Overview
- Internal Navy documents reviewed by Reuters tie multiple autonomous-boat test disruptions to Starlink connectivity losses.
- During August 2025's global Starlink outage, about two dozen unmanned surface vessels off California lost contact for almost an hour.
- A Navy safety report from April 2025 said high data needs for many vehicles strained the link and flagged limits under multi-vehicle load.
- The Pentagon described its broader network as a mix of resilient systems but gave no details on changes to prevent repeat failures.
- SpaceX's near-10,000-satellite network and launch dominance keep it central to U.S. programs as Congress warns about single-vendor risk and Amazon moves to buy Globalstar.