Pentagon and SpaceX agree to expand Ukraine's access to Starshield encrypted signal

Elon Musk's SpaceX company and the Pentagon have signed a contract under which Ukraine will have access to a more secure, militarized version of its Starlink satellite network.

According to the contract, 2,500 Starlink terminals that are already in Ukraine will have access to Starshield. This signal is more difficult to hack or jam. Previously, it was known that only 500 Starlink terminals had access to it.

“A total of 3,000 terminals are provided service via the two contracts," the sources told Bloomberg, The contracts share a common purpose “to facilitate internet connectivity in Ukraine.” “Both provide service into 2025,” the sources added.

This contract was probably signed in August of this year before Donald Trump won the US presidential election and Joe Biden announced his intention to increase military assistance to Ukraine. In this way, Biden sought to give Ukraine more leverage in the expectation that Trump might put pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate with Russia.

The value of this contract is yet unknown, but a previous deal with the US European Command for 500 terminals was worth about $40 million.

Aid to Ukraine with Starlink terminals

Starlink is a satellite system that provides high-speed broadband Internet access. The Ukrainian military is actively using it, especially in areas close to the front line.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Poland has been supplying these systems to Ukraine. By August 2022, 5,000 Starlink satellite internet stations had been delivered.

At the end of last year, it became known that Ukraine had received another five thousand Starlink terminals from Poland. It was decided to use them in the frontline regions.