Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) might have contravened its Pentagon contract by not providing access to its satellite communication network Starshield in and around Taiwan, a letter from a US House of Representatives committee to the company said.
In September last year, the US Department of Defense awarded SpaceX a one-year contract for Starshield access, worth US$100 million. A few months before that, the Pentagon also commissioned SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to be used by Ukrainian forces amid Russia’s invasion.
Starshield is a derivative of Starlink intended for military use.
Photo: Reuters
SpaceX has long worked closely with the US military and intelligence agencies, which contract the company to launch government satellites used for the transmission of sensitive and classified information.
US Representative Mike Gallagher, who is chairman of the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wrote the letter to company founder Elon Musk following Gallagher’s three-day visit to Taiwan that concluded on Saturday.
The letter was obtained by CNBC after Forbes magazine first reported on it.
In the letter, the Republican representative said the company’s contract with the Pentagon requires the US military to have global access to the satellite network.
“Multiple sources have disclosed to the committee that Starshield is inactive in and around Taiwan,” the CNBC report quoted the letter as saying, adding that it asks Musk to provide a briefing on the issue to the committee before Friday next week.
“In the event of CCP military aggression against Taiwan, American servicemembers in the Western Pacific would be put at severe risk,” the letter said. “Ensuring robust communication networks for US military personnel on and around Taiwan is paramount for safeguarding US interests in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s top military intelligence official accused the company of providing the Russian military with Starlink services in occupied areas of Ukraine. Musk responded at the time that SpaceX would not sell Starlink terminal services to Russia.
Musk has also referred to Taiwan as “an integral part of China” and said he “knows China well.”
In 2022, Musk said in an interview with the Financial Times that Taiwan’s future could be resolved by Beijing through “establishing Taiwan as a special administrative region.”
CNBC said that Musk’s stance on Taiwan has allowed automaker Tesla Inc — of which Musk is CEO — to thrive amid rocky US-China relations, and Beijing to permit it to have its own factory in Shanghai, while other foreign automakers in China are required to set up joint ventures with Chinese companies.
SpaceX and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Gallagher’s letter.
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