SpaceX unveils “Starshield” satellite project for military use

December 6, 2022 FA8Dd 0 Comments

SpaceX is expanding its satellite internet business.

SpaceX is already delivering broadband service to customers around the world through its enormous and ever-growing Stellar Link constellation. During the weekend, Elon MuskStarlink’s company revealed that Starlink now has a partner project called Starshield, which is designed for use by government agencies, especially those in the national security sector.

“Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts,” SpaceX recently posted. Stellar Shield Page (opens in a new tab) bed.

“While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use, with an initial focus on three areas,” the page adds. These areas are Earth observation, communications, and hosted payloads (the ability to put a wide variety of instruments on the Starshield satellite bus).

Starshield will offer a higher level of security than Starlink, with “additional high-assurance cryptographic capability to host classified payloads and process data securely, meeting the most demanding government requirements,” according to SpaceX’s Starshield page.

The Starshield spacecraft will also be interoperable with other satellites equipped with the laser communication terminal used by Starlink craft, the page adds.

That’s about all we know about Starshield; the page doesn’t provide many other details about the new project.

We know a lot more, of course, about Starlink. The megaconstellation consists of over 3,200 active satellites and will grow significantly in the months and years to come.

SpaceX has already obtained clearance from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy 12,000 first-generation Starlink craft, the type currently operating in low Earth orbit.

The company has applied for permission to launch nearly 30,000 Starlink 2.0 satellites on top of that. These new spacecraft, which SpaceX plans to launch primarily using its next-gen Spatialship rocket, will be much larger and more powerful than their predecessors. For example, Starlink 2.0 satellites will be able to beam the service directly to cellphones, which SpaceX plans to start making next year.

Last week, the FCC granted SpaceX permission to deploy only 7,500 Starlink 2.0 ships, citing concerns about space debris and space traffic. The agency reserves its judgment on the rest of the application.

Mike Wall is the author of “The low (opens in a new tab)(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) Or on Facebook (opens in a new tab).