this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Maybe - just maybe - a private citizen shouldn't be left in control of contracted military infrastructure at all...
If we had a policy of nationalizing contracted military infrastructure, then nobody would make a contract with the military.
And while this may sound good to some, it sure wouldn't be in Ukraine's interest. Unreliable Starlink access is better than no Starlink access at all.
It doesn't have to be nationalized, but it doesn't make any sense for a civilian to be able to unilaterally make decisions like that while under military contract. At the very least, any decision to change or influence the contracted service while the contract is active should require some sort of review and approval. Maybe there's a good reason it's the way it is, I'm just a layman, but every time I hear about this it just baffles me why it was even allowable for Elon to make the call he did, or any call for that matter.
A key issue, often overlooked, is that US law imposes significant restrictions on the export and sale of military hardware.
Starlink is currently not considered military hardware. SpaceX is desperately trying to keep it that way, their ultimate goal is to sell subscriptions to civilians. Thus they get anxious when it is openly used for military purposes.
In this regard Starlink is somewhat similar to civilian GPS receivers, which automatically shut down at 1200 mph so they can't be used in missiles.