Britain spent $40 million on SpaceX satellite services

Investing.com -- Britain has spent nearly $40 million on SpaceX satellite services, making it the first country outside the United States to publicly confirm its use of Starshield, the company's military and intelligence communications service, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The British defence ministry disclosed the spending in response to a freedom of information request. The ministry said it operates about 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals. Total expenditure includes approximately £13 million ($17.6 million) on Starshield for terminals and airtime, and £16.5 million on Starlink.

Britain began using Starlink in mid-2022 and has since moved operational military communications to Starshield. The defence ministry adopted Starshield after SpaceX required that Starlink be used only for morale, welfare, recreation and training purposes.

The ministry said Starshield provides enhanced encryption, military-specific terms of service, the highest level of network prioritization, flexible licensing arrangements, and expanded coverage. The service uses the same satellite constellation as Starlink but operates through dedicated terminals and separate ground-based network gateways.

Britain purchased its first dedicated Starshield terminals in 2025 after beginning to use Starshield airtime with existing Starlink terminals in 2024.

Starshield pricing is substantially higher than Starlink. Two plans are available in Britain: £5,500 monthly for five terabytes of data and an unlimited plan at £25,000 monthly. UK Starlink business customers can pay £1,830 monthly for two terabytes of global data. Starshield terminals cost between £4,000 and £7,000 each, at least double the price of business-grade Starlink terminals.

New Zealand is testing Starshield to investigate its usefulness in supporting military operations, a spokesperson for the New Zealand Defence Force said.

The U.S. government has awarded more than $6 billion in multi-year Starshield contracts, primarily through two major U.S. Space Force programs for low-Earth orbit constellations, according to SpaceX's most recent quarterly results.

Britain also operates its own military satellite communications network, Skynet, and holds a stake in France-based Eutelsat.

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