Britain spends $40 million on SpaceX satellite services - Sarmad

(Royters) – Britain spent approximately $40 million on satellite services provided by SpaceX, increasing its reliance on billionaire Elon Musk’s company for military communications despite growing European concerns about dependence on U.S. security infrastructure.

The scale of this spending was revealed to Reuters in response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Act. This makes Britain the first country outside the United States to publicly acknowledge adopting SpaceX’s Starshield service for military and intelligence missions. Meanwhile, the Starlink service is offered to individual and corporate users.

The British Ministry of Defence stated it owns approximately 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals. It spent around £13 million ($17.6 million) on the Starshield service, including terminals and airtime, and £16.5 million on the Starlink service.

This disclosure comes as European governments seek to bolster their defense capabilities amid concerns about Washington’s long-term commitment to the continent’s security.

Musk has repeatedly criticized the British government publicly during the tenure of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was succeeded in the role by his Labour Party colleague, Andy Burnham.

Reuters reported in June, citing informed sources, that the British Ministry of Defence began using Starlink in mid-2022 and has recently started shifting operational military communications traffic to Starshield.

Armies have begun adopting Starlink since Ukraine started using it extensively following the full-scale Russian invasion that began in 2022, in areas including battlefield communications and drone operations.

SpaceX has increased the distinction between Starlink and Starshield. Musk stated that Starlink is intended for civilian use, while the company markets Starshield to government and national security clients.

SpaceX did not respond to questions, including which countries have access to Starshield services.

The British Ministry of Defence said it adopted Starshield after deciding that SpaceX would restrict Starlink usage to civilian purposes such as morale, welfare, entertainment, and training.

The ministry added that Starshield offers “enhanced encryption, military-specific terms of service, the highest level of network priority, flexible licensing arrangements, and expanded coverage.”

It noted that Britain’s Starshield service uses the same satellite constellation, ground stations, and terrestrial infrastructure as Starlink, but operates through dedicated user terminals and separate ground network gateways.

In its response to Reuters, the ministry stated that Britain began using Starshield airtime in 2024 using existing Starlink terminals and purchased its first dedicated Starshield terminals last year.

The ministry’s disclosed cost information suggests that Starshield may be significantly more expensive than Starlink.

It stated that two Starshield plans are available in Britain: one costing £5,500 per month for five terabytes of data, and an unlimited plan costing £25,000 per month.

By comparison, corporate Starlink customers in Britain can pay £1,830 per month for two terabytes of global data, along with a range of cheaper plans offering lower data allowances or coverage for more specific regions.

A well-informed source stated that the cost of a single Starshield station ranges between £4,000 and £7,000, which is at least double the publicly announced price for Starlink’s business-grade stations.