Britain has spent nearly $40 million on SpaceX satellite services, increasing its reliance on Elon Musk’s company for military communications amid growing European concerns about dependence on US security infrastructure.
The UK Defence Ministry said it operates about 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals. It has spent around £13 million on Starshield, including terminals and airtime, and £16.5 million on Starlink.
The disclosure makes Britain the first country outside the United States to publicly confirm the use of Starshield, SpaceX’s service designed for military and intelligence operations. Britain began using Starlink in 2022 and started shifting military communications to Starshield more recently.
The ministry said Starshield provides stronger encryption, military focused service terms, higher network priority and wider coverage. Britain began using Starshield airtime with existing Starlink terminals in 2024 and bought dedicated terminals in 2025.
Starshield is significantly more expensive than Starlink. UK prices range from £5,500 a month for 5 terabytes to £25,000 for unlimited data, while dedicated terminals cost between £4,000 and £7,000.
Britain also operates its own Skynet military satellite network and holds a stake in French satellite company Eutelsat. However, the growing use of SpaceX services highlights the challenge European countries face in reducing reliance on US based defence technology.
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