SpaceX wins its first Pentagon defense satellite contract

Elon Musk’s SpaceX will provide customized defense satellites—Starshield—to the Pentagon. The space company was awarded a one-year contract of $70 million on September 1, the defense agency announced yesterday.

The Starshield network is a military-specific version of SpaceX’s Starlink internet systems. It will provide “end-to-end service (via the Starlink constellation), user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services,” Space Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told CNBC.

It is the first time the Pentagon has awarded Elon’s SpaceX its confirmed contract. The venture extends his role as a defense contractor.

The US defense authority already buys SpaceX’s rocket launches. In July, it also purchased an undefined number of Starlink ground terminals for use in Ukraine.