Despite growing European worries about reliance on U.S. security infrastructure, Britain has increased its reliance on Elon Musk’s firm for military communications by investing about $40 million in SpaceX and launching new Starlink satellite services.
This makes Britain the first non-US nation to openly acknowledge using SpaceX’s Starshield service for military and intelligence operations. Starlink is advertised to both business and commercial consumers.
There are perhaps 500 Starlink terminals and 1,000 Starshield terminals, according to Britain’s defense ministry.
It has invested £16.5 million in Starlink and approximately £13 million ($17.6 million) in Starshield, which includes terminals and airtime.
Amid worries about Washington’s long-term commitment to the security of the continent, European nations are looking to strengthen their own defense capabilities at the time of the disclosure.
During Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister, which was recently succeeded by fellow Labour Party member Andy Burnham, Musk publicly denounced the British government on numerous occasions.
Britain’s defense ministry started utilizing Starlink in the middle of 2022 and has more recently been moving operational military communications traffic to Starshield.
Since Ukraine started utilizing the network extensively after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, militaries have been embracing Starlink, including for drone operations and battlefield communications.
SpaceX has been differentiating between Starlink and Starshield more and more.
According to Musk, Starshield is sold to government and national security clients, whereas Starlink is meant for public use.
Following SpaceX’s directive that Starlink be used exclusively for training, recreation, welfare, and morale, Britain’s defense ministry announced it embraced Starshield.
The ministry said Starshield provides “enhanced encryption, military-specific terms of service, the highest level of network prioritization, flexible licensing arrangements, and expanded coverage.”
According to the ministry, Starshield runs through dedicated terminals and distinct ground-based network gateways, but it employs the same satellite constellation, ground stations, and terrestrial infrastructure as Starlink in the UK.
In 2024, Britain started utilizing Starshield airtime with its current Starlink terminals, according to the ministry’s statement. Last year, it bought its first Starshield terminals specifically.
In addition, Britain owns a portion of Eutelsat, a French company that operates the only significant low-Earth orbit (LEO) broadband satellite constellation aside from Starlink, and has its own military satellite communications network, Skynet.
MUSK DESIRES THAT THE MILITARY USES STARSHIELD
Pricing information released by the ministry indicates that Starshield can be significantly more expensive than Starlink.
It stated that there are two Starshield plans available in Britain: an unlimited plan that costs £25,000 per month and a five terabyte plan that costs £5,500 per month.
In contrast, Starlink business users in the UK can purchase two terabytes of global data for £1,830 per month, in addition to a number of less expensive plans with smaller data allotments or greater regional coverage.
Starshield terminals range in price from £4,000 to £7,000. That is at least twice as much as what business-grade Starlink terminals are advertised to cost.
Some U.S. officials were incensed when SpaceX charged the Pentagon five times more for Starlink services, which are used to direct kamikaze drones during operations against Iran.
According to Musk, the rise was a result of using Starlink instead of Starshield, which he claimed ought to have been employed.
The service is being assessed by at least a few other U.S. partners. A representative for the New Zealand Defense Force said that the country is testing Starshield “to investigate its usefulness” in assisting military operations.
Starlink technology is the foundation of Starshield.
SpaceX occasionally creates specialized satellite constellations for U.S. government clients.
The U.S. government awarded more than $6 billion in multi-year Starshield contracts, mostly through two major U.S. Space Force programs for LEO constellations, according to the company’s most recent quarterly results.
SpaceX has constructed the largest constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites in the world since launching Starlink in 2020.
The company’s largest revenue stream now comes from this business, which also supported its most recent stock market debut—the biggest IPO ever.
