A months-long process to obtain Starlink for unclassified communications briefly veered off-course after concerns were raised by an information security director, which led to a thorough risk assessment before the satellite purchase was greenlit.
The New Zealand Navy spent months working to procure a Starlink satellite connection from One NZ, but late in the piece a senior figure raised concerns about assumptions made regarding information security leading to a thorough risk assessment before the defence force was able to buy the tech to attach to its uncrewed drone boats.
According to documents released under the Official Information Act, the technology was intended to only handle unclassified information – though talks to expand the scope appeared to be underway.
Following a back-and-forth of signatures and pressure to have the service online in time for Navy drills, communications came to a halt on March 21 after a series of multi-page redacted emails from the Defence Force’s director of operations and intelligence law.
Following publication, an NZDF spokesperson responded to Newsroom confirming Starlink terminals were ultimately bought and fitted to two of these ‘unmanned surface vehicles’, which are used by NZDF and customs as part of their maritime patrols.
The spokesperson said the satellite technology was procured for use on the Navy’s new Bluebottle drone boats once the defence force worked through issues raised regarding assumptions that were made about a specially authorisation needed to operate the system in the specific security environment.
Following the risk assessment, the defence force’s chief information security officer endorsed the use of Starlink for these flagship vessels.
The defence force has used Starlink in the past, but in different applications and security environments.
Starlink offers near-global telecommunications via an array of about 8000 satellites in low-Earth orbit. This number is planned to reach as high as 34,000. They appear as dotted trails across the night sky during periodic launches.
The technology was used in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle to reach rural communities. Its efficacy there prompted a Defence Force minute outlining its use cases and applicability for the military. The April 2023 document said “several stakeholders” within Defence and wider government were interested in exploring Starlink, though there were redacted security vulnerabilities.
While the technology has aided disaster relief efforts internationally, its control by company chief executive Elon Musk has raised questions of security.
Australian international space law expert Cassandra Steer said the unpredictable nature of Starlink’s owner and the geopolitical situation in the US could leave Australia open to “unpredictability and vulnerability”. Experts in India had also raised national security concerns regarding the use of Starlink, and the reported misuse of the satellite technology along the country’s border.
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At the same time that New Zealand Defence Force officials were debating its use, Starlink was installed in the White House – though officials warned it would be a security risk. Musk’s close ties with US President Donald Trump came to an end shortly thereafter, with the two trading insults on social media as Musk left the White House.
The Defence Force process to procure Starlink had begun at the start of this year. The process came with a sense of urgency, as the Government was building up to the April 7 announcement of its military spending increase.
Newly-purchased Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels were due to be announced, and some Navy craft were scheduled to perform field acceptance tests in late February. The Navy wanted to test Starlink at this time.
But the procurement process did not wrap up until at least the end of April. Months of back-and-forth communications between procurement specialists and military officials culminated in a ‘statement of work’ agreement to procure the service through One NZ – the only viable pathway to a Starlink contract for military use in New Zealand.
One NZ had partnered with Starlink to offer nationwide cellular coverage in late 2024, and held permission from Starlink’s parent company SpaceX for use of the technology by the Defence Force.
This arrangement began on February 11, 2025, when Starlink gave the Defence Force permission to use the technology for military purposes.
This permission initiated a month of back-and-forth emails between three men: senior procurement specialist Greg Stewart, product manager for infrastructure Chris Gamboni, and commercial portfolio manager for defence commercial services Matt Webb.
Getting final signatures on the statement of work proved to be complicated. “Navy needs this now,” wrote Gamboni on March 11, but the final contract would change hands several times over the next eight days.
But only then on March 19, after the statement of work drafted, was approval sought from Defence’s director of information assurance, Stephen Alexander. A version of the contract was also sent to chief information security officer Jared Licht.
Just eight minutes after receiving a copy of the agreement for his approval, Alexander replied that he hadn’t heard of the project before and flagged “there are issues with the approach and assumption”.
Following Alexander’s feedback, a series of multi-page and completely redacted emails was exchanged between military officials who, until this point, had not been included in the correspondence. After this exchange, no communications were documented until an April 30 meeting between the Defence Force and One NZ.
On March 21, Colonel Pat Beath – who has a background in information technology and cybersecurity – sent another email with the subject line “Urgent: Opinion on use of Starlink for Bluebottle”. This was the first mention of the Bluebottle craft in connection with Starlink.
Defence Minister Judith Collins mentioned the uncrewed vessels during her Defence spending announcement on April 7 and a week later, the Navy announced it had procured two Bluebottle craft from Sydney-based Ocius Technologies.
The crafts’ seven-month trial period had occurred in 2024, yet it was not until just two weeks prior to the minister’s announcement that the question was raised about using Starlink on them.
Starlink’s exact function is unknown. The Defence’s original post-cyclone briefing had recommended adopting a business subscription approach, using the technology to assist in humanitarian aid and disaster efforts, and to not allow it to handle classified information. These recommendations were reflected in the final arrangement reached by the Navy, based on the documents released.
Defence Minister Judith Collins declined to comment, saying this was an operational matter.
The defence force spokesperson said the Bluebottle boats were a great example of innovation, using cutting-edge technology and collaboration with industry and different government agencies.
Built by Sydney-based Ocius Technologies, the 7.4m-long vessels were bought following a seven-month trial last year.
The defence force had been looking at procuring Starlink terminals for the vessels for some time, and after a procurement process, they were bought this year and had since been fitted to the vessels to allow data communications at high rates of transfer.
Testing at sea had shown that the system was operating successfully.
