The United States government plans to partner with SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, to develop a satellite internet system for military use.
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The information comes from the website Breaking Defense, which cited a senior official from the U.S. Space Force, Colonel Jeff Weisler, commander of Delta 8.
Delta 8 is the Space Force’s satellite communications unit and plays a key role in delivering satellite-based military communications to the President, Secretary of Defense, senior leaders, theater commanders, and strategic and tactical forces around the world.
According to the report, the U.S. military command signed a contract with SpaceX to develop a new government satellite communications system called MILNET, a network of more than 480 low-Earth orbit satellites that will provide communications for the U.S. Armed Forces.
“We are completely rethinking how we operate the satellite constellation for the Joint Force, and this will be a significant step because we have never had a hybrid mesh network in low-Earth orbit before,” said Weisler.
The MILNET satellites will be state-owned but maintained and managed by SpaceX under the mission director of Delta 8.
It’s worth noting that the network will use special SpaceX terminals that can connect to the military satellite network StarShield with enhanced encryption. However, they can also interface with the commercial Starlink network.
Breaking Defense mentioned that most details about MILNET are not yet public, so the exact number of satellites and the coverage area of the network remain unknown.
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