SpaceX Accelerates into Defense with Launch of Starshield SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and technology services company founded by Elon Musk, has unveiled its latest venture this week – Starshield. This new venture, which leverages the company’s Starlink technology and launch capability, is aimed at the defense industry, and the US military will be its first customer. Starlink was first launched in 2019 and is designed to provide high-speed, reliable satellite internet service virtually anywhere on Earth.

Over 3,000 small Starlink satellites are already in low Earth orbit, offering internet connectivity within 40 countries. Starshield will offer inter-satellite laser communications links that can connect other companies’ government systems ‘into the Starshield network’, while additional high-assurance cryptographic capability will be available to host classified payloads and process data securely.

The launch of Starshield signals a deepening of SpaceX’s ties with the Department of Defense, who have long been the company’s largest customer. Meanwhile, Starlink is already being used in Ukraine to support national forces in their efforts to repel Russia’s ongoing invasion. SpaceX is also in discussions with NASA about ways to potentially “bump” the Hubble Telescope into a higher orbit, in order to extend the iconic project’s lifespan.