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House Democrats have initiated an investigation into Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned company that provides internet service via satellite, over claims Russia had access to the service to aid in its occupation of Ukraine.
On Thursday, Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California sent a letter to the chief operating officer of SpaceX, which owns Starlink, expressing concern over accusations from Ukrainian officials that its intelligence service had discovered Russians using the technology in the occupied region of Donetsk. One reason this could be a problem is because President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2022 that prohibits Americans from making new business investments in Donetsk while its under Russian control.
Raskin and Garcia sent the letter in their capacities as ranking members on the House Oversight Committee and National Security Subcommittee, respectively.
“Starlink is an invaluable resource for Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s brutal and illegitimate invasion," they wrote. "It is alarming that Russia may be obtaining and using your technology to coordinate attacks against Ukrainian troops in illegally occupied regions in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, potentially in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls."
In early February, Musk responded on his X social media platform to the news reports on the Ukrainians' claims, saying that they are "categorically false" and that “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.” But as the Guardian noted, many people have wondered whether Russia could have used digital trickery to access Starlink in Ukraine. A few days prior to Musk's post, Starlink addressed the reports, stating that when such accusations are made, "we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed." (For what it's worth, a Russian spokesperson also denied to the BBC that the country was using Starlink. SpaceX does not appear to have responded publicly to the letter.)
The possibility that the allegations are true underscores why many people have sounded the alarm on Musk’s outsize influence over U.S. national security as someone whose privately held companies — particularly SpaceX and Starlink — are major contractors for the U.S. government and other countries. As far as SpaceX is concerned, the government wouldn’t have these issues with transparency if the company were public or owned in part by the government.
After Musk refused to extend Starlink’s service to allow Ukraine to attack Russia in Crimea, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., opened a probe into what he called “serious national-security liability issues” caused by “the outsized role Mr. Musk and his company” have in the satellite market and government contracting space.
Raskin and Garcia’s probe just adds to that scrutiny. At last, it seems people are beginning to realize that a defense infrastructure that relies so heavily on technology that belongs to a mercurial conspiracy theorist is a bad idea.