USA Will Build “Satellite Internet” for the Military Together with SpaceX

The US Space Force will develop a new low-orbit satellite communications network MILNET together with SpaceX.

Breaking Defense reports on this with reference to a senior US Space Force official.

The U.S. military command has signed a contract with SpaceX to develop a new MILNET government satellite communications system, a network of over 480 satellites in low Earth orbit that will provide communications for the U.S. Armed Forces.

The architecture of the new system assumes the creation of a decentralized grouping that will not have communication nodes and will interact directly with each other. In the future, these satellites will become part of a “hybrid mesh network” – a global association of commercial and Department of Defense satellites.

It is noted that MILNET satellites will be state-owned, but will be maintained and managed by a contractor, i.e. SpaceX under the control of the Delta 8 mission director.

“We’re completely rethinking the way we operate the satellite constellation for the Joint Force, and this will be a significant step because we’ve never had a hybrid mesh network in low-Earth orbit before,” Colonel Jeff Weisler, Delta 8 commander, stated.

Delta 8 is the Space Force’s satellite communications unit and is a key element in providing military satellite communications to the President, Secretary of Defense, senior leaders, theater commanders, and strategic and tactical forces around the world.

This network will use special SpaceX terminals that can connect to the military network of Starshield satellites with an enhanced level of encryption. However, they can still interact with the commercial Starlink network.

It is worth noting that the grouping of almost five hundred satellites stands out sharply compared to previously deployed military satellite communications networks, which at one time numbered a few or no more than a few dozen satellites. This indicates the intention to provide global coverage in most parts of the world.

The announced prospects of MILNET are still more modest than the civilian Starlink network, which already has more than 6,000 satellites. However, the US military network is aimed at serving a much smaller number of terminals and, accordingly, the load.

In addition, the group’s coverage scheme remains unknown. It is possible that the network will be selectively deployed with most of the satellites accumulated over regions of strategic interest to the US Army – North America, the Pacific Ocean, Europe, the Arctic, and the Middle East.

Breaking Defense noted that most of the details about MILNET are still non-public. Several government and industry sources, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters that the new network is being kept secret because the actual contract is administered by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), despite being funded by the US Space Force.