SpaceX gets Pentagon contract to expand Starshield in Ukraine: why it matters
Kyiv • UNN
The Pentagon has signed a contract with SpaceX to connect 2,500 Starlink terminals in Ukraine to the Secure star shield network. The contract will be valid until 2025 and will provide more secure military communications.
Spaces has received a contract with the Pentagon to expand Ukraine's access to a more secure, militarized version of the Starlink satellite network, writes UNN with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
According to these contracts, 2,500 Starlink terminals that already exist in Ukraine will have access to Starshield, a secret and encrypted signal via Starlink that is more difficult to crack or disable. Before that, only 500 terminals were connected to Star shield.
"A total of 3,000 terminals provide services under two contracts," the commercial satellite office of the Space Systems Command said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
The purpose of these contracts is to facilitate internet connection in Ukraine, and services will be provided until 2025.
The previously undisclosed contract was signed in August, before Donald Trump won the 2024 election. Then Joe Biden tried to strengthen military assistance to Ukraine, because he expected Donald Trump's pressure on Zelensky to negotiate with Russia.
The cost of the new contract was not disclosed by the Space Systems Command, but the preliminary agreement with the US European Command for 500 terminals was approximately 4 40 million.
Add
Future US assistance to Ukraine and SpaceX's role in it are ambiguous. Due to the fact that Elon Musk became a key adviser to Donald Trump, who promised to end the Russian-Ukrainian war as soon as possible.
In 2022, Elon Musk threatened to stop financial support for Starlink in Ukraine, saying that his company could not bear the costs indefinitely. He also stated that Starlink terminals are not intended for military use, and that he will not allow the development of events in which the Third World War will begin.
He also proposed a peace agreement, according to which the occupied Crimea would remain with Russia, and the re-holding of elections in the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Shortly after the US presidential election, Musk joined a conversation between Trump and Zelensky, highlighting his influence. According to the information, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Musk for the Starlink system, which has maintained communication between Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
The new contract was signed as part of the Space Forces ' extended low-Earth orbit program, which provides for the use of communication services for satellites orbiting at an altitude of 160 to 1,900 kilometers above Earth.
Recall
Three leading European Space companies plan to create a joint venture to compete with Starlink. The project, codenamed "Bromo", involves the development of a new super-satellite.
