by SpaceX is reportedly building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a US intelligence agency in a sign of growing ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies.
Citing five sources with knowledge of the program, Reuters reported that the network is being built by SpaceX’s Starshield business unit under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), an intelligence agency that manages spy satellites.
The plans show the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in US intelligence and military projects and indicate deeper Pentagon investment in massive low-Earth orbit satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.
If successful, the sources said the program would greatly advance the ability of the US government and military to quickly locate potential targets almost anywhere in the world.
The contract reflects growing confidence from the intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and fueled controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Starshield had a classified $1.8 billion contract with an unidentified intelligence agency without giving details about the program’s objectives.
Reuters reporting reveals for the first time that SpaceX’s contract for a powerful new spy system with hundreds of satellites with Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a low-orbit probe, and that it is the spy agency that Mr Musk’s company work with her. the NGO.
Reuters was unable to determine when the new network of satellites would come online and could not establish which other companies are part of the program with their own contracts.
SpaceX, the world’s largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment about the contract, its role in it and details about satellite launches. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the NRO and SpaceX.
In a statement the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop a sophisticated satellite system and its partnerships with government agencies, companies, research institutions and other nations, but declined to comment on Reuters findings about the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in the effort.
“The National Reconnaissance Office is developing the most capable, diverse and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen,” a spokesman said.
The satellites can track targets on the ground and share that data with U.S. intelligence and military officials, the sources said. In principle, that would enable the US government to quickly capture continuous images of activities on the ground almost anywhere in the world, aiding intelligence and military operations, they said.
About a dozen prototypes have been launched since 2020, among other satellites on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, three of the sources said.
A US government database of objects in orbit shows that some SpaceX missions have deployed satellites that were never acknowledged by the company or the government. Two sources confirmed that these were prototypes for the Starshield network.
All the sources were asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the US government’s agenda.
The Pentagon is already a big customer of SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military payloads into space.
The first Starshield prototype satellite, launched in 2020, was part of a separate, roughly $200 million contract that helped position SpaceX for the subsequent $1.8 billion award, one of the sources said.
The Starshield network is planned separately from Starlink, SpaceX’s growing commercial broadband constellation of about 5,500 satellites in space to provide near-global internet to consumers, companies and government agencies.
The classified constellation of spy satellites represents one of the US government’s most sought-after capabilities in space because it is designed to offer the most sustained, widespread and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.
“No one can hide,” one of the sources said of the system’s potential capabilities while describing the scope of the network.
Mr Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and owner of social media company X, has driven innovation in space but has been a source of frustration among some officials in the Biden administration over his control of Ukraine’s Starlink in the past, where the Kyiv military uses it. secure communication in the conflict with Russia. That authority over Starlink in a war zone by Mr Musk, and not the US military, has created tension between him and the US government.
A series of Reuters stories have detailed how Mr Musk’s manufacturing operations, including at SpaceX, have harmed consumers and workers.
The Starshield network is part of intensifying competition between the United States and its rivals to become the dominant military power in space, in part by deploying spy satellite systems from bulky, expensive spacecraft at higher orbits. Instead, a massive, low-orbit network can provide imaging of the Earth faster and closer to infinity.
China also plans to start building its own satellite constellations and the Pentagon has warned of space weapons threats from Russia, which could disable entire satellite networks.
Starshield aims to be more resilient against attacks from sophisticated space powers.
The network is also planned to greatly enhance the US government’s remote sensing capabilities and will consist of large satellites with imaging sensors, as well as a larger number of relay satellites that pass the imaging data and other communications across the network using from intersatellite lasers. , said two of the sources.
The NRO includes personnel from the US Space and CIA and provides classified satellite imagery to the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies.
The spy satellites will have sensors supplied by another company, three of the sources said.
