Please agree to our privacy policy to enable news listening. (Central News Agency, New York, Comprehensive Foreign Reports on the 26th) As American suicide drones guided by Elon Musk’s Starlink network began to achieve significant results in the U.S.-Iran War, SpaceX executives came to the conclusion that the Pentagon should pay more for the use of its satellite Wi-Fi network. According to two people familiar with the matter and Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters, within weeks of the U.S. military’s bombing campaign against Iran, SpaceX executives met with Pentagon officials and argued that the military would only pay about $5,000 for each terminal to connect to it, while in fact using high-end services worth nearly $25,000. Five people familiar with the situation said in an interview that the two sides have differences over the use of Starlink on the LUCAS suicide drone. This affordable U.S. drone is comparable to Iran’s “Shahed” drone and can hover over a target area before diving, impacting and detonating. People familiar with the matter pointed out that unlike the consumer Starlink terminals sold in stores such as Walmart, SpaceX will sell a military version called “Starshield” to the Pentagon under a 2023 agreement. StarShield terminals can be connected to commercial Starlink satellites or to another independent satellite group also named “StarShield” with higher security. One of the sources revealed that SpaceX argued that the operating conditions of LUCAS drones were more consistent with its aviation-type subscription services, rather than lower-priced land or mobile services. Pentagon officials countered that the $25,000 monthly fee was designed for aircraft, not suicide drones that would only use Starlink for a few minutes or hours. The Pentagon, which is increasing its air strikes against Iran, finally agreed to SpaceX’s price increase request, nearly doubling the cost of each LUCAS drone. The Pentagon initially paid about $30,000 per drone. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon also declined to comment on Reuters reports on SpaceX’s price hikes, its payment decisions, or its plans to provide Starlink mobile phone service to Iranian citizens. Pentagon officials said in a statement that the Commercial Satellite Communications Office, which purchases the terminals, is working to find other competitors. (Compiled by: Liu Shuqin) 1150526 Support Central News Agency’s choice to stand with the facts. Every donation you make is a small amount of sponsorship to protect press freedom. Download the Central News Agency’s “First-hand News” APP to get the latest news in real time. The text, pictures and audio and video of this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.
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Reuters: The price of SpaceX Starlink increased due to the US-Iraq war and the Pentagon was forced to foot the bill | International | Central News Agency CNA
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