SpaceX gets US contract to expand Ukraine’s access to Starshield

SpaceX received a Pentagon contract to expand Ukraine’s access to a more secure, militarized version of its Starlink satellite network, deepening the company’s involvement in the conflict despite founder Elon Musk’s ambivalence over the war, Report informs via Bloomberg.

The contract means that 2,500 Starlink terminals already in Ukraine will get access to Starshield, a classified and encrypted signal over Starlink that’s more difficult to hack into or jam. That number is in addition to the 500 that were previously connected to Starshield.

“A total of 3,000 terminals are provided service via the two contracts,” according to a statement to Bloomberg News from the Space Systems Command’s Commercial Satellite Office. The contracts share a common purpose “to facilitate internet connectivity in Ukraine,” it said. “Both provide service into 2025.”

The previously undisclosed contract was awarded in August, before Donald Trump won the 2024 election and President Joe Biden launched a bid to step up military assistance to Ukraine. Biden has sought to give Ukraine more leverage in anticipation that Trump will pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to negotiate with Russia to end the conflict.

Space Systems Command declined to disclose the dollar value of the new contract, although the earlier 500-terminal agreement from US European Command was for roughly $40 million. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The future of US aid to Ukraine — and of SpaceX’s role in it — is uncertain. Musk, the world’s richest person, has emerged as a key adviser to Trump, and Trump has vowed to bring the war between Ukraine and Russia to a speedy end.

Musk has his own complicated history with Ukraine. In 2022, he threatened to cut financial support for Starlink there, saying his company couldn’t carry the costs indefinitely. He also said the terminals weren’t intended for military use and said in a tweet “we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.”

Around the same time, Musk irked the Biden administration by offering a peace proposal that would cede Crimea to Russia and redo elections in areas of Ukraine taken over by Russia. And in October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022.

Musk has rejected accusations that he’s become an apologist for Putin and has said his companies “have done more to undermine Russia than anything.”

Soon after the election, Musk joined a call between Trump and Zelenskiy, highlighting his influence. One person familiar with the call said Zelenskiy thanked Musk for the Starlink system, which has kept Ukraine connected since the war began in February 2022.

The new contract was awarded under the Space Force’s “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit” program, which is tapping into communications services of satellites orbiting from 100 miles to 1,200 miles (160 kilometers to 1,900 kilometers) above Earth.