The United States Space Force, the “space forces” branch of the US armed forces (-> News about the US Armed Forces), has signed a contract with SpaceX for a new government-owned low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications constellation called MILNET.
MILNET is a network of over 480 satellites in low earth orbit that is intended to ensure communication for the US armed forces.
MILNET is described as a “hybrid mesh network” without central communication nodes that combines commercial SpaceX Starlink satellites with Department of Defense satellites and enables direct communication between them. The ground terminals are equipped with enhanced encryption and can interact with both the military Starshield satellite network and the commercial Starlink network.
The MILNET satellites will be government-owned, operated by SpaceX as a contractor, and maintained and managed under the supervision of a mission director from the U.S. Space Force’s Delta 8 unit.
Delta 8, headquartered at Schriever SFB in Colorado, “specializes in satellite communications and is the focal point for protected and secure military communications for the President, Secretary of Defense, national policy makers, commanders, and strategic and tactical forces worldwide,” according to the Space Force’s website.
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Many details of the program are classified as secret – including the coverage scheme of the new network. However, it is obvious that regions of strategic interest to the US military – North America, the Pacific, Europe, the Arctic and the Middle East – are likely to be the focus.
Here for more news about the US armed forces.
