SpaceX and the Pentagon are at loggerheads over the cost of using the Starshield satellite service during the Iran war. Reuters reports published today. It appears that SpaceX has asked the military for more money since it began using satellite terminals on the kamikaze. attack on drones in Iran.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed the Reuters report was wrong. But Musk also said military drones use the commercial Starlink service instead of the government-owned network, violating Starlink’s terms of service. Musk blamed the violation on a contractor that makes drones for the government.
SpaceX recently asked the military to pay $25,000 for access to Starshield on each kamikaze drone, according to a Reuters report based on Pentagon documents and interviews with sources familiar with the pricing negotiations. Reuters reports that the Pentagon, which previously paid $5,000 per connection, objected to the price increase but eventually agreed to pay it.
Although the $25,000 fee is a monthly fee for the satellite connection to the satellite terminal, the terminals are used only by drones. make one-way trips before hitting targets and detonating on impact.
Starshield is a network for government agencies and is based on Starlink technology. Musk wrote Letter X “The Reuters article is a lie” today. But in the same post, he confirmed the controversy over how the military uses SpaceX satellite technology.
“They improperly used the civilian Starlink system for military purposes. A direct violation of the terms of service,” Musk said today, indicating that the military is using the commercial Starlink system when it should be using Starshield.
Musk later said the drones were misconfigured by a military contractor. “SpaceX has an arm of the US government called Starshield. It has a different constellation of satellites than Starlink, which is for civilian use. The suicide drone company mistakenly used the civilian system instead of Starshield.” Mask wrote.
