By Samuel Lopez | USA Herald
WASHINGTON, DC – As global attention fixated on the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, a far more terrestrial mystery unfolded above our own atmosphere. Elon Musk’s classified military satellite network, Starshield—the defense-grade version of Starlink—was caught transmitting “downlinks” toward Earth on radio frequencies strictly reserved for Earth-to-space uplinks only.
The transmissions, recorded in the 2025–2110 MHz band, were first discovered by an amateur radio operator and later confirmed by NPR and other independent sources. Despite mounting questions, neither Musk nor SpaceX has offered any explanation for the incident, maintaining a silence that has only deepened public speculation.
The alleged breach came to light on or about October 20, 2025, the same day the world’s telescopes were trained on 3I/ATLAS as it raced toward its solar encounter. Our prior USA Herald exclusive revealed that the Starshield network was transmitting on frequencies dedicated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for uplink-only use, meaning transmissions should flow from Earth to orbit—not the other way around.
