Get the latest tech news

The US Navy Is Going All In on Starlink

The Navy is testing out the Elon Musk–owned satellite constellation to provide high-speed internet access to sailors at sea. It’s part of a bigger project that’s about more than just getting online.

“Having the ability to reach out to friends or family allows our sailors the opportunity to decompress for a few minutes, and that in turn allows them to be able to operate more efficiently,” Richard Haninger, the Ford ’s deployed resiliency educator, said following the installation of the SEA2 system aboard the carrier in February 2023. As White explained in a May release from the Navy on the initiative, most of these applications function at higher classification levels and are encrypted, but they’re still designed to operate on the commercial internet without jeopardizing information security. The US Army currently remains reliant on Starlink, but the service has been casting about for fresh commercial satellite constellations to tap into for advanced command and control functions, according to Defense News.

Get the Android app