Elon Musk's SpaceX company is developing hundreds of spy satellites for U.S. intelligence agencies under a secret $1.8 billion contract, Reuters reported, citing various anonymous sources. The contract, signed in 2021, aims to develop a powerful spy system that includes hundreds of satellites with Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate in low orbit.
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The reconnaissance satellite network will be built through SpaceX's StarShield business, and the Reuters report also suggests deeper involvement with the Pentagon. The $1.8 billion deal also comes as intelligence agencies have increased confidence in SpaceX, even as Musk has clashed with the Biden administration on a number of issues, including the use of Starlink satellites in Ukraine. It shows.
What can we learn from SpaceX's spy satellites?
The Starshield Reconnaissance Satellite is a low-Earth orbiting satellite designed to support U.S. ground forces. The satellites are expected to have the ability to track targets on the ground and share that data with U.S. military and intelligence officials. If successful, the plan could significantly improve the U.S. government and military's ability to identify potential targets anywhere in the world, Reuters reported, citing sources.
“No one can hide it,” one source said of the potential capabilities of the new reconnaissance satellite system.
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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has been used to launch more than a dozen prototypes since 2020. Additionally, the U.S. government's database of objects in orbit also shows several SpaceX missions that have deployed satellites that neither the company nor the U.S. government has previously acknowledged, the report said. .
The StarShield network is a deal between the United States and its rivals to expand the spy satellite system from large, expensive spacecraft to a low-orbit network that can provide faster, near-constant images of the Earth, Reuters reports. This is part of the efforts being strengthened.
Notably, China also plans to launch its own constellation of satellites soon, and the Pentagon has warned in the past of the threat posed by Russian space weapons that could disable entire satellite networks. Was.
But StarShield is designed to be more resistant to attacks from major space powers and is expected to significantly enhance the U.S. government's remote sensing capabilities. According to the report, the StarShield network will consist of large satellites equipped with imaging sensors and numerous satellite transponders that use intersatellite lasers to relay imaging data and other communications across the network.
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Published: March 17, 2024, 9:51 AM IST
