ARLINGTON, Va. — In a stark illustration of how rapidly the satellite communications landscape is shifting toward large constellations of smaller satellites in low-Earth orbit, the Defense Department plans to add more than 100 of SpaceX’s Starshield satellites to its future satcom architecture.
Starshield is a militarized version of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, with enhanced encryption and other security features. And unlike Starlink, which is a commercial service, the Starshield satellites would be owned and controlled by the U.S. government.
Col. Eric Felt, director of space architecture at the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said the plan is to acquire a constellation of Starshield satellites by 2029, contingent upon receiving the necessary funding appropriations from Congress.
Speaking at SAE Media Group’s Milsatcom USA conference on June 10, Felt noted that the military has been an avid consumer of SpaceX’s commercial Starlink services, but also wants to take advantage of the company’s dedicated Starshield product line and procure a government-owned constellation. In a briefing slide presented at the conference, titled “Satcom 2029,” Felt showed the DoD’s notional future satcom architecture including more than 100 Starshield satellites.
‘PLEO has arrived’
Felt said the disruptive nature of Starlink and LEO satellite internet became obvious from a very personal source — his daughter serving in the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I knew PLEO had arrived when my daughter said to me: ‘Dad, have you ever heard of this thing called Starlink? We just got it on our ship. And it’s absolutely amazing. We can finally have great bandwidth when we’re out in the ocean,’” Felt recounted.
For non-specialized personnel operating in remote environments, user-friendly Starlink terminals have opened up connectivity in ways previously unimaginable, he…
Read the full article here
