US senators ask Musk to keep records on Starlink limits in Ukraine

what happened

Democrats in the Senate have asked Elon Musk to hold onto documents tied to SpaceX's Starlink and Starshield internet services in Ukraine. The request appears in a letter released on Friday and was reported by Bloomberg, according to Stocktwits.

The move follows renewed limits on Starshield terminals used by Ukrainian units at the front. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the restrictions had come back earlier this week. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Coons wrote that earlier disruptions weakened air defense, put American personnel at risk and raised doubts about how much control SpaceX holds over critical communications.

Musk responded that Ukraine's military broke Starlink's terms of service by using the service for offensive drone strikes, a claim Kyiv rejects. He said Starshield is a separate system under US government control and that SpaceX closed a loophole it had been exploited through last week.

why it matters

Democrats say they will make SpaceX's role in the war a central issue when the new Congress convenes in January, which could add political pressure on the company, whose shares trade under SPCX.

market impact

SpaceX (SPCX): more political scrutiny in Washington weighs on sentiment toward the stock

• ▼SpaceX shares (SPCX) pressure down — growing congressional scrutiny of the company's role in the Ukraine war

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instruments

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