Britain discloses nearly $40 million in SpaceX military satellite spending

基于商业基础设施的军事网络

Britain has spent nearly $40 million on satellite communications supplied by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, becoming the first government outside the United States to publicly acknowledge operational adoption of Starshield, Reuters reported on September 10. A Ministry of Defence response to a freedom-of-information request said the department has about 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals. The disclosed expenditure comprised roughly £13 million for Starshield equipment and airtime and £16.5 million for Starlink services.

透露重要的是,因为Stararshield专门用于军事和情报任务,而Starlink主要是消费者和商业网络。 英国在2022年开始使用Starlink,但后来转移到SpaSex限制了Starlink的授权军事用途后。 该部告诉路透社,Starshield提供更强的加密、优先访问、更广泛的覆盖范围和为客户防御设计的合同条款。

能力、成本和依赖性

Both services use SpaceX’s enormous low-Earth-orbit constellation, ground stations and terrestrial infrastructure, although Starshield traffic travels through dedicated terminals and separate gateways. The military service is considerably more expensive: the ministry disclosed plans costing £5,500 a month for five terabytes of data and £25,000 for unlimited use. Reuters also reported that dedicated terminals cost between £4,000 and £7,000, at least twice the advertised price of comparable business-grade Starlink hardware.

这些采购为英国军队提供了快速部署的宽带,用于行动、练习和远程位置。 它也引发了战略紧张。 英国拥有自己的硬化军事通讯计划,并在法国的Eutelsat拥有股票,运营在Starlink以外的唯一大型运行低轨道宽带恒星。 然而,SpaceX网络的规模和可用性使盟国政府难以避免依赖一个美国供应商。

英国平行主权战略

A UK space strategy published on September 8 places satellite communications at the centre of national security and commits £2.8 billion to connectivity programmes, including Skynet and domestic low-orbit technologies. The strategy describes space as an increasingly contested domain and calls for stronger sovereign capability, more resilient supply chains and better protection of critical services.

接下来的测试是这些公共投资是否会减少依赖性,或者只是坐在SpaceX的不断增长的采购旁边。 英国需要即时的运营能力,而主权恒星和欧洲替代品需要多年生产和发射。 采购决策、服务价格变化以及斯塔什尔德、斯基内特和欧特萨特之间的敏感交通分裂,将展示政府是否正在建设收费或建立昂贵的单供应商关系。