Eye in the sky: SpaceX is building a spy satellite network for the United States
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) of the US Department of Defense has signed a contract with SpaceX to create a network of hundreds of low-orbit spy satellites capable of operating as a swarm and tracking targets on Earth.
This was reported by Reuters.
The agency’s report is based on a previous report by The Wall Street Journal. It said that SpaceX signed a $1.8 billion contract in 2021 with an unnamed agency.
The network, called Starshield, will be able to collect continuous imagery across the Earth for U.S. intelligence, using a combination of satellites to collect and transmit data. According to one Reuters source, “no one can hide from this system.”
The United States is really working on a modern intelligence system
Neither SpaceX nor the NRA directly confirmed the company’s participation in the project. The Pentagon spokesman merely stated that the agency is working to create the most powerful intelligence system.
NRA is developing the most powerful, diverse and sustainable space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen
representative of the NRU
Last fall, it became known that SpaceX had signed a $70 million contract with the US Space Force to provide satellite communications under the Starshield program. Unlike the “civilian” Starlink, this program is intended for use by the government and for national security purposes.
