Democratic senators order Musk to preserve records over Ukraine Starlink access, WSJ reports

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Democratic senators have told Elon Musk to preserve all records related to SpaceX's SPCX.O restrictions on Ukraine's use of its Starlink and Starshield satellite services, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a letter.

Ukrainian forces say Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink, is vital for front-line communications and drone operations in their defense against Russian drone and missile attacks.

But in mid-October, Ukrainian officials complained that the service had been restricted without explanation or warning, limiting the military's ability to conduct complicated strike missions against Russian forces and slowing interceptor drones used to shoot down Russian attack drones.

"The October and November restrictions now raise the disturbing possibility that these vulnerabilities persist even within systems on which the U.S. government relies," Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Coons said in the letter to Musk, the report said.

The lawmakers sought SpaceX's records since September 1, including all communications related to Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine as well as communications between Musk, SpaceX executives and the White House and Pentagon, the report said.

Shaheen and Coons said the restrictions raised "serious questions" about SpaceX's control over communications systems critical to national security and criticized what they described as “opaque decision-making,” according to the Journal.

Reuters reported in October that an order to limit Starshield service used by Ukrainian forces came from inside the White House. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later disputed that account, saying decisions on Ukraine's access to the service were up to SpaceX and Musk.

Later that month Ukraine said Starlink and Starshield were operating normally. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Thursday, however, that Ukrainian military units had again recorded disruptions to Starshield communications.