SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a confidential contract with U.S. intelligence agencies, five sources familiar with the plan said, suggesting a link between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s aerospace company and Ties between national security agencies are deepening.
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), the intelligence agency that manages spy satellites, sources said.
The plans show SpaceX’s involvement in U.S. intelligence and military programs and indicate a deeper Pentagon investment in large, low-Earth orbit satellite systems designed to support ground forces.
Sources said that if successful, the plan will significantly improve the U.S. government and military’s ability to quickly detect potential targets almost anywhere in the world.
The contract marks a growing trust among intelligence agencies in a company whose owners own conflict occurs with the Biden administration and cause controversy Regarding the use of Starlink satellite connections in the war in Ukraine, sources said.
wall street journal report In February, a classified $1.8 billion Starshield contract was awarded to an unknown intelligence agency, but no details were given on the purpose of the program.
A Reuters report revealed for the first time that the SpaceX contract is for a powerful new spy system that includes hundreds of satellites with Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate in swarms in low orbit, and that the spy agency Musk’s company is working with is National Reconnaissance Office.
Reuters was unable to determine when the new satellite network would come online, or which other companies were involved in the project through their own contracts.
SpaceX, the world’s largest satellite operator, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the contract, its role in it and satellite launch details. The Pentagon submitted requests for comment to NRO and SpaceX.
In a statement, the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop complex satellite systems and partnerships with other government agencies, companies, research institutions and countries, 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 powerful, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems in the world,” the spokesperson said.
The satellites can track targets on the ground and share data with U.S. intelligence and military officials, the sources said. In principle, this would allow the U.S. government to quickly capture continuous images of ground activity almost anywhere around the world to assist intelligence and military operations, they added.
About a dozen prototypes have been launched since 2020, including other satellites on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, three of the sources said.
The U.S. government’s orbital object database shows that SpaceX has deployed satellites on multiple missions, but neither the company nor the government has acknowledged it. Two sources confirmed that these are Star Shield prototypes.
All of the sources asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the U.S. government’s plans.
The Pentagon is already a big customer of SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military payloads into space. One of the sources said Starshield’s first prototype satellite launched in 2020 as part of a separate contract worth about $200 million, which helped SpaceX secure a subsequent $1.8 billion contract.
The planned Starshield network is separate from Starlink, SpaceX’s growing commercial broadband constellation of about 5,500 satellites in space that provides near-global internet to consumers, companies and government agencies.
The classified spy satellite constellation represents one of the U.S. government’s most popular capabilities in space because it is designed to provide the most persistent, pervasive and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.
“No one can hide,” one source said of the system’s potential capabilities, describing the network’s reach.
Musk is also the company’s founder and CEO Tesla The owner of social media company Some officials in the government are frustrated. Russia. Musk’s authority over Starlink in war zones, not the U.S. military, cause tension between him and the U.S. government.
A series The Reuters report details how Musk’s manufacturing operations, including SpaceX, are harming consumers and workers.
StarShield is part of a growing competition between the United States and its rivals to become the dominant military force in space, in part by extending spy satellite systems away from bulky, expensive spacecraft in higher orbits. Instead, a vast low-orbit network could provide faster and near-constant imaging of the Earth.
China also plans As it begins building its own satellite constellation, the Pentagon has warned of a space weapons threat from Russia that could bring down the entire satellite network.
Star Shield is designed to enhance resistance to attacks by sophisticated space powers.
The network is also designed to greatly expand the U.S. government’s remote sensing capabilities and will consist of large satellites with imaging sensors as well as more relay satellites that use inter-satellite lasers to carry imaging data and other communications over the network , two sources said.
The NRO includes personnel from the U.S. Space Force and the CIA and provides classified satellite imagery to the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies.
Three sources said the spy satellites will be equipped with sensors provided by another company.
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