SpaceX says its Starshield system uses "high-assurance cryptographic capability to host classified payloads and process data securely".
A US aerospace analyst says it is significant that New Zealand has begun testing Elon Musk's Starshield military satellite communications system.
In response to RNZ inquiries, the NZ Defence Force said it was testing Starshield to see what use it could be.
Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC said it was the first time he had heard of Starshield being used outside the US.
"To me this suggests that New Zealand is in an elite upper echelon in the eyes of the Pentagon, in the eyes of the US.
