NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said his department is comfortable working with SpaceX despite recent reports about Elon Musk restricting the usage of the corporate’s Starlink satellite services in Ukraine.
During a news conference Sept. 11 on the Air Space & Cyber conference, Kendall said he couldn’t comment on reports — from news media and from Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson — that SpaceX’s boss thwarted Ukrainian forces by shutting off Starlink’s satellite network over Crimea — a territory occupied by Russia that Ukraine was fighting to reclaim.
Kendall said he just isn’t aware of the terms of SpaceX’s agreement with Ukraine. But he said any company that signs a contract with DoD, including one run by a robust billionaire, could be expected to comply with the terms of that contract.
The U.S. Air Force and other DoD organizations have acquired Starlink web services under various contracts and haven’t experienced problems, Kendall noted. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, SpaceX provided Starlink services at its own expense and thru an agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Most recently, DoD has signed agreements with SpaceX and other satellite communications services providers to support Ukraine. Kendall said he has not seen those contracts but would expect them to be clear on what’s expected from providers.
“The Department of Defense relies on enforceable and executable contracts,” said Kendall. “And whoever owns the corporate has to follow the contract.”
Reliable launch provider
While the Air Force is sort of comfortable counting on SpaceX for launch services, said Kendall, “Starlink is a comparatively recent” product and the federal government remains to be learning about its capabilities.
Being depending on large and powerful firms just isn’t unusual for DoD, Kendall noted. “We’re highly depending on other firms like Lockheed Martin.”
As a launch provider, SpaceX has been a “reliable competitor,” he said. “They’ve brought prices down … and their launches have been pretty reliable to date.”
Today, only United Launch Alliance competes with SpaceX for national security launches. Kendall said he hopes to see other competitors like Blue Origin enter the market. He said Space Force procurement executive Frank Calvelli is working with Congress to finalize the main points of the subsequent national security space launch procurement, generally known as NSSL Phase 3.
“We’re gonna have robust competition and pretty reliable capabilities,” said Kendall. “I’m probably not concerned about that. But nonetheless, business relationships are about executable, enforceable contracts. And I feel we’re pretty good at writing contracts and enforcing our contracts.”