Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been contracted by the US Space Force. The company has received the 70 million US Dollar contract to provide satellite communications using its new Starshield program. So here’s everything you need to know about this deal.
SpaceX Starshield: What’s it all about?
Starshield is basically SpaceX repurposing its Starlink network of satellites to offer functionality for the US military. As per official notes, it is a “secured satellite network for government entities”. The contract has a duration of one year. According to a US Space Force spokesperson, “The SpaceX contract provides for Starshield end-to-end service (via the Starlink constellation), user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services.”
During the initial stages of the contract, the Space Force will pay SpaceX a sum of 15 million US Dollars, which will have the latter offer 54 military “mission partners” across Department of Defence (DoD) branches. Interestingly enough, this news soon after US senators criticized SpaceX’s actions in Ukraine. It was recently revealed that Elon Musk refused to extend Starlink coverage to allow for a naval attack against Russian forces.
The senators expressed their dismay at his actions saying that “We are deeply concerned with the ability and willingness of SpaceX to interrupt their service at Mr. Musk’s whim”. Elon Musk shot back stating that “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.”
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