# Lawmakers Urge DoD to Renew Ukraine Starshield Contract

On October 23, 2026, a bipartisan, bicameral group of eight lawmakers asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Department of Defense to renew the Starshield contract and restore Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Starshield communications after reported outages. They cited concerns about bandwidth, geographic coverage, and service reliability, and asked DoD to review whether Defense Production Act authority could be used. The request concerns continuity and performance of an existing service; it does not announce a contract value, solicitation, or procurement timetable.

- DoD and the incumbent service provider may face renewed scrutiny of service availability, coverage, bandwidth, and reliability for communications supporting Ukraine.
- Because no new competition or timeline was announced, this is a contract-continuity and service-performance signal rather than an open bid opportunity.
- Contractors providing satellite communications or related support can use the stated concerns to assess service resilience and performance risks in comparable government work; the signal does not specify new requirements or a procurement action.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Information Technology
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure
**Published:** October 23, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. House of Representatives

### Sources
- [Slotkin, Kelly, Tillis Press Pentagon to Reinstate Starshield Capabilities for Ukraine  - Senator Elissa Slotkin](https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/2026/10/23/slotkin-kelly-tillis-press-pentagon-to-reinstate-starshield-capabilities-for-ukraine/) - Slotkin Senate