An uncaptioned picture posted on the corporate’s web site seems to point out Starshield expertise in orbit.
SpaceX
The Pentagon has awarded Elon Musk’s SpaceX its first confirmed contract for the Starshield network it is growing, a military-specific model of the corporate’s Starlink satellite web system, the protection company stated Wednesday.
A Space Force spokesperson confirmed that SpaceX on Sept. 1 was awarded a one-year contract for Starshield with a most worth of $70 million. The award got here alongside 18 different corporations by way of a program run by the Space Force’s industrial satellite communications workplace.
“The SpaceX contract supplies for Starshield end-to-end service (by way of the Starlink constellation), consumer terminals, ancillary gear, network administration, and different associated companies,” Space Force spokesperson Ann Steefnek advised CNBC.
SpaceX didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for touch upon the Starshield contract.
The company unveiled Starshield last year as a brand new enterprise line. The Pentagon is already a high-value purchaser of the corporate’s rocket launches and had proven rising curiosity in its Starlink satellite web.
SpaceX has given few particulars concerning the supposed scope and capabilities of Starshield. It markets the service as the middle of an “end-to-end,” devoted providing for nationwide safety with capabilities distinct from its Starlink client and enterprise network.
SpaceX’s award for Starshield follows its June win of a Pentagon contract to purchase an undefined variety of Starlink floor terminals for use in Ukraine.
The preliminary section of the Starshield contract obligates $15 million to SpaceX by Sept. 30, to supply companies that help 54 military “mission companions” throughout Department of Defense branches, the spokesperson stated.
Bloomberg first reported the contract on Thursday.
– CNBC’s Claudia Johnson contributed to this report.