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SpaceX has won a Pentagon contract to supply military communications to the US Armed Forces using Starlink technology.
The contract was awarded to SpaceX’s Starshield program, which is applying the company’s Starlink technology to defense and government communications.
According to Bloomberg, the US Space Force awarded the contract, which is worth up to $70 million, on Sept. 1 to help the military tap communications using low-Earth orbiting satellites. Specifically, the contract “provides for Starshield end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services,” an Air Force spokeswoman told the media outlet.
However, details about the exact arrangement are thin. In a tweet on Wednesday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk signaled the military communications from the Pentagon contract will remain siloed from the rest of the Starlink network. "??Starlink needs to be a civilian network, not a participant to combat. Starshield will be owned by the US government and controlled by DoD Space Force. This is the right order of things,” he said.
This comes as Musk faces criticism for restricting Starlink’s coverage for the Ukrainian military. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, the Ukrainian military had asked the SpaceX CEO to enable Starlink coverage in Crimea, but Musk refused over concerns doing so would escalate the ongoing war between the country and Russia.
SpaceX winning the contract also underscores how it has become the dominant supplier for rocket launches and satellite communications when competitors have struggled to catch up. Hence, the US and other governments have had little choice but to partner with the company.
That said, SpaceX’s Starshield is just one of 16 companies competing for contracts to supply military communications to the US Armed Forces. Other providers include Hughes Network, the Viasat-owned Inmarsat, and OneWeb.