Co-Founder & Director
Lee Robinson
A restriction on a satellite service reportedly cost Ukrainian forces drones and missions earlier this week, and it has put the spotlight on the difference between Starlink and Starshield. You do not need to be on a battlefield to learn from it: if you rely on a single connection, you have a single point of failure.
Starlink And Starshield: What Is The Difference?
Starlink is a commercial satellite internet service run by SpaceX. It uses a constellation of more than 10,000 satellites in low orbit, which means faster speeds and much less delay than older satellite services, and it is sold to homes, businesses and remote sites that struggle to get a good connection any other way.
Starshield is a separate SpaceX business unit that builds satellite systems for the military and intelligence agencies, mainly the US Department of Defense. It was unveiled in 2022 and is built on Starlink technology, but designed for government use. The two are closely related rather than completely separate, and Starshield draws on the wider Starlink network as its backbone. Here is the short version:
Who it is for: Starlink serves civilian and commercial customers, while Starshield is built for government and military use.
Who controls it: Starlink is a commercial service controlled by SpaceX, while Starshield, according to Elon Musk, is owned and controlled by the US government.
Security: Starshield adds enhanced encryption and uses dedicated terminals.
Network: the two share much of the same technology, and Starshield relies on the Starlink constellation as its backbone.
Extras: Starshield can also support Earth observation and other sensors.
Why Has It Been In The News?
Earlier this week, Ukrainian forces said their operations were hampered after speed restrictions were applied to the military-grade version of the service. A Ukrainian military technology expert said the limits affected equipment moving faster than around 100 miles per hour, which includes the drones Ukraine relies on for strikes and air defence, and that there was no warning.
Commanders reported lost drones and failed missions, and operators losing the live video feeds they use to make decisions. One unit commander said the disruption lasted around a day, and by 16 October reports suggested service had resumed.
Who decided what is still disputed. Elon Musk has said limits on Starshield are set by the US military and ultimately the president. A senior US official told TIME that no such request was made by the President, and President Zelensky has said it was a decision rather than a technical fault. Accounts differ and the full picture is not yet clear. I am not going to pick a side here, because the lesson is the same either way.
The Real Lesson Is About Control
What strikes me about this story is that the technology is not the headline. The headline is dependence. Ukrainian forces relied on a connection they did not own or control, and the terms under which it worked changed without notice. Whether the cause was a fault, a policy decision or a dispute, the effect on the people relying on it was the same: the connection they depended on was suddenly less reliable at the moment it mattered most.
One Ukrainian commander said the episode showed the need for backup communications, and the army is reportedly preparing alternatives, which would be more expensive and less effective. That is worth sitting with. A backup that is slower, dearer or less capable than your primary is still far better than no backup at all.
Communications Matter In Business Too
Most businesses will never deal with modern warfare, but the dependency is exactly the same. Phones, email, Teams, cloud applications, card payments, door entry, CCTV and alarm monitoring all rely on an internet connection, and in many offices they all rely on the same one. When that connection fails, whether through an engineering fault, a cable cut by roadworks or a problem at the provider, work stops and everyone finds out at once.
It is not only about things breaking, either. A supplier can change its terms, restrict a service or suffer an outage you have no say in. If one provider holds all the keys, your business is only as resilient as their worst day.
Why One Connection Is Not Enough
The answer is diversity, and that means more than simply having two lines. Two connections from the same provider, running down the same street into the same building, can fail together. Real resilience comes from different providers, different routes and, ideally, different technologies. Here is what that can look like:
A second internet connection from a different provider, ideally using a different technology and route, for example fibre as the primary with a 4G or 5G backup
Satellite connectivity as an option for sites where other choices are limited, or as a last-resort fallback
Automatic failover on your router or firewall, so staff do not have to notice the problem and switch over manually
Voice that does not depend on the same line as your data, such as a mobile fallback for your office phone system
A way to reach your team when email and Teams are unavailable, such as an up-to-date mobile contact list and group messaging
A written plan for who does what, tested regularly rather than assumed
Questions Worth Asking This Week
If our main internet connection failed right now, what could we still do, and what would stop?
How long would it take to switch to an alternative, and who would do it?
Does our backup use a different provider and route, or does it share a single point of failure with the main connection?
Which of our systems, such as phones, payments, alarms and CCTV, depend on that one connection?
When did we last test the backup, rather than assume it works?
Could one supplier change its terms or restrict our service and leave us with nothing?
My Take
I find the Starlink and Starshield story interesting because it takes something every business understands, a connection that quietly works until it does not, and shows the stakes at their highest. The businesses that cope best are not the ones with the most expensive kit. They are the ones who assumed something would eventually go wrong and planned the alternative before it did.
If you are not sure what your business would fall back on if its main connection failed, that is a conversation worth having. Get in touch and we will talk it through with you.
