Starlink, the satellite Internet service controlled by billionaire Elon Musk and his company of Cohetes Spacex, is expanding his footprint in the federal government weeks after the billionaire began to reduce the federal workforce and the agency’s budgets under the direction of President Donald Trump.
Multiple federal agencies are exploring the idea of adopting the Spacex Starlink for Internet access, and at least one agency, the General Services Administration (GSA), has done so at the request of Musk staff, according to someone who worked in the GSA last month and is familiar with its network operations, despite a Musk and Trump vote to reduce the general federal budget.
Starlink’s expansion is causing protests among the Democrats of Congress due to the dual positions of Musk: he is the founder and CEO of Spacex, owner of Starlink, and a Trump’s main advisor with an expansive portfolio throughout the government. As a shareholder in Spacex, it could gain financially if Starlink is granted additional businesses.
Starlink, which routes Internet traffic through low orbit satellites, has gained popularity in rural areas and disaster areas because it does not require fiber cables or cell towers. Users say that Starlink terminals have real advantages in terms of how easy they are configured and how mobile they are. However, an inconvenience is that Starlink satellites have a five -year expected shelf life, so the company must replace them.
Starlink’s growth has also given Musk unusual influence in the United States and abroad, since it can unilaterally decide or retain the Internet service during moments of disaster, war or other crises.
At least seven federal offices, including defense and trade departments, were already established Starlink clients when Trump assumed the position in January, according to a Federal Government Database of Awarded Contracts. The database lists $ 4.1 million in federal contracts in 2022 and $ 1.9 million in 2023. The existing expense includes a evidence in the sea of the Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration.
Now, the number of customers seems to grow to grow.
According to a person who worked in GSA last month and is familiar with its network operations, the agency had installed Starlink in mid -February. The service was being used by members of the staff of the Efficiency Department of the Government of Musk, said this person. NBC News also saw internal correspondence confirmed that it had been installed in the GSA offices in Washington in 1800 F Street NW. Starlink settled a few days after the application of the Doge team, the person said, while a more typical process should take weeks or months for security reviews, acquisitions, commercial needs and more. A separate person working in GSA showed NBC news documentation that indicates that a Starlink network was available for use in the facilities.
The GSA did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
One of the agencies that deliberated a contract with Starlink broke out in the public debate last week: the Federal Aviation Administration, which for years has been looking to update the underlying infrastructure to its communications systems. The FAA granted a $ 2.4 billion contract to Verizon in 2023, and although the contract will be executed for 15 years, Musk published in X that he wants to pivot a Starlink rival system. He said in X that Starlink was sending terminals at “at no cost to the taxpayer.”
It is not clear exactly when FAA began to consider the use of Starlink. Musk approved a shipment of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA last month, Bloomberg News reported.
A second agency is customs and border protection, which has issued internal documents to authorize a Starlink evaluation to help monitor the US border, a spokesman told Fedscoop, a news site that covers the federal government. CBP’s interest in Starlink dates back to at least 2023, before Trump returned to office, according to a document from the National Security Department informed by Federcoop. CBP and DHS did not respond immediately to comments requests.
And the officials of a federal third agency are comparing Starlink with Verizon as a tool to communicate during a catastrophe, according to a person involved in the discussions that asked that their agency was not named to avoid reprisals. That process began in February and seems to be under consideration as part of a normal process, said the person.
It is not clear if the agencies are coordinating their contract conversations and what value in dollars any of the potential contracts can have. None of the three agencies seem to have made a final decision.
The White House, in response to the written questions of NBC News, promised to comply with ethics rules.
“President Trump and his entire administration are committed to executing an evaluation of the face of each contract that the American people are financed with their taxpayers’ dollars,” said White House spokesman Harrison Fields, in a statement.
“Any contract related to the successful companies of Elon Musk will comply with each government ethics rule in terms of possible conflicts of interest,” he said.
The White House did not immediately answer a monitoring question about whether Starlink was in use in GSA.
Musk has publicly asked other federal agencies adopted by Starlink or grant subsidy money to Starlink, including the Department of Agriculture and the Federal Communications Commission. In January, Musk said he was using Trump Mar-A-Lago Starlink in Florida.
The possible Agreements for Spacex Starlink are one of the tangible forms in which Musk and his companies could benefit from the billing in the presidential administrations. The Trump administration has also completed at least two investigations on musk companies that preceded Trump’s return to power: an investigation by the Department of Justice on the hiring of Spacex and an investigation by the Department of Labor on the alleged discrimination in the workplace in Tesla.
Musk’s statements about Starlink and the federal government have attracted some scrutiny.
Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Classification Member in the Senate Committee, said Musk seemed to be trying to interfere in a 15-year federal contract already awarded his statements about FAA.
Musk’s publications “Sure seem to lift serious red flags,” he said in a statement.
Cantwell said federal law requires that acquisitions be competitive and made with public notice.
“We need answers now about how the administration will enforce these laws to ensure that aviation security has priority over private benefit,” he said.
FAA has been close to canceling its existing verizon contract, the Washington Post reported.
On Wednesday, Spacex said the media reports were false and that he was not trying to take care of the existing government contracts in the FAA.
“Starlink is a possible partial solution for an aging system,” Spacex said in an X publication. The company said it was working with FAA “to identify cases in which Starlink could serve as an update of long -term infrastructure for aviation security.”
Musk did not respond to comments requests.
Verizon has said that he is not retreating his FAA contract.
“Our company is working on the construction of the next -generation system for FAA that will support the mission of the Agency for Safe and Safe Air Travel,” said Verizon in a statement last week.
“We are at the beginning of a several years contract to replace outdated and inherited systems. Our teams have been working with FAA technology and our solution is ready to be implemented. We continue associated with FAA to achieve its modernization objectives. “
Verizon said he had no more comments beyond the statement.
In a statement, the FAA did not directly approach Verizon’s contract, but said: “To update our air traffic control system, it will require multiple companies and multiple technologies. That is why we are testing multiple communication technologies, including satellites, fiber and wireless to guarantee the safety of the National Air Space System. Beyond that, no decisions have been made for other implementations. These decisions will be made by the FAA administrator. “
Sales to government agencies are only part of Starlink business. Other customers include United Airlines and the three largest cruise operators. During the Super Bowl, T-Mobile transmitted an announcement promoting its association with Starlink to improve service in rural areas. According to Spacex, more than 5 million people use Starlink worldwide in 125 countries and territories.
For domestic use, Starlink announces its service to $ 120 per month with a unique configuration rate of $ 149. It also announces a “low use” option for $ 80 per month.
Musk said in an X position in November that Starlink Informs “is how we are paying for humanity to get to Mars”, although Spacex generally does not reveal the profitability or income of its Starlink division. In 2022, Musk said Starlink was losing money.
Starlink’s business with the federal government grew during the Biden administration, despite the sour relationship between Musk and then President Joe Biden. In 2023, Spacex won a Pentagon contract to develop a military version of Starlink called Starshield.
The Navy has been testing Starlink on its warships, but has not yet made a great implementation. In 2023, the senior crew on a ship broke the Marina’s rules when they acquired a Starlink configuration and used it while deploying at sea, which led to the martial court of at least one member of the senior crew, Navy Times reported.
Other satellite companies are running to develop competitors for Starlink. Eutelsat, a European company, said Tuesday that I was in conversations with the EU to provide Internet access to Ukraine with its OneWeb service. Amazon has been developing a low orbit satellite Internet service called Project Kuiper.
The Trump administration is also reviewing a proposed fusion of two satellite operators, SES and Intelsat, whose combination would create a more powerful competitor for Starlink.
