Starlink, the satellite internet service that is managed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, is now accessible on the Campus of the White House. It is the newest installation of the Wi-Fi network in the government, because Mr. Musk has joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser.
It was not immediately clear when the White House complex was equipped with Starlink after President Trump took on a second term.
Starlink terminals, rectangular panels that receive internet signals that are blasted from SpaceX satellites in a track with a low earth can be placed on physical structures. But instead of being physically placed in the White House, it is now said that the Starlink system is routed by a data center of the White House, with existing fiber cables, miles of the complex.
White House officials said that the installation was an attempt to increase the availability of the internet at the complex. They said that some parts of the building could not get a mobile service and that the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure was overloaded.
Karoline Leavitt, the Secretary of the White House, said that the effort was “to improve WiFi connectivity on the complex.”
But the circumstances differ from every earlier situation to resolve internet services. Mr. Musk, who is now an unpaid adviser who works as a “special government officer” at the White House, checks Starlink and other companies that have regulatory matters for or contracts with the federal government. Questions about his business interests that are contrary to his status as a presidential adviser and the large Trump donor have existed for weeks.
In February, Chris Stanley, who is currently working as a security engineer at two of Mr. Musk, SpaceX, and the social media platform X, went to the roof of the Eisenhower Executive Office building in the White House Complex to explore Starlink there. Mr Stanley has also collaborated with Mr. Musk's efficiency as a special government employee.
While Mr Stanley opened a door that led to the roof of the building, which is directly opposite an entrance to the White House, he stumbled an alarm that warned the secret service of his presence. It created a dramatic scene when a uniformed officer hurried to respond, according to four people with knowledge of the incident.
A fifth person with knowledge of the event said that Mr Stanley was previously told by the secret service that he could view the roof, but the agency had not coordinated time for the arrival of Mr Stanley.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, said that the White House “was aware of Doge's intentions to improve internet access on campus” and that “this issue did not consider a security incident or infringement of security”.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the secret service, also said it was not considered an infringement or a security incident.
Civil servants of the White House said that Starlink had 'donated' the service and that the gift was survived by the lawyer who supervised ethical issues in the office of the White House.
Some former officials were unclear about how such a donation could work.
Clare Martorana, a former Chief Information Officer at the White House during the Biden administration, said that people usually cannot simply not give technology to the government. She said that the Chief Information Officer of the White House should sign a new system to ensure that it was properly protected, just like the Chief Information Officer at the General Services Administration.
Mr Stanley was working on setting up the new Starlink system in consultation with the White House Information Technology Office, to which he is a consultant while he is also assigned to work at the Ministry of Justice, one of the people who are familiar with the business.
The White House is the latest government possession on which Starlink is now active.
In recent weeks, Starlink has also been founded at the General Services Administration, which, according to documents and people who are familiar with the service as a HUB for the public efforts of Mr. Musk.
Although various federal agencies have a contract with Starlink, the satellite service is usually used to offer internet access in emergency situations and remote locations – not on federal buildings in Washington, which already have enough internet options.
Starlink is generally seen as a reliable network. In October the Federal Emergency Management Agency contract with Starlink to distribute terminals for the service in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene hit the state. The service has also been crucial for the defense of Ukraine against Russia, where SpaceX estimates the Ministry of Defense that it cost $ 400 million to support the effort over a period of 12 months around 2022.
However, it is less clear that the Starlink Internet Service will considerably expand the wireless internet capacity in buildings where fiber cables already offer access.
It was also unclear whether Starlink communication was encrypted. The system makes a network at least a network of existing White House servers that can use people on the site, so that those data remain separate.
“It is super rare” to install Starlink or another internet provider as a replacement for existing government infrastructure that has been screened and secured, said Jake Williams, a vice -president for research and development at Hunter Strategy, a cyber security consultancy. “I can't think of time to hear that.”
“It is introducing an attack point,” said Mr. Williams. “But why would you introduce that risk?”
An official with knowledge of the discussions about installing Starlink in the White House, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the secret service was delivered that the Starlink system could be submitted by existing safe hard wiring in the White House used by the secret service, as well as other federal agencies. The fact that the internet service now works through a different data shub seems to have tackled that concern.
At the General Services Administration, where the use of Starlink was previously reported by NBC News, the service has been added to a list of apps approved to download on the mobile devices of the desk. That list also contains apps of two other companies, X and Tesla, who is guided by Musk, according to documents seen by the New York Times.
“Only apps that meet GSA security and privacy standards are allowed,” said a spokesperson for the agency in a statement. The agency refused to comment on the use of Starlink.
Mr. Musk has expressed frustration about what he regards as an outdated technology in the government and has brought forward with an attempt to modernize it.
Shortly after Mr Trump was sworn in, Mr. Musk complained that a digital system known as waves, so that the secret service can approve the guests to enter the site of the White House, was awkward. Some officials of the White House shared that assessment. Mr. Musk has informed Mr Stanley of it to repair it, according to two people who informed about this.
Mr. Guglielmi, the spokesperson for the secret service, said that the office “works closely together”, the team of Mr. Musk and continuous discussions. At the moment he added: “No formal changes have been made to the Witte Huis visitor system.”
Jonathan Swan And Tyler pager contributed reporting.
