A global outage of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network last year left two dozen U.S. Navy unmanned vessels stranded off the California coast, disrupting communications and halting operations for nearly an hour during critical military tests.
Reuters reports that the incident involving drones designed to enhance U.S. military capabilities in potential conflicts with China was one of several Navy test disruptions linked to Starlink, according to internal Navy documents reviewed by Reuters and a person familiar with the matter.
During a series of Navy tests in California in April 2025 involving unmanned boats and flying drones, officials reported that Starlink struggled to maintain a solid network connection due to the high data usage required to control multiple systems, according to a Navy safety report reviewed by Reuters.
“Starlink reliance exposed limitations under multiple-vehicle load,” the report stated. The report also identified issues related to radios provided by Silvus and a network system provided by Viasat.
In the weeks preceding the global Starlink outage in August, another series of Navy tests was disrupted by intermittent connection issues with the Starlink network, Navy documents show. The causes of the network losses were not immediately clear.
As SpaceX prepares for what is expected to be the largest IPO in history this summer, with a projected valuation of $2 trillion, the company has established itself as the world’s most valuable space company. This dominance stems partly from its indispensable role in providing the U.S. government with an array of technologies spanning satellite communications, space launches, and military artificial intelligence.
Starlink has become particularly crucial to essential military programs, ranging from drone operations to missile tracking. The network operates a low-earth orbit constellation of nearly 10,000 satellites, providing the military with a communications system designed to be resilient against potential adversary attacks.
However, the Navy’s difficulties with Starlink during its autonomous drone program highlight the vulnerabilities inherent in the Pentagon’s increasing reliance on a single company and the associated risks.
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the drone test or SpaceX’s work with the Navy. The Pentagon’s chief information officer, Kirsten Davies, said the “Department leverages multiple, robust, resilient systems for its broad network.” Both the Navy and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more at Reuters here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.
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