Britain Turns to SpaceX for Military Communications

Britain has spent nearly $40m on SpaceX satellite services, deepening its reliance on Elon Musk's company for military communications at a time of growing European concerns about dependence on US security infrastructure.

Britain has become the first country outside the United States to publicly acknowledge its use of the Starshield service, which is designed for military and intelligence missions. The ministry of defense has approximately 1,000 Starshield terminals and an additional 500 Starlink terminals. It spent about £13m ($17.6m) on Starshield, including operational costs, and £16.5m ($22.3m) on Starlink.

The ministry began using Starlink in mid-2022 but is gradually shifting military communications to Starshield, because SpaceX has stipulated that the military may use Starlink only for morale-boosting, rest, recreation and training purposes. Starshield offers stronger encryption, priority network access, broader coverage and special licensing terms.

Meanwhile, the UK operates its own military satellite network, Skynet, and is a shareholder in the French company Eutelsat.

Starshield is significantly more expensive than Starlink. Monthly plans cost £5,500 ($7,450) or £25,000 ($33,750), and terminals cost £4,000–£7,000 ($5,400–$9,500). New Zealand is currently testing the service for potential military use.

(Reuters, bak)