House China committee demands Elon Musk open SpaceX Starshield internet to U.S. troops in Taiwan
House China committee demands Elon Musk open SpaceX Starshield internet to U.S. troops in Taiwan
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.
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This is crazy talk. Anybody can smuggle some terminals into their country. That doesn't mean they're being "helped". The US government would come down on SpaceX with unprecedented force if they violated sanctions like that
It's crazy talk? No. It's reality. Elon shut down Starlink for the Ukraine military with the excuse that they would have started World War 3. Meaning he has the power to shut down Starlink for the Russians as well.
They didn't have it on in that area and refused to turn it on when asked. They didn't just shut down the sats.
Who said anything about shutting down satellites?
Fair. I was referring to starlink access. They refused to turn them on in Crimea, but they didn't disable it while Ukraine was on a mission as was initially reported.
I'd love to better understand your position. it seems like you think that Starlink is aware of who is using a terminal. how can Starlink differentiate between a Ukrainian and Russian user in the same general area? should Starlink randomly turn off user terminals it suspects? what if it accidentally turns off a Ukrainian one? billing is obv not a good indicator
I want to understand your thoughts a little more clearly on this
The area is Russian-occupied. Just turn off Starlink to that area. It's not hard.
Yes, that sucks for anyone stuck there. But this is war. You don't let the Russians have an advantage.
I don't think that's where the problem I'm raising is. Think about an active confrontation area where both sides have Starlink. How do you tell which to turn off in this case? Ideally Ukraine would be using starshield and then Starlink can be turned off entirely
Elon seems to have worked that out already.
https://apnews.com/article/spacex-ukraine-starlink-russia-air-force-fde93d9a69d7dbd1326022ecfdbc53c2
that doesn't seem to support your assertion. blocking terminals in a specific geographic location (crimea) doesn't explain how to tell apart two sides using terminals in the same geographic area
Blocking terminals in the same geographic location- such as Russian-controlled territory? Something he isn't doing?
On an active battlefront these territories aren't strictly defined or are changing quickly. With that methodology if Ukrainian advanced too quickly into what was previously Russian territory, bam - Starlink stops working. That seems undesirable
Sorry... you're saying that SpaceX can't just turn access on and off whenever they feel like it? Like my ISP can if I don't pay my bill?
Coordinating with the Ukrainian military would be enough to tell them what to turn on and off.