US Democratic senator probes Ukraine's loss of Starshield service

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Democratic US Senator ‌Richard Blumenthal on ​Thursday said ​he had opened an inquiry into Ukraine's loss of critical access to the Pentagon's Starshield satellite communications service and the resulting degrading of Kyiv's ability to defend ‌itself against Russian attacks.

"In the late evening of October 13, Ukrainian forces lost ⁠critical access to Starshield, the military-grade counterpart to SpaceX’s Starlink network, after their access to speeds at which equipment could ‌stay connected to the network was ‌capped," Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"The episode raises urgent questions about who possesses the technical and legal authority to alter these capabilities" and whether the Pentagon ​has "sufficient alternatives" if SpaceX-provided services become unavailable, Blumenthal wrote.

Blumenthal is the senior Democrat on the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He is seeking information on whether the change in service ⁠was directed by the White House, the Department of Defense or SpaceX.

Republicans control the Senate, so Democrats lack subpoena power. Blumenthal can ​only request information and briefings from officials within and outside the government.

He said the move put Ukrainian forces and civilians at risk and raised concerns "about who ​controls critical capabilities the US government has spent billions ‌of dollars to procure."

WEAKENED UKRAINE DEFENSES

The Pentagon is the biggest customer of Starshield, which is the military-grade version of the Starlink service.

A Pentagon spokesperson said: "As ⁠with all congressional correspondence, the Department will respond directly to the authors."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 14 said Elon Musk's SpaceX had restricted Starlink services, weakening Ukraine's air defenses.

The controversy came as the Trump administration was ⁠pressuring Kyiv to halt its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and encouraging Russia to return to negotiations over ending ​its war in Ukraine.

Blumenthal told Hegseth the Senate panel will look into government interactions with and reliance on SpaceX technology. He set deadlines of November 5 for responses to questions embedded in the letter to Hegseth, and November ‌12 for a briefing by SpaceX officials with knowledge of the Starshield restriction.

Besides this latest inquiry, Blumenthal has been trying to investigate a series of ‌actions related to the Trump administration, including contracts negotiated for building a White House ballroom at an estimated ⁠cost of $400 million and Trump-linked crypto firms.

If ‌Democrats win control of the ​Senate in November 3 midterm elections, he likely would become chairman of the investigations panel.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee; Editing by ‌Jonathan Spicer )

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