Sources said the spy satellites will be equipped with sensors provided by another company. (representative)
SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a confidential contract with U.S. intelligence agencies, five sources familiar with the plans said, suggesting billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s aerospace company Ties with 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 the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in U.S. intelligence and military programs and signal a deeper Pentagon investment in large, low-Earth orbit satellite systems designed to support ground forces.
If successful, the program would significantly improve the U.S. government and military’s ability to quickly detect potential targets virtually anywhere around the world, sources said.
Sources said the contract signals intelligence agencies’ growing trust in the company, whose owners have clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connections in the war in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February that a classified $1.8 billion Star Shield contract was awarded to an unknown intelligence agency, without elaborating 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 clusters in low orbit, and that the spy agency Musk’s company is working with is National Reconnaissance Office.
Reuters could not determine when the new satellite network would come online or which other companies were involved in the program 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,” a spokesman 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 database of orbiting objects shows that SpaceX has deployed satellites on multiple missions, but neither the company nor the government has acknowledged that. Two sources confirmed these were 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, who is also the founder and CEO of Tesla and owner of social media company To the dismay of some officials in the Biden administration. Communications in the Conflict with Russia. Musk’s (rather than the U.S. military’s) authority over Starlink in the war zone has created tensions between him and the U.S. government.
A series of Reuters reports detailed how Musk’s manufacturing operations, including SpaceX, are harming consumers and workers.
The StarShield network 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 Earth.
China also plans to start building its own satellite constellation, and the Pentagon has warned of space weapons threats from Russia that could bring down entire satellite networks.
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 relay imaging data and other communications over the network, two sources said People 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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
