SpaceX has won the U.S. Space Force's first StarShield contract. StarShield is the defense version of its Starlink satellite internet service. An Air Force representative told Bloomberg that the one-year contract is worth a maximum of $70 million. The contract "provides for the provision of StarShield end-to-end services through the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services," the representative said. The contract was signed on September 1.
SpaceX will commit $15 million by the end of this month, and the contract is expected to support more than 50 mission partners across all branches of the U.S. military.
Satellite communications systems - and Starlink in particular - were thrust into the spotlight in the early months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when SpaceX launched the service in Ukraine and shipped a large number of Starlink terminals for use by civilians and the Ukrainian military.
But the role of "Starlink" in Ukraine's defense has been questioned, especially by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk himself. While Musk initially appeared to support sending Starlink terminals to the Ukrainian military, it was later revealed that Musk refused to activate the service when Ukraine requested it ahead of a planned attack on the Russian Navy.
StarShield, announced in December, is expected to remove many of the ambiguities surrounding the use of commercial services in war operations. In announcing the StarShield program, SpaceX noted on its website that the service "leverages SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capabilities to support national security efforts," but did not provide many other details.
In fact, while SpaceX has not commented on the new contract, Musk posted on X that Starlink and Starshield are "the right sequence" to serve civilian and defense customers respectively.
The U.S. Space Force has shown similar interest in improving its satellite internet capabilities. Starlink may be particularly attractive to it because it utilizes a "proliferation" architecture consisting of thousands (eventually tens of thousands) of satellites in low Earth orbit. Having so many assets in space, rather than a small but powerful number of satellites, means the entire system is more resilient to adversaries.