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SpaceX is reportedly building a $1.8 billion network of spy satellites for US intelligence
(www.theverge.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2024
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
SpaceX’s Starshield unit has had a classified contract with the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) since 2021 to build a network of “hundreds” of spy satellites for the agency, Reuters reports today, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the program.”
A Wall Street Journal report in February listed a classified $1.8 billion SpaceX contract with a then-unnamed government agency.
Now Reuters has attached a name, and that it’s to build a network of “hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits.”
SpaceX describes Starshield as a government-focused secure satellite network, and Elon Musk tweeted it “will be owned by the US government and controlled by DoD Space Force.” Last fall, the business unit signed a US Space Force contract to provide satellite communications for the military via Starlink.
According to Reuters, if the NRO contract is a success, it would “significantly advance the ability of the U.S. government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.
While an NRO spokesperson reportedly declined to comment on Reuters findings about SpaceX’s involvement, it confirmed to the outlet that it’s working to develop “the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen.”
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