Key facts
- Britain has spent nearly $40 million on SpaceX's Starshield and Starlink satellite services.
- The UK has approximately 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals.
- Britain spent about £13 million ($17.6 million) on Starshield, including terminals and airtime.
- Britain spent £16.5 million on Starlink.
- Britain is the first country outside the U.S. to publicly acknowledge adopting Starshield.
- New Zealand is trialing Starshield for its military operations.
Britain has spent nearly $40 million on SpaceX's Starshield satellite services, marking the first public acknowledgment by a country outside the U.S. to adopt the military-grade offering. The disclosure, revealed in response to a freedom of information request, deepens the UK's reliance on Elon Musk's company for critical communications.
Britain's defense ministry stated it possesses approximately 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals. The total expenditure includes about £13 million ($17.6 million) for Starshield, covering terminals and airtime, and £16.5 million for Starlink. This comes as European governments seek to bolster their own defense capabilities amid concerns over Washington's long-term commitment to the continent's security.
The UK defense ministry began utilizing Starlink in mid-2022 and has recently been transitioning operational military communications traffic to Starshield. Militaries globally have adopted Starlink since its extensive use by Ukraine following Russia's 2022 invasion. SpaceX differentiates Starlink for civilian use from Starshield, which is marketed to government and national security clients. SpaceX did not respond to inquiries regarding which countries have access to Starshield.
According to the ministry, Starshield was adopted after SpaceX mandated that Starlink be used only for morale, welfare, recreation, and training. Starshield offers enhanced encryption, military-specific terms of service, higher network prioritization, flexible licensing, and expanded coverage. For the UK, Starshield utilizes the same satellite constellation as Starlink but operates through dedicated terminals and separate ground-based network gateways. The UK began using Starshield airtime with existing Starlink terminals in 2024 and purchased its first dedicated Starshield terminals last year.
Britain also operates its own military satellite communications network, Skynet, and holds a stake in Eutelsat. Starshield's pricing is substantially higher than Starlink, with UK plans costing £5,500 to £25,000 per month for data, compared to Starlink business plans starting at £1,830 per month. Starshield terminals range from £4,000 to £7,000 each, at least double the price of business-grade Starlink terminals.
SpaceX has previously increased Starlink prices for the Pentagon, citing the use of Starlink instead of the more expensive Starshield for certain operations. New Zealand is currently trialing Starshield to assess its usefulness for military operations. Starshield is based on Starlink technology, and SpaceX has secured over $6 billion in multi-year Starshield contracts from the U.S. government.