The US Space Force awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract on May 26 to build the Space Data Network Backbone, a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation designed to move data from sensors to shooters in near real time. The SDN will use Starshield satellites, the militarized variant of Starlink, and must reach full operational prototype capability by end of 2027. On the same day, the European Commission advanced a proposal to reserve two-thirds of the 2 GHz mobile satellite services band for European operators, leaving Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper able to compete only for the remaining third when current licenses expire in May 2027.
The Pentagon just made Starlink the connective tissue of US joint force communications. Europe just decided Starlink does not get preferred access to the spectrum it needs to operate at scale on the continent.
The 2 GHz band is the only EU-harmonized spectrum supporting direct-to-device services at scale, Starlink’s primary European commercial expansion vector. The Commission’s proposal reserves one-third for EU government use under IRIS2, one-third for European commercial operators, and leaves one-third open to non-EU bidders. FCC chairman Brendan Carr warned at Mobile World Congress in March that favoring European providers would test the bilateral relationship. The Commission proceeded. Current licenses, held by Viasat and EchoStar, expire May 2027.
The problem is not that Starlink loses a spectrum auction. It is that the satellite network now wired into US military kill chains operates in Europe at the discretion of regulators who have decided American providers are not the preferred option.
Watch whether State or the Pentagon formally objects before the 2027 renewal deadline. Silence confirms that US military infrastructure dependency and European regulatory sovereignty are drifting apart with nobody minding the seam.