SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a secret contract with a US intelligence agency, five sources familiar with the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between the space company owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and national security agencies.
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 operates spy satellites, the sources said.
The plans show the extent of SpaceX's involvement in US intelligence and military projects and demonstrate the Pentagon's deeper investment in expansive low-Earth orbit satellite systems intended to support ground forces.
If the program is successful, it will significantly enhance the ability of the US government and US military to quickly detect potential targets almost anywhere in the world, the sources said.
The sources said the contract indicates the intelligence establishment's growing confidence in a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite communication in the Ukraine war.
Last February, the Wall Street Journal reported the existence of a secret contract for the StarShield program worth $1.8 billion with an unknown intelligence agency, without providing details about the program’s purposes.
Reuters reports for the first time that the SpaceX contract is for a powerful new spy system that includes hundreds of satellites carrying Earth imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, and that the spy agency that Musk's company is working with is Musk's company. nro.
Reuters was unable to determine when the new satellite network would begin operating and was unable to identify other companies participating in the program with their own contracts.
SpaceX, the world's largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment on the contract, its role in it, and the details of the satellite launch. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the NRO and SpaceX.
In a statement, the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop an advanced satellite system and its 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 capable, diverse, and flexible space intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen,” a spokesperson said.
The sources said the satellites could track targets on the ground and share that data with US intelligence and military officials. In principle, they added, this would enable the US government to capture continuous images of activities on the ground almost anywhere in the world, aiding in intelligence and military operations.
Nearly a dozen prototypes have been launched since 2020, among other satellites on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, three of the sources said.
The US government's database of objects in orbit shows that several SpaceX missions have deployed satellites that neither the company nor the government has ever acknowledged. Two sources have confirmed that these models are prototypes of the Starshield network.
All sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the US government program.
The Pentagon is already a major SpaceX customer, using Falcon 9 rockets to launch military payloads into space. Starshield's first satellite prototype, 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 planned Starshield network is separate from Starlink, SpaceX's growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space to provide near-universal internet to consumers, businesses and government agencies.
The secret constellation of spy satellites represents one of the U.S. government's most desired capabilities in space because they are designed to provide the most continuous, widespread and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.
“No one can hide,” one source said of the system's potential capability, when describing the network's reach.
Musk, who is also the founder and CEO of TeslaThe owner of social media company With Russia. That Musk has authority over Starlink in a war zone, rather than the US military, has created tension between him and the US government.
A series of Reuters stories have detailed how Musk's manufacturing operations, including at SpaceX, have harmed consumers and workers.
The Starshield network is part of a growing competition between the United States and its rivals to become the dominant military power in space, in part by expanding spy satellite systems away from massive, expensive spacecraft in higher orbits. Alternatively, a wide, low-orbit network could provide faster, near-stationary imaging of the Earth.
China also plans to start building its own satellite constellations, and the Pentagon has warned of space weapons threats from Russia, which may be able to disable entire satellite networks.
Starshield aims to be more resilient to attacks from evolving alien forces.
The network is also intended to significantly expand the US government's remote sensing capabilities and will consist of large satellites equipped with imaging sensors, as well as a larger number of relay satellites that pass imaging data and other communications across the network using lasers between satellites. Two sources said.
The National Reconnaissance Office includes personnel from the US Space Force and the CIA and provides classified satellite imagery to the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies.
Three of the sources said that the spy satellites will contain sensors provided by another company.
