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Democratic lawmakers are probing SpaceX over Russia’s reported use of Starlink in Ukraine, saying that recent developments raise questions about SpaceX’s “compliance with US sanctions and export controls.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last month denied what he called “false news reports [that] claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia,” saying that, “to the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.” But Musk’s statement didn’t satisfy US Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who sent a letter to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell yesterday.
“Starlink is an invaluable resource for Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s brutal and illegitimate invasion. 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 US sanctions and export controls,” Raskin and Garcia wrote.
Musk has also stated that “Starlink satellites will not close the link in Russia.” However, the concerns raised by Rankin and Garcia are about whether Russia used the broadband service in Ukraine. Their letter said that Ukraine last month “released intercepted audio communications between Russian soldiers that indicated Russian forces had illegally deployed and activated Starlink terminals in certain Russian-occupied areas in Eastern Ukraine.”
Starlink works near the front lines because otherwise Ukraine would not be able to use it either. However the front lines are constantly changing and you can’t expect anyone to be able to accurately track them at the resolution that would be required for SpaceX to make sure it immediately stops working once you move to the occupied side.
Oh no?! Requiring a multi billion dollar company that literally does rocket science, to actually take measures to not have the Russian military use their infra while invading another country. What a bizarre idea, no way this will be possible for these poor corporations.
Maybe stop acting as if a poor company needs protecting. Most large corporations need a firm boot up their ass. Companies owned and operated under space karen need two!
You do not have a clue about the efforts SpaceX is putting into trying to stop this from happening.
So? We can see the effects and conclude… not enough.
It is hilarious I’m getting downvoted for stating a multi-billion dollar company should assure a dictatorial regime should not be able to use their infra to commit warcrimes and invade another country.
Space Karen is a douche nozzle. He actively wants to remove worker protections to be able to exploit workers more, questions the need for NATO… worshipping the billionaire class is not going to help anyone except the billionaires.