What is Starshield, SpaceX's military version of Starlink?

The claims drew renewed attention to the distinction between Starlink – SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet service – and Starshield, ​a military version developed for the Pentagon. While Musk has said the two systems are separate, in many cases they share the same underlying satellite technology. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk said on Wednesday in a post on X, adding that any ​limits on speed ‌or usage are decided by the US military or the president. “Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled ⁠by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.” Elon Musk via X © via X What is starlink? Starlink is a satellite internet network of more than 11,000 satellites that beam broadband ⁠service directly to user terminals about the size of a folded newspaper. Its roughly 13 million subscribers range from households and hikers to shipping companies and major airlines. It is ‌the main profit engine of SpaceX. Since launching its first Starlink satellites in 2019 aboard reusable SpaceX rockets, the compan...