On September 28, Beijing time, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has won its first contract from the U.S. Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the company’s new “Starshield” program. The contract further expands Musk's role as a defense contractor.
The U.S. Space Force has previously launched a new "Proliferated Low Earth Orbit" (PLEO) contract program to provide communications services using orbiting satellites 100 miles to 1,000 miles above the Earth (approximately 160 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers). The program will provide $900 million worth of work orders through 2028. SpaceX is bidding against 15 companies including Viasat for these orders. SpaceX will provide StarShield services through the existing Starlink communications satellite constellation.
U.S. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said that the military awarded SpaceX a one-year contract for Star Shield on September 1 this year. The contract, with a value of up to US$70 million (approximately 510 million yuan), "provides end-to-end services for Starlink through Starlink constellations, user terminals, auxiliary equipment, network management and other related services." The spokesperson said that SpaceX will receive approximately $15 million by September 30 this year. The payments come from funding for 54 "mission partners" supporting the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
Star Shield is part of SpaceX’s special projects department, whose vice president is Terrence O’Shaughnessy, a retired Air Force general and former commander of U.S. Northern Command. He joined SpaceX in October 2000, shortly after retiring from the Air Force, according to U.S. government ethics filings. The form shows that he recused himself from any deal with SpaceX in May 2020 before retiring.
As of press time, SpaceX has not commented on the new contract. But on September 8, Musk wrote on his social media platform
This previously undisclosed “task order” further increases SpaceX’s business with the U.S. Department of Defense. Previously, SpaceX was competing with United Launch Alliance for the business of launching U.S. national security payloads, and in June this year signed a contract with the Pentagon to provide Starlink satellite communications to the Ukrainian military. The contract amount was not disclosed. In addition, SpaceX will also use Falcon 9 to launch 13 satellites for the Pentagon Space Development Agency this month.
However, the U.S. military’s growing reliance on Musk has members of Congress worried. A group of Democratic senators wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: "SpaceX is a prime contractor and important industry partner for the Department of Defense, and a recipient of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. We are deeply concerned about SpaceX's ability and willingness to disrupt their services at Musk's whims in order to constrain a sovereign nation's ability to defend itself."