According to people familiar with the matter, the UK has begun using SpaceX's military satellite network "Starshield", becoming one of the first countries outside the United States to adopt the government version of Elon Musk's Starlink service.
"StarShield" was developed specifically for the U.S. government and is designed to perform military and intelligence missions and has enhanced security features; while SpaceX's standard broadband service "Starlink" is aimed at consumers and business users.
According to people familiar with the matter, the British Ministry of Defense began to transition military operation traffic to the more expensive "Star Shield" service at the beginning of this year.
The British Ministry of Defense did not comment on Star Shield in a statement. The statement said that British military personnel still use "Starlink" for non-combat purposes, such as keeping in touch with family members during deployment, and "is not used for military operations." The statement added that the UK Ministry of Defense uses multiple suppliers for its armed forces.
Musk has been trying to clearly distinguish between Starshield and Starlink, claiming that Starlink should not be used in weapons systems.