In an increasingly oppressive crackdown on dissenting voices in Iran, Elon Musk’s Starlink project is facing one of its most serious security challenges to date. Starlink has been a lifeline for the Iranian people in resisting internet censorship, but at the same time, it presents a breakthrough opportunity for the project.
SpaceX, the owner of Starlink, recently opened up satellite services to Iranian users for free, once again thrusting Musk’s space company into the geopolitical spotlight. This sets the stage for a confrontation between a team of American engineers and a repressive regime armed with satellite jammers and signal spoofing technology.
As SpaceX considers going public this year, the situation in Iran also serves as a high-profile showcase for Starlink to attract investors’ attention.
Compared to cable television and mobile signal tower networks, Starlink is more resistant to being cut off by Iranian authorities and has become a crucial communication tool for documenting the local situation.
According to Holistic Resilience and other experts, Iran is likely using satellite jammers to disrupt Starlink signals. Nariman Gharib, an Iranian opposition activist and independent cyber spy based in the UK, stated that Iran is also sending false GPS signals to interfere with and cripple Starlink terminals.
Reuters reported that the US military and intelligence agencies (who use Starlink and its military-grade version Starshield) as well as Beijing are closely watching how SpaceX will defend against Iran’s attacks.
John Plumb, former Pentagon space policy official during the Biden administration, told Reuters, “We are in a peculiar early stage in the history of space communications, and SpaceX is currently the only provider capable of offering such a large-scale (network) service.”
Starlink is the world’s first large-scale satellite internet constellation, with approximately 10,000 low-orbit Starlink satellites flying over user terminals at around 17,000 miles per hour, making its signals harder to locate and interfere with than traditional single large satellite systems.
In addition, the Chinese Communist authorities are also building an emerging satellite network constellation, preparing to compete with Starlink in the coming years.
Plumb stated, “These repressive regimes think they can still disable communication, but I believe that there will be a day when this becomes impossible.”
In the past week, thousands of protesters against the Iranian authorities have been killed. With the authorities cutting off the internet and communications, it is difficult for the outside world to understand the extent of the violent crackdown on dissenting voices.
Raha Bahreini, an Iran researcher at Amnesty International, stated that they have verified dozens of videos from Iran, including scenes of the Iranian military killing or injuring protesters, and almost all of these videos were transmitted through the Starlink network.
The Starlink terminals used by consumers are rectangular antennas, available in two sizes – one similar in size to a pizza box, and the other a smaller “mobile” terminal, about the size of a laptop.
The Iranian authorities have been trying to cut off Starlink’s service through diplomatic channels. In 2025, Iran urged a subgroup of the International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations to force the US and Norway (the international registration location of Starlink) to block the service. In November of the same year, Iran informed the subgroup that they were encountering difficulties in locating and disabling Starlink terminals themselves.
According to the US non-profit organization Holistic Resilience, despite the Iranian authorities banning the use of Starlink by the public, tens of thousands of Starlink terminals have been smuggled into Iran, although it is currently unclear how many terminals are in use.
The organization has assisted in delivering Starlink terminals to the Iranian people and is working with SpaceX to monitor Iran’s interference with Starlink signals.