Active
Falcon 9
Partially reusable two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle. The world's most frequently launched orbital rocket.
SpaceXStarshield
Active
Government-focused satellite line built on SpaceX launch systems and Starlink platform technology for secure communications and other national-security missions.
Latest update Sep 13, 2026
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Current status
Active government business line for secure mission sets. The UK became the first country outside the United States to publicly acknowledge buying Starshield after a September 2026 MoD FOI listed about 1,000 Starshield terminals and 13 million pounds spent, with Starshield airtime first bought for Starlink terminals in 2024.
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Specifications3
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In the news2
UK spends nearly $40 million on SpaceX satellite links
Britain is the first country outside the United States to publicly acknowledge buying SpaceX's classified Starshield service, after a Ministry of Defence FOI response showed roughly 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals in inventory. Reuters reported about 13 million pounds ($17.6 million) spent on Starshield and 16.5 million pounds on Starlink, or nearly $40 million combined, with Starshield airtime first bought for Starlink terminals in 2024 and dedicated Starshield hardware arriving last year. SpaceX did not comment; New Zealand is trialling Starshield.
SpaceX launches NROL-179 spy satellites for the NRO
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:50 a.m. PDT on June 19, carrying a classified batch of satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on the NROL-179 mission - the 14th flight building out the NRO's proliferated low-Earth-orbit architecture. The spacecraft are widely believed to be Starshield, a government-specific derivative of Starlink. The rocket's first stage landed back at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4 on its third flight, in what was SpaceX's 71st Falcon 9 mission of 2026.
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More from SpaceX6
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ActiveDragon
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- In Development
Starfall
Disk-shaped, uncrewed reentry capsule for returning cargo - such as pharmaceuticals and other orbital-manufacturing output - from low Earth orbit to Earth. SpaceX's entry into the commercial cargo-return market, competing with players like Varda Space Industries.
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