SpaceX received a contract from the Pentagon to expand Ukraineʼs access to Starshield
- Author:
- Olha Bereziuk
- Date:
Elon Muskʼs company SpaceX has received a contract from the Pentagon to expand Ukraineʼs access to a more secure, militarized version of its Starlink satellite network.
This was reported to the Bloomberg agency by the Office of Commercial Satellites of the Space Systems Command.
The contract provides that the 2 500 Starlink terminals already in Ukraine will have access to Starshield, a classified and encrypted signal through Starlink that is more difficult to hack or jam. This is in addition to the 500 terminals that were previously connected to Starshield.
"The contracts have a common goal "to make it easier to connect to the Internet in Ukraine. Both contracts provide for the provision of services throughout 2025," the department noted.
The contract was signed back in August, but this information was not disclosed before. Incumbent Joe Biden has sought to give Ukraine more leverage in anticipation of Trump pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate with Russia to end the war.
The Space Systems Command declined to disclose the value of the new contract, although a previous deal with the US Forces European Command for 500 terminals was worth about $40 million.
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has been using Starlink for critical communication on the front, as well as to support the needs of the civilian population.
- Shortly after that, Elon Musk began to threaten to stop financial support for Starlink in Ukraine — because of the high costs for SpaceX. The billionaire also said that his satellites are not intended for military use, and expressed fears about the "escalation of the conflict".
- Ultimately, in 2023, the Pentagon signed a separate contract with SpaceX to provide satellite Internet service for Ukraine for $23 million. The US Department of Defense also has an agreement with Musk to launch military satellites.
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