Space Force is contracting with SpaceX for new, secretive MILNET SATCOM network

A trail of a group of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites passing over Uruguay. The Pentagon is seeing an uptick in reports that mistake Starlink for UFOs. (Photo by MARIANA SUAREZ/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The Space Force in contracting with SpaceX for a new government-owned, contractor-operated satellite communication constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO), called MILNET, that eventually will be integrated into the service’s grand plan for a “hybrid mesh network” combining commercial and Defense Department satellites, a senior Space Force official revealed today.

“MILNET is onboarding to the United States Space Force through SSC [Space System Command] right now, but specifically to Delta 8, and we are completely relooking at how we’re going to operate that constellation of capabilities for the Joint Force, which is going to be significant because we’ve never had a DoD hybrid mesh network at LEO,” Col. Jeff Weisler, Delta 8 commander, said today.

Delta 8, headquartered at Schriever SFP in Colorado, is “mission-focused on Satellite Communications and is the focal point for U.S. protected and assured Military Satellite Communications to the president, secretary of defense, national decision makers, theater commanders, and strategic and tactical forces worldwide,” according to the Space Force’s website.

MILNET, which has rarely been discussed publicly until now, comprises “480-plus” satellites, Weisler said, that will be operated by SpaceX but overseen by a Delta 8 “mission director who communicates to the contracted workforce to execute operations at the timing and tempo of warfighting.”

The network will use terminals created by SpaceX for its Starshield satellites being configured for military use, which also can link into SpaceX’s commercial Starlink constellation. The Starshield terminals have more encryption than those sold to consumers for Starlink access, he explained.

The Space Force also has contracts with SpaceX for use of Starshield terminals to link to Starlink under its Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services program, which has a ceiling of $13 billion over 10-year for tasking orders to providers via an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract pool. The service has not disclosed the value of those contracts.

Previously, the only public Space Force reference to MILNET came in an SSC announcement last month about awards to CACI, General Atomics, and Viasat to “continue development of space laser communication terminal prototypes in Phase 2 of the $100 million Enterprise Space Terminal (EST) program. … ESTs are a key building block of the broader space data network known as MILNET, which will build a space mesh network for resiliency and information path diversity.”

Several government and industry sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the reason for the secrecy surrounding MILNET up to now is that while SSC is funding the effort, the actual contract is being managed by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) under its never publicly acknowledged contract with SpaceX for the spy satellite agencies new LEO constellation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites.

Reuters first reported in February on the fact that NRO had contracted with SpaceX for Starshield buses for its “proliferated LEO” constellation that the agency said in April numbered more than 150 birds.

In response to questions from Breaking Defense about the EST contract, an SSC spokesperson said that “MILNET satellites will carry Enterprise Space Terminals (ESTs) as will other U.S. Space Force (USSF) satellites that can then connect into MILNET for resilient data transport. The long-term intent is that all USSF satellites will have the option to integrate EST-compatible terminals and connect to MILNET for data transport.”

However, SSC was unable to clarify details about the MILNET network and contract by press time.