A global outage of the Starlink satellite network disrupted tests of unmanned naval vessels of the US Navy off the coast of California and exposed the risks of relying on a single communications provider.
Source: PRYAMYI
According to journalists, the incident affected millions of users and led to a loss of communication with approximately 20 unmanned surface vehicles. As a result, the tests had to be suspended for nearly an hour.
It is noted that this is not an isolated case during testing involving SpaceX technologies. Internal documents indicate that operators have repeatedly lost communication with autonomous vessels, which are considered an important element in a potential confrontation with China.
Journalists emphasize that Starlink has become critically important for US military programs — particularly for controlling drones and tracking missiles. The network includes nearly 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit.
“Without Starlink, the US government would not have access to global satellite communications on this scale,” said Clayton Swope, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
At the same time, the report stresses that despite technological resilience to attacks, such dependence on a single provider creates strategic risks.
In addition, SpaceX is strengthening its position as a key partner of the US government, covering areas such as satellite communications, space launches, and military systems with artificial intelligence.
Despite competition from Amazon, the company remains a leader in low Earth orbit satellite communications and dominates the space launch market.
US lawmakers are already expressing concern about such dependence in the field of national security, as it could pose risks in the event of disruptions or termination of cooperation.