Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink satellite finally passed a nine-month testing period with the US military in the Arctic.
After passing the military trials, the next phase will be Pentagon contracts for the billionaire’s space company.
SpaceX Starlink has become a valuable asset in military communications after completing extensive US Air Force tests.
The achievement could now enhance strategic communications infrastructure in the Arctic region.
The series of tests, which finished earlier this year in June, primarily evaluated Starlink’s effectiveness in meeting the Pentagon’s operational requirements in the Arctic conditions.
Brian Beal, principal engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, confirmed that Starlink provided “reliable and high-performance communication.”
Starlink’s recent success has given the US a strategic advantage over growing competition from Russia and China.
However, the challenging climate in the region has historically limited communications, which Starlink is well-positioned to fill.
Earlier this week, SpaceX hit another milestone with its overnight Starlink mission launch, with the flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station marking its 90th orbital launch in 2023, according to Spacelfightnow.
“A secondary push of cold air will filter into the area [on Wednesday], bringing clear skies and a stronger pressure gradient over the Space Coast,” the launch forecast stated.
“This will result in gusty surface winds through tomorrow evening which will slowly diminish through the launch window, so liftoff winds remain the only concern.”
According to a recent report from Forbes, Musk is in talks to sell between $500 million and $750 million of SpaceX stock at a valuation of $175 billion.
The private space company, which still hasn’t gone public, is more highly valued than any initial public offering in US history, topping the 2014 IPO valuation of Alibaba, which amounted to $169 billion in 2014.
The New York Post reported that Musk said that Starlink, SpaceX had achieved cash flow breakeven.
Starlink boasts a network of about 5,000 low-Earth orbit satellites.
