Staff Reports
Jeanne Shaheen, Elizabeth Warren, and Tammy Duckworth, who are all Democrats, wrote a message to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about their worries about Elon Musk's Starlink service. The senators want to know what steps the Defense Department has taken to stop Musk from messing with the service, especially in light of a Ukrainian attack on Russia's naval forces.
https://x.com/RutkowskiDr/status/1703149224009830829?s=20
The senators say that there needs to be a reaction to the confusion over the attack in Ukraine and Musk's role in it. They point out that the company behind Starlink, SpaceX, is a big contractor for the Department of Defense and has gotten a lot of money from taxpayers. The senators say that it is bad for national security if companies like SpaceX can stop their services on their own.
Also, the senators want to know about any other times when service companies disabled or changed services on their own for reasons that were not technical. They also want to know if the Defense Department has plans for making skills that are redundant. The senators say that the answer date of October 31 is important because it could affect U.S. national security.
Concerns have been raised because of what Walter Isaacson said in his recent account of Elon Musk. The biography says that Musk turned off Starlink near Crimea in September 2022 after talking to a Russian official who said that if the disputed region was attacked, it could lead to a nuclear war. Starlink is a satellite that is run by SpaceX. It gives internet service to many countries, including Ukraine, which is at war with Russia.
It worries us that Democrats in the Senate jump to conclusions and demand answers before they have enough information. Even though it's important to keep the country safe, it's also important not to make false charges against successful people like Elon Musk. Before assuming guilt, the Defense Department should be given a chance to explain what happened.
