Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation into disruptions to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service used by Ukraine, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said nobody in the White House had ordered the slowdown and that it “sort of happened.” Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that Congress needed to establish what happened to technology relied on by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations. There needs to be a congressional investigation,” Turner told CBS News’ Face the Nation. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota separately backed an investigation, adding that the disruption could have resulted from a technical problem rather than a deliberate decision.
The calls add to scrutiny over problems involving Starlink and Starshield, SpaceX’s military-focused system. reported Thursday, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter, that the order to slow the Starshield service used by Ukraine came from inside the White House. The officials did not identify who made the decision. A senior U.S. official told that “no such request was ever made by the president,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that the instruction came from the U.S. government and was technically implemented by SpaceX.
Newsweek reached out to the White House on Sunday evening for comment. Ukrainian officials began reporting difficulties with satellite connectivity last week as the restrictions began affecting military operations. Asked Sunday whether Rubio’s explanation for what happened was sufficient, Turner responded: “Absolutely not.” “This is something where there needs to be an investigation.
There needs to be a congressional investigation,” he said. I don’t know for sure or whose call it was.” Cramer said Congress “could and should investigate,” while emphasizing that his immediate priority was restoring the capability and expanding Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian launch facilities. Starlink is SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet service, while Starshield is a SpaceX business that develops military and intelligence satellite systems for the Pentagon, reported.
Starshield’s secure communications services use enhanced encryption and dedicated terminals but rely on the vast Starlink satellite constellation as their backbone. The restriction, which AP reported was imposed without warning, cuts the internet data connection when a communications terminal moves faster than 160 kph, or 100 mph. Ukrainian forces use Starshield-equipped interceptor drones at speeds above that threshold to pursue Russia’s jet-powered Shahed drones, while the cap also affects Ukrainian helicopters used to hunt drones.
SpaceX fixed communications outages that emerged after the restriction was introduced, but the 100-mph cap remained, Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to Zelensky, told the AP. separately reported, citing a person in Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, that the receivers had resumed working while in motion but only at speeds of up to 100 mph. Rubio said Saturday that Ukraine does not currently have access to Starshield, although Kyiv has requested it to carry out strikes deeper inside Russia. They do not have Starshield now,” Rubio said.
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