Starshield or nothing: NZDF moves closer to buying into Musk's satellite network for secrets

New Zealand has moved closer to buying services from a satellite network set up by tech trillionaire Elon Musk for secret communications.

RNZ revealed in June that the NZ Defence Force (NZDF) was running a six-month trial of Starshield, the first confirmed case of a government other than America's trialling the two-year-old system that comprises hundreds if not thousands of satellites.

On Friday Defence told RNZ, "A Starshield trial has been completed and showed potential utility for the NZDF."

Starshield ran into controversy last month when Ukraine's access to it was reduced, jeopardising some combat and air defence missions, with critics warning this was the risk of relying on privately-owned systems in a war or crisis, as Time reported.

NZ Defence withheld details of the outcomes of its Starshield trial on the grounds releasing them might prejudice national security or defence or international relations.

"Any subsequent satellite communications acquisitions would follow normal capability management and acquisition processes," it said in a three-line statement.

The trial was purchased through the US government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system and required the defence minister here to sign an indemnity to shield the US from any damages claims, a routine requirement of the FMS.

Starshield or nothing

Judith Collins signed it last December after Defence made the case to her that it really needed Musk's system for "secure military grade" internet services and data transfer, documents and emails released under the Official Information Act (OIA) show.

Without Starshield "NZDF would have fewer satellite communications options to conduct operations", it told Collins.

"The NZDF cannot procure the deliverables from any other supplier" than the US government, it said.

The bonus was getting it at the same price and so benefiting from the US government's purchasing power, as well as from its management and technical support and "their unparalleled depth of knowledge" on a not-for-profit basis.

Any loss under the indemnity - which was unlikely - would be unlikely to exceed $10 million, Defence told her.

The NZDF already uses Starlink, Musk's network of 10,000-plus satellites used by millions of people to connect to the internet and relied on by Ukraine's military from the start of Russia's war in 2022.

Ukraine clash

Starshield's advent in 2024 gave customers an option with higher encryption and protection from the growing threat of "counterspace" attacks.

US Space Force said on Thursday it was "counting on partnerships with the commercial space industry to help it prevail against aggressive adversaries".

It rates Russia an "acute" threat and China the major (or "pacing" in Pentagon parlance) threat.

Reuters has reported the Pentagon is Starshield's largest customer and has spent billions of dollars on both Starlink and Starshield services. The two clashed over the rising costs earlier this year.

"It has also bought dedicated Starshield satellites, including communications spacecraft for missile-warning missions and a spy constellation for the [US spy agency] National Reconnaissance Office," reported Reuters.

Constrained from the start

New Zealand is almost entirely reliant on its Five Eyes partners for infrastructure in space but they in turn have been increasing their reliance on commercial partners.

A leading US Space Force-industry event late last month was titled 'Fielding the Arsenal of Freedom - Victory through Industrial Partnership'.

The constraints where New Zealand's space and military ambitions meet reality were evident from the start over Starshield, the OIA showed.

In an email in June 2024 headed "Expression of interest in Starshield - restricted", a capability manager asked an FMS manager at NZDF, "Is this something that you can assist us with from there?".

"I apologise for jumping around in subjects," they went on, "but when you are as hollow an organisation as we are, we have to wear many hats throughout the day."

Military bosses have repeatedly described the NZDF as "hollowed" out since the pandemic. The army at mid-2026 was still 700 personnel short "particularly in critical leadership" and instructors' ranks.

'Is there a fast track option?'

Another June 2024 email said Defence was "putting a plan together for future sustainment" and asked, "Is there a fast track option?" for Starshield.

It seemed not. "There are a few ducks we need to line up, especially as it is a service we are wanting access to; one that we have not seen any cost data on at all yet," the manager continued.

It took another 18 months for Collins to sign the indemnity in December 2025.

The Starshield trial that went ahead this year was to determine "what its uses are, if any", Defence told RNZ.

Friday's statement showed it had found some.

The government has talked about having a national mission to launch a sovereign satellite, and documents show this had come up in talks with NZ-founded, US-based Rocket Lab, but there have been few details.

Starshield has been linked to US President Donald Trump's Golden Dome. Reuters reported a $4 billion contract signed with SpaceX in May was to build a space data network "backbone" for superfast missile warning and tracking sensors. Similarly, the Dome would rely on a constellation of such satellites.

'Fastest way'

Speed has been central to the directives and strategies coming out of both Washington and Wellington for buying new military tech - just on a massively different scale.

"The fastest way to get traction is to show how your idea accelerates warfighting outcomes across the architecture," the US Space Force told companies at its big open day last month.

"There are so many permutations of commercial integration across the ecosystem today that we weren't seeing even six months or a year ago."

The NZDF industrial strategy is to "deliver capability faster" including by buying or developing minimum viable products, using local small businesses or helping those businesses to partner with huge "primes" (big defence contractors, many of them American).

A big difference is the Pentagon has companies flocking to it, while NZ must go to them, as with SpaceX and Starshield. It also has to negotiate a way through US military export controls by using the FMS. AUKUS Pillar Two has removed some of those barriers between Australia, the UK and US but New Zealand has not joined Pillar Two. It has, however, signed on with several Pentagon space networks since 2020.

Spooked over US tech

RNZ is seeking from Defence any reports such as risk assessments or cost-benefit analysis arising from the Starshield trial, though the Official Information Act appears unlikely to be able to pierce the national security carapace.

In Europe last month, the disruption to Ukraine's access to Starshield spooked governments about relying on US technology.

Germany had begun evaluating 30 AI military tools but ruled out buying the US system used in the Iran war for targeting, called Maven Smart System, stating that letting a private, foreign contractor have access to national military databases was completely "out of the question" and "inconceivable".

The concerns last month prompted Maven's maker, Palantir, another tech company that has become central to Pentagon tactices, to reassure the Europeans that Maven had no "kill ‌switch" either it or the US government could use independent of NATO.

"What we have ​seen in the news over the past few days around Starlink is extremely concerning," a Palantir executive said. "I can provide categorical reassurance that where customers have bought our software, they are in full operational ‌control of ⁠that software."