The Space Force’s Commercial Space Office posted an award notice on Aug. 25 for “Starshield Custom Fleet Aviation Services,” covering satellite subscription services for aircraft equipped with SpaceX’s Starshield Tile and smaller Tile Mini terminals. The value of the award was redacted. The new task order was awarded July 28 and calls for worldwide Starshield service with data rates of at least 500 megabits per second downlink and 100 megabits per second uplink. The contract has a one-year base period through July 2027 and an option extending service through July 2028, according to the notice. The document shows that U.S. government organizations have already funded development and qualification of ruggedized Starshield terminals for a range of military aircraft, including cargo planes and tactical fighter jets, and that additional installations are planned. Eleven government organizations participated in development of the Tile Mini during 2024 and 2025. ... The Space Force said the government has spent about $51.9 million on development and qualification of the Tile Mini aviation-compatible terminals, including prototype fabrication, aircraft integration, interoperability assessments and testing. Acquisition officials cited that investment as one reason that moving to a competing provider would involve substantial duplicated costs. The filing also provides a glimpse into Starshield’s aviation footprint. In estimating the cost of replacing existing equipment, the Space Force separately cites groups of 140, 90 and another 140 aviation terminals, along with additional hardware used by other mission partners. Redactions obscure which aircraft or organizations those numbers correspond to, so it’s not clear how many terminals are already operational or planned. https://spacenews.com/space-force-expands-starshield-service-for-military-aircraft/