SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, is building a new network of spy satellites in a classified project for an American intelligence agency, according to a new report.
Reuters, citing unnamed sources familiar with the classified contract, reports that the new network will involve hundreds of spy satellites. The revelation comes as military and intelligence agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere are increasingly reliant on SpaceX and its network of Starlink satellites. SpaceX’s dominance in the satellite internet market has given Musk enormous power in matters of war and geopolitics.
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The new spy satellites are part of a $1.8 billion contract with the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages spy satellites, Reuters reports. It remains unclear when the satellite network might be active. Neither SpaceX nor the Pentagon commented to Reuters. The NRO didn’t comment on the specifics of SpaceX’s involvement.
“The National Reconnaissance Office is developing the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen,” an NRO spokesperson told Reuters.
SpaceX has come under growing scrutiny from Ukraine and from some members of Congress for the role its Starlink satellites have played in the Russia’s war against Ukraine. Starlink’s satellite internet terminals have been a critical part of Ukraine’s wartime infrastructure and operations.
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But a Musk biographer reported last year that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, one of the richest people in the world, blocked Ukraine from using Starlink to attack Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea in 2022.
More recently, both Musk and the Kremlin denied last month that SpaceX sold Starlink internet terminals to Russia. House Democrats earlier this month asked questions about Ukraine’s allegations that Russia is using Starlink.
“Starlink is an invaluable resource for Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s brutal and illegitimate invasion,” U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California wrote in a letter to a top SpaceX executive. They voiced concern that “Russian forces may have illicitly obtained and used” Starlink terminals.
“It is alarming that Russia may be obtaining and using your technology to coordinate attacks against Ukrainian troops in illegally occupied regions in Eastern and Southern Ukraine,” the lawmakers wrote, “potentially in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls.”