The military’s dependency on private technology.

The newsletter discusses recent disruptions to SpaceX’s Starshield service that impacted Ukrainian military connectivity, recounting earlier incidents where Starlink coverage was restricted during critical operations and a more recent outage reportedly tied to orders to limit service. It argues the events reveal a strategic vulnerability from dependence on a single commercial satellite provider, raises questions about accountability when private infrastructure supports national defense, and urges investment in redundancy, contractual safeguards, and sovereign capabilities like Europe’s IRIS2 to reduce single points of failure.