNN reported.
A request by a bi-party group of U.S. Senate deputies for a breakdown of Starshield's satellite communications system in Ukraine at the office of the genius inspector of the Pentagon advised that the Air Force should be reassigned.
The appeals of nine senators were forwarded to the United States Air Force.
The Pentagon authorities officially refused an official request from a group of American senators from both major parties, who demanded that a full investigation be initiated into the causes and circumstances of the regular technical failures of the Starlink satellite communications system in Ukraine.
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