Pentagon declines to investigate Starlink and Starshield outages in Ukraine

The Pentagon's Inspector General has declined to investigate disruptions to Starlink and Starshield satellite systems in Ukraine, despite a bipartisan request from nine US senators. The senators, four Republicans and five Democrats, sought to determine who ordered the restrictions and whether US officials were involved. They also asked whether the outages affected intelligence sharing and threat warnings. The Inspector General referred the matter to the US Air Force, citing jurisdiction. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen criticized the refusal, noting conflicting explanations from the Trump administration and SpaceX. The restrictions, reported on October 14, disrupted military missions and drone operations. President Trump claimed Elon Musk lifted them on October 23, but Ukrainian officials said they remained until October 24.