Musk says US military suicide drones used Starlink in violation of SpaceX rules
$25,000 per drone
Musk says drones used Starlink instead of Starshield, blames military contractor.
A Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drone launches from the USS Santa Barbara in the Arabian Gulf on December 16, 2025. Credit: US Army
SpaceX and the Pentagon have been bickering about the price of using Starshield satellite service during the Iran war, according to a Reuters report published today. It appears that SpaceX asked the military for more money after it started using satellite terminals on “kamikaze” attack drones in Iran.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed the Reuters report is wrong. But Musk also said the military drones initially used the commercial Starlink service instead of the government-specific network, in violation of Starlink’s terms of service. Musk blamed the violation on the contractor that built the drones for the government.
The Reuters report, based on Pentagon documents and interviews with sources familiar with the...
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