SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has asked for an increase in payment from the Pentagon to use Starlink, claimed Reuters. The development took place when American kamikaze drones operating under the guidance of this internet network started to make noticeable progress in the conflict with Iran.
Two insiders revealed that SpaceX executives met with Pentagon officials a few weeks after the United States began its bombing campaign. They contended that the military had been paying roughly $5,000 for connections per terminal while actually utilising a higher tier of service costing about $25,000.
The media house cited interviews and documents which asserted that the escalating monetary dispute also revolves around Starlink’s deployment on LUCAS suicide drones. Similar to Iran’s Shahed, it is a low-cost American variant that can circle over a target region before plunging to explode upon impact.
The disagreement between the two sides has even been over the price of a plan to offer the people direct-to-cell connections via Starlink that resemble 5G service. The Pentagon is trying to assist Iranians in circumventing government-imposed communications outages.
Instead of a less expensive land or mobility service, SpaceX stated that the LUCAS drones were functioning under circumstances more in line with its aviation tier subscription. On the other hand, the $25,000 monthly cost, according to Pentagon sources, was intended for aircraft, not kamikaze drones that only used the Starlink system for a few minutes or hours.
SpaceX’s planned price hike, close to doubling the cost of each LUCAS drone, was eventually approved by the Pentagon, which was intensifying its strikes on Iran. At first, the Pentagon was paying roughly $30,000 for each unit.
However, the report has been refuted as another “wrong story” by “fake media” by Sean Parnell, Chief Pentagon Spokesman. “SpaceX remains a strong and valued partner to the Department of War. The claims in this article are simply not based in reality and do not reflect the close, effective collaboration between our teams,” he added.
Correction issued by Department of War https://t.co/MAwMl2jXZ8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2026
The statement was also endorsed by Elon Musk, who declared, “Correction issued by Department of War.” Likewise, he described the news as “false” and stated that the civilian Starlink technology had been misused “for military purposes.” He also indicated that “the company,” not the Pentagon, was at fault.
