The Pentagon awarded Elon Musk's SpaceX a one-year contract for Starshield in September.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter on Saturday to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk demanding that U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan get access to SpaceX’s Starshield, a satellite communication network designed specifically for the military.

The letter, obtained by CNBC and first reported by Forbes, claimed that by not making Starshield available to U.S. military forces in Taiwan, SpaceX could violate its Pentagon contract, which requires “global access” to Starshield technology.

  • @geekworking
    97•9 months ago

    Why TF are we renting military stuff from any 3rd party and essentially giving them control to override the military chain of command in the first place? I can’t see this sitting well with anyone on the military side of this.

    • @DandomRude
      20•9 months ago

      Presumably for the same reason that many US prisons are run by private individuals.

    • @mods_are_assholes
      3•9 months ago

      Outsourcing is the new thing, you don’t have to take the blame and that’s value for a lot of decision makers.

      Also it always, ALWAYS results in a shittier product. Which is part of the reason why the world is fucked right now.

    • @kerrypacker
      -21•9 months ago

      That’s how the whole military works. You think they spend too much now…try socialising it all.