The State Department is urging other countries to avoid doing business with Chinese satellite firms, arguing that such contracts fuel military development and help Beijing gather sensitive intelligence from allies.
“It is important to ensure satellite services provided by untrusted suppliers, such as those from China, are not permitted to operate in your country,” said an undated memo that laid out talking points for U.S. officials. A copy was obtained by Nextgov/FCW and Defense One.
The memo also suggested that U.S. providers offer more reliable services, but acknowledged that U.S.-based SpaceX — like other U.S. firms — retains the right to restrict or withdraw its Starlink service at its whim, as it has reportedly done in Ukraine.
The memo, which has not been previously reported, said that working with Chinese space providers operating in low earth orbit, or LEO, could help Beijing advance its foreign-policy goals. It noted that Chinese law allows its central government to compel domestic satellite operators to hand over sensitive information on their business activities, granting possible openings for sensitive data exfiltration.
If asked about the Starlink satellite-communications service, U.S. officials are told under the memo to acknowledge that parent company SpaceX may restrict the delivery or operation of ground terminals as local regulations require — and otherwise as it pleases.
While there’s no law that permits the U.S. government to dictate where satellite-communication firms may or may not operate, Elon Musk’s control of Starlink operations has raised questions about the roles of commercial services during wartime and of private companies in policy decisions.
“When a prospective user attempts to place an order for Starlink service, Starlink’s internal systems check the location of the address entered by the user, and if an address is located in a territory in which Starlink service is not offered, these systems prevent that order from being completed,” the State memo said.
Some military officials have voiced concern that the U.S. can’t compel SpaceX to continue to provide services to allies. In 2022, Elon Musk reportedly refused a request by Ukraine to extend Starlink access in Russian-occupied Crimea to strike Russian targets.
Today, Musk is a top Trump advisor and is playing an outsized role in the president’s second term. Some observers said the memo’s mention of a specific U.S. company is inappropriate.
“Much of this looks like the U.S. government is shilling for SpaceX,” said a former senior defense official who was granted anonymity to candidly share their thoughts on the readout. “These [talking] points seem particularly dissonant to argue for trusted LEO [satellite communications] providers when Elon Musk has shown he cannot be trusted. … He is willing to threaten turning off Starlink access when it suits his own political agenda, has a history of statements sympathetic to Russia and to China, and is clearly financially entangled with China.”
However, the former official added, avoiding Chinese space services is sound advice.
“U.S. allies should look elsewhere for [satellite communications] solutions, ideally from providers without ties to either China or Russia and without political agendas,” the ex-official said. “Of course allies shouldn’t use Chinese [satellite communications]; that’s ridiculous. Of course it provides yet another vector for cyber intrusion and a lever arm of influence in crisis.”
The agency’s talking points underscored how rising tensions between the U.S. and China have extended into the space economy, a sector projected to grow by billions of dollars and become a new frontier for cybersecurity and military conflict.
Countries should “take steps to exclude untrusted satellite providers, such as those based in China, and make sure they cannot enter the market and jeopardize national security, business secrets and citizens’ privacy,” the memo said.
Chinese satellite companies may seek to use anticompetitive practices to lock out other providers, they later added, arguing that such moves “may bar competitors — leaving your host country stuck in a monopolistic, Beijing controlled market.”
A State spokesperson said the department does not comment on the contents of internal documents and added that the U.S. “encourages allies and partners around the world to protect their infrastructure and technology by only allowing trusted vendors.” The agency did not address mentions of SpaceX in the memo.
The memo did not say whether the talking points might be meant for specific countries. It did note that the U.S. is seeking continued partnership with countries to build out and increase the security “of trustworthy satellite communications systems in all orbits.”
Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said that European allies wary of Starlink may face even greater concerns if they turn to Chinese satellite internet alternatives.
“If Europe has its own satellite constellation, then great, I think the more the better. But more broadly, I think Europe is caught a little bit between the U.S. and China. And it’s sort of time for choosing,” Carr told the Financial Times.
U.S. officials separately told the FT on Thursday that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese company with military ties, is providing the Iran-backed Houthis with targeting intelligence against U.S. naval assets in the Red Sea.
Space is an emerging national-security frontier. Orbital assets, including satellites, underpin communications technologies used by both civilians and the military. Space matters came to the fore last February, amid confirmed reports of Russia developing an anti-satellite nuke. In May, a former Pentagon official told a congressional panel that a satellite detonation could render objects traveling in low-Earth orbit unusable for a year.
“This capability could pose a threat to all satellites operated by countries and companies around the globe, as well as to the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial and national security services we all depend upon,” said John Plumb, who at the time was assistant defense secretary for space policy.
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